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I found this video a while back, but was reminded last week just how important fuel treatment and an anti-gel can be. We had temperatures just last week of a -42F windchill here in Montana. This is the best test I've seen, even though it doesn't include every diesel fuel treatment available. The results are surprising... Let us know what your experience has been with diesel fuel treatments...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8gDN_6esfs
I have only ever used Howes and Power Service due to easy local availability. Seems like Power Service does a better job at preventing gelling than Howes does. I had no issues during our cold snap last week with wind chills close to 30 below; I did double up on the amount of Power Service I normally would have used. I know of at least one pickup and one tractor that gelled up using their "normal" amount of additive.
I would like to give the Stanadyne treatment a try.
Casey
I think it's worth mentioning that the GM diesel fuel systems used in their pickup trucks have incorporated heaters into their fuel/filter systems at least since the 1982 model years. These fuel heaters are thermostatically/automatically controlled to activate at +20F, which not coincidentally is the gel temperature for non-winterized #2 diesel fuel - the point at which wax crystals begin to form in the fuel. In an unheated fuel supply system, these wax crystals will accumulate on the fuel filter element, to a point where fuel flow stops - along with the engine. To combat waxing, fuel dealers are "supposed to" mix #1 and #2 diesel fuel in a ratio that will not gel down to the lowest expected temperature for a given region.
Some diesel truck owners have reported a problem with gelling fuel when they fuel up in a warmer region of the country, then drive to a colder region. Good advice would be to fuel up once you arrive at your destination, to help ensure you're getting properly winterized diesel fuel.
Personally, I don't worry too much about gelling fuel. I've been driving a GM diesel pickup every winter since 1986. I've never once experienced gelled fuel. That said, the above diesel fuel treatment test video is also valuable for the other tests the video includes. Diesel fuel lubricity, cetane (combustibility), and corrosion resistance are just as important.
You know what you've gone and done now, right? ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by More Power
It would be helpful if someone would do a test of these cleaners, but then they might show they don’t work..
I would like to see before and after pictures..
I know, right... :(Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnC
Quote:
Originally Posted by More Power
I've been driving GM diesels since 1995. I've gelled up 3 times, all from not using enough fuel treatment during extreme winter cold snaps. I suspect that here in SW MO, we don't have properly winterized fuel since we typically don't have that much extreme cold.
I have an aftermarket fuel filter on my Tahoe, but built my own fuel heater using a 12V heating pad originally meant for RV sewer pipes.
Casey
I make sure my diesel tank is kept low during the switch to winter fuel.
It's a 18000 liter tank,so in the Fall it's a bit of juggling to make sure that i don't sell fuel that will gel.
The factory GM fuel filter assy for the 6.5 includes a heating element that projects upwards into the very center of the fuel filter element. It is effective in keeping the fuel from gelling, assuming the heater portion of the filter assy works as advertised. I'd imagine it could keep even summer #2 from gelling, but there is no fuel heater in the fuel tank. This means that badly gelled fuel could plug the fuel strainer on the pick-up.Quote:
Originally Posted by arveetek
This update is based on the YouTube video produced by "The Motor Oil Geek". The video in question is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m4BBqIAUkY
The next two images were clips from the above linked video showing the results of the diesel fuel treatment tests he performed.
https://www.thedieselpageforums.com/...0&d=1749571345https://www.thedieselpageforums.com/...1&d=1749571345
"Power Service" became his recommendation, based on the tests he performed here. But, he arrived at his choice because the "Blend 4 XPD ALL-In-One" contained potassium in the elemental analysis portion of his tests, which he thought might produce confusion when doing an engine oil analysis (potassium is an ingredient in coolants). Otherwise, the XPD would have been my choice and his, based on the data shown here. "Wear" reduction is the #1 reason why I use a diesel fuel treatment. The XPD is hands down better at reducing wear - reduces wear by half when compared to most of the other fuel treatments tested...
Not discussed in his analysis is how each of these treatment brands reduce varnish... or how well they help keep the injectors clean. For me, that is my #2 reason for using a diesel fuel treatment. My #3 reason is "cetane" improvement. Here, the Power Service edged out the XPD only very slightly (a resulting cetane of 63.8 compared to 60.0).
The odd thing about his wear testing is that the Stanadyne treatment produced a larger wear scar in his abrasion test than the untreated fuel sample he used as a baseline.
In the end... I've used Power Service for a long time, simply because I can buy it locally - even at Wal-Mart. But now, I intend to try XPD... till something better comes along.
Amazon carries it: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=diesel+fu...l_2sgb49mtz7_p