Cetane

[Jdrobone]

My 2010 Fort Powerstroke manual sez that the minimum Cetane rating of diesel fuel for use in this motor is 45. I have only found 45 at Hess stations here in Virginia. Has anyone noticed any difference in performance/mileage when using the different Cetane ratings (mostly 40). I see in some posts that towing mileage is 10 or so, which is what I get, but I don't get anywhere near 16 or 17 when not towing. I still have less than 5000 miles on the truck (F-350FWD) so the fact that it's not really broken in yet has to have some impact.
Regards, Jerry and Sandy

[William H. Collier]

I was just in a couple of weeks ago to have mine serviced and it was the first time the service manager mentioned anything about Cetane. I have a little over 26000 miles on mine and it has always been serviced at the dealer where I purchased it. This time he asked me if I have been using a Cetane booster, my response was no, I did not think I needed to. He advised me that it was highly recommended as the Cetane rating in the mid-west was only 35-37 and Ford recommeds 45. He also told me very few pumps have a rating on them, I did a little checking and could not find a one. I added some on my last fill up and will see what happens, it may be just me but it does seem to run better around town.
Bill

[richfaa]

Yes you need to use the Cetane booster with the new diesel motors. Diesel fuel comes out of the refinery at @ 40 cetane and these new trucks like 45 or better. That is a little known fact because many folks never read the owners manual. We use Shell Premium when we can find it as it has a Cetane rating of 45+.We use Power service diesel Kleen which can be purchased at Wallmart. The truck runs better at the proper cetane rating. Google "Cetane" for why the truck will run better..

[washley1]

My dealer recently had me start Cetane in my F350. The exhaust regen was going off every 50 miles, towing or not. Only on my second tank with the additive, so not sure yet if it is working, but the regen is not as frequent already. Putting in 4 oz for every 25 gals of fuel, getting it at the Ford dealer, so far.

[kmh3212]

I buy the Motorcraft cetane booster by the case at http://www.dieselfiltersonline.com/
The engine seems quieter and I seem to get 1-1.5 miles per gallon increase.
Use this link http://www.dieselfiltersonline.com/P...a-Pm-22-A.aspx

[8e3k0]

All you have to do to increase the cetane number (not index) is add Bio Diesel made from soybean or Canola and the cetane number will jump to an area of 45 to 67. Be very careful; cetane is not the only answer and by having a higher number beyond what is required for ignition is a waste of dollars. Basically cetane is there to ensure you fire/ ignite as close to TDC of that piston as possible. Cetane numbered products are combined of alkyl nitrates that will provide additional oxygen for ignition at the right time in sequence to your crank and piston position. Please watch for adds that state words like "should", "may" etc. in their claims for "better performance". Some of the largest Oil Companies that mine and extrude crude to refine and produce diesel do not use or addd any additives to their equipment and attain 16,000 to 20,000 hours on their diesel engines of all types and various manufactures (similar to 500,000 to 750,000 hard road miles). To conclude: they simply use good maintenance programs ( oil analysis, freguency of changes) with no additives and they consume the fuel they manufacture!

[richfaa]

We are only refering to the new diesel motors 2007 and up.Older motors need no additivs and will run on any diesel. Soybean or Canola is hard to come by ..I have not yet seen a station that had it... Interesting information in the post..

[Tom S.]

Around here (Michigan) not only is Soybean or Canola based bio diesel is hard to come by, bio diesel in general is hard to find. I would run it if I could find it without having to drive 50 miles, not because of the cetane boost, but because it also provides better lubricity than ultra low sulfur diesel does.

[8e3k0]

In the above I am refering to trucks and engines (diesel) that are no older than 2.5 to 3 years. This is in the north's tarsands/refinery operations, not biodiesel. These companies do not keep any "old iron" around anymore, they simply go to the auction block after that many hours. We must remember this equipment runs 24/7 year around other than down for maintenance, and that's around 8500 hours per year when you include down time for maint.

[richfaa]

Ford says no more than 5% bio and actually would rather you did not use it????? I would try it if we had access to it.

[Delaine and Lindy]

I have ran Bio-Diesel in most of the Trucks we have owned and haven't had a issue. However at the time I don't have a Truck with the DPF system. I know a lot of the Class 8 Trucks are running Bio-Diesel, guess it works for them. I have used additives and didn't notice any difference in MPG. There are hundreds running no additives at all. I really don't think it hurts anything, and don't know if it help anything. Never had a dealership tell me that I should be running any additives. If I was in the North Country I would run additives that keeps the Diesel from jelling, when I ran a Big Truck (OTR) I always ran the anti-jelling additives. Because we ran North, South, East And West. Its just another one of those choices, if it works for you thats what matters. GBY....

[Tom S.]

Rich, there were/are issues with bio and the material some of the seals are made of that caused all the manufactures to recommend minimal usage, but I think that issue has been fixed. There are cautions against running straight bio in older trucks in that it will clean out junk that has gathered in the fuel system and plug up a filter quickly. My step brother makes his own and when he started using it in a truck with a lot of miles on it, he clogged three filters in no time!

[kmh3212]

The Diesel Particulate Filter plugs with soot faster using bio-diesel resulting in more frequent fuel wasting regeneration cycles. Every time you regenerate you will add more ash to the filter plugging it sooner that would require replacement or cleaning. A new DPF is $2000 to $2500. I will avoid using bio-diesel in my 08 truck for that reason.

[JimF]

The new trucks like a 45 rating huh, us folks with the old generation engines that run on high sulfar content fuel have engines that like 55 or greater. I have seen many post on here about how wasteful and not required a fuel additive is, seems the story is changing. My cummins dealer has recommended an additive ever since the low sulfar fuel came out. I get about 1 1/2 to to mpg increane over stock low sulfar fuel. It more than pays for the additive. Guess I'm not the idiot I was called some time back after all.

[Trailer Trash 2]

I was thinking about the increased levels of Cetane, if they are increased will that affect the emissions, and cause more soot for that dreded DPF regen process. it seems that the computer and all the sensors are going to get higer readings and might cause a person to have more regens than needed. Just a thought.

[richfaa]

http://alternativefuels.about.com/od...t/a/cetane.htm

http://www.itow.org/fuelguide.htm

http://www.turbodieselregister.com/m...and_diesel.htm


For our general enlightenment

Our Local Ford Dealer recommended the additive from day one. Did not have to be Ford's brand. We use premimun Diesel when we can get it.

[Trailer Trash 2]

Rich most of that material is dated 2001, do they have a current revision for last year models.

The EPA should formally set something by year 2000.