G
Guest
Guest
Julian, we have gone though all this before but I will try not to
repeat what I have written previously. My use of them is from
personal experience of the benefits.
In 1989 I bought a new Vauxhall Carlton 2.3D and had an IHI turbo kit
fitted before delivery. At the time diesel engined cars were
still not so common, but I still went ahead and soon after bought a
second-hand Citroen Visa with the beautiful 1.7 XUD engine, probably
the diesel car I have ever had most fun with. As the quality of
diesel for sale was much the same between brands and still perhaps
more suited to trucks, additives were a hot topic. At the time diesel
car magazine did some trials and found that Miller's additive was of
benefit for reducing smoke and increasing mpg with the added bonus of
a smoother engine due to increased cetane rating.
I just found that it gave me more mpg, usually about 3-4mpg on the
Carlton which could go up to 42 mpg with a soft foot.
Soon after this I started to work more overseas where I encountered
very poor quality fuel for road vehicles, especially in Russia. I had
one driver with a Mercedes saloon which had five filters/water traps
on it. But even then, when we did one regular trip of 350km he would
often have to change the final in-line plastic capsule filter before
arriving at our destination. Then STP diesel additive came on the
market and he immediately found that it reduced the amount of water
that he had to drain from the traps. One claim for it being that the
additive dispersed water harmlessly into the body of the fuel.
Another plus point. But he still added 10% petrol in the winter, my
brother-in-law in Minsk still does.
My experiences then doubled in the Balkans when I got more involved
in managing fleets of vehicles that had to be reliable way off the
beaten track. In Bosnia most garages are privateers who have their
own tanker which goes to one of two refineries every week to pick-up
their very special own brand. In the case of diesel, usually raw gas
oil with a dash of water.
Use of additives is a must with such dodgy diesel. But the plus side
is that with the older Toy engines which do not have enough lube from
modern low sulphur diesel, rough gas oil has more free sulphur in it
which is providing plenty of lube. To the point that I always
filled-up with 'D2' or truck diesel rather than anything claimed to
be 'Euro diesel'. But the burning quality may be poor, so an additive
helps with this by raising the cetane number. And most important, a
good additive takes care of any water and disperses it. This was
proved not so long ago when I filled-up from the local Sarajevo city
centre 'Al Tariq Oil Company' site. (Again a one-off privateer with
his own tanker). The same day two office VW cars were also filled
with the same diesel. The next day both VW's had shot their injection
pumps. In this office the logistics manager was of a mind not to put
additive in the vehicles under his control. As always I had added a
full bottle of additive to my tank before I filled-up, and had no
problem with the watered diesel which passed through the engine with
no problem. I did bleed-off the water trap but found nothing in it.
Over the years I have seen problems in marine diesels, notably with
condensation in the fuel. My own boat has exterior fuel tank plating
directly in contact with the water outside the hull, so the potential
for condensation is great. There are special water dispersant
products available from boat chandleries, but I am happy to once
again use Miller's to keep the water dispersed in my boat tank. The
boat central heating tank is also prone to condensation although
surrounded by the atmosphere - its Miller's again !
So I believe in additives.
Using the 14 year-old 80 and my 18 year-old Pajero in UK I always use
Millers at a cost of 1.6 pence per litre of diesel treated because
modern forecourt diesel is low in sulphur. Now that is fine for new
modern diesel engines designed for it. But with two trucks fitted
with engines designed before the introduction of low sulphur diesel I
want to ensure that I am adding a good lubricant at least to ensure I
am doing my best to give long life to the pumps. Obviously water
should not be a problem and smoking is no problem either.
I agree that the BP Ultimate burns smoothly, but of all the benefits
claimed on the leaflet, they do not claim extra lubricity. Neither
have I managed to get better fuel consumption. I phoned their advice
line number and the technical staff also said that they would not
claim extra lubricity and would not disagree that there would be
benefit from using a lubricity additive extra to that higher grade
fuel. (Mentioned here recently 'Honest John' of the Daily Telegraph
often sings the praises of BP diesel, but within the past two weeks
recommended Millers additive to someone who asked for a
recommendation for a lubricity additive.)
So yes in UK/ western Europe I am happy to use additive to ensure
that my pump is lubricated. In countries outside the EU I would
always use additive to make the rough stuff burn better and also
disperse water in the fuel, plus as an insurance for pump lubrication
'in case'. A common problem in less developed countries. In the
Balkans the American 'ABRO' brand of additive is favoured, Millers is
not available. Currently whilst in UK I would buy my Millers more
cheaply in 5 litre cans if I was doing a high mileage, but the more
expensive 500ml bottle is sufficient for my current needs. (Its the
Scots in me Reno!)
Sorry that's a bit long Julian
Cheers
Jon
Tring, Herts
'92 HZJ80 ex UN Bosnia surplus.
repeat what I have written previously. My use of them is from
personal experience of the benefits.
In 1989 I bought a new Vauxhall Carlton 2.3D and had an IHI turbo kit
fitted before delivery. At the time diesel engined cars were
still not so common, but I still went ahead and soon after bought a
second-hand Citroen Visa with the beautiful 1.7 XUD engine, probably
the diesel car I have ever had most fun with. As the quality of
diesel for sale was much the same between brands and still perhaps
more suited to trucks, additives were a hot topic. At the time diesel
car magazine did some trials and found that Miller's additive was of
benefit for reducing smoke and increasing mpg with the added bonus of
a smoother engine due to increased cetane rating.
I just found that it gave me more mpg, usually about 3-4mpg on the
Carlton which could go up to 42 mpg with a soft foot.
Soon after this I started to work more overseas where I encountered
very poor quality fuel for road vehicles, especially in Russia. I had
one driver with a Mercedes saloon which had five filters/water traps
on it. But even then, when we did one regular trip of 350km he would
often have to change the final in-line plastic capsule filter before
arriving at our destination. Then STP diesel additive came on the
market and he immediately found that it reduced the amount of water
that he had to drain from the traps. One claim for it being that the
additive dispersed water harmlessly into the body of the fuel.
Another plus point. But he still added 10% petrol in the winter, my
brother-in-law in Minsk still does.
My experiences then doubled in the Balkans when I got more involved
in managing fleets of vehicles that had to be reliable way off the
beaten track. In Bosnia most garages are privateers who have their
own tanker which goes to one of two refineries every week to pick-up
their very special own brand. In the case of diesel, usually raw gas
oil with a dash of water.
Use of additives is a must with such dodgy diesel. But the plus side
is that with the older Toy engines which do not have enough lube from
modern low sulphur diesel, rough gas oil has more free sulphur in it
which is providing plenty of lube. To the point that I always
filled-up with 'D2' or truck diesel rather than anything claimed to
be 'Euro diesel'. But the burning quality may be poor, so an additive
helps with this by raising the cetane number. And most important, a
good additive takes care of any water and disperses it. This was
proved not so long ago when I filled-up from the local Sarajevo city
centre 'Al Tariq Oil Company' site. (Again a one-off privateer with
his own tanker). The same day two office VW cars were also filled
with the same diesel. The next day both VW's had shot their injection
pumps. In this office the logistics manager was of a mind not to put
additive in the vehicles under his control. As always I had added a
full bottle of additive to my tank before I filled-up, and had no
problem with the watered diesel which passed through the engine with
no problem. I did bleed-off the water trap but found nothing in it.
Over the years I have seen problems in marine diesels, notably with
condensation in the fuel. My own boat has exterior fuel tank plating
directly in contact with the water outside the hull, so the potential
for condensation is great. There are special water dispersant
products available from boat chandleries, but I am happy to once
again use Miller's to keep the water dispersed in my boat tank. The
boat central heating tank is also prone to condensation although
surrounded by the atmosphere - its Miller's again !
So I believe in additives.
Using the 14 year-old 80 and my 18 year-old Pajero in UK I always use
Millers at a cost of 1.6 pence per litre of diesel treated because
modern forecourt diesel is low in sulphur. Now that is fine for new
modern diesel engines designed for it. But with two trucks fitted
with engines designed before the introduction of low sulphur diesel I
want to ensure that I am adding a good lubricant at least to ensure I
am doing my best to give long life to the pumps. Obviously water
should not be a problem and smoking is no problem either.
I agree that the BP Ultimate burns smoothly, but of all the benefits
claimed on the leaflet, they do not claim extra lubricity. Neither
have I managed to get better fuel consumption. I phoned their advice
line number and the technical staff also said that they would not
claim extra lubricity and would not disagree that there would be
benefit from using a lubricity additive extra to that higher grade
fuel. (Mentioned here recently 'Honest John' of the Daily Telegraph
often sings the praises of BP diesel, but within the past two weeks
recommended Millers additive to someone who asked for a
recommendation for a lubricity additive.)
So yes in UK/ western Europe I am happy to use additive to ensure
that my pump is lubricated. In countries outside the EU I would
always use additive to make the rough stuff burn better and also
disperse water in the fuel, plus as an insurance for pump lubrication
'in case'. A common problem in less developed countries. In the
Balkans the American 'ABRO' brand of additive is favoured, Millers is
not available. Currently whilst in UK I would buy my Millers more
cheaply in 5 litre cans if I was doing a high mileage, but the more
expensive 500ml bottle is sufficient for my current needs. (Its the
Scots in me Reno!)
Sorry that's a bit long Julian
Cheers
Jon
Tring, Herts
'92 HZJ80 ex UN Bosnia surplus.