Thread: Diesel Additives

Before adding 2 stroke to your diesel, consider reading the following. It's from South Africa but relevant.

http://www.fuelexpert.co.za/2-stroke...ical-study.php

For those that don't want to read the whole document, here is the conclusion.

At a 200:1 volumetric blending ratio, 2-stroke oil has a negligible effect on diesel lubricity.
All diesel fuel sold in South Africa has to meet the SANS 342:2014 lubricity specification to ensure the proper protection of diesel fuel pumps and injector systems.
The low sulphur diesel products sold by Sasol contain lubricity improver additives which are far more effective than 2-stroke oil.
At a 200:1 volumetric blending ratio, 2-stroke oil has a negligible effect on diesel cetane number.
No measurable effect on all other regulated diesel properties was measured at a 200:1 dose of 2-stroke oil in diesel.
2-stroke oil can contain around 16ppm zinc, or higher depending on the formulation and batch.
Trace amounts of zinc in diesel are known to rapidly accelerate injector nozzle deposits.
Engine test results show that a 200:1 blend of 2-stroke oil in diesel results in a 2% loss of engine power in a 16 hour test due to injector fouling, a risk that would apply to any common rail diesel engine, but could also worsen fouling in older engines.
Vehicles fitted with a diesel particulate filter (DPF) in the exhaust system could experience reduced DPF life due to the collection of ash and metal based contaminants in the filter over time with the continued use of 2-stroke oil.

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Interesting, i've read it all, i can't argue with a scientific study, i dont even want to, IMO the gist of the whole article is in this statement: "The 2-stroke oils used in the study were also analysed for metal content and high levels of zinc and other metals were found in the oils tested." ... they should have clearely said what type of oil they tested though... cos that's why i highlighted mineral, cos at least all mineral 2 stroke oils i've seen(and put in the tank) were zinc free

On the assumption that the Shell/BP/Caltex Chemical Engineers do a damn good job, and an additive may not be necessary in a clean engine, which Diesel is best, if any ?

In regards to the zinc in two stroke oil, they used 2 mineral oils in their test and found trace elements of zinc in them. They didn't say if the oils were proclaiming to be "zinc free" or not but zinc is present in almost all mineral oils, its left over after the refining process. I don't think manufacturers would go out of their way to remove the zinc as it is a good thing to have in a 2 stroke engine and after all, that is its intended market use.

As for what diesel fuel to buy, before everyone jumps in and says "I always get x better economy from using y brand if diesel and my car runs like crap when I use z brand diesel", I'll just put this out there.
There are only 4 refineries in Australia, a caltex in QLD there's a bp in WA and the other 2 are Mobil and vitol in Vic. I've been to a refinery when I first did my fuel quality control lab course (now closed down) and have personally seen the trucks from different companies filling up from the same dispense point. Some then have their own additive bowser depending on what fuel they are taking on (ulp as well as diesel) which they use to dose the fuel they have just taken on. Eg. For premium fuel.
So most of the fuel from different companies comes from the same refinery.
In saying that more than 60% of Australia's diesel comes from Singapore, so no matter how close you are to a refinery you may not be "buying Australian". I would say that as the refineries are all in southern states, you are more likely to get fuel from one of those refineries if you live close to them and you are more likely to get fuel from Singapore if you live in the top end due to the cost if transport.

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There are many kind of 2 stroke oils, maybe using the unproper one would cause trouble, but those developped for 2 stroke diesel engines are zinc free and that's what i'm using, here's a list of how many kinds of 2 stroke oils are on the market: 2 - Stroke Oils | Products | Leboy Oil

The tests show that adding 2 stroke to the diesel had no positive effects with the possibility that over time it would be detrimental to the engine. I won't buy into the argument that you have to specifically use "zinc free" 2st to get the results. In fact most if the forums I have seen spruiking the benefits of adding 2 stroke only recommend a JASO FC spec oil which is 'low' zinc. If the 2 stroke oil you are using genuinely has zero zinc content then you may avoid blocking the injector nozzles compared to a higher zinc 2st but like I said, according to the tests it does nothing to improve the lubricity or fuel economy over straight pump diesel which is what most people are claiming.

Until someone does a proper test like this to show any benefit to adding 2 stroke to diesel, I won't use it. I'd much rather use a proper additive like chemtech.

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Originally Posted by Rick122

There are only 4 refineries in Australia, a caltex in QLD there's a bp in WA and the other 2 are Mobil and vitol in Vic. I've been to a refinery when I first did my fuel quality control lab course (now closed down) and have personally seen the trucks from different companies filling up from the same dispense point. Some then have their own additive bowser depending on what fuel they are taking on (ulp as well as diesel) which they use to dose the fuel they have just taken on. Eg. For premium fuel.
So most of the fuel from different companies comes from the same refinery.

Rick - the important point is the fuel refineries can produce different blends to different specifications for different customers. It is the additives that some fuel companies add where the differentiation can take place even if the base stock comes from the same refinery (local or imported). And some fuel distributors add lower cost input components to sell a lower grade fuel at the same price which can result in engine damage in the worse situations. David.

As far as i know, all the fuel sold here has to meet a certain specification. So as long as it meets or exceeds that specification (which is a lot higher than some other countries), we should be confident that the fuel we are putting in our tank is to a high standard. There should be no perceptible difference in quality between various companies fuel, especially given that a lot of companies use the exact same fuel. The additives are only for premium fuels not for plain old diesel.

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