Thread: fuel additives
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Old 02-28-2002, 02:10 AM
Ducati Ducati is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Richmond, BC Canada
Posts: 426
Ivo, here in BC there are fuel additives by Kleen-Flo available that are simmilar what has just been described.
a 2 litre bottle of Kleen-Flo Diesel Lubricant costs $17.99 plus taxes. It will treat up to 3000 litres of fuel. I usually double the dose, and add a minimum of 50ml to a fill-up (which is usually about 37 litres, as I fuel up around the half tank level - I dont want to suck crud from the bottom of the tank into my engine) However I am not particularily exact. I carry a plastic measuring cup and a funnelin my trunk for reasonable precision.
Kleen-Flo also has smaller cans of a cleaner treatment that I use about every third fill,for $6.50 a 750ml tin. This keeps the injection pump clean. Both productsincrease the cetane level, which is a good thing, as my 1983 300D was used to running on higher sulphur diesel when it was new.
This $17.99 bottle of Diesel Lubricant (about $21 Cdn.with taxes) will last you a very long time - a bottle lasts me over six months.

There is an equally good product by Hawes, called Diesel Treat, also available at truck stops here in Canada. It is less money, but the bottle is slightly smaller.
Buy it at truck stops where it is cheaper than if you bought it at Lordco or another automotive supplier.
Dont breathe the stuff as it is very poisonous to inhale. I have heard of a man who fell asleep in a truck sleeper, where a bottle tipped and spilled. The guy had a stroke that was suposed to have been caused by the fumes that he breathed.

Red Line products are available at MoPac Auto Supply here in Surrey. That is what everyone on this forum seems to use. I have to ask why or if it is thought to be better than the products from Kleen-Flo or Hawes.
Also, the diesel cleaner and all-in-one additives available from Canadian Tire are okay, and much easier to get.
Besides keeping the injectors clean, & lubricating the IP, the stuff raises cetane. This is important, as diesel fuel quality is not what it once was 10 or so years ago. Modern diesel has less sulphur, and needs the additives more now to keep the IP lubricated properly.
Although this doesn't affect you out in "the Interior", we here on the Lower Mainland have to take our diesels through "AirCare" (simmilar to what California does) and as I use additives regularily my 241000 mile (yes, miles; not kilometres) 300D passed AirCare easily, and does not smoke very much at all.
Also, additives aid in easier starting when the temperature drops.
I swear by additives, and attribute the clean smooth running of my old car to their regular use.
I have heard that Automatic Transmission fluid can be used as fuel additive. I would not heed this advice, as A/T fluid would produce ash when combusted, and that would pound the hell out of your valves, I think.
Good luck with your diesel MB.
- a fellow British Columbia diesel afficionado
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