Xantia MOT and Dipetane

[jvwykes]

Folks

My Xantia HDi has passed its MOT with flying colours, no advisories and good emissions. Garage commented on it looking good for its age



All its cost me to run this year was a Bosch recon front caliper (old one leaking fluid), now hand brake massively improved too. Not cheap but saved messing about with seals and worn pistons

I've been using Dipetane for 6 months and I believe its cleaned up the exhaust. Last 2 MOTs it struggled to pass, with high levels of smoke, despite using non supermarket fuel and the occasional dash of redex

[admiral51]

Thats great news

[white exec]

Good news about the MoT.

Not heard of that fuel treatment. The site and the video don't tell much.
Interesting that it seems to be working in exactly on opposite lines to EGR, which is there to restrict (not maximise) available oxygen for combustion. Interesting in itself, that.

The MSDS sheet is pretty much secretive, which always makes me suspicious: http://dipetanenortheast.com/documents/ ... 20MSDS.pdf
but was written in 2004, so the product has obviously been around for a while.
Interesting to compare with MSDS for Miller's and Wynn's, which are extremely detailed.

And this caught my eye...
"Dipetane is a 100% hydrocarbon liquid fuel treatment as opposed to an additive. It contains nothing that is not already in the fuel."
And the instruction not expect any immediate effect, but to do an Italian tune up first. This, on its own, will usually drastically reduce smoke output, as we well know.

Quite possibly just another cetane improver, so interesting that it's being marketed for use in petrol too.

How much does it cost, and what is the recommended dosage, out of interest?

[jvwykes]

mix 1:200 but not a problem to use more

Definitely not snake oil, as I don't do Spanish or Italian tune ups. For once its something that does exactly what it says on the tin

Cost varies, Halfords or Ebay sell it. As I mentioned, the last 2 years its struggled to pass the emission test. Put this in and within few days it was running smoother and no smoke when you accelerate uphills

Its your choice but i'm a convert

[white exec]

That's exactly how the Wynn's Diesel Fuel Treatment and Miller's Diesel Power Plus products work.
200:1 is the "remedial dose" when there's an issue, 1000:1 in normal use.
These fluids are also pale yellow/brown, and smell very distinctive. One of the active "cetane improver" ingredients is naphthalene (mothball aroma).

[jvwykes]

Dipetane is colourless and doesn't smell of anything that I can detect

None of the Wynn type treatments did anything like this for my car

[van ordinaire]

1:200, yet it comes in 1, 2 & 5ls BUT it does look like it has a following among big fleet operators.

You can use it in CH boilers too, though for what purpose &/or to what effect isn't clear.

[sparksie]

Yes, it seems to be a good seller.
My local factors can't keep it in stock.
I've never tried it myself, though.
My smoke is always comfortably within limits, so never needed it

[van ordinaire]

One man's snake oil is another's elixir of life/universal panacea!

[bobins]

Make of it what you will - but a review of documentation and evidence for Dipetane by : "Dr Stephen Dooley, Assistant Professor of Energy Science School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin" is up on the web.

In his comments - "My analysis is simply summarised: Dipetane does appear to result in an increase in fuel efficiency of approximately 4.5-15% in most instances. That is, vehicles using Dipetane appear to travel further on the same quantity of fuel than those not using Dipetane. This is accompanied by a reduction in soot and unburned hydrocarbons in the exhaust gases studied, mostly for diesel or other diffusion/mixing limited combustion device configurations, such as boilers."

Further - rather tedious - reading can be found here:
https://efficientfuel.co.uk/pages/fuel- ... f-dipetane
Though it should be noted that 'Efficientfuel' is a promotional site for Dipetane.


I am in no way saying Dipetane is any good, just that if anyone wants to do a bit of research, here is somewhere to start.

[Pug_XUD_KeenAmateur]

always good to hear of cars costing next to nowt to run. Bit surprised about the previous high smoke levels, don't be afraid to also give it a good thrashing

[van ordinaire]

"Dr. Stephen Dooley is Assistant Professor at the School of Physics since August 2016. Stephen obtained his BSc and PhD from the National University of Ireland, Galway, in pure and applied chemistry and physical chemistry in 2004 & 2008 respectively. He then spent three-and-a-half years as a member of the professional research staff at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University, USA. After this, he worked as a thermofluids technical specialist at Cummins Engine Company in the UK, before joining the University of Limerick as a Lecturer at the Department of Chemical & Environmental Sciences where he spent 3 years. His research interests are in the Science of Energy, where he specialises in chemical reaction kinetics, fuels, and combustion science. He holds starting investigator and Career Advancement Awards from Science Foundation Ireland. He is the founding Director of the MSc in Energy Science at Trinity College Dublin." So no bar stool "expert" then - & yet . . .

[bobins]

"Dr. Stephen Dooley is Assistant Professor at .....<much snippage>...... He is the founding Director of the MSc in Energy Science at Trinity College Dublin." So no bar stool "expert" then - & yet . . .

...and yet.
I think the trouble we all have is that we trust these fuel additives as much as we trust the engine manufacturer's and oil companies. Are any of them capable of telling the absolute and unadulterated truth ?

[Michel]

..<much snippage>......Are any of them capable of telling the absolute and unadulterated truth ?

The simple answer is “are they f@&k”.