# Are Fuel Oil Additives Genuine ?



## Guest106 (9 Aug 2008)

Been using a fuel additive on and off in my diesel car for past two years and can't make up my mind about the value of it.  I do about 12k miles per year in a 50/50 ratio of city & country mileage.  Anybody got knowledge to share on this topic ?  The actual cost to me is about 2Euro per fillup (65Euro) as the bottle contains enough for six dosage units and costs E13 to buy.


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## D1983 (9 Aug 2008)

A lot are just gimmick's and could be doing more harm than good,for what reason are you using it?


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## Guest106 (9 Aug 2008)

I began using diesel fuel additives when I got my first diesel car over 5 years ago.  It's an intriguing area with claim and counterclaim aplenty as to the benefits of additive usage.  I've tried quite a few and been reading up on them at every opportunity.  I took to using additives after I read a report which tended to show that the inevitable carbon build-up in high mileage engines could be eliminated by using additives.
There is a largish industry out there marketing these additives and all making claims as to effectiveness.  In the USA, some have even been prosecuted for false advertising etc but quite a few make strong claims to reduce motor and fuel costs and have convinced lots of drivers plus car & fleet owners of the value of using their products.

Currently I'm using DIPETANE because a taximan recommended it to me and I know him to be a real pro in that lifestyle.  He says the fuel (mpg) performance makes it worthwhile for him.  So I switched about 6 months ago and do see a fuel perf improvement of 4 to 5 miles per gallon.  Not sure about the carbon thing tho so the jury is still out on that end.
However, it's only fair to point out that there is little coming from the scientific community that would be supportive of fuel additive effectiveness generally.  It would be interesting to get the views of people who use additives regularly with particular ref to which brand they actually use plus a cost indication.


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## S.L.F (31 Mar 2009)

I bought my first container of Dipetane a few weeks ago and I have noticed the difference in how long it takes to refill my van.

I'm convinced of the effectiveness of the product and plan to continue buying it!

I plan to try to buy it in bulk to get a better price.


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## Smashbox (31 Mar 2009)

Interesting, I think I will definatly try this. Thanks 1John and.... _SLF_...


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## Slaphead (10 Dec 2009)

How much is Dipetane and how do you use it, is it a little bottle you empty into your tank


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## ollie323 (10 Dec 2009)

No, it's bigger than that. About a litre i think, for 12 euro. It is available in 4L bottles too. You put in 1/200th of the amount of fuel you are going to put in. There are marks on the bottle and they make it easy. Too much won't break anything either so don't worry.
I've used it and it definitely cuts down the amount of smoke created under acceleration. I haven't noticed any mpg gains but it varies a bit with the weather so it's hard to tell, especially since my tank lasts just over 4 weeks and the weather can change a lot in that time. Still using it on both my cars with no ill effects. Only less soot under acceleration. 
I have an nct on the yaris tomorrow so we'll see how clean it is.


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## seantheman (10 Dec 2009)

1John said:


> I began using diesel fuel additives when I got my first diesel car over 5 years ago. It's an intriguing area with claim and counterclaim aplenty as to the benefits of additive usage. I've tried quite a few and been reading up on them at every opportunity.
> 
> Currently I'm using DIPETANE


 
1John, There are many good organisations out there with fully qualified councillers,You really should drop them a line.


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## ollie323 (11 Dec 2009)

Just back from the nct and it passed. The smoke test had a result of 0.90/m which was well within the fail treshold of 2.50/m. I'm unsure what these units are though. 
Could anyone clarify?


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## jmrc (11 Dec 2009)

Dipetane is good stuff alright for tractors ie older engines, It will eventually cause problems as the engine is burning at a hotter than normal rate. Wouldn't put it in a new engine..

Great stuff for the home heating system if it runs on diesel/ gas oil.


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## ollie323 (11 Dec 2009)

Interesting point about running hotter. If the combustion chamber is indeed hotter, it certainly isn't reflected in my coolant temps. My scangauge shows a running temp of 83 to 85 degrees which is the opening temp of my thermostat. This is the same as it was before i used dipetane.
How much hotter does it cause an engine to run? 
What damage does this extra heat cause?

My last car was a petrol civic and i had a hot air intake on for most of the time. This massively improved warm up times and it ran a good bit hotter too but below the fan cut in temp. The intake air temps got up to 70 degrees during the day with the fan coming on only occaisonally, usually on the uphills. I did this for maybe 3 years and after retiring it i stripped the engine just to see how it was after all that "abuse". Boy was i surprised to see the hone marks in the cylinder walls and camshaft bearings!
 I was getting up to 67mpg out of that (1992) civic with 300,000km on it. So the extra heat didn't cause much damage there, or i would have had much worse mpg.

So, jmrc, if you have information on dipetane causing hotter temps and damage then show me. I'm genuinely interested.


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## Jessejamesie (25 Jan 2014)

*Fuel additives ,dipetane*

Hi , I'm new to the forum , I've been using dipetane for a number of years , I drive a 3.6 v8 twin turbo diesel rangerover l322 , I'm heavy on the pedal and my motor has a tuning kit that brings it up from 272 bhp to 330 bhp, before I started to use it I was getting about 22 mpg and since then I get 26 mpg and if I'm on motorway in uk or Europe it goes up to 27 to 28 . For a full tank of fuel 100liters before I was doing 410 miles to 430 miles, now I get 540 to 580 and that's driving between 65 and 90 mph, all I know is that it works for me , also when I was getting an nct done the guy told me that the Mini Cooper that was ahead of me in the test center a 06 or 07 I can't rightly remember which year it was , the emmisions were greater than my rangerover , so that's my story folks . I buy my dipetane in 25 liter drums and it works out that each fill (approx) 90 liters of fuel costs €3 to treat, so I get an extra 120 miles for €3 . That's why I use it , not because it good for the environment only that it's good for my wallet


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## Leo (27 Jan 2014)

Jessejamesie said:


> Hi , I'm new to the forum , I've been using dipetane for a number of years...



Welcome to AAM Jessejamesie. Any particular interest in this product other than being a satisfied user? Digging up a 4+ year old thread raises suspicions. 
Leo


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## Gerry Canning (27 Jan 2014)

Leo , How could you be so distrusting? and the poster called Jessejames !!

ps; ( I know nought about Dipethane)


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## roker (27 Jan 2014)

The part of the engine that gets the least lubrication is the top end where the combustion is. Years ago we used to put a shot per gallon of upper cylinder lubricant (Redex) in the petrol when filling up; this made sense. I now use Lucas which claims to be an UCL and injector cleaner, My car is petrol by the way, (diesels do have a certain amount of lubricant in the fuel) I notice about a 4mpg increase, this is difficult to assess because I find running during the evening with the lights on I can lose this amount.


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## Leo (28 Jan 2014)

Gerry Canning said:


> Leo , How could you be so distrusting? and the poster called Jessejames !!



Years of cowboys of all varieties posting here pretending to be very satisfied with a product or service has made me cynical


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## werner (13 Mar 2014)

The Fifth Gear TV program did a very good lab test on various fuel additves and the results were very negative under decent testing conditions. 

Posters may enjoy watching this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKxJfXfD6mg


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## PaddyBloggit (13 Apr 2017)

Dragging an old thread out of the basement ...

I've a 4x4 that's been passing the DOE every year without fail but I notice the emissions are getting worse as each year pass.

I got the jeep serviced during the week. I brought up the emissions results and the guy at the service counter told me to bang in an additive. He even mentioned a brand but for the life of me I can't remember the one he said.

Any further thought on these additives? Any good? Any point? Any recommendations? Once off or do they have to be used with every fill etc.?


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## mathepac (14 Apr 2017)

I drive a Skoda 1.9 TDI, the PD version with the combination injector/fuel pump for each of the 4 cylinders. The car, which is '04 has 124k miles on it. I use dipetane as a fuel additive at the recommended concentration and the car has never failed the NCTS yet for smoke or any engine, combustion or emissions issues. I've had two visual reinspections for a bulb failure each time.

The car has A/C, and other electric consumers like electric windows and mirrors, heated mirrors, step and puddle lights, fairly decent stereo and powers stuff like a phone charger, in-car cameras and sat-nav as well as a portable cool box for summer adventures.

The car is modified and produces lots of torque and about 185 bhp thanks to an engine remap and some decent hardware

full decat
uprated turbo
front-mounted intercooler
reusable K&N steel mesh air filter
bypassed EGR
Sachs performance clutch and uprated dual-mass flywheel
brakes & 17 inch wheels from an Audi TT. 
It has travelled all over Europe, up The Alps and down, along coastal roads from Brittany to the Cote d-Azure, has clocked up legal speeds of 135 mph on autobahns (GPS measured), lapped the Nurburgring, Mondello and the Isle of Man. I get 58mpg overall average despite having reupholstered all the seats in full leather and hauling my 53kg Rottweiler on most journeys (not on tracks).

I credit the survival of this Skoda and it's ************************* performance to two things

rigorous adherence to the manufacturer's service schedule and fluids specifications
using dipetane when refuelling
Dipetane sells for €10 / per litre inc VAT and I reckon it's worth every cent for soot elimination, clean combustion and 
injector cossetting.

I have no connection with the production or sale of dipetane nor the sale, maintenance or modification of cars other than my own.


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## trasneoir (14 Apr 2017)

Humbug. Big oil might be the most efficient industrial process in human history. If a petrochemical lab found some real magic beans, wouldn't they be bought up instantly for billions? So why is this stuff all being sold by cottage-industry brands rather than added at the pump by shell?


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## Vapona (1 May 2019)

Here's my story relating to Dipetane and another fuel additive...
I have a few old bikes, a couple of which have stellar mileages on them.
For most of their life they've just run on normal pump petrol, but usually the best petrol available at the time, so not often ditchwater if I could help it.
Even though they've been stone-reliable, they're not immune to age and vibration taking their toll on gaskets and seals, so every 50,000 miles or so I've had the barrels and piston off to re-gasket the top ends, including the notorious base gasket (these are Suzuki GS850s, by the way).
One of them was off the road for ten years and I didn't lay it up properly at the start of that period, as I fully expected to start using it again, but it never happened, as is so often the case with many bikes. As a result of that, some of the rings were sticky, and a regime of ATF and diesel down the bores certainly freed them up a bit, but the results weren't perfect. Even so, I was able to scoot around on that bike from 2012 to 2017 before the usual base gasket oil leak became too bad and I had to strip it.
For the two or three years prior to the stripdown I'd been using firstly Techron from Chevron (it's an additive found in Texaco petrol) and when I couldn't get that I was using Dipetane.
On disassembly I found almost no carbon on the pistons, and next to nothing on the backs of the valves, which surprised me a little, as the mileage involved would normally have left some deposits, certainly much more than I found. I'm talking old-tech here, not some fuel-injected computer controlled lump, just old-fashioned carburettion.
From my direct experience I can say with certainty that Texaco fuel made the bike run better and that's why I used Techron, because I'm rarely near a Texaco station. I'd not go so far as to say I got any better fuel economy out of it, but I wasn't expecting any. It was smoother and nicer to use and that was the most important bit for me.
Dipetane - as far as I can see it did pretty much the same job, but I can't swear to it. I'd not say the engine was quite as nice with Dipetane, but I'm fairly sure it helped the fuel burn more cleanly and that was good enough.
Given that my usual fill up is at the local Top Oil station, just out of necessity, I find that adding Techron or Dipetane improves their fuel just a bit. It's not that Top is crap, but it's not as good as Texaco. Look up 'Top Tier Gasoline' for something of the information I discovered when I was researching this. Not all fuels are the same. Sure, they may leave the refinery in the same tankers, but the different companies have varying additive packs the drivers or station owners put in.
So, all anecdotal, but if you don't believe me, I really couldn't give a stuff. I'm continuing to use Dipetane, and when I'm near a Texaco station I fill up there too. When I remember and it's during the week, I will nip into the small local agent for Techron who stocks the Chevron additive. It's definitely effective.


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## MangoJoe (2 May 2019)

A quick mention - Years ago I bought a 25 litre drum of Dipetane from my local Motor Factors. They needed to order it in for me and I collected it 2-3 days later.

I just kept this in the garage and topped up the usual long neck containers from time to time with a funnel from the drum. (Just start keeping a few empties and you can do a load of these in advance to minimise the minor hassle involved)

Have no recollection of the costs involved at the time - This was 8-10 years ago at least! But it did make a good saving allright.

Funnily enough I found a few bottles on a high shelf recently when tidying up so the venture is still going strong!


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