Hi all....

Diesel fuel quality in Atlanta is horrible..... That said, I've used many diesel fuel injector cleaners and conditioners.... When I had older diesels I used the Lubra Molly treatment because you could run the diesel feed and return lines into a bottle until it ran through, with a E320 CDI I'm not seeing that happening

So, I'm reduced to using fuel tank additives and am now trying Stantadyne Diesel Fuel additive.

Any suggestions on which brand additive does the best job?

Thank you

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Currently Driving
2006 E320 CDI
1999 E300 Turbo Diesl
2002 ML500
1995 E320 Station Wagon


MBs I've owned
1997 E320 Assassinated by Pine Tree
1987 300E Wife Killed Engine
1981 300D Stretch Limo Total Loss
1970 250 Coupe 212,000 mi.
1974 450sel 184,000 mi.
1974 240D 377,000 mi.
1977 300D 204, 000 mi.
1979 280se God Only Knows!
1983 240D 130,000 mi.
1972 220D 280,000 mi.
1983 300SD 244,000 mi.

Does greazzer come in a bottle?

Sixto
98 E320s sedan and wagon

Optilube XPD is considered "best" additive, at least by many of the review sites. It's the additive I use at each fill-up. Optilube has a number of other formulations, but the XPD is the "premium" all purpose one.

Liqui Moly Diesel Purge is "best" as an injector cleaner product. It is not a fuel additive, you have to disconnect the fuel hoses in the engine bay and run it straight. It cleans the injectors and injection pump. I know it works well, because when I've tried it, the fuel from the return line came back black!

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1998 E300 turbodiesel

America's Rights and Freedoms Are Not The Enemy!

Best diesel fuel injector cleaner is having them serviced by a diesel injection shop.

If you want something in a bottle, get two cans of diesel purge

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1998 Ford Escort ZX2 5 speed - 279,000 miles My Daily

1992 Mercedes 300D 2.5 202,000 - Pure junk
2000 Mercedes E320 Black - 136,000 miles - Needs repair

Don't forget to grease the screw and threads on the spring compressor.

How did you arrive at that conclusion?

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When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl.

I arrived at that conclusion because as I understand it an E320 CDI requires the lift pump from the fuel tank to feed the fuel injection pump. as the injection pump does not have enough suction to use Lubra Molly as I have on my older diesels like my 300 SD and SDL or 300D, 240Ds..... If I am wrong PLEASE enlighten me as I was more than impressed with the Lubra Molly.... Thanks in advance

__________________
Currently Driving
2006 E320 CDI
1999 E300 Turbo Diesl
2002 ML500
1995 E320 Station Wagon


MBs I've owned
1997 E320 Assassinated by Pine Tree
1987 300E Wife Killed Engine
1981 300D Stretch Limo Total Loss
1970 250 Coupe 212,000 mi.
1974 450sel 184,000 mi.
1974 240D 377,000 mi.
1977 300D 204, 000 mi.
1979 280se God Only Knows!
1983 240D 130,000 mi.
1972 220D 280,000 mi.
1983 300SD 244,000 mi.

I am curious. Question for anyone does mercedes suggest to clean the Injectors?

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

I have found that the Gumout diesel fuel system cleaner made the most noticeable difference in the way my '97 NA diesel ran, of any of the cleaners I have tried. I can't speak for it's effectiveness on the CDI.

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'97 E 300 D

What does any of that have to do with the quality of diesel fuel in Atlanta?

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When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl.

Well.... if you were to watch the local Atlanta news you'll see that there are many gas stations here with leaking underground tanks and when it rains a lot the fuel gets contaminated.... There have been quite a few in depth stories about this on WSBTV and Channel 46 news.... They showed where vehicle owners filled up ONCE at certain gas stations and their vehicles required thousands of dollars in repairs.... I myself have purchased diesel twice and had this experience, the worst was so bad that my entire fuel system was contaminated with algae...... So, what is your point???

Now, I have found a few newer stations that have decent fuel but I can feel a huge difference in performance and responsiveness when I use Exxon/Mobil diesel and I can also feel a sluggish response and I can actually SEE excessive smoke from my CDI's tailpipe when I use Citgo, Chevron, Kroger and Quick Trip diesel fuels.

SO..... my question is once again: What is the best in tank fuel conditioner/cleaner for Mercedes Diesels???

__________________
Currently Driving
2006 E320 CDI
1999 E300 Turbo Diesl
2002 ML500
1995 E320 Station Wagon


MBs I've owned
1997 E320 Assassinated by Pine Tree
1987 300E Wife Killed Engine
1981 300D Stretch Limo Total Loss
1970 250 Coupe 212,000 mi.
1974 450sel 184,000 mi.
1974 240D 377,000 mi.
1977 300D 204, 000 mi.
1979 280se God Only Knows!
1983 240D 130,000 mi.
1972 220D 280,000 mi.
1983 300SD 244,000 mi.

In tank-injector cleaner and cetane boost: Power Service Diesel Kleen + Cetane Boost Walmart, etc.

Tank cleaner: StarTron Enzyme Fuel Tank Cleaner West Marine, etc.

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78 W116 300SD 'Desert Rose' new as of 01/26/2014
79 W116 300SD 'Stormcloud' RIP 04/11/2022

Not sure about "best" but I am pretty happy with Stanadyne Performance Formula and Opti-Lube XPD. Opti-Lube was rated #1 in a study but that was for lubricity. Since Stanadyne Performance does not help with lubricity I mix them 50/50 and been running it for years in my Powerstroke, I swear it runs smoother, quieter and gets better MPG.

For the Mercedes I used to run Diesel Doctor which I believe had Mercedes' blessing, but not sure if it is still available.

If you have crap in the tank you are going to be changing filters a lot, I got algae once and carried a bunch of clear plastic primary filters with me for a while. Years later I removed the tank and there was still a lot of tiny brown specs in it. Awful stuff and very persistent, it adheres itself to everything, ruined the float sender.

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Brian
87 300Dturbo 180K #14 head still running R-12 SOLD 12/2017
02 F350 Powerstroke 180K
05 Chevy Express 1 ton w/Royal Utility box 120K
08 Infiniti FX-35 40K
15 Golf Sportwagen TDI 35K
10 Sprinter 3500 chassis with a Class A Winnebago on it. 56K

Everything below is my personal experience. Your results may vary.

I did the Lubro Moly diesel purge every 6 or so months for the first 2 years. This yielded an improvement in engine performance of about 15% for approximately 1 month (daily driving). To me this was worth doing; however after a while, my time was better spent doing other repairs.

My research led me to Archoil. I met a lot of off-roading diesel guys who claim to use this stuff for their big diesels, thought "why not"?

In my personal experience, Archoil AR6400-D is a great fuel system cleaner that goes in the tank and helps clean the entire system. It takes longer to feel its full effect since you have to actually run it for a while before you notice it doing anything; however the results yielded were the same as doing a diesel purge. the only benefit is that I was spending less time doing a purge. You just pour some in the tank at every fill up and by half bottle, you will start noticing a difference.

Once you have gone through 1 or more bottles of the 6400-D, you can switch to the AR6200 additive. I dont bother with the latter. I usually just use the 6400-D with every 2nd oil change. I also drive on HPR (High performance Renewable - its a diesel fuel blend made from diesel and chemical waste - available in a couple of gas stations in CA at least. My car loves it).

At the end of the day, if you know specific gas stations where they have water leakage and or similar contamination issues, avoiding them might be the best option. Using chemicals will help potentially solve the problem until you fill up again. If the fuel you put in causes algae growth in your tank, no amount of cleaner/additive will help.

Liqui Moly Diesel Purge can be added to the fuel tank and you should get the same cleaning effect, it just takes longer. However, Diesel Purge is, as already mentioned, a fuel system cleaner, NOT a de-watering tool. That won't help if you suspect water in your fuel, you need Heat for diesels or something else that has treatment for water contamination (Diesel 911 is one I've seen at Wal-Mart).

The best solution is what you have mentioned, find a station that sells higher quality fuel, and stick with that. Throw a bottle of Diesel 911 in your trunk in order to address any bad fuel you get when forced to fill up away from your trusted stations.

For the record, I think that MB officially only recommends diesel fuel treatments as required, for things like microbial growth (which is fungus, not algae, algae is a plant that requires sunlight and fresh water to grow) or for water in the fuel tank. It is a good practice to de-water your fuel tank every fall to prevent freeze-up in the winter months, and also to remove any water that may be allowing fungus to bloom in your tank.

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Respectfully,
/s/
M. Dillon
'87 124.193 (300TD) "White Whale", ~392k miles, 3.5l IP fitted
'95 124.131 (E300) "Sapphire", 380k miles
'73 Balboa 20 "Sanctification"
Charleston SC

If your willibg to spend $15 extra every fillup to throw an addititve in your tank every time you might as well just save that $15 every time and buy a brand new fuel tank every year......