Diesel Supplement for Golf. Recommend?

[ranj]

Hi All

 

Had my Golf about 12 months now and has just come back from a routine minor service.

 

In my previous car i used to use Forte diesel supplement which was recommended to me to help clear the soot and other bits which hang around in the pipe work, i do about 12000 miles a year but they are short hops. Approx 40 miles a day on average on local roads with twice a month with high speed motorway driving.

 

Would it be safe to use this diesel supplement in the car and how often to people recommend this to be used also are there other supplements out there which are better than Forte?

 

Any recommendations on this would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Gibbo]

I use Millers Diesel Eco Max in my diesel every fill up. I don't have any scientific data to prove it, but my car feels better for it and I get more out of a tank.

[Oaktech]

My Dad is a specialist Diesel Injection Engineer and he recommends Forte as being one of the best.

 

He also recommends if you do short journeys mainly that every so often you find a nice long steep hill and go up it in 3rd somewhere near the redline just to get sufficient gas flow to clear out the crap.

[3s-gtech]

Generally, I wouldn't recommend it unless you are having very specific issues. It's generally a better bet in older (IDI) diesels, as modern injection pumps and unit injectors are very finely tuned and are designed to run on diesel alone. The best treatment for any modern diesel is a damn good thrashing fairly often to make sure the DPF behaves, while not pulling away from too high a gear at low speed to protect the DMF. I've put 40,000 miles on an already high mileage diesel car without any engine issues (touch wood) and not needed to use any treatment products. Still goes well, but it gets a good dose of right foot.

[bossman]

Well don't want to spoil the fun but you could save yourself an arm and a leg according to this report:

 

Fuel additives are ?waste of money?! | Auto Express

 

Don't know how people feel about this now

[Davit2005]

I have a Skoda TDi vRS with a DPF, same engine as the Golf GTD. They recommend not adding any additives. TBH quality oil i.e. VW Spec for the engine (low ash I think it is).

 

Personally I use Standard BP diesel and every 4th fill I use BP Ultimate, but changing over to Shell now as I have had better results in the past.

 

I do 60% stop/start and my long term avg speed for 4K is 21MPH but a good run every 1-2 months and I have had no DPF issues or warning lights and normally get an Active Regen for the DPF every 300 miles.

 

The old Italian tune up every once in a while helps :-)

Edited June 20, 2016 by Davit2005

[3s-gtech]

I had an old non-turbo diesel Peugeot 306 with a pretty fouled up injection system - it was hugely underpowered anyway, but had been driven slowly its whole life and was dog slow. In situations like that, I believe that these products can help (not a scenario that Which? tested) but in the end, I just thrashed the thing (with good fuel in it and a service) until it came back to life on its own.

[jinnantonnixx]

Additives can definitely work. I had a very rough-running 1.9D Renault van. My mechanic friend suggested Diesel Magic, but poured in the fuel line and fuel filter rather than in the tank. In other words - neat. I gave it two doses of this and it cleared the roughness and ran quite smoothly until I sold it 3 years later. It must have cleared a clogged injector.

 

But as a routine treatment? I don't know.

 

We now have a Berlingo diesel, and it was juddering occasionally. The dealer suggested driving it a bit more 'enthusiastically', which worked. Up until then, we both drove it gently and changed gear early and at low revs. After talking to the garage, we change gear later (not accelerating any faster, but leaving the revs climb to at least 2,500). Driving a modern diesel at low revs chokes it up.

Edited June 20, 2016 by jinnantonnixx

[Oaktech]

Basically, what they need is heat to make the DPF work, and gas flow to clear it through.

 

In other words, an 'Italian tune-up'