3.0 duramax additives

[Cpl_Punishment]

4 hours ago, MaverickZ71 said:

It's all about buying a 'license' to be able to advertise your brand as being Top Tier or Dexos or Dexcool 'certified'. 

 

You'd think it would be as simple as submitting a sample to an independent lab to get tested to prove the quality of your product.  And it should be.  But there's a whole lot more to it than that. 

 

It's just another power and $ grab by certain vehicle manufacturers.  Essentially they're saying "You pay us whatever we think it's worth for you to be able to buy a license from our syndicate to get 'certified' and in return we'll imply to the purchasers of our vehicles, both in the owner manuals, maintenance schedules, and various advertising, that they must use your product or their warranties will be voided." 

 

 

Other 'non-licensed' brands may be just as good or better, they just chose not to play the old extortion game.  For example, Ford used to recommend BP fuel exclusively, but not anymore.  And at that time, our Ford ran better on Phillips66 gas than it did on BP.  Go figure.  There was talk on here and over on BITOG on how Valvoline (and others) refused to get Dexos-'certified' when GM first came out with the standard, even though their oil met the 'specs', but most of them have since drunk the GM corporate Kool-Aid and gotten themselves 'licensed'.  

 

Back to the OP:  So don't necessarily worry about "Top Tier" fuel.  Buy at a station you trust (not necessarily the cheapest fuel in town) that does a volume business.  If running some additive (some on here running Lucas and AMSoil additives) sometimes makes you feel better, especially after a suspect tank of fuel, go for it.  Enjoy your truck!  

Interesting info. Thanks. Is the process for gasoline the same? The reason I ask is because I think there are a lot more companies on the list of top tier gasoline stations (if I recall correctly). So I'd be surprised that a company would pay for the gasoline certification but not the diesel one. 

[chrisblah]

I noticed that top tier thing the other day at Costco. It’s the only place I’ve filled up (2nd tank) and this is my first diesel so I really haven’t gotten diesel anywhere else. And probably won’t for that matter.
 

Diesel prices are all over the place here. I live in a small town so the two local stations typically have higher prices than what I could get going into the city. Even with regular gas, the local stations are typically 40 cents higher. With diesel, I’ve seen as high as $3.47 locally. Costco actually had diesel for $1.93 which was cheaper than regular gas at $1.99. 

[Wintersun]

Most people are unaware of how incredibly dirty diesel fuel is and the need to help it with additives. Diesel is cleaner in the USA than in Europe but their fuel has a higer cetane rating. Adding a cetane booster that also helps with the fuel lubricity and an injector cleaner is worthwhile though not needed for every tank of diesel burned. Lots of these additives are available and I go with the least expensive in a bottle the size that works with the 36 gallon fuel tank so I do not need to measure it out at the pumps. No reason to go with Amsoil for anything and the mediocre performance of Amsoil diesel motor oils makes me avoid all their products.

 

Diesel is going to cause more problems during the winter in areas where all you can buy is biodiesel. There is still a problem with algae buildup in diesel and an additive will keep this from happening and avoid a very expensive repair job.

 

A diesel fuel filter that removes 98.7% of the particles in a gallon of diesel fuel will allow 240,000 particle to pass through and hit the injectors at high speed. Also a 2-micron filter will allow particles up to 10 microns in size to pass through the filter media. And changing filters more often is actually detrimental as fuel filters, like air filters, are least effective when new and before any media loading has taken place.

 

Diesel engines take a great deal longer than gas engines to reach their optimum operating temperature and so avoiding short trips of less than 30 minutes duration is best avoided.

[yousaveone]

I have a bunch of optilube, so I added it to the 3.0. My fuel economy went down to 27 form 30. I ran 2 tanks without and back up to 30. Added again and back down. Don't have a clue why. Same brand fuel same type of driving.

[chris84]

16 hours ago, yousaveone said:

I have a bunch of optilube, so I added it to the 3.0. My fuel economy went down to 27 form 30. I ran 2 tanks without and back up to 30. Added again and back down. Don't have a clue why. Same brand fuel same type of driving.

 

Which formula were you using?

[yousaveone]

Winter

[Cpl_Punishment]

On 5/30/2020 at 11:37 AM, Wintersun said:

Diesel is cleaner in the USA than in Europe

Interesting. I'd always heard the opposite in the past. 

[Black02Silverado]

On 5/31/2020 at 10:55 PM, Cpl_Punishment said:

Interesting. I'd always heard the opposite in the past. 

Same here since they use more in personal vehicles than we do.

[Cpl_Punishment]

2 minutes ago, Black02Silverado said:

Same here since they use more in personal vehicles than we do.

I'm starting to notice a trend with the "facts" this Wintersun guy shares...

[Harry Tuttle]

Looking at the SDS for AC Delco Diesel Fuel Conditioner you can see the ingredients.

 

Section 3. Ingredients

Solvent naphtha (petroleum), heavy aromatic 30% - 60%

2-ethylhexyl nitrate 15% - 30% 

Ethylbenzene 0.99% - 4.99% 

Xylene 0.99% - 4.99%

4-trimethylbenzene 0.99% - 4.99%

Naphthalene 0.99% - 4.99%

 

The only other fuel conditioner that matches the ingredients is PEAK Blue Agri-Clean Liquid Fuel Stabilizer Additive for Diesel Engines. However the Peak-Blue doesn't give any percentages on the SDS.  I have look at the SDS for all the diesel fuel additives from this list.

https://www.thedrive.com/reviews/27711/best-diesel-fuel-additives

[Ed Day]

I have a couple of 5 gal. plastic gas cans that are full of diesel that I bought several months ago for my tractor, they're stored out of the weather but in a metal storage container that gets over 100 degrees in mid summer. Should I use this fuel in my Duramax if it looks OK?

[Jrodpic]

24 minutes ago, Ed Day said:

I have a couple of 5 gal. plastic gas cans that are full of diesel that I bought several months ago for my tractor, they're stored out of the weather but in a metal storage container that gets over 100 degrees in mid summer. Should I use this fuel in my Duramax if it looks OK?

Hell no. Risk damage and headaches over like $50 worth of fuel?? Not worth it.

[shakenfake]

@Ed DayI don't see why not?

[diyer2]

If you choose to use the stored diesel fuel I would run the tank down, add the fuel from the cans,  then add fresh fuel at the pump. 

[CamGTP]

I see no risk here, diesel fuel can be stored for technically decades and still be ran in vehicles. If anything just get one of those cheap paint screeners to pour the fuel through and call it a day.