I just started using Stanadyne's Performance Formula and noticed anything but performance....actually performance loss. I used it in three filler-ups at three different filler-up stations. The truck really felt like it had a chute behind it. My wife who was not even driving noticed the power loss also. After using the Stanadyne in three tanks I decided to skip the next tank. On empty filled it up and right away noticed a change in the power.


Has anyone noticed this when using the Stanadyne or better yet know why this might have happend(I ruled out bad fuel since three fill ups were at three seperate stations).


Thanks

I've been using it since last summer on an every other tank basis and have not noticed any loss of power or performance. Kind of odd and the first I've heard of this. How much are using per tank full? I use the 8 ounce bottles that treat up to 26 gallons. If you add too much, I could see where it might decrease the performance a little...or maybe I am way off too.

Hi NoWake-


I hope you guys don't use it in your jets then http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Evil Smile.gif! I am flying to Alpharetta next week.


All kidding aside I have been using Stanadyne Performance Formula since November and did not notice any performance decrease.


I did notice that the truck starts better in real cold weather now. It does not puff the white smoke like it use to when it was in the teens and twenties.


It seems to idle better.


The performance is hard to tell right now beacuse they are using winter fuel and cutting it with #1 which has lower BTU. The really started cutting it heavy the last month or so because it's been in the single digits.


I am not really using it for performance. I am using it for the lubricating and winter benefits so performance is not an issue for me.

Bartman,


I have been using the "One Shot". It is Stanadyne Performance that is in a 8oz bottle that treats up to 30gal. I love the bottle use it once throw it away...no spills...no smell.


JohnnyO,


No, we do not use it or any other additive.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Approve.gif I agree with you...I was not looking for more power but at the same time I did not want to lose any.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Confused.gif





I guess I'll give them a call on Monday...I know what they'll say though, "it is not our product that is casing the problem"http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif


I also wounder if this stuff has a shelf live.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Ermm.gif

It does have a shelf life - it says to store at room temperature - heat will break down some elements of it (cetane improver?). Someone asked the Rotella Expert on the rotella forum what the shelf life of rotella DFA was -> his reply was it was fine for a couple of years but don't expose to heat, etc.


I bought the one shot lubricity bottles and now re-use them filling them with a blend of performance formula and lubricity formula. The lubricity bottles only treat 15 gallons (I think they are dosed for filling VWs), this works well as I always fuel at 1/2 tank for improved fuel cleanliness. They do work very nicely and buying the half gallon bottles or a case of pints is more economical. The viscosity of the stuff is such that it's easy to pour from the pint bottles into the one-shot bottles.


I don't think you can blame the Stanadyne without removing the variability in the fuel itself - with the unseasonably cold weather in most parts of the country, you could have very well fueled with blended fuel on the previous three fillups. What brand of fuel do you use.


FWIW - I actually am using 25% to 50% greater than the recommended dose for the stanadyne performance formula - it says double dosing won't hurt. I add a dose of lubricity formula on top of that. Me - Mister Overkill... It seems smoother with a little more (added to shell "rack fuel" - not premium) -> but we had a cold spell here and I may have started adding more PF as the fuel "got back to normal"... I guess without having your own bulk tank of fuel, it's really hard to tell what's going on through the winter months...


Also, in terms of performance gain, I think the majority of their claims are assuming you have dirty injectors to start out with. Once they are clean, or if they are clean to start out with, you won't see much. Chevron's site has a technical paper that questions the performance claims of additive suppliers stating that the motor is 97% efficient - so where is 8% greater efficiency going to come from???


I do love the stuff though - I didn't think I would need a cetane improver - I never was into octane booster, etc. when i was racing motorcycles. But it runs noticably smoother with it on startup and seems smoother running too (but it may just be breaking in too - I only have 9k miles or it could be that I had a dirty injector - which I do suspect as well).


The engineer in me is continually amazed (and pleased) by how smooth, powerful and efficient this truck is. I know some want to have mo' horsepower. But as it is, I think it is a work of art... (of course the bilsteins and michelins make it a smoother rolling work of art...)...


jeff


P.S. What did you fly? My dad was a Boeing Test Pilot - did flight test on the 777 before his retirement Looks like a 757 in your avatar.


Edited by: dmax lover

Jeff,


The fuel that I put into the tank was from...Phillips66, Mr. Fuel, and Petro. I really do not know if it was the fuel itself....each time the tank was .25 or less at fillup. I did notice that truck started much easier with additive. But other than that it really felt like there was a chute behind me going do the road. I am lost.





I flew 727 as a Engineer then Co-pilot, then 767/757. AA bought TWA, then Sept 11th. I was bumped to the 717(very cool for a small jet)...then AA parked the 717 six months after school, once again I was bumped, this time to the MD80 and that is the airplane I was furloughed on.


Lucky for me I am back in training on the 757 with another Airline, and by the looks of it this should be my last uniform I'll need to buy.....but I DO NOT want to spit into the wind. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Ermm.gif


Tell your dad THANKS for all his hard work. It is the pilots like him that make these airplanes what they are today! http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gif

NoWake200, I recently started with stanadyne and noticed the same thing! Was not drastic so I assumed my truck was in another one of its moodshttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Ermm.gif. After 5 fill-ups, it seems to be back to normal. I do have all of the prev. mentioned benifits and I'm hoping the "lack" of power turns out to be 'in my head'. I know this isn't much help, but I feel your pain!!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clown.gif GOOD LUCK

I may off the wall on this but here it goes.


There have been several posts of an appeared performance reduction here. It has been with more than one brand of additive.


I thought I was feeling an ever so slight reduction in acceleration over the last month. Almost like the truck was not getting enough fuel. I was thinking maybe it's the winter diesel and didn't even consider it as a performance decrease due to the additve because I had been using the additive since the beginning of November.


Here's a crazy thought. I am wondering if when we add a diesel additive after not using one we are cleaning out gunk that's in the tank and lines and the filter is traping that gunk and becoming cloged.


I just changed my filter with 16,300 miles on it. About the last 6000 miles I used a diesel fuel additive. Now that the filter is changed, it feels like the truck is more responsivehttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Ermm.gif. I was thinking that it may just be psychogical (crazyhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Wacko.gif?) but then again maybe not.


I cut the filter open it had only about a 50% blackened area but maybe the black is not a good indication that it is clogged. I am wondering if there are clear looking contaminants gumming up the filter.Edited by: JohnnyO

I may have used the wrong word in the Total Power thread. I said Fluke, when I really meant coincidence.





Guys take it FWIW, that GOOD additives will NOT degrade performance. Fuel conditions vary, as well as other variables.


The detergents in the additive COULD start gnawing away at deposits and begin to free up some injector spray holes, or making the injectors work more smoothly. Could be freeing up deposits in the system and planting them in your filters. It sure as hell isn't hurting things...





Dunno what else to say, but I run Total Power in ALL fuel, and the only place that I wil pour Power Service is in my drain oil bin...

Please do not misunderstand me...I am just stating what I have noticed over that past four fill ups using the GM suggested additived. Stanadyne is what I was using and yes it is not hurting anything.


Now if I got the fuel at the same station all three times then I would have to say it is a fuel issue. But each fill up was at three different stations and two different states. The tank was on empty each time so residual fuel is most likely not a issue. Leaving me me to one other optoin.....the additive.


I might be reaching here but the truck had 3,500 miles on it during the 'power loss'. So the chances the fuel system was all ready loaded with deposits is also highly unlikely.


The fuel filter and this additive might have something to do with it....but them again it is at every low miles in diesel standards.

I remember once reading(take with a grain of salt since my memory is sometimes inaccurate) that certain types of additives can actually lower the btu's of diesel fuel. Like this time of the year, when our fuel is cut with #1 diesel, kerosene etc., our mileage drops off dramatically. Now I don't remember specifically any brand names or types of additives, but it could be a possibility.


Anyhow, this winter has been horribly cold and my mileage with similiar driving(albeit a lot more warm up idle time) has dropped from over 19 on average to around 16.


More than likely however, it's just a bad load of fuel or two, or something else affecting your performance.

FWIW if you are looking for a good diesel additive, I've had great luck with the one marketed by Gunk. It's cheap and available almost anywhere. I run it exclusively in my 6.5 and am at 150k miles on the original injector pump, injectors, everything. It was used exclusively on our '97 6.5 that is almost at 600,000 miles now and no fuel system related problems came up until around 500,000 miles. Not bad considering most 6.5's injection pumps/injectors crap out before 100k miles, sometimes more than once.


I've never noticed any loss in performance using it, and I can tell the difference in fuel quality/performance from one gas station to the next. I can't recommend it highly enough due to my personal experience with the stuff. I've got no affiliation with them or anything, I'm just overwhelmingly impressed with how well it's worked for me.


I never dump in the whole bottle for one tank, either. I burn about 15 gallons per day and fill up every morning, 6 days a week. I just splash a little bit into the tank before I start pumping in fuel, just enough to see some trickle into the filler neck. A bottle lasts for around 25 fill-ups, or ~375 gallons. Perhaps moderation is the key?


PS, to some it may seem neglective but I only change the fuel filter every ~100k miles, and have never had a problem in doing so.

You guy's might find this to be interesting.....I've been running Stanadyne since early Feb. and decided the other day to try a tank without additive. To my surprise, I lost 3 mpg. (I know it sounds like a bit of a stretch, but rest assured, I check EVERY tank BY HAND...no DIC and my mileage rarely changes more than 3/10 mile.) Needless to say, I'm running Stanadyne again!!!(BTW, mpg went right back to 17.4).........it was 14.1 without.


and yes, all driving conditions were the same. same roads, speed, weather, fueling station, etc, etc.


sounds like a magic potion uh!!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif

forgot to mention, if I have lost any power, my upgrades have more than made up for it!!!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gifhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gifhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gif

I've got 11,300 miles and have been running Performance Formula, mainly for lubricity, since the first tank. Truck has plenty of power and I'm at ease with the added lubricity combined with the CAT 2 mic filtering.

Funny, with the additive I was getting 14.0 and before using it I was getting 14.3http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Confused.gif.


I do not get it...but I do know thing the truck lost power. My wife who was in passenger even noticed it.

I have been using Stanadyne since '01 and I have not noticed any performance loss, my mileage is the same, and no problems yet. I am hoping that the injector demon doesn't pay me visit as my mod list will probably get me into trouble, warranty wise. I'm thinkin' additives are like oil...there are good oils and great oils, but if you change oil & filter regularly it probably doesn't matter.


JP

I thought I felt the same thing. I just dismissed it because it didnt make sense. But now that you say it too maybe I was right?

Hey nowake...

My buddy just sold his Waco and the new guy flipped it over on landing. He got a rear quartering tail wind while landing and didnt add power. Then he tapped the brakes and over she went. It is a total loss.

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I've got some 3 year old Stanadyne stored at 120 degrees ( here in the desert southwest) benn running it and it seems fine.
Of course I can't tell, I put it in the day I got it and every trank since, so I have never run it without Stanadyne.