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Diesel Fuel Additives Inquiry

10257 Views 29 Replies 19 Participants Last post by  Reno12469
So, now with winter winding down, I thought I would inquire about diesel fuel additives.

1. Did you put any anti-gel additive in your Cruze TD this past winter?

2. Do you put any cleaning additive (to remove water, etc.) in your Cruze TD on a regular basis?

3. Do you put any cetane boost additive in your Cruze TD on a regular basis?

I live in northern Utah where the coldest temperature I saw at my house in the early morning was -14 °F. I park my car in my garage so it rarely sits below freezing over night. I haven't put any additives (anti-gel, water removal, cetane boost, etc.) in my CTD yet. I'm just curious what other CTD owners are doing.

Thanks in advance.
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I've never added anything to the fuel this winter or the one last year. The coldest tempurature I saw this year was around -25 °C. The coldest one I saw last winter was -30 °C. Both times my Cruze started just fine. There's Esso stations in my area I use to fill up with Diesel. The station's fuel seems to be fairly well managed and used enough that I haven't had any gelling issues.
The 2014-2015 winter, we had to add Diesel-911 once, after a -16*F (ambient) night, the fuel gelled and the vehicle wouldn't start. I attribute this to not enough anti-gel put in the fuel at the station. Other times it got nearly that cold, we just put it in the garage, which is insulated, so no issues.

We haven't used anything else, though.
I run AMSOIL's Cetane Boost with every fill-up. I guess I'll be the test bed for doing this and see how things go as the mileage racks up.
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I run PowerService DieselKleen (silver) in the warm weather, and their Diesel Fuel Supplement (white) in the cold. Happy with the results so far as I've had 7,000 trouble free miles in the car.
BlueTopaz and CruzeDan,

It appears that you both have very low miles on your CTD's (less than 10,000 miles). So, why did you decide to use additives in the first place? Have you previously owned diesel vehicles and used additives in those vehicles, did you do some research and gained information that persuaded your decision, or did someone else convince you to use additives?

I am very interested to see how additives affect your performance.

By the way, from what I've read about cetane, if you suspect that the cetane in your fuel is low, then you can add cetane booster and that might make the engine run smoother and quieter. I am thinking about trying some cetane booster just to see if it make the car run quieter. Is that a good way to tell if you need cetane booster or not? Or am I worried about something that doesn't really matter anyway?
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BlueTopaz and CruzeDan,

It appears that you both have very low miles on your CTD's (less than 10,000 miles). So, why did you decide to use additives in the first place? Have you previously owned diesel vehicles and used additives in those vehicles, did you do some research and gained information that persuaded your decision, or did someone else convince you to use additives?

I am very interested to see how additives affect your performance.

By the way, from what I've read about cetane, if you suspect that the cetane in your fuel is low, then you can add cetane booster and that might make the engine run smoother and quieter. I am thinking about trying some cetane booster just to see if it make the car run quieter. Is that a good way to tell if you need cetane booster or not? Or am I worried about something that doesn't really matter anyway?

I have 25k on my Cruze diesel now. I have always ran AMSOIL Cetane boost in my previous 91 Jetta diesel. Diesel over here in the US is not of the best quality, at least that is how I see it. Over in Europe they have much better quality fuel than we do. Plus for the cost extra I don't think it is all that much and don't see what it can hurt other than maybe my wallet.
I have not used any additives and don't really plan too. I did use Power Service in a 95 Mercedes Diesel. When I read that GM doesn't recommend any additives I just assume they know about our engines than I do. The only exception I could see is if we have very very cold weather like -20 or colder and honestly if it gets that cold where I live I am ok to just stay home.
always parked outside, -50 is as cold as it will get

no additives ever.
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So, now with winter winding down, I thought I would inquire about diesel fuel additives.

1. Did you put any anti-gel additive in your Cruze TD this past winter?

2. Do you put any cleaning additive (to remove water, etc.) in your Cruze TD on a regular basis?

3. Do you put any cetane boost additive in your Cruze TD on a regular basis?

I live in northern Utah where the coldest temperature I saw at my house in the early morning was -14 °F. I park my car in my garage so it rarely sits below freezing over night. I haven't put any additives (anti-gel, water removal, cetane boost, etc.) in my CTD yet. I'm just curious what other CTD owners are doing.

Thanks in advance.
157K miles and I've never put anything but diesel in my tank. No issues whatsoever related to fuel. Started fine at -9F, which was the coldest temp I experienced.
So, now with winter winding down, I thought I would inquire about diesel fuel additives.

1. Did you put any anti-gel additive in your Cruze TD this past winter?

2. Do you put any cleaning additive (to remove water, etc.) in your Cruze TD on a regular basis?

3. Do you put any cetane boost additive in your Cruze TD on a regular basis?

I live in northern Utah where the coldest temperature I saw at my house in the early morning was -14 °F. I park my car in my garage so it rarely sits below freezing over night. I haven't put any additives (anti-gel, water removal, cetane boost, etc.) in my CTD yet. I'm just curious what other CTD owners are doing.

Thanks in advance.
I use Power Service (White bottle) when I am going to see temperatures -10F or lower. Better safe than sorry. I must also say I monitor the fuel rail temperature and it really warms up fast. (Not sure how fast the fuel temp in the tank comes up.)
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BlueTopaz and CruzeDan,

It appears that you both have very low miles on your CTD's (less than 10,000 miles). So, why did you decide to use additives in the first place? Have you previously owned diesel vehicles and used additives in those vehicles, did you do some research and gained information that persuaded your decision, or did someone else convince you to use additives?

I am very interested to see how additives affect your performance.

By the way, from what I've read about cetane, if you suspect that the cetane in your fuel is low, then you can add cetane booster and that might make the engine run smoother and quieter. I am thinking about trying some cetane booster just to see if it make the car run quieter. Is that a good way to tell if you need cetane booster or not? Or am I worried about something that doesn't really matter anyway?

I have 25k on my Cruze diesel now. I have always ran AMSOIL Cetane boost in my previous 91 Jetta diesel. Diesel over here in the US is not of the best quality, at least that is how I see it. Over in Europe they have much better quality fuel than we do. Plus for the cost extra I don't think it is all that much and don't see what it can hurt other than maybe my wallet.
I agree here. Diesel in the US isn't of the best quality, and it can vary greatly pump to pump. I researched, and decided that the qualities the PowerService additives possessed were worth the minimal cost (costs like $.50 a tank) and that when used as directed wouldn't do any damage to the vehicle. Mainly I wanted it to boost the lubricity of the fuel, but I also noticed the motor runs smoother and quieter with the boost in cetane. The summer additive also has injector cleaner, while the winter prevents gelling which are two qualities I wanted. I know GM doesn't recommend additives, but they say the same thing across the board now from transmissions to gas motors. I am confident in the PowerService products. I've used it from my first fill up with the car in every single tank since. I get my diesel from the same WaWa as well, since the local ambulance company does as well, guaranteeing the product is always pretty fresh. When I had my gas car I always used toptier fuel, I consider my additive in diesel along the same lines. You probably don't need an additive, but I like using it and like the results so far, and I don't worry about the couple of dollars cost. I'm still saving a ton over my 22 mpg H6 Subaru that used premium. Do some research on your own on the topic, while using our opinions here in the forum and you will find your answer! (The only additives I would stay away from are the ones that disperse the water through the system and through the injectors instead of helping the water/fuel separator.)
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I run saw (3)oz each AMSoil's Injector cleaner/lube and Cetane boost every fillup. 30,000 miles here.
So, now with winter winding down, I thought I would inquire about diesel fuel additives.

1. Did you put any anti-gel additive in your Cruze TD this past winter?

2. Do you put any cleaning additive (to remove water, etc.) in your Cruze TD on a regular basis?

3. Do you put any cetane boost additive in your Cruze TD on a regular basis?

I live in northern Utah where the coldest temperature I saw at my house in the early morning was -14 °F. I park my car in my garage so it rarely sits below freezing over night. I haven't put any additives (anti-gel, water removal, cetane boost, etc.) in my CTD yet. I'm just curious what other CTD owners are doing.

Thanks in advance.
1. No
2. No
3. No
My car is parked outside.
1. No
2. No
3. No
My car is parked outside.

1. yes
2. yes
3. yes

I live in real world northern ILL, a State where BioDiesel is mandated and B20 is common and the pumps mostly are NOT labeled for cetane or Biodiesel content! The town I live in holds the State record for lowest temp of -37 F, the low price diesel retailers i.e. Murphy next to Wally world sells diesel with very little anti-gel that it will not even pump from the pump when its +2 F outside. For old tech diesel I've always used Power Service with no fuel issues and shopped at high volume truck stop i.e. Petro. With new tech diesel i.e. Cruze with emission equipment and DFP I've switch to either Stanadyne, Howes, or Royal Purple "designer" expensive diesel conditioners as these seems to meet GM requirement for "emission equipment friendly", minimizes particulate matter, also of a "demulsifier" type so as to complement aidding the Cruze equipped water separator and yes you do have to drain the unit periodically. Frequency depends on quality of fuel and keeping the tank full during cold temps to minimize condensation. Lastly my vehicles sit outdoors all day/night long and they MUST reliably start when I'm ready to leave without the need to screw around cranking them until the battery is almost dead with starting fluid or the need to jump start.
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1. yes
2. yes
3. yes

I live in real world northern ILL, a State where BioDiesel is mandated and B20 is common and the pumps mostly are NOT labeled for cetane or Biodiesel content! The town I live in holds the State record for lowest temp of -37 F, the low price diesel retailers i.e. Murphy next to Wally world sells diesel with very little anti-gel that it will not even pump from the pump when its +2 F outside. For old tech diesel I've always used Power Service with no fuel issues and shopped at high volume truck stop i.e. Petro. With new tech diesel i.e. Cruze with emission equipment and DFP I've switch to either Stanadyne, Howes, or Royal Purple "designer" expensive diesel conditioners as these seems to meet GM requirement for "emission equipment friendly", minimizes particulate matter, also of a "demulsifier" type so as to complement aidding the Cruze equipped water separator and yes you do have to drain the unit periodically. Frequency depends on quality of fuel and keeping the tank full during cold temps to minimize condensation. Lastly my vehicles sit outdoors all day/night long and they MUST reliably start when I'm ready to leave without the need to screw around cranking them until the battery is almost dead with starting fluid or the need to jump start.
Lord help ya. I bet you and someone in the UP of Michigan compete for coldest temps. I'd be movin' to Florida. Ha. Do you have the optional oil pan heater?
Fortunately we had only one day(night) of -37 F that I can remember, Jan 15, 2009. Needless to say that I did not own the Cruze then but did own my F350 6.0L with block heater.:eusa_clap:

Nope don't have a block heater on the Cruze now but one is in the works for the near future, a add on tank type. But retirement is around the corner and the wife has mentioned Florida several times already. :grin:
Fortunately we had only one day(night) of -37 F that I can remember, Jan 15, 2009. Needless to say that I did not own the Cruze then but did own my F350 6.0L with block heater.:eusa_clap:

Nope don't have a block heater on the Cruze now but one is in the works for the near future, a add on tank type. But retirement is around the corner and the wife has mentioned Florida several times already. :grin:
I would have thought that Phoenix was higher on your list.
1. No
2. No
3. No

I have thought of trying Power Service for colder weather, just to see.
Duramax gets Power Service White bottle or Silver Bottle depending on time of yr, it seems happier
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