Are [diesel] fuel additives any good?

dbrunson

Hi just wondering if anyone has experience in whether putting and diesel flush/system cleaner in your car will help prevent any dpf issues? car is a qashqai 1.5.

or is stuff snake oil and will a fsh and correct driving technique suffice?

thks

sebastianlieken

you hear mixed reviews.

iirc, 5th gear did a test where whey compared a bunch of them and none gave any benefit.

Dad tried that Diapetane in his 1.9 tdi passat bluemotion and there was zero difference.

In order to keep your DPF in order but you're driving mostly quick short trips, you'd be wise to take the car once in a while to stretch it's legs on a motorway for 15 mins plus to allow the regenerative cycle to kick in and complete it's job.

Bpmull

I researched in to them last year as I was going to use some in my focus. I decided against it in the end as the 1.6 Psa engine is fussy at the best of times and considered it more of a risk than benefit. I'd probably have the same opinion on a 1.5 dci qashqai. Where as a throughing a drop into a vag 1.9tdi is no harm as it's an older style Diesel engine.

IMO the best way to keep the engine in top condition is service it on time or before the interval, buy decent diesel, and use decent oil and parts when servicing. If all this is done I see little benefit to throughing in a general fuel additive. However there is specific additives just for dpf they may be worth using but I never looked into them as my car has no dpf. Again though if your driving style is correct and suits a diesel in the first place you should have no trouble with the dpf well not till very high kms at least.

bbbaldy

Have never heard anybody say that they have helped or fixed a problem in a car. Its for that reason I'm out.

magentis

i wouldnt trust em either tbh,an engine flush is a good idea every oil change though.
making sure the correct oil is used is alot more important.
although if you service it well within the schedule less than 10000kms i wouldnt bother with the engine flush.

tossy

The best additive for fuel is Air + spark

zilog_jones

I've used Dipetane for a while and although I'm still on the fence about fuel economy improvements, it's certainly not making it worse.

It does however reduce smoke dramatically. Normally I have to push it quite hard to see any smoke ('02 Peugeot 406 2.0 HDI), but with Dipetane I barely see any even when flooring it at high revs. The NCT smoke test also showed a significant difference - with Dipetane it did 0.19m^-1, whereas without the results were 1.28m^-1.

I don't have a DPF, but if Dipetane means your engine producing less smoke then surely it'll mean your DPF has less work to do and is less likely to get clogged up?

It is safe to use on modern common-rail diesel engines.

TheHappyChappy

zilog_jones wrote: »

I've used Dipetane for a while and although I'm still on the fence about fuel economy improvements, though it's certainly not making it worse.

It does however reduce smoke dramatically. Normally I have to push it quite hard to see any smoke ('02 Peugeot 406 2.0 HDI), but with Dipetane I barely see any even when flooring it at high revs. The NCT smoke test also showed a significant difference - with Dipetane it did 0.19m^-1, whereas without the results were 1.28m^-1.

I don't have a DPF, but if Dipetane means your engine producing less smoke then surely it'll mean your DPF has less work to do and is less likely to get clogged up?

It is safe to use on modern common-rail diesel engines.

Ditto - not sure about more fuel economy - if any its slight

It does reduce smoke

I use Dipetane all the time in my 20yr old motor (van) and have a definite improvement of about 10% MPG increase, quieter engine and minor torque loss. I also flush the engine when changing oil and put in some tappet-be-quiet-juice which makes the lifters not tick for about 4000 miles. Tempted to try two-stroke as a cheaper Dipetane alternative. Regular servicing & filters, suspension firming, tracking alignment, square tyre pressure, correct belt tension, driving slower and other tinkerings I've got my machine from 24MPG when I bought her to 36MPG and I've added 3/4 ton payload and a permanent high profile roof rack.

zilog_jones

I don't think two-stroke oil is going to do any favours for a DPF as it's only going to increase soot.

I think it would be a bad idea to use it in a car with a DPF unless you're doing high mileage with regular complete regeneration cycles, where apparently some people have had success.

I believe if you have the proper diagnostics equipment for your car (sorry not sure what you'd need for Renault/Nissan engines) you should be able to get some information about how your DPF is working. Getting the cables and software can be a bit expensive but it'll probably work out cheaper in the long run compared to taking it to a mechanic (or even worse - a main dealer) and will certainly be less than a new DPF.

TheHappyChappy

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

I use Dipetane all the time in my 20yr old motor (van) and have a definite improvement of about 10% MPG increase, quieter engine and minor torque loss. I also flush the engine when changing oil and put in some tappet-be-quiet-juice which makes the lifters not tick for about 4000 miles. Tempted to try two-stroke as a cheaper Dipetane alternative. Regular servicing & filters, suspension firming, tracking alignment, square tyre pressure, correct belt tension, driving slower and other tinkerings I've got my machine from 24MPG when I bought her to 36MPG and I've added 3/4 ton payload and a permanent high profile roof rack.

Cheers for the info & link to article
Im going to give the 2stroke a go and give dipetane a break cheers

Let me know how it works for you. I've a gallon of Dipetane to burn through for the time being. I've heard that if you're already using 2-stroke then Dipetane has no fuel economy benefit.