Should have used Fuel additive

[ScottG]

Just picked my truck up from the shop. It was having to spin more and more to start this past year. After that it ran great but the slow starts were starting to worry me.
I'd heard that we should use a fuel additive because ULSD has such poor lubrication properties but I blew it off. After all, it always ran great although my mileage has gone down. And how bad could it be with only 108K on it.
Boy was that a mistake. Shop said high pressure pump (CP3) was digesting itself and sending metal through the injectors. They told me it was purely a lubrication issue with ULSD.
So to go along with my new pump and injectors, I have a case of Stanadyne that I will use religously.

In order to get something out of this, I had the shop (DDP Monroe, Wa) install a set of their Honed and flow matched 50 HP tips. We'll see. I don't know if I was down on power before the work but it sure pulls nice now and has tremendous throttle response. It's very quiet too. According to everything other owners have observed, I should see improved fuel efficiency with these tips.

I hope new trucks can deal better with ULSD's lousy lube quality.

YMMV!

[goducks10]

I added a 2nd filter setup under the truck. It has a regular 2-3 micron filter along with a water separator filter.
My OEM under the hood looks really clean after 10,000 miles.
Ram says DON'T add addatives so I don't.
http://dieselfuelfilterkits.com/03_12_cummins_fuel_filter_kit.html

[ShinerBock]

FishOnOne wrote:

ShinerBock wrote:

mapguy wrote:
Water and other contaminates are the leading cause of injector and IP wear problems in hp common rail diesel injection systems. Cat did a study a few years ago that is quite enlightening.

Best to have more filtration than comes OEM on late model trucks...

I have a dual filter strategy on my 06 Duramax. Use a Cat UHE filter and the OEM coalescing filter to trap the particles and the water.

Most modern diesel trucks have dual filters. My 2014 Ram has a chassis mounted fuel/water separator and an engine mounted fuel/water separator and filter in one.

My dads 2016 Duramax has 1 filter. Not sure about the 2017 trucks.

Which is why I said most and not all.

[Cummins12V98]

The RAM primary filter works so good after 15K the engine mounted filter is near new looking. I still change BOTH at 15K.

[ktmrfs]

FishOnOne wrote:

ShinerBock wrote:

mapguy wrote:
Water and other contaminates are the leading cause of injector and IP wear problems in hp common rail diesel injection systems. Cat did a study a few years ago that is quite enlightening.

Best to have more filtration than comes OEM on late model trucks...

I have a dual filter strategy on my 06 Duramax. Use a Cat UHE filter and the OEM coalescing filter to trap the particles and the water.

Most modern diesel trucks have dual filters. My 2014 Ram has a chassis mounted fuel/water separator and an engine mounted fuel/water separator and filter in one.

My dads 2016 Duramax has 1 filter. Not sure about the 2017 trucks.

the latest duramax filter, in use for probably 4 years or more, is a filter with two filter elements, one large courser filter and a smaller very fine filter. So it looks like one filter but is really a two stage filter

[FishOnOne]

ShinerBock wrote:

mapguy wrote:
Water and other contaminates are the leading cause of injector and IP wear problems in hp common rail diesel injection systems. Cat did a study a few years ago that is quite enlightening.

Best to have more filtration than comes OEM on late model trucks...

I have a dual filter strategy on my 06 Duramax. Use a Cat UHE filter and the OEM coalescing filter to trap the particles and the water.

Most modern diesel trucks have dual filters. My 2014 Ram has a chassis mounted fuel/water separator and an engine mounted fuel/water separator and filter in one.

My dads 2016 Duramax has 1 filter. Not sure about the 2017 trucks.

[ShinerBock]

mapguy wrote:
Water and other contaminates are the leading cause of injector and IP wear problems in hp common rail diesel injection systems. Cat did a study a few years ago that is quite enlightening.

Best to have more filtration than comes OEM on late model trucks...

I have a dual filter strategy on my 06 Duramax. Use a Cat UHE filter and the OEM coalescing filter to trap the particles and the water.

Most modern diesel trucks have dual filters. My 2014 Ram has a chassis mounted fuel/water separator and an engine mounted fuel/water separator and filter in one.

[mapguy]

Water and other contaminates are the leading cause of injector and IP wear problems in hp common rail diesel injection systems. Cat did a study a few years ago that is quite enlightening.

Best to have more filtration than comes OEM on late model trucks...

I have a dual filter strategy on my 06 Duramax. Use a Cat UHE filter and the OEM coalescing filter to trap the particles and the water.

[coolbreeze01]

If needed, at least use a good one:

Techron® D Concentrate, Diesel Fuel System Cleaner 😉

[john_bet]

Never an ounce of additive in my '04.5 Dodge that I bought new. Now has 212+K on it. Still has the original lift pump too. No fueling problems to date. Each vehicle is different.

[FishOnOne]

jus2shy wrote:
Even though no changes were made to the CP3 with the advent of ULSD fuels, Dodge/RAM did change the canister fuel filter (engine mounted) for the 2010+ trucks. The filter used on the 2013+ trucks superceded what was used on the 2010 to 2012 trucks. The filter has 2 elements built into it, outer element should handle down to about 10 microns along with water strainer and the inner element should handle down to 3 microns. Vast improvement over the previous fuel filters. Erosion or contamination at the injector tips were a problem with the older filter setups I believe.

Also wanted to add that Cummins/RAM were very proactive with fighting water contamination, as both filters (chassis and engine) have water separators and drains. Quite a pedantic setup for OEM, especially considering Ford and Chevy don't have this setup.

Ford's been running dual fuel filters since 2003. I've also read that the secondary fuel filter on the 6.7PSD is designed to capture and hold water as well, but doesn't have a drain. The setup on my truck is a breeze to change. The 2017 Fords primary filter is a rectangle setup and is fairly large, but looks like it's a bit more involved to change.

[FishOnOne]

ShinerBock wrote:
All high pressure fuel pumps will eventually fail. The question with the different types of pumps is how soon and what other parts will they take along with them when they do. Some pumps are more sensitive to contamination and overheating while others are not so sensitive. Some pumps mostly just loose pressure when they fail not causing damage to other components while others grenade taking out the whole fuel system with it. There are steps one can take to prolong the life of a pump, but the bottom line is that it will eventually fail.

I agree that the HPFP will eventually fail. Even our fuel pumps on our farm equipment fail as well. I read several reports about CP4 pumps wearing out by loosing pressure and simply needed replacement.

[jus2shy]

Even though no changes were made to the CP3 with the advent of ULSD fuels, Dodge/RAM did change the canister fuel filter (engine mounted) for the 2010+ trucks. The filter used on the 2013+ trucks superceded what was used on the 2010 to 2012 trucks. The filter has 2 elements built into it, outer element should handle down to about 10 microns along with water strainer and the inner element should handle down to 3 microns. Vast improvement over the previous fuel filters. Erosion or contamination at the injector tips were a problem with the older filter setups I believe.

Also wanted to add that Cummins/RAM were very proactive with fighting water contamination, as both filters (chassis and engine) have water separators and drains. Quite a pedantic setup for OEM, especially considering Ford and Chevy don't have this setup.

[NC_Hauler]

Still won’t use an additive.

[ShinerBock]

All high pressure fuel pumps will eventually fail. The question with the different types of pumps is how soon and what other parts will they take along with them when they do. Some pumps are more sensitive to contamination and overheating while others are not so sensitive. Some pumps mostly just loose pressure when they fail not causing damage to other components while others grenade taking out the whole fuel system with it. There are steps one can take to prolong the life of a pump, but the bottom line is that it will eventually fail.