Diesel Fuel Additives

Sounds like the cheap fuel is gelling from the cold. Any diesel additive advertised to reduce gelling (Stanadyne, Power Service, etc) should do the trick.

I will try to find that here. I was told that they do not really sell those additives here. I was wondering about common stuff I may be able to add like Alcohol or if "Heat Gasoline fuel additives" would work. I read the label for "Heat" and it said not for diesel engines so I didnt buy it. I also read on the internet where people added trans fluid to thier diesel fuel. What is the purpose of that?

Thanks Pat

Stanadyne should be best because they also make OE diesel injection equipment.

I was wondering about common stuff I may be able

Try up to 25% kerosene. Add about a quart of engine oil to every 40 gallonsUS or so of kerosene used to maintain pump lubrication but this is not critical unless you run neat kerosene. Beware that in some areas running low taxed kerosene in a road vehicle might be illegal.

I also read on the internet where people added trans fluid to

This should only be done occasionally to clean the injectors and reduce smoke, especially at a cold start. It does work.

Huw

The big difference between summer diesel and winter diesel is the use of polymeric additives which are sometimes referred to as wax crystal modifiers, pour point depressants, etc. These materials keep dissolved wax from forming snotty gels when the temperature drops.

Alcohol can make the problem worse, since waxes are driven out of solution by alcohols. Alcohol is okay for dealing with water in gasoline, but not much help for wax in diesel.

Hydraulic fluids can have the same types of wax problems that diesel fuel has. (Notice I said CAN, not DO. Depends upon the type of fluid, degree of refinement, etc)

Wax crystal modifiers are rather special chemicals and you normally don't just pick them up on any corner. They are a part of some diesel additives formulations however. You would be best off to find a commercial product to add to your diesel, if possible.

If I got REALLY desperate and had to cobble up something, there is one commonly available material that might do what you want. Post back to me if you want to know what it is.

It sounds like the American stuff is diesel #2, and the Korean fuel is diesel #1.

I thought kerosene could reduce gelling with diesel #2. Or at least that's what I read in a Mercedes-Benz 300D-Turbo owner's manual years back. They recommended adding kerosene to diesel in certain proportions depending on the lowest ambient temps.

So exactly what is it about diesel #1 that means better cold temperature performance? And why isn't it sold much in the US? Cost? Supply?

Let's assume that wax is the main problem in the winter, kerosene might dilute the wax enough to keep it from gelling.

In cold climates, the additives are incorporated at the refinery.

The cost of these antiwaxing additives is not really so high. Depending upon the type, we are talking in the range of a buck a pound, give or take.

The treatment rate is in the range of 100 ppm to 1000 ppm, widely speaking.

We are presently selling one of these materials to refineries in a very cold part of the world.

These chemicals need to be added while the fuel is still warm (warm enough that the wax has not started to form crystals).

I have posted to you under your private email address..

Maybe I'm thinking outside the box a little too far, but I have a question that hasn't been answered by anybody's post.

Are we talking about the same vehicle here? If we are, then my next question is are you putting your vehicle on a boat and running it both here and in Korea? Or are you taking US diesel fuel to Korea and burning it or are you bringing Korean diesel fuel to the US and burning it in the same vehicle??

If you have two different vehicles, we're talking about apples and oranges here.....

Just a guess but he may have access to military fuel imported from the US for US use.

Huw

I am in the US Army stationed in Korea driving a Korean Van. I can fill up on base with Diesel Fuel that comes from the US. It costs about $2.50 a gallon. If I fill up with Korean Diesel from off post, it costs about $4.35 That is about a 25 dollar difference on each fill up. I dont have any tempature problems with the Korean Diesel. With American Diesel, I often have problems in the very early morning when it is cold but they go away in the afternoon when it warms up. I think the Korean Fuel Companies must put some type of additive in their fuel. I am going to try to mix one gallon of kerosene with 9 gallons of American Diesel and see what happens.

Pat

Okay, that explains how you get both types of diesel for the same vehicle. I'm going to GUESTIMATE that because your diesel might have to have specs for military vehicles that it's the American diesel that has an additive that might be making it run different. Maybe the military demands that #1 diesel is mixed with #2 diesel so that it cannot gel in the cold weather. If so, and the Korean diesel does not have any anti-gel specifications, the American diesel with have less horsepower out of it verses the Korean diesel. Just a guess. Got access to the specs that the military demands from the diesel supplier?

Diesel is an internationally traded commodity and I doubt there is much difference between Korean or US fuel, even in sulphur level. The probable difference is that the US fuel is summer fuel with a cloud point around 0C while the Korean is winter fuel with -9C or lower cloud point. The additive package that alters this can be added at the terminal. It is not a great issue in the UK any more but at one time summer fuel had a cloud point of

+5C and filters plugged at about 0C and this has now been improved. Also most modern motor vehicles are now fitted with cold weather packs consisting of cold start aids and fuel line heaters.

This particular post is mostly speculation as I have no knowledge of conditions in Korea or specific knowledge of the fuels concerned.

Huw

Hi Huw....

I agree with you 100%. I think the On Base US Fuel is summer fuel and the Korean is Winter Fuel. So I am asking what I can add to the summer fuel to lower the cloud point. I am going to try to add 1 gallon of Kerosene to 9 Gallons of the Summer Diesel and see if that helps eliminating my cold weather starts.

Pat

As we discussed before, the kerosene may do the trick. Otherwise you will have to look for effective pour point depressants. Shell, Exxon, BASF and others manufacture these polymeric additives.