Redex additives

johnlyn · Post by **johnlyn** » 25 Aug 2005, 18:10

Hi all, i put some redex diesel injector cleaner in my tank yesterday & what a difference it has made, more responsive pick up & a quieter idle a lot of soot/black smoke being discharged out of exhaust though, a guy at work said that putting parrafin in the tank (about a pint to a tank full) would do the same thing, a bit cautious of doing that due to pump damage. Any ideas here.
Regards
John

mezuk04 · Post by **mezuk04** » 25 Aug 2005, 18:19

Have been tempted to put some of that engine cleaner stuff in mine since 140,000 on the clock its probably got a bit of muck somewhere, just not sure if there can be any "wrong" that can come from it

bxbodger · Post by **bxbodger** » 25 Aug 2005, 18:26

Injector cleaner is, I think, basically paraffin anyway so it shouldn't do any harm!! It never tells you on the bottle whats in it, does it.......
You can also use petrol-my brother in law regularly has loads of petrol in the tank of the diesel ZX he's driving at the moment- he does recoveries and when he does a tank pump out when someone has put petrol in their diesel he just uses whatever he gets out in his car- its still running ok and he's been doing it for months, but then its a disposeable car taken as a trade in where he works............
There's no value in them other than as a trade in so when it breaks he'll just get another from the yard, but its still going, and running really well-he reckons its on about 30% petrol at the moment from the last job he did!!!

Post by **Peter.N.** » 25 Aug 2005, 20:54

Petrol will burn in a diesel OK the problem is lack of lubrication to the pump and injectors, but if there is enough diesel with it should be allright

Oscar Too · Post by **Oscar Too** » 25 Aug 2005, 21:07

Petrol is often added to diesel on the continent as an antifreeze, or more strictly speaking to prevent excess viscosity during winter months.

NiSk · Post by **NiSk** » 25 Aug 2005, 22:30

Adding too much petrol to diesel fuel will cause pre-detonation and burn your glowplugs away ultra-fast and I think 30% is way over that level.
//NiSk

Oscar Too · Post by **Oscar Too** » 25 Aug 2005, 22:39

NiSK I should perhaps have qualified my remarks by saying "about 0.5 of a litre per tank" or "1 pint" as we say in the UK [:)]

NiSk · Post by **NiSk** » 25 Aug 2005, 23:03

I was referring to BX-bodger recovery friend!
//NiSk

Kowalski · Post by **Kowalski** » 25 Aug 2005, 23:07

I don't think "pre-detonation" is the correct term here.
A diesel engine has no spark plug, ideally a when a diesel engine injects fuel into an engine it will start burning spontaneously instantly. If it doesn't start burning instantly, you get an accumulation of diesel that ignites explosively and that is what causes diesel knock. Pilot injection and two stage injection were techniques to minimuise the accumulation of unburnt diesel in the cylinder before it starts to burn.
If the petrol in the diesel mix reduces the cetane rating too much you will get a problem because petrol has a low cetane rating, but parafin won't cause so much of a problem because it has a higher cetane (and lower octane) rating than petrol.

NiSk · Post by **NiSk** » 26 Aug 2005, 12:45

Couldn't have said it better myself!
//NiSk

madmanbob · Post by **madmanbob** » 26 Aug 2005, 15:49

quote "Petrol is often added to diesel on the continent as an antifreeze, or more strictly speaking to prevent excess viscosity during winter months."
I don't think so. As most board members who have been overseas will testify the fuel here is better quality and goes further than the Uk fuel. I don't think the people who make the best diesel engines in the world would put up with having to dilute a modern low sulpher fuel with petrol.

Kowalski · Post by **Kowalski** » 26 Aug 2005, 19:56

Strictly speaking, it's not petrol that's added to winter diesel, petrol has a load of components to increase its octane rating that wouldn't do bad things to a diesel's cetane rating. What is added are lighter components of the crude, so winter diesel is less prone to waxing at low temperatures. It's done here as well as on the continent.

Post by **Peter.N.** » 26 Aug 2005, 20:38

I always had to add petrol to my diesel in the winter when I had my first diesel car or I couldn't start it, but that was in 1960!