Wasn't there a white orbak in star wars?

Jim

Well SWMBO just gave me her thoughts on all this. Her thought on all the names is they are Extra Super Duper Nerdy. She asked is why do vehicles need names anyway? Finally she indicated she is opting out of the naming deal..........and I am supposed to believe that?????

Orbac has a ring to it.....keep the good thoughts cumming

Yep it may be the doghouse for me Waite ....... I just had a brain idea - what about Pegasus? The white winged horse Athena tamed .....and yes I had to look that tidbit up

Keith

White Horse.

Jim

DEF Additives

I was reading in the manual (online) about the DEF system and the requirement for DEF that met certain requirements. I have a DEF meter ( yep you all made me get it) So that got me to reviewing brands and costs. Fortunately all seem good and reviews positive as long as you check exploration dates and store correctly, and if buying a bottle off the shelf, check that the seal is intact.

Then I ran across several ads for DEF additives that you add to the DEF tank.My gut says this is snake oil and can actually harm the system based on the Ford manual. Am I correct in this assumption.


Now as far as fuel additives I used Power Service with my old truck - anti jell and cetain booster. I guess I need to read about the fuel system next and see if that is OK. All of the Ford forums seem to point to adding a lubricant additive to help protect the CP4 fuel pump. That's one I will ask the dealer about along with the disaster proof kit.

Thanks for your thoughts on this. Reading and learning a lot. BTW are folks using the lane alert feature when towing. Roads here have very poor lane markings, so not sure if it will work correctly or not.

Keith

Keith,

Its best to stay away from any additives or calibration changes (if interested at some point) unless Ford or other brands make recommendations. Met a fellow yesterday with a new GM Duramax truck where he flashed in an aftermarket calibration at two months old. His warranty is no longer valid with respect to the powertrain. In the GM case, the re-flash is detected and counted in how many times the controller is flashed. No logged part number in the ECU and the owner potentially owns all powertrain related issues. Top tier fuel and def should be all you need.

Jim

Thanks Jim
Truck is in production and I have emailed my sales gal that I would like to have the service manager involved in the PDI, one of which it to go over the DEF/fuel/oil system and CP4 fuel pump issues if any. I don't want to mess up. I have never chipped/flashed any of my vehicles as I have seen too many melted engines - especially the 6.0 which is very sensitive to melting pistons at high EGT when chipped. I also want the manager to go over the up fitter switches and find the wiring bundles, including the pass through wires before I leave the dealership.

Appreciate the thoughts
Keith

As I recall Ford has their own recommended cetane booster and lubricator. I was running it for a while, and also was running a third party people recommended (Opti-Lube) but have fallen away from it. I worried a lot about fuel pump issues when I first got the truck (some of the stories are really scary), but I have not heard anything about a bad failure in a while now. Honestly the biggest problem was the additive bottles always leaked and it smelt terrible lol. On long trips I needed a lot, and the Opti-Lube came in a nice gallon bottle with a pump that worked well in the garage but I never wanted to take it with me, so I got away from it.

The hundreds of thousands of durability test miles by all OEMs are done with specified fuels and lubricants. All additives are "snake oil" that are more likely to do harm than good. DEF can deteriorate with age so cycle through what you buy FIFO.

WRT the lane alert warning system . . . I leave it on and find it a valuable reminder. If it cannot find a lane strip (often on the right side) it turns that side off but keeps the centre line warning on the left. When you turn on the turn signal for a lane change, this briefly turns off the lane alert on that side.

Rob

Keith,

There is a new version CP4xx where the issues should be behind folks.

Jim

Not sure if your HD trucks have electric steering assist but there are three versions for this function out there. A lane alert warning. Lane assist and lane centering. In the DWs vehicle, the lane assist will steer the car back into the lane. In lane centering, it is as the name implies and the vehicle will stay centered. This is used in self driving featured vehicles which are here or on the horizon.

Agree with Rob (who comes from the same background) to leave the vehicle alone. Vehicles are tested and developed on tier one fuel with no additives unless stated.

Jim

Again I have gotten away from using it, but I believe Ford recommends a cetane booster, they in fact make their own they recommend they use. I think it might be smoke and mirrors, but it is out there. There is PM-22 for cold weather (also has anti-gel), and PM-23 for warm.

https://www.motorcraft.com/us/en_us/...compliant.html

As far as anti-gel I have had it gel on me once, I caught it early before it did the whole waxed fuel filter thing when I was up snowmobiling in -20 degree F weather, but other than that never had an issue. Most fuel up north is winter blend #2 and has anti-gel in it.

Neil,

This advertisement does state it can be used to treat poor quality fuel. I could also see adding an anti-gel additive for cases where summer fuel is in the tank and the onset of winter is rapidly approaching. Otherwise, a centane additive modifies the point of ignition and the flame speed so its best to use this only an anti gel IMO to treat summer fuel for the onset of cold weather.
Otherwise, if Ford is not recommending it, its best to not use it.

Jim

WOW what a bunch of good responses. There are two products that I know do work on fuel systems. One is the BG 245 diesel fuel system cleaner (44K for gas), Both have been recommended by dealers as a first try fix for rough running situations, and both have worked well for me https://www.bgprod.com/
The second saved my but on a trip back from Mississippi in the winter a few years back. It's labeled 911 https://petroleumservicecompany.com. My trucked jelled overnight in Amarillo. I had straight #2 at 15 degrees in the tank and did not fill up before I stopped at Walmart for the night. I added it to the fuel filter and the tank and went and had breakfast (what else was there to do) when I go back it started - yep very rough lots of white smoke. but it started. 15 minutes later I was on the road and no problems.

I will be talking with the service manager about all of this as I know the 6.7 is a different beast than my wimpy 6.0 was. I am also hoping before I leave I will have a full set of filters and a jug of DEF (on the house). We shall see

Thanks again folks
Keith

Yoda Unrelated but related, I use the TSD logistics fuel card when on the road for fuel, gives a great discount and brings the truck stops (primarily TA) in line or even below the smaller stations "in town" (lately it's about $1 below the posted price). I say this because since I'm at the truck stop anyway I airways get my DEF at the pump, it's a fraction of the cost of the bottled stuff and with the big rigs coming through I'm confident it has for been sitting around going stale. I've heard horror stories of people who buy it in the jug and find out when they get home it's water cause someone used it filled it with water and returned it. Getting it at the pump solves this concern for me (real or imagined). There's even a large chain bear my home with truck pumps that has DEF at the pump as well, so I'm covered there. I think I've bought bottled twice ever in 60,000 miles.

Modern diesels are made to run on low CN (cetane number) where adding chemicals to raise the cetane number will not help to make power. Cetane is modified to aid in cold startablility.. Dealers sometime like to peddle chemicals on their own where its the manufacturer recommendation that matters. This information will be listed in your manual.

Jim