Diesel additives and routines for reliability

Factoid

Three criminal heroes
The diesel cold start thread got me wondering. While not new to diesels, I will leave my 300tdi in storage for 2 to 6 months during cold NY winters (it will stay at our lake home in NY over the winter). What are the best fuel additives and storage routines to ensure reliability when we return in the spring or for the occasional Christmas visits?

And yes, I know I should bring it back to Texas during the winter for full enjoyment it's just not feasible.
 

MattD1

New member
Top off the tank before storage. For that short time, you really do not need to worry too much about the fuel deteriorating.

I always ran OptiLube XPD in all my diesels, every tank.
 

A.J.M

Explorer
A tdi engine is a simple unit.

Just make sure that the glow plugs work properly, that it's got the correct coolant and decent oil in it.
Maybe hook a decent make battery conditioner on to it to keep the battery healthy.

Those engines have travelled the world, been used, abused and neglected for years.
Some cold won't kill it off.
 

Ray Hyland

Expedition Leader
Just make sure you buy good quality diesel, it will have an additive pack from the refinery that should prevent any wax crystallization in the fuel during long months of sitting in the cold.
 

Factoid

Three criminal heroes
Thanks all, very helpful!

Anyone running bio diesel? I know this brings a whole new challenge with the cold weather and time away, but the thought of smelling like french fries is apealing.
 

workerdrone

Part time fulltimer
If you're talking clearly marked B100 (100% biodiesel), that's one thing - but it seems a lot of stations now blend it in and the people behind the counter will usually have no idea what the actual percentage blend is.

B5 and B20 (5% bio / 95% petro and 20% bio / 80% petro) have been pretty commonly labeled as options on the pump in my experience.

Please note that biodiesel is NOT vegetable oil and even running 100% biodiesel, your exhaust is not going to smell like french fries. That's for the folks burning WVO or SVO (waste and straight vegetable oils). They need conversions on their engines if they expect them to keep running for long.

Biodiesel has been chemically modified to be 100% compatible with any diesel ever made, if not the rubber seals and hoses of some older ones. It does a lot to restore the lubricity of ULSD, and will also do a hell of a job cleaning any sludge and deposits out of the system so if you're starting to run high percentages of bio on a vehicle with a bunch of miles on it, you may want to change fuel filters more frequently for a while as that stuff gets cleaned out and caught up in the filter.

I try to make sure each tank has some bio in it for lubricity, if not I'll add some 2 stroke oil. And if your fuel ever gels, no biggie, just warm the vehicle up or add some diesel 911 to the tank and filter. Unless of course you're stranded somewhere without those options - then it'll seem like a biggie :ylsmoke:
 

Ray Hyland

Expedition Leader
I used to run B100, but I was living on the equator at the time, so no gelling issues...

:smiley_drive:
 

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