Fuel additives - any good or snake oil?

[Bren]

Having looked around for diesel additive - they range in price from a couple of quid up to around £20 - I wonder do these things really make any difference?

 

My local garage offers the forte treatment, but does it actually work?

 

Many moons ago the guy at the local rolling road told me that redex fuel injector cleaner does clean injectors, but you would think that the additives in modern fuel would make this redundant by now.

 

Does anybody know?

[doug]

I keep track of my mpg every fill up and have done for 3 years ( got an excel spreadsheet thingy). Here is a little bit of it. The mpg is the first numbers followed by price per litre, price per gallon,pence per mile, and total miles on clock. As you can see mpg went up a bit after adding redex, but it didnt last for long. Redex was on special offer in Tescos for £2.00 at the time.

 

56.9 1.38 £6.26 £0.11 115976

54.7 1.39 £6.31 £0.12 116275

58.8 1.38 £6.27 £0.11 116749

60.0 1.36 £6.17 £0.10 117212

57.2 1.36 £6.17 £0.11 117633

58.9 1.38 £6.27 £0.11 118090

58.9 1.38 £6.27 £0.11 118534 plus redex

59.1 1.40 £6.36 £0.11 119042 plus redex

60.6 1.43 £6.49 £0.11 119557

60.0 1.43 £6.49 £0.11 120027

58.6 1.39 £6.32 £0.11 120536 5p off

59.7 1.37 £6.23 £0.10 120995 5p off fitted eco tyres

57.1 1.40 £6.36 £0.11 121429 oil+filter change

60.7 1.38 £6.26 £0.10 121876

[Formula Autos]

I have used Redex Diesel Treatment as well in my Mondiesel (again, when it was in Tesco for £2 a bottle). According to the car's own Computermabob there was a slight improvement in MPG - checked over a regular run I do for work. I didn't do any sums though, I just trusted what the car told me. Being a tightarse I didn't use the amount of Redex the label stated either - I used about half that per tankful.

 

The car also seemed a bit more responsive on the throttle. That could have been a Placebo effect though, as it was the only time I tried to take any real notice of how it drove.

 

In summary: inconclusive. It may help a bit.

[dollywobbler]

From what I've read, Forte and Millers are the ones to use. Have considered it but have never made the plunge. Don't think it's going to cure my BX's many faults. It makes Dot Cotton look smoke-free.

[skattrd]

With petrol injection engines I do use it occasionally. Mostly when I get a car, a tank of v-power and a bottle of redline fuel system cleaner or similar to hopefully clean some the injectors a bit.

With diesel/veg powered motors I don't put it in the tank. When I do a fuel filter change I fill the new filter with "diesel magic" or similar.

 

I've not got any figures or proof of it doing any good, but adding some once in a while keeps me happy.

[andrew e]

New fuel filter, new air filter, clean oil, then try an additive! Forte works very well on diesels though.

[trigger]

I use BG244, expensive stuff but works well, It's what the diesel specialists use.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BG244-BG-244- ... 337ef9951f

[garbaldy]

the old pug 306 failed its mot last year on emissions one bottle of forte and a good thrash saw it pass a week later.

now im not sure that was down to the magic liquid or the thrashing, as i drove it flatoot all the time i will say the forte stuff worked.

 

i use 200ml of two smoke oil in a tank of dizzle on the hippo and its mpg computer has rissen from 24 to 25.9 mpg

[Danblez]

I use BG244, expensive stuff but works well, It's what the diesel specialists use.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BG244-BG-244- ... 337ef9951f

 

Another vote for this quietened down my 150k focus no end and saw about about 5mpg improvement. Improvement doesn't last that long though.

[dieselnutjob]

I have been using Millers Diesel Clean for years and years, mostly because it improves the lubricity of the fuel which should make injection components last longer. In fact I have never had a single pump or injector fail on any of my cars using the stuff, but who's to say it I would have anyway.

Wife's 806 is near 220,000 miles and still on original tank pump and high pressure pump (previous owner knackered the injectors, but the used replacements have been there 100,000).

Also my diesels always pass the emissions test on first pass which I put down to the Millers.

[forddeliveryboy]

Veg oil or biodiesel improves the fuel lubricity, it's what replaces sulphur in modern forecourt fuel.

 

Dribble of water into the carb on tick over (engine hot) to steam clean the engine's insides - or bugger the thing completely if you don't get it right (the veg oil people use steam or water injection to recover otherwise lost engines due to poor veg combustion and sticking rings) - and a drop of Acetone in the fuel. The really effective additive for diesel engines is cetane improver if you're somehow reducing the fuel's cetane number, 2-ethylhexyl nitrate (2-EHN).

 

Most additives are a few solvents mixed in a kero base - if you use much supermarket fuel then they will probably help.

 

My diesels always pass the emissions test first time, which I put down to veg oil.

[Pete-M]

Forté works on petrols. I used some today on a car that hadn't run for a good few years until yesterday. It ran a lot better once the Forté stuff had got through it.

[Guest]

I sell both Forte and BG. I genuinely believe they work and use the stuff in my own vehicles once every 10k miles.

[dean36014]

I've been using the Wurth stuff for years. I had an ldv van with the pug diesel engine in that failed its mot spectacularly on emissions even after an italian tune up. One bottle of Wurth injector cleaner and a 10 mile run and it went through easily. Also use a little 2 stroke oil in the diesel occasionally which seems to make the car run smoother.