Fuel Quality - Diesel...

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I didn't forget anything, I was just quoting from a web page: the text was copied and pasted from the web page.
 
No I haven't done that. I expect if I paid a 10p/15p premium per litre on shell v power, or equivalent, I may see improved mpg, but is it worth it? That's almost a £15 premium per tank on my car.

It seems likely the shell v power cleaning additives would be beneficial, certainly not harmful, but hopefully the fact I mostly do motorway miles keeps engine etc clean anyway, from the Italian tune up effect :)

I'm not an expert, but I would have thought that poor quality fuel would contaminate an engine irrespective of its regular use on a motorway, though frequent motorway use would perhaps mean that its effects would take longer to materialise??

Millers what? What's the product name?

The answer to your question is here:

Engine Oil, Gear Oil, Fuel Additive, Millers Oils

Interesting to note the recall on Miller's oil on the home page!

If you only want to clean your engine once in a while, every however many thousands of miles, there's perhaps not much difference in the cost of filling your tank with 'premium' fuel, over and above supermarket prices, as adding an additive. Assuming of course that the results would be similar.

It's all in the good book:


"Additives
symb_ruf.png

Do not refuel with low grade fuel and do not use fuel additives that have not been tested and approved for Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Otherwise the fuel system could malfunction or be damaged.


One of the major problems with low-grade fuel is the creation of carbon deposits during the process of burning fuel. Mercedes-Benz recommends that you use fuel brands that have additives.
If you use fuels without these additives for a longer period of time, there may be a build-up of carbon deposits. These will form especially on the inlet valves and in the combustion chamber.
This could lead to engine running problems, e.g.:

  • longer engine warm-up phase
  • uneven idle
  • engine noise
  • misfiring
  • loss of power

In areas where petrol with the required additives is not available, carbon deposits can build up. In this case, Mercedes-Benz recommends the use of additives that have been approved for Mercedes-Benz vehicles; see Mercedes-Benz Betriebsstoff-Vorschriften: Motoröl, Getriebeöl, ATF, Kühlmittel, Bremsflüssigkeiten.
The quality of the fuel available in some countries may not be sufficient. Residue could build up as a result. In such cases, and in consultation with a Mercedes-Benz Service Centre, the petrol may be mixed with the additive recommended by Mercedes-Benz (part no. A000989254510). You must observe the notes and mixing ratios specified on the container.
Consult a Mercedes-Benz Service Centre to view a list of approved products. Observe the instructions for use in the product description.
Do not mix other fuel additives with fuel. This causes unnecessary costs and could damage the engine."
 
I stand corrected - the author of the website quoted forgot...

Wasn't having a go at you - honestly :)

No problem, I realised you hadn't noticed that I quoted from somewhere else.
 
I drive weekly from South London to Leeds and have noticed that I consistently get improved fuel economy when the tank is filled up with Asda diesel. On a run up to Leeds on my W169 A180CDI I typically get around 53 to 55 mpg according to the trip computer. But when I fill up at Asda I can easily get 58 to 59 mpg and even reached 60mpg once.

I read a post on another forum some time ago by a chap who thought his car run better on Morrison's diesel. I've started to fill up there and I'm inclined to agree, and now fill up there regularly. I haven't done any 'scientific' tests as I don't do enough mileage to make realistic comparisons, and therefore this may be a placebo, but if you have an opportunity to fill up at one I'd be interested to know your results.

I'm having an experimental shop around at the moment and find Tesco and Asda diesel on a par with each other, but not as good as Morrison's.

The next part of my plan is to run my tank down to a lower than usual level, the fill up with Shell V, and late BP Ultimate, to see if there's any noticeable difference.

It has to be said, that people who haven't noticed any appreciable difference in performance or mpg with premium fuels are not really fully addressing the issue. The question is, are these fuels having a beneficial effect on the state and longevity of the engine? Something only time will tell, and something, I would suggest, that cannot be determined by the odd tankful.
 
Wongl: your experience of using premium vs Asda diesel is interesting...the higher mpg with Asda diesel. Similar to what dieselman noted.

The main issue that bothers me is if supermarket diesel contains damaging additives, as seen in one the quotes above.

I think I'll read up a bit more, but either stick with Asda diesel and add some Millers diesel fuel treatment from time to time, or switch to shell standard diesel (with or without Millers), but avoid the shell v power. Then see if I notice any difference.
 
Supermarket V Branded is a topic I have been watching for quite some time. I have only had my CLK 270D since last Friday so I cant comment on the Mercedes engines and how it reacts to the cheap and branded diesel.

My previous car was a Jaguar x type 2.0d, That when I traded it in last week it had covered 181500 miles. What I can say is that when I used the supermarket fuel the car was very sluggish, rough sounding and returned very poor mpg. In September of last year I had to replace all the injectors and was told then by a diesel specialist that the supermarket diesel has little or no additive (he did tell me the technical name for the additive but one has forgotten it) that a diesel engine needs to lubricate the injection system compared to the likes of Shell, BP and the like.

I know a lot of other Jag owners that have been putting 2 stroke oil in with every fill to replace the additives that the cheap fuels don't have. They report by doing this the engine runs smoother produces less smoke on hard acceleration and they claim that it helps keep the injectors from getting to much carbon build up.

I would be interested to see if other Mercedes owners agree with this and do the same with their cars.

After I had the injectors replaced on the Jag I never went back to using the cheap fuels and used the shell regular diesel only. But on the odd occasion where I could not get shell and had to put in a supermarket fuel. I can say I really did notice the difference in performance and mpg.

I did for a while try the Shell Premium diesel but found compared to their regular diesel there was no noticeable difference in running or mpg. The only difference I noticed was to my wallet, so I went back to using just the shell regular.

I was told by the diesel specialist not to use the supermarket fuels or if I have to just put enough in to get to a branded fuel station as this fuel is no good for the injectors or fuel pumps ect.

As a rule now for my Mercedes I will only use shell where I can but I would be interested to know your opinions of Supermarket v branded and the Mercedes engine as I am hoping its a much better engineered engine than the weak engine that was in my x type.

Marcel-Anthony
If your merc has done over 180000 miles now then surely it was pretty high in September so maybe wear and tear on the injectors was a major factor not just suspect fuel.

Personally I have experienced no problems with Tesco diesel, but the highest mileage ive done was about 110000 in a vw bora.
 
I've filled up mostly with Sainsburys for the last four year, without noticing any problems. I did however on my last fill treat the car to some expensive Shell stuff, I haven't noticed any difference thus far, I shall monitor the consumption to see if there is any improvement, somehow I doubt it.
 
It has to be said, that people who haven't noticed any appreciable difference in performance or mpg with premium fuels are not really fully addressing the issue. The question is, are these fuels having a beneficial effect on the state and longevity of the engine? Something only time will tell, and something, I would suggest, that cannot be determined by the odd tankful.

This is my main concern, that I'm not damaging the engine etc from unknown potentially harmful/clogging-up additives.
 
I use only V-Power diesel on my other car... because it saves me putting in fuel additives myself.

The car only does 1k miles a year and I am hoping the additives will help keep the engine clean.
 
QUOTE:-

Pace Petroleum is one of the UK's largest distributors and retailers of petroleum products.
The Pace brand has a strong heritage in the UK motor fuels market having originally been developed by the motor industry entrepreneur Victor Gauntlett in the early 1970s. By the time that the brand was acquired by the Kuwait Petroleum group in 1986 it had a strong presence in the retail motor fuels market in the South of England.
Kuwait Petroleum consolidated to form Kuwait Petroleum (GB) Ltd. KPGB then traded under the Q8 brand in its retail business and more recently as Q8 Fuelcare in its distributor sales business. In 2001, Q8 Fuelcare benefited from the acquisition of BP's distributor sales and Heating Services business in central and southern England. In October 2004 KPGB was purchased by our parent company Refined Holdings Ltd , whereupon the company was renamed Pace Petroleum Ltd. Our distributor business now trades as Fuelcare Local. Refined Holdings is a Joint Venture company between Malthurst, the Winston Group and the William Pears Group. Malthurst is a dealer group operating over 150 service stations in the UK. The Winston Group and the William Pears Group contribute with property and financial expertise.
Under new ownership Pace Petroleum has already experienced growth with the acquisition in September 2005 of 60 Company-owned sites from Texaco. Pace Petroleum currently supplies some 1.8% of the UK's oil products with a firm commitment to customer care and high service standards.
They are bankrolled by HSBC.
 
I expect you're right.

One thing that nags away with this idea though is that knowing that dealerships love money, why doesn't MB sell their own 'MB' diesel additive?

It's a crowded market, I'm not sure how much money they'd make from it really. And then you open the floodgates... by saying "Only use MB branded additives", they'll probably worry that people think it really means "We don't recommend using anyone else's but it's probably fine, we're just trying to milk you"
 
I seem to remember some survey showing Shell as being the cheapest "branded" fuel. My local one was always the same price as the nearest Sainsburys, whenever I checked. That's for standard diesel and unleaded obviously, rather than V Power.
 
If your merc has done over 180000 miles now then surely it was pretty high in September so maybe wear and tear on the injectors was a major factor not just suspect fuel.

Personally I have experienced no problems with Tesco diesel, but the highest mileage ive done was about 110000 in a vw bora.

Just to point out the high miles was done in my jag and not my merc. But point taken re injectors on their way out. However after the new injectors were fitted to the jag. I could tell the difference in both mpg and performance if the local to me supermarket (morrisons) fuel was used.
 
This is my main concern, that I'm not damaging the engine etc from unknown potentially harmful/clogging-up additives.

When supermarket fuel vs branded fuel comes up the usual fretting isn't about supermarket fuel containing additives but that it doesn't - to make it cheaper. Oh no ! supermarket fuel must be bad because it's cheaper.

And then somebody will invariable bring up the issue of aftermarket additives that you can buy. Oh that must be good because it costs you extra.

Consider that most people who fret about this stuff aren't even aware that diesel fuel changes between summer and winter. Nor do they remember the Formula Shell debacle.

Personally my way of dealing with all this hassle and worry and upset is to park my car under a pyramid at night, cover it in tinfoil during the day, and only play my yoga chillout meditation CD and chant when I'm driving.
 
I was just thinking this week that I'm looking forward to filling my car up with diesel as it will be the first tank of summer diesel this year!

Only got 45mpg on a 65 mile round trip today. Hope to get an extra 10% when on summer diesel.
 

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