Fuel additives? Hot Shot Secret

[DontSlamMyRam]

Pre measure it out in to some old water/pop bottles no need to be the guy slowing people down lol

When i buy a jug of PS diesel clean i split it up into my 6 water bottles and put it in the tool box of the truck it works pretty well

I have pondered this before, just like watching others squirm! I work 4 on 4 off plus have 5 weeks of vacation. I have plenty of time!!

 

[thecastle]

I know there is the obsession in diesel circles over fuel additives. The bottom line to me on any of them, is do the benefits outweigh the cost and inconvenience of adding it, and having it leak in the bed of your pickup.

Personally, I have a 2000 Ford F-450 with a 7.3 powerstroke with 336,000 miles on it. It has never had a fuel additive, just straight diesel except when I store it to keep alga growth down. Its on the original fuel pump, but it has had all new injectors which is typical for this motor, and run on OEM fuel filters. I did have the lift pump die as the fuel tank rusted out and clogged it with rust, not sure an additive would have helped there.

I also had a 2011 BMW 335D, that I did run some cetane booster. In houston we are in a non-clean air atainment area so all of our diesel is 48 cetane min, most of the country is 40. The 335D required 50, and ran more smoothly when I used opti-lube

On my 2019 Ram 3500 HO, I have run additives as possible peace of mind/protection against CP4 failure. It makes no difference on my regen cycle, the engine runs a bit smoother, and my wallet is lighter and my bed smells like additive. The the cummins inline-6 is no where close to the smoothness of my former bmw's diesel inline-6.

Constant/Frequent active regen's are due to poor combustion when the engine is too cold thus generating above average amounts of smoke (also more fuel dilution). The problem is especially bad when idling for extended periods (big problem on school busses with the 6.7). The folks who are just daily driving these vehicles see constant regens because they don't put enough of a load on the engine to heat up the DPF to allow a passive regen. These trucks are optimized for heavy duty work, and poorly optimized for using it as a car and no load. When I'm towing, I might go 1000-1500+ miles before seeing one active regen, because the engine generates enough heat to do passive regens.. When I rarely drive without a trailer, its when I see frequent active regens 1 about every 15-20 hours of driving. Additives would only help with this by improving engine combustion. Raising the Cetane helps, but most don't increase it by more than 1-2 points, the higher the cetane the easier it is to achieve complete fuel combustion meaning less soot, and less need for DPF regens.

 

[AH64ID]

Constant/Frequent active regen's are due to poor combustion when the engine is too cold thus generating above average amounts of smoke (also more fuel dilution). The problem is especially bad when idling for extended periods (big problem on school busses with the 6.7). The folks who are just daily driving these vehicles see constant regens because they don't put enough of a load on the engine to heat up the DPF to allow a passive regen. These trucks are optimized for heavy duty work, and poorly optimized for using it as a car and no load. When I'm towing, I might go 1000-1500+ miles before seeing one active regen, because the engine generates enough heat to do passive regens.. When I rarely drive without a trailer, its when I see frequent active regens 1 about every 15-20 hours of driving. Additives would only help with this by improving engine combustion. Raising the Cetane helps, but most don't increase it by more than 1-2 points, the higher the cetane the easier it is to achieve complete fuel combustion meaning less soot, and less need for DPF regens.

1500+ miles between active regens is an impressive moving average, 62.5+, for towing! I usually only get 800-900 miles between regens, but have gone further a few times when I'm doing plenty of highway/interstate driving.

What kind of driving do you do without a trailer? City? Highway? I tow a decent amount of the time, but also do plenty of empty rural driving (back roads, 50 mph max, etc) and have yet to see a regen outside of the 24 hour max duration between regens.

 

[Nick]

thats a scam by the fuel stations to get you on their card or a fleet card....it is BS that your card works on the regular car side but not the big rig side....or maybe it weeds out the little trucks from blocking the big rig lanes....who knows....but it does suck having to go in to pay first then come back out and pump to move your truck then go back in....

Get a fuel card like Open Roads and you can eliminate the walk .

 

[Nick]

I tow 15 k and my gauge always shows 0 when towing >

 

[thecastle]

I think its all about the load on the truck. When I watch my DPF gauge while towing it never moves off of 0%. However, when I tow slow (under 60) I find that the DPF % plugged gauge begins to creep up. I generally tow at the speed limit here 75-80 mph, and never see any active regens. I suspect the engine is under enough load fighting wind resistance to passively regen and probably runs more efficiently under heavy load (i.e. burns all its fuel and doesn't generate soot). I towed a trailer on a road recently with 16% grades at 50mph and also saw my DPF % stay at 0.. I tow a lot in mountainous areas, and the ram does great.

 

[AH64ID]

I think its all about the load on the truck. When I watch my DPF gauge while towing it never moves off of 0%. However, when I tow slow (under 60) I find that the DPF % plugged gauge begins to creep up. I generally tow at the speed limit here 75-80 mph, and never see any active regens. I suspect the engine is under enough load fighting wind resistance to passively regen and probably runs more efficiently under heavy load (i.e. burns all its fuel and doesn't generate soot). I towed a trailer on a road recently with 16% grades at 50mph and also saw my DPF % stay at 0.. I tow a lot in mountainous areas, and the ram does great.

You’ll still regen every 24 hours of engine operation, even if those 24 hours were towing uphill at GCWR doing 80.

Mountain towing is great for helping reduce regens between the 24 hour timer thou.

Where did you find a 16% grade you can tow at 50 on? Never seen such a road. I’ve driven much steeper, but none have had the limit or ability to do 50.

 

[PD Luke]

I use either Hot Shot's Winter anti-gel or Power Service (white) anti-gel in winter only. I usually buy fuel at truck stops but never depend on them having it formulated correctly for cold weather. I gelled 1 time about 30 years ago - it sucked, and I vowed to not let that happen again. Several years ago my wife fueled the truck at a regular gas station when I was out of town for work. She said the station claimed their fuel was winterized. The next day she frantically called and said the truck was not running right - no power, could only go 20 mph etc. I told her the fuel was gelling/gelled up. Fortunately I carry a bottle of Power Service Diesel 911. She added that and 10 minutes later all was well. So bottom line for me is additives for winter only.

 

[southern_yank]

Well, been a bit since I was on here. Time for an update?

First truth - Kum and Go Diesel fuel does not contain enough winterizing agents to protect against -22° here in Arkansas
Second truth - Hot shot's secret is NOT a winter additive (disclaimer, I didn't buy it for that reason, but also didn't think that anyone would sell a fuel additive without some sort of anti-gel properties) - My fault

With the newfound knowledge of 2 failed batteries (80K miles on factory 2020 units) and a -22° crosswind on the truck for over 12 hours causes severe headaches that I do not soon want to relive, I can report positively on the Hot Shot's secret additive.

I originally bought this to see if I could tame the constant regen issue I've been fighting for about 7K miles. I ran the first tank with a standard dosage of the stuff, and noticed the idle smoothed out a bit, and generally felt a bit livelier. Cetane boost more than likely. Still had regens every 80-120 miles.
Second tank, I treated with a bit more than a standard dose. It performed a regen 147 miles after the previous, then I refueled with additional additive. I am happy to report that the DPF gauge got to the second "step" before actually reversing to zero. I dropped the truck off this morning at the Dealer for my CP4 recall with over 450 miles and the DPF gauge on the second "step"

For the regen issue alone, I am a believer in this stuff. I also noticed a much better feel of the truck on incline with moderate throttle load. the surging is all but gone.

Now for the skeptics, myself included, there may be some caveats to the regen getting better.
@75K I replaced the CCV filter, and then shortly after I replaced the engine air filter as i saw a message briefly flash on my dash about "service air filter."

Not sure if either of those items played a role in the regen frequency decreasing, but it is a high possibility.

Haven't seen the turbo under boost code come back since changing the CCV either.

So, I'm going to keep using this stuff. It's relatively affordable, and seems to be doing more good than harm. So we'll see.

 

[RamSurveyor]

Yep. Used my TSD card yesterday at a Maverick RV pump. $5.459 list price dropped to $3.779 with the TSD card after their fees. No miles earned that tank, but over $70 in savings.

Yep. I have the EFS card with Open Roads app and have been getting diesel for 3.50/gallon on advertised 5/gallon pumps

 

[RamSurveyor]

I use either Hot Shot's Winter anti-gel or Power Service (white) anti-gel in winter only. I usually buy fuel at truck stops but never depend on them having it formulated correctly for cold weather. I gelled 1 time about 30 years ago - it sucked, and I vowed to not let that happen again. Several years ago my wife fueled the truck at a regular gas station when I was out of town for work. She said the station claimed their fuel was winterized. The next day she frantically called and said the truck was not running right - no power, could only go 20 mph etc. I told her the fuel was gelling/gelled up. Fortunately I carry a bottle of Power Service Diesel 911. She added that and 10 minutes later all was well. So bottom line for me is additives for winter only.

I use EDT at every fill. Getting 21mpg on the highway in the mountains of Western NC with a 22 3500 SO 68 RFE 3.73. I’m close to 9300# on the Cat scale truck alone.

 

[joshuaeb09]

I've noted it another thread about the DPF, but yea fuel additives can and do work where needed. I live right on the western edge of where TxLED stops and the fuel drops from a mandated 48 cetane to the US standard of 40 and trust me that line is a hard one (These stations ain't gonna pay extra for TxLED rated diesel if they don't have to). I keep both HSS EDT and LX4 in my rear door so I can tweak my add pack for where I'm fueling up. If I'm in a TxLED county I'll do the half dose of EDT and a half dose of LX4, if I'm not in a TxLED county I do a full (performance) dose of EDT and a quarter dose of LX4. If I don't run EDT when I fill up with non TxLED diesel I'll see the DPF gauge start to climb after a while, with EDT it doesn't climb at all. With TxLED diesel the DPF gauge will still climb if I do a few short trips (something I avoid as much as possible if I can borrow the wifes crossover), but with TxLED + EDT those short trips don't seem to do as much to the DPF guage moving. Now that I have the iDashes in my truck I'm also keeping tabs on the DPF differential pressure which I trust more than the stock DPF gauge.

Some folks are even luckily and have access to "Premium" or Top Tier Diesel depending on where they are so for them most additives won't do anything noticeable, but around here they can help with the emissions on the newer trucks/equipment when you're in the more rural areas.

Texas Low Emission Diesel (TxLED) Program

Information relating to the TxLED program, approved alternative diesel fuel formulations, producer/importer registration forms, quarterly reporting forms, alternative emission reduction plan (AERP) forms, and regulatory guidance. The TxLED Program is implemented to reduce emissions of nitrogen...

www.tceq.texas.gov

 

[thecastle]

You’ll still regen every 24 hours of engine operation, even if those 24 hours were towing uphill at GCWR doing 80.

Mountain towing is great for helping reduce regens between the 24 hour timer thou.

Where did you find a 16% grade you can tow at 50 on? Never seen such a road. I’ve driven much steeper, but none have had the limit or ability to do 50.

I haven't seen that happen on my end an active regen at 24 hours of engine operation when my DPF is sitting at 0%. I only see an active regen when the DPF is at or near 50% indicated plugged. My DPF guage sits at 0% plugged due to passive regens and I only ever see it leave 0% on short commuter trips. You maybe right, but I just haven't seen active regens happening when sitting at 0% plugged, and time triggered. I just completed an 1800 mile tow, and 250 miles of rough/unmaintained 4x4 clearance trails in the desert and never had an active regen, dpf sat mostly at 0%. Truck does have some new desert graphics on the sides... We had more than 24 hours of engine operation on this endeavor, and I watched for active regens. I suspect there is more to it than just every 24 hours, DPF flow rate is probably taken into account in determining if an active regen is required. I can also smell it when the truck is doing an active regen. We did use some anti-gel additive on this trip as the truck was parked outside in 15 degree weather overnight. We also used 48 cetane fuel, until we were way out in the desert. Then only 40 was available.

 

[AH64ID]

I haven't seen that happen on my end an active regen at 24 hours of engine operation when my DPF is sitting at 0%. I only see an active regen when the DPF is at or near 50% indicated plugged. My DPF guage sits at 0% plugged due to passive regens and I only ever see it leave 0% on short commuter trips. You maybe right, but I just haven't seen active regens happening when sitting at 0% plugged, and time triggered. I just completed an 1800 mile tow, and 250 miles of rough/unmaintained 4x4 clearance trails in the desert and never had an active regen, dpf sat mostly at 0%. Truck does have some new desert graphics on the sides... We had more than 24 hours of engine operation on this endeavor, and I watched for active regens. I suspect there is more to it than just every 24 hours, DPF flow rate is probably taken into account in determining if an active regen is required. I can also smell it when the truck is doing an active regen. We did use some anti-gel additive on this trip as the truck was parked outside in 15 degree weather overnight. We also used 48 cetane fuel, until we were way out in the desert. Then only 40 was available.

24 hours is the longest you’ll ever go between regens (unless the 24 hour clock gets reset with an ECM flash). The clock restarts at the end of an active regen. The majority of my regens have started with the DPF gauge at 0%, but that has no bearing when the 24 hour clock runs out. I’ve had them start when the DPF has been above 750° for hours towing and is as clean from passive regen as it is from an active regen. It’s just part of the programming.

The simple answer is that you just missed the active regen when it hit the 24 hour mark from the previous regen.

If you always use the truck like you described you can probably assume it’s only done the 24 hour regen and can use that knowledge along with your hour meter to determine when the next one will be. My next one will be at ~244 hours.

 

[UGARude]

Well, been a bit since I was on here. Time for an update?

First truth - Kum and Go Diesel fuel does not contain enough winterizing agents to protect against -22° here in Arkansas
Second truth - Hot shot's secret is NOT a winter additive (disclaimer, I didn't buy it for that reason, but also didn't think that anyone would sell a fuel additive without some sort of anti-gel properties) - My fault

With the newfound knowledge of 2 failed batteries (80K miles on factory 2020 units) and a -22° crosswind on the truck for over 12 hours causes severe headaches that I do not soon want to relive, I can report positively on the Hot Shot's secret additive.

I originally bought this to see if I could tame the constant regen issue I've been fighting for about 7K miles. I ran the first tank with a standard dosage of the stuff, and noticed the idle smoothed out a bit, and generally felt a bit livelier. Cetane boost more than likely. Still had regens every 80-120 miles.
Second tank, I treated with a bit more than a standard dose. It performed a regen 147 miles after the previous, then I refueled with additional additive. I am happy to report that the DPF gauge got to the second "step" before actually reversing to zero. I dropped the truck off this morning at the Dealer for my CP4 recall with over 450 miles and the DPF gauge on the second "step"

For the regen issue alone, I am a believer in this stuff. I also noticed a much better feel of the truck on incline with moderate throttle load. the surging is all but gone.

Now for the skeptics, myself included, there may be some caveats to the regen getting better.
@75K I replaced the CCV filter, and then shortly after I replaced the engine air filter as i saw a message briefly flash on my dash about "service air filter."

Not sure if either of those items played a role in the regen frequency decreasing, but it is a high possibility.

Haven't seen the turbo under boost code come back since changing the CCV either.

So, I'm going to keep using this stuff. It's relatively affordable, and seems to be doing more good than harm. So we'll see.

Are you referring to the "Diesel Extreme" or the "Everyday Diesel Treatment" from Hot Shot's? I'm having the regen issue and am searching for a solution.

 

[UGARude]

Just an update here. Had the regen issue a month ago. Bought the Hot Shot's Diesel Extreme and added it to a full tank. DEF fluid has remained above half a tank. Have not let the truck idle longer than a minute or two after starting up. My check engine light came on again yesterday with the same P2459 code for regen frequency. I'm somewhat at a loss on what else to do at this point. My truck is my daily driver and my commute distance is what it is. I hate that I paid what I did for the truck and can't drive it how I like without constantly worrying about when my check engine light is going to come on. I drove an F250 for 3 years and never once had this issue.