Do fuel additives matter?

[CdnHO]

I have been keeping track of my fuel mileage and regens since the truck was new. I pulled up some numbers from the past three years that might be of interest. Archoil sounds good but their promises of increased fuel economy fall rather short. At least in my limited testing in the every day world. And to be real, any of those advertised numbers from all the additive perveyers fall short. LOL
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Each trip was approximately 1350 miles pulling a 22K fifth wheel in moderate to wqrm temperatures. Ohio to Texas
Speed was maintained between 60 and 65 mph using identical routes at the same time of year. Late October to early November. I have always used a fuel additive, primarily for lubricity.
Average fuel economy using Optilube Summer additive in each tank on two trips south in 2022 and 2023.
2022 - 9.659 mpg
2023 - 9.638 mpg


Prior to this last trip (2024) I used one tank with Archoil 6400 Diesel Fuel System cleaner.
Same trip route and towing conditions using Archoil 6500 in each tank according to directions.
2024 trip fuel economy was 9.865
While there appears to be some increase in fuel economy of around 1% with the Archoil products, I don’t think the results can be conclusive base on limited trips.
My main reason for using the Archoil products was to (hopefully) clean the DPF. Prior to this last trip I was achieving about 230 miles between regenerations. My towing miles represent about 67% of the total miles so I can't really call it a grocery getter.
However between my towing, my trips are relatively short. No regens took place on this last trip towing the trailer except at the 25 hour mark.

I thought you might find my data of interest. No flames please.

 

[Thewookie]

My Banks IDash must be whacked. I cannot account for the first 12K miles as I bought used, and, the towing meter said 1200 miles at the time.

I have 17,500 now and it’s almost exclusively towing, however, my trailer is only 4800lbs so the truck isn’t breaking a sweat as you can imagine. The idash says the miles between regen is 970.

All in all I’d say it might be pretty close though I’m waiting for the next regeneration to actually do the math as I made a note of it last time. Still, I can’t understand how some of you guys actually working the truck hard have so many regens. I realize there’s an automatic regen every 24 running hours but unless you’re crawling around city driving all the time I would expect you should be getting better that 230 miles per regen. And I’ve heard that 200-300 miles per regen number often.

As to Archoil , I use 10oz Power Service each fill up and 8oz of the Power Service cleaner every quarter. I’ve seen claims that Archoil is a lot less expensive but at $46 for 40.6oz vs $21 for 64oz of Power Service it’s negligible for each tank full.

As to whether they really provide value, hell I don’t know. I just know I used PS on my ‘97 5.9 and I’m a creature of habit. T.

 

[unclelala]

I have been using Hot Shots EDT the last 2 and a half years off and on and bought a bottle of Archoil which I have not tried yet. I don’t have the discipline to keep track of something so detailed as mileage, I’m sure a meme or pretty picture would take away my train of thought.

I’m not very green minded and usually don’t care one bit about mileage and I don’t really use my truck other than towing. I do care a lot about longevity and with all the problems Ram seems to have with the emissions and engine lifters etc. etc. I am willing to try these elixirs as a preventive measure. Whether its snake oil or not I just don’t know and hope for the best

 

[CdnHO]

I have been using Hot Shots EDT the last 2 and a half years off and on and bought a bottle of Archoil which I have not tried yet. I don’t have the discipline to keep track of something so detailed as mileage, I’m sure a meme or pretty picture would take away my train of thought.

I’m not very green minded and usually don’t care one bit about mileage and I don’t really use my truck other than towing. I do care a lot about longevity and with all the problems Ram seems to have with the emissions and engine lifters etc. etc. I am willing to try these elixirs as a preventive measure. Whether its snake oil or not I just don’t know and hope for the best

I am NOT diciplined. I have OCD. One is an attribute and the other is a medical condition. My wife says I am "F***ed up". Not sure if that is a diagnosis. That's ok since she knew that when she married me. My truck didn't. However the truck never complains and doesn't cost me nearly as much money. LOL

 

[56ram2500]

I am now using Archoil, I do not use it for better mpg I use it to help with DPF Regens, as for better mpg, many find that control of the foot on the go fast pedal helps, also I never saw an increase in mpg from Power Service in my current CTD nor my 2006 5.9l....

 

[ErikTheRed]

Its all snake oil. I'm sure of it. But I use it anyway.

I used Hot Shots EDT for years in my 2006 5.9 but I'm now using Archoil in my 2024 6.7 because of all the hullabaloo on regens.

 

[david.dean65]

I've been using Archoil since I bought mine new, for the same reason as most of you, regen and DPF. I have the iDash, but to be honest I haven't taken a close look at the numbers yet. As for better MPG, since using it from the start, I don't have any history to compare to. I am averaging 17.3 MPG with a mixture of city/highway driving, no towing.

 

[CdnHO]

22.5 K on the truck. I started using Archoil about 2000 miles ago. I put 1700 miles on the truck pulling my fifth wheel so didn't see much movement on the DPF gauge on the trip down south. However when we get here for the winter it becomes my daily driver. While I may have missed it in the past, I noticed an interesting behavior since I have been at my winter destination. The DPF gauge will start to go up to maybe 25% and then drops to 0% over the next couple of trips. My average trip is maybe ten miles. Pretty sure this is new and thinking that using the Archoil might be responsible. Just an observation.

 

[oledirteh]

Used archoil in my 2021, and have used it in my 2024 HO since i unlocked the door at the dealer.

Being new with 6200 miles, i have had 6 regens. 5 in 24 hour marks, 1 at 700 miles 18 hours. dash mostly shows 0% but sometimes will bump up to 20-25% and then by the time i get home or on the way into work the next day its at 0% again.

Im installing idash this afternoon if its not too cold.