fuel additives

Discussion in 'Trucks [ Eighteen Wheelers ]' started by seabring, Apr 24, 2011.

  1. seabring

    seabring Road Train Member

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    hi all, got a question about fuel additives such as howes meaner cleaner and the lucas brand additives and similar. does anybody use them and if you do have you found they help your fuel consumption? i have tried the lucas brand additive in one tank of fuel so far and didnt notice a great deal of difference in mpg. i am thinking it might need to be used more to see a noticeable difference, though its not cheap stuff, so i thought if anyone uses them and has had positive results i would like to hear your experience. what brand youve used and the mpg improvement, if any, that you have had. any info is appreciated. thanks .
     
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  3. heavyhaulerss

    heavyhaulerss Road Train Member

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    I have used the lucas fuel treatment & have always had positive results. I fill my filter all the way with lucas, when changing my filter & pour the rest ii the tanks at fill up. always noticed better starting & always better m.p.g. I have tried others, but never saw a verifiable improvement like lucas.
     
  4. Bent Wrench

    Bent Wrench Medium Load Member

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    If you think a few ounces of something dumped into 100+ gallons of fuel will make even the slightest difference you will soon be parted from your cash.
     
  5. T-Bone

    T-Bone Bobtail Member

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    when i had my truck i would use diesel clean cetane booster (gray bottle not white) in both tanks on every other fill and it made a good difference especially noticed when at an idle but milage was usually on average half to one mpg better after i started using regularly but every truck is different
     
    dloving8915 Thanks this.
  6. rollin coal

    rollin coal Road Train Member

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    I do the same thing heavyhauler does when I change my fuel filters. My fuel tanks are always full at the house and when I leave out on that first trip after servicing I always get a couple of tenths better mpg's on that tankful. I don't know if it's just the fresh filters, the lucas, or combination of both but my mpg's always surprisingly check out above normal on that first tankful afterwards. Never do put any of it in the tanks on other fillups though, just on filter changes. Other than that I might dump some Howes in there if the outside ambient temp gets below 10* F but that's probably overkill. I never really had a problem with fuel filters clogging up until I saw temps below -25* F which are temps I rarely see in fact only once in the past 11 years thankfully.
     
  7. SHC

    SHC Spoiled Rotten Brat O/O

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    I use Lucas once a month and it helps me get better MPG by say 3/10ths...
    I believe it helps clean the injectors, and get you better MPG. I just use it to help keep the lines clear and free of debris and gunk from this ULSD

    As for Power Service, I have used it a few times and I actually got WORSE MPG but it was also -30* outside so that could have been a issue too. I only use it when i can't get Lucas
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2011
  8. seabring

    seabring Road Train Member

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    Well actually its two quarts of additive to 300 gallons of fuel. And i can tell you that certain additives are neccesary if you operate in the extremely cold conditions I have to operate in. i can only assume you have not had to operate in these cold temps, if you had you would know that "a few ounces" of additive will save you "a few hundred dollars" getting towed to a heated shop after your fuel has gelled and you cant start your engine. I asked this question as i know that the brands i asked about have additives that are very effective in cold weather operation and i wanted to hear other peoples experiences with the other types of products these brands offer. this section of the site is for genuine comments about trucks and engines, If you are going to respond to a post in this section at least offer an opinion worth reading based on actual experience.
     
    rjones56, Bob's Buzz and SHC Thank this.
  9. Kellyb

    Kellyb Light Load Member

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    Save your used motor oil and pour up to a gallon in your fuel tank when you fill up with fuel. There' a chart around somewhere where they took all the common additives and did a full evaluation and comparison with them. IIRC used oil scored right up there with any of them.

    edit: Having said that I did a search on the topic and some people say it'll screw up your injectors:

    http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...eelers/71067-using-old-motor-oil-in-fuel.html
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2011
  10. bellydumper

    bellydumper Light Load Member

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    Thats what I use. It goods for the fuel cause it gots that ulsd formula! :yes2557:
     
  11. rjones56

    rjones56 Heavy Load Member

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    I use Howes or Lucas regularly.Mileage is where I can tell a difference.Usually 3/10s to half a mile better.Sat down one weekend after a discussion and it worked out that I saved the cost of the additive times two.
     
    Oram Thanks this.
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