Hi guys,decided to add some diesel lube/additive the other day.don't know why,car WAS running great (if it aint broke, dont fix it). thought i would do the once of prevention thing. Anyway, the car will hardly idle now. it does seem to run fine while going down the road, but when stopped at idle it sound as if it is running on two or three cylinders. just about shakes me out of the car . it also used to idle just fine when you started it when it was cold outside,and now it takes alot of finess and playing with it just to keep it running. Iam going to change out the fuel filters today (their due) ,i am hoping that mabe the additive loosened some gunk and clogged up one of the filters.......any thoughts on this? what else could i try?

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1980 mercedes euro 300D 232000 miles(died,now parts car)
2004 2500 ram cummins diesel
1980 harley shovelhead
1988 anniversery corvette zr1(engine)
1978 240D 4spd 240000 miles (new benz toy)
1946 Cessna 140, Continental 0-200

Give it a good hard drive too to see if that'll clear the problem up.

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1985 300D Turbo ~225k
2000 F350 (Powerstroke) 4X4, SWB, CC, SRW, 6spd ~148k
1999 International 4900, DT466e (250hp/660 ft/lbs), Allison MD3060 ~73k

Exactly what (brand) did you put in, and how much? How much fuel was int the tank when you put in the additive?

Ken300D

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1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles

Swapping out the cheap $2 primary fuel filter should be first on the agenda. And how old is the secondary cannister filter? Secondaries for me usually last a year. I'll easily go through 3 primary filters in the same amount of time.

The only additive I can recommend is Diesel Kleen - 4 ounces (and no more!) in every FULL tank of fuel works wonders for the engine. $5 bottle treats 100 gallons.

Otherwise the tendency is to overdose on additives and then a hellstorm of debris gets dislodged. Miniscule measurements of additives used in every tank is far, far better than nuking the engine all at once.

I have been driving a 1985 300 turbo for about a month now and I'm curious about this diesel-kleen stuff. Is this highly reccomended ? Also, how often should I change the fuel filters and is there something I should be looking for or noticing that tells me they need to be changed soon ?

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85 300 D TURBO 145,000 mi "liesel" (the hot chick in sound of music)

I used diesel kleen when I stated up a car that had sat undriven for over 2 years. The car was nailing badly and I found that the fuel cap was also missing and I saw the fuel was milky looking, which indicated water got into the tank.
I drained the tank and filled it with clean fuel but there was enough rust and water left in the tank to need a dose of Diesel Kleen and since then I've changed the primary filter three times and its slowly showing less rust and the water is out of it so its not nailing like it was.
A tiny bit of water gets homogenized as it runs thru the diesle fuel system and its tough to get it all out without something to attach to the water molecules, I suppose that is how the stuff works.
RedLine diesel catalyst didn't seem to do much for it.
Keep replacing the primary filter until they remain free of visible crud. If its black stuff in it you have algae, another problem that can happen if you get a tank of fuel from a place that has slow business and their tanks start growing the junk. That's why its a good practice to buy fuel from truck stops where they do a lot of business.

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

This may be as simple as changing the filters. But if they are badly obstructed I would think the car would not be able to go down the road well. It takes far more available fuel to do that. Change the filters anyways just in case. If it goes down the road well it should have no trouble starting or ideling in my opinion. How much additive did you add to what quantity of fuel and what was the additive. . Almost sounds like there is something in the additive the engine does not like. Possibly if dosage rate is too high the engine does not like some component of it to the extent of reducing combustability of the fuel. Certain chemicals will lower the celane rating or drastically increase the temperature to ignite the fuel. If you are low on fuel fill up the tank to dilute it. If that does not mitigate the problem come on back.