diesel additive

[brian]

I was talking to an old mechanic who specializes in diesel engines (marine, farm, transport trucks) he told me that the best thing for diesel engines is to add two cups of transmission fluid to 500 gallons of diesel fuel. He has recommended this to many diesel engine owners, the owners swear by this and testify to the smoother running of their engines, the theory behind it is because of tighter emmision controls the fuel companies have removed some of the products which keep the fuel pump and injectors lubricated, the small amount of tran fluid will lube all moving parts which come in contact with the diesel and any water in the diesel will not cause rust to form. Has anyone heard of this ?

 

[Bird]

Brian, I've never tried it personally; I just use Power Service diesel additive, but one of my brothers used to drive the big trucks in Alaska (quite awhile ago); owned a '69 Kenworth with a Cummins engine and a '73 Peterbilt with a Caterpillar, and he said at least every other fill-up he dumped a quart of ATF in the fuel tank. I'm not sure, but I think he's still doing it with the Chev. Topkick he has now with a Cat engine.

Bird

 

[Kelvin]

I have not heard of adding transmission fluid, but I have heard of adding "Marvel Mystery Oil" (at least I think that is how it is spelled) which I have seen being sold at Walmart among other places. On the can it recommends the ratio of additive for diesel and gasoline engines.

Kelvin

 

[jimmoore]

Kevin, I also use "marvel mystery oil" 1 quart per 55 gallons. It is a top cylinder lube and keeps the injectors clean.

jim

 

[Bird]

I just hadn't thought about using Marvel Mystery Oil for that purpose, but would bet it's about as good as anything for the purpose. In fact, I haven't used it for anything in a long time, but I sure used to sell a lot of it when I was a teenager in my dad's service station and auto parts store. And now-a-days I sure use a lot of Marvel Air Tool Oil./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Bird