Steel Soldiers::Military Vehicles Supersite - View Single Post - Diesel Fuel Additives/Conditioners

cranetruck · 04-01-2006, 03:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rattlehead

This is a bulletin from GM on fuel additives. Whatever you use, just be sure it doesn't have any emulsifiers in it, such as alcohol, which suspend water in the fuel and therefore bypass the operation of a typical water separator. GM finally released their own fuel conditioner, which I believe is made by Racor, but there are other brands which don't use emulsifiers.

Hmmm..the additive specified by the military (my post above) does contain an alcohol.
So does unwashed biodiesel, which contains a percentage of methanol.
I understood that the alcohol picked up the water and bypassed the water separator and finally burned as diluted alcohol without harming the engine because the water wouldn't arrive at the injectors as separate water droplets.

Racecar fuel, which is methanol is never 100%, it always contains a fraction of a % of water.

I also wonder how effective a water separator actually is, if it is not 100% effective, some water will pass and then arrive as separate water droplets, which will harm the injectors as the water turns to steam at explosive rate. I'd rather see some diluted alcohol then a percentage of free water.
Racor makes some pretty sophisticated water separators, but if they are not 100% effective, then what?

Wonder how much is a selling ploy by GM to push their own additive...

Need an independent expert's opinion here. Anybody here experienced with this chemistry?