Fuel cleaners? do they work?

inlimboland

I was looking at some of those fuel cleaners in Halfords today
They claim to boost performance and increase fuel efficiency.
Do they work, specifically for diesel engines?

Midnight_EG

You mention Halfrauds, think about your statement now.

Seanieke

A wee drop of petrol in a tank of diesel does trhe same job!
Go syphon the lawnmower...

Bonito

Seanieke wrote: »

A wee drop of petrol in a tank of diesel does trhe same job!
Go syphon the lawnmower...

Friends dad has a diesel 2008 legacy and he puts a drop of petrol in the tank every 3rd 4th time he fills it

daithihalton

ive used dipetene available in most motor factors i get 610 miles to a tank full after using it its now gone to 630 miles not a lot but every bit helps runs smoother now too

testarossa40

I'm a number of months now using Dipetane in my 320D and quite honestly I'm seeing a marked improvement in economy in the order of ~60-100 miles a tank and so I highly recommend it. It took me running ~2-3 tank-fulls through before I was happy I was seeing a definite effect.

http://www.dipetane.ie/
- fairly good spread of retailers of the stuff too.

inlimboland

Where did you buy your dipetene, and how much did it cost do you remember?
Halfords or 'halfrauds' sells diesel complete fuel treatment STP brand for around 20 quid, would it do anything for my engine?
Ive noticed a bit of darker smoke from the exhaust in the mornings and fuel efficiency seems to be a little lower lately,
but maybe thats from the insane traffic on the quays in the evenings -last week one evening i averaged 21mpg from red cow area to northside via the quays in a passat diesel

mondeo

I'm not a fan of add ins... I use to use stp petrol treatment on an old Honda years back, suppose to clean out the injectors but I never really noticed alot of differance so I never used it again. Although I used STP engine treatment on a Rover 400 and it quitened down the tappets which was lovely.
Generally speaking off the shelf products like this may or may not work, it's sounds great what you read on the bottle and it does make you want to buy it. Will it benefit your car? Perhaps but I bet it more then likely won't do much.

Dipetene I have never used but thats great if it works for some here.

inlimboland

But there wouldnt be any side-effects would there?

daithihalton

I bought it in drogheda motor factors most good motorfactors will carry it you can buy it in a gallon can or litre bottle a litre is about 7 - 8 euro you wont need all of it so it can be used again

mondeo

inlimboland wrote: »

But there wouldnt be any side-effects would there?

No I have never noticed any side effects on the ones I used anyway.

inlimboland

Thanks for the replies lads

Mr.David

inlimboland wrote: »

But there wouldnt be any side-effects would there?

I've heard that some of them can damage seals.....not sure really.

testarossa40

inlimboland wrote: »

Where did you buy your dipetene, and how much did it cost do you remember?
Halfords or 'halfrauds' sells diesel complete fuel treatment STP brand for around 20 quid, would it do anything for my engine?
Ive noticed a bit of darker smoke from the exhaust in the mornings and fuel efficiency seems to be a little lower lately,
but maybe thats from the insane traffic on the quays in the evenings -last week one evening i averaged 21mpg from red cow area to northside via the quays in a passat diesel

~€20 for a 2 litre bottle iirc. Which you dilute 1:200 - the bottle has handy marks along the side showing how much to add per 10 litres fuel.

Check out the "Motor Factor Shops" page in the link I gave you and "Download list of shops in Ireland..." link therein - I buy mine in D Rikards in the Milll Centre Clondalkin btw.

I should mention that you would need to use this continuously to get any benefits - not every 5,000 miles or whatever like STP etc - and the bulk of my driving is 30 miles per day M50 commuting cruising behind 85kph muppets in the overtaking lane. If I was city driving etc my mpg would drop like a stone tbh as it would for most TDIs.

JHMEG

Ironic that petrol is being recommended to clean up emissions from diesels!

mondeo

JHMEG wrote: »

Ironic that petrol is being recommended to clean up emissions from diesels!

you can use kerosene aswell

Dr Kamikazi

Back in Germany we put up to 20% petrol into the diesel to stop it freezing when temperatures dropped to below -20c. Would also give quite a boost to performance.
How long your engine will do this I'm not sure.:cool:
10-15% would be a more sane figure.
This may have changed with "modren" engine management systems who may not take kindly to this sort of fuel mixture.
But once you have one of the old mechanical fuel pump type diesels, it's ok.
Along with turning up the pump a few notches. Again, more poke plus James Bond style smoke screen when you put the pedal to the metal.
Probably none of these are a good idea with modern engines I'd like to stress again.

shaywest

my pajero failed the n.c.t. a couple of weeks ago smoke test 3.65g
when the limit is 3.00g i poured in a full bottle of dipeatane and about half a gallon of petrol into a full tank .then i drove the arse out of it for a half hour before i retested it
result! 1.72g sailed through
no joking!

Matt Simis

Cant find it now, but there was an article about the fallacy of using petrol in diesel cars (modern diesels) for cleaning/performance benefit.


On Dipetane, I use it from time to time, it cleans up smoke output but its a fuel treatment not a fuel cleaner. The best fuel cleaner Ive found it Redline S1 Fuel Injector Cleaner. You can get it for around EUR12 off the shelf from Couture Auto in Dunboyne, infact they stock nearly all the Redline stuff, very handy and cheap.

NLane

would anyone recommend using these sort of products continuously? or just now and then? im driving an '07 car, would there be much need for me to use these or are they only beneficial for older cars whose fuel systems prob havnt been cleaned in years if at all?

Seanieke

NLane wrote: »

would anyone recommend using these sort of products continuously? or just now and then?

Just now and again, give the system a cleanout