Best fuel additive for 1995 ram 3500 12v
 

I was curious to see what would be the best fuel additive for my 12 valve. I want to keep her running strong and healthy and want to get the most out of her please let me know thanks!

hey dude, i use power service or lucas in mine

That stuff that looks kind of tannish right? And is in the clear bottle? I also have recently started using that

Define "best."

i use power service in mine

I use PowerService in my '03 but for the old 12-valves, I've heard nothing beats a couple ounces of automatic transmission fluid. A small bottle of 2-cycle oil is also supposed to keep em running happy. Unfortunately, my common rail injection pressures are way too high to use any kind of "heavy oils" like those without risking pump/injector damage, or I would be.

Hmmmmm thank you I never knew any of that would help whst exactly does it do???

Dieseldude, didn't you just have another thread recently about some issue with failed injectors?

Yep. Unfortunately, that was me. Still feeling the sting from that one.:ouch:

At least in my case it wasn't totally unexpected. The 03-04 Common rail Dodges are kinda known to have injector issues. No one really really knows why. Some say it's the fact the injectors weren't engineered with ULSD in mind, while others say it's a lack of filtration.

Some people get lucky and don't have any trouble. Though my type of failure is documented by the Cummins Engineering team, mine failed in a different way than most go out. At least I got 102,000 miles out of 'em. Heard of some guys having to replace them at 60,000!:scare2:

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It's an old truck driver's trick. Supposedly it lubes the pump and injectors and changes the burn rate of the fuel for an increase in fuel mileage. There's a few threads on here about the use of 2-cycle oil and such as additives.

I've been running a 70/30 mix of WMO/2-stroke at a 60-to-1 treat rate in my '07 for almost two years/20k miles. I see no issues with running that type add in a commonrail. Engine runs smooth and quiet. I don't recommend Powerservice due to the largely solvent-like petroleum distillate nature of it. It ranks lower for lubricity properties than almost all other diesel fuel treatments. If I had to take a wild-assed guess as to what happened to your injectors I'd be considering the Powerservice.

Really? I always thought it was pretty good stuff, though it smells like hell if you spill any on ya! Good reviews and even a big article on it in Diesel Power magazine a while back, though I've been using it long before that came out.

Do you have any recommendations on a commercially available additive? I'm just not brave enough to try the heavy oils. I've read of several people on other forums having major issues and know one guy personally who blew the seals out of his CP3 just 500 miles after adding ATF to his fuel, though I don't know what concentration he used.

Bio is best, Opti-lube next. I've heard Shaeffers Diesel treat is good. I have an irrational fear of Bio. I believe the commercial fuel treats are way overpriced. Anything that lubes the fuel system can't be bad, all you are doing is burning it. The treat rate I run is quadruple what most recommend for 2-stroke, but my Cat is no longer installed. I also run W/M for among other things, the side benefit of combustion chamber cleaning.

Lots of things to consider, pick your poison.

I'm surprised how many say Shaeffers Diesel is good and that Power Service is not becasue it uses petroleum distillate. But if you look at the MSDS for Shaeffers you will find out they to also use petroleum distillate just like Power Service. How is it Shaeffers can use petroleum distillate and be good but when Power Service uses petroleum distillate its bad?

Almost without exception, they all use petroleum distillates. Whether or not they put anything else in to give it any decent lube propertires is anyone's guess. The fact that they start with what amount to refinery waste in the first place is why I say they are overpriced crap to begin with, regardless.

JMHO. I'm sure there's plenty of Amsoil, Chevron and Schaeffer's peddlers out there who will disagree. Whatever.

Here's a link...Opti-Lube Advanced Lubricants... to the additive that tested best for lubricity in what's called a "reciprocating rig". I've used it in my '09 Duramax since I purchased it back in October. Can't say what it's doing for me really because I have no benchmark (Since I've always used it in this truck). However, I'm getting fifteen and a half miles per gallon in mixed driving, and strictly highway mileage is twenty two. That's not bad for pushing around an almost seven thousand pound vehicle, and perhaps the additive has something to do with that.

A big test done a while back by TDR showed that 2% biodiesel was the best followed by a few ounces of two stroke oil and then all of the other expensive additives.

I love my howes in my 97 12v has never let me down and #2 and howes started in -44*F only plugged in for like 30min

I have been using 2 cycle oil for the past 4 years 60/1 ratio. I like the results, quieter, the exhaust smells like a diesel......:tu: .Can't say it does any good but then again, I can't say that the vitamin pill I take every day helps either. Time will tell I guess. I use Howes when I go north in the winter, never let me down even when I forgot to plug her in one night @ 14 degrees. Took a little longer to start, but it did.