[mstrat]

Purchased on Saturday and Saturday night got the dreaded start to the Check Engine Light... so to the shop it goes... reading it appears to be a sensor...Torque says P1476

The thing is...I friggin love the truck. It's the first diesel I've owned, and I love the power band...and it drives great, and... you all know the drill. Just hate when you get the newest truck you've ever owned (2017, 23k miles) and day 1 get a CEL.

 

[CleverUserName]

When you buy used, you inherit any problems the previous owner had to deal with. With that said:

It is possible that it was traded in due to a problem or recurring issue. Hopefully that isn’t the case. I think that some of these were manufactured with defective sensors that needed to be replaced, so that may be the cause. Hopefully the dealer didn’t just clear the CEL and put it up for sale....

As I’ve said before on here, diesel fuel quality can and is the biggest factor in emissions system health, reliability and longevity. Start using a quality non-solvent based fuel additive ASAP to improve combustion efficiency and increase lubricity so that factor can be eliminated.

 

[Burgess159]

Just saying, I like Shell diesel =) my wife usually fuels up with Casey's diesel though and they both run good through the truck. I just think shell is better quality and the truck seems to go farther on a tank (and with my old 2004 Duramax).

Glad you like the truck and hope the dealer fixes the problem for you.

 

[TrailDog]

Shell Diesel here in NE Ohio says on the pump 'This is not a Shell Product'. My good friend works for Marathon and travels OH, PA and WV to the tank farms and does programming on fuel mixtures for Gas and Diesel. He informed me that they now supply Shell their diesel (to their specs). I have been running several different brands and have found just recently that I get 2-3 MPG better with Marathon than others same trip to and from work.

 

[PowderMonkey]

What about Chevron diesel?

 

[mstrat]

Crazy...I've not had it long enough to fill up, but there's only a few stations here that have diesel. There's a Circle K where I have always seen most people fueling up for diesel, then by the interstate there's a BP, Speedway, and Meijer. The owner of the Marathon station was mad I got a diesel because he doesn't sell it...small independent shop that's 3 doors down from me.

Also, I noticed at the Pilot 15 miles south of here there's a Pilot with DEF filling station at it...

 

[Burgess159]

Someone posted a link to all of the major fuel providers (I think it might have been CleverUserName) with the cetane numbers associated with their diesel fuel. I don't remember which thread it was on though, it was an older one.

 

[Burgess159]

This isn't the original one; I thought the one posted on here was more extensive, but you get the idea with this one. Found this on a Google search from here --> https://sprinter-source.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-44643.html

***Cetane levels by fuel company. To ensure accuracy if you have a level to add to the list please forward an email from a corporate office to me, and I will add it to the list. Please bear in mind that the current minimum from refiners in North America is 40. Depending on the quality of the oil used as well as refining processes you'll find 40-42 from refiners in the US and Canada. Anything above that has to do with specific companies additive packages. When companies give a minimum value then it will be listed as a single number. When a company gives a range of numbers bear in mind that more often than not you'll probably find the lower number rather than the higher number. If 40 is listed then it generally means that fuel is bought as is from the refiner--if someone messes up and doesn't put in enough additive at the refinery then that can cause major problems for your fuel system. It's recommended therefore that if you get the inexpensive fuel with low cetane you use a cetane booster (PowerService, Lubromoly Cetane booster or Stanadyne are all great choices), or run a little biodiesel in the tank. If something higher than 42 is listed then the retailer adds their own additive package in addition to the standard refinery additive package. Generally speaking as long as 49 or higher is listed you do not need to worry about adding any additives yourself.

All California Diesel: Minimum 53 Cetane

Propel HPR, 75
Syndiesel, 60
BP (Amoco branded), 51;
Countrymark fuels Diesel-R, 50
Chevron, 49; or 51 with Techron D labels in select markets
ConocoPhillips through the 76 stations (California) 47-53
PetroCanada, 47-51
BP (Powerblend 47, otherwise 40-42)
Shell, 46;
Sinclair, 46;
Sunoco Gold, 45 (often +1-5) Sunoco regular is usually 40.
Exxon/Mobile, 43-46
Holiday Stations, 40-43
HESS, 40-42, can be up to 45.
Husky, 40 + diesel Max additives raise another 1-3 from there (41-45 max)
Pilot/Love's/Flying J/Valero/Sheetz/Walmart/Wawa: 40

 

[CleverUserName]

As Traildog mentioned, even though you may be buying fuel from one of the major brands on list list, it may be rebranded product made by someone else.

Unless you live in a state that has mandated minimum cetane above the federal minimum values (Texas and California), it is hard to know exactly what cetane you will get.

The big truck stops generally have the cheapest and lowest quality D2. However, In CA they also typically sell B20 blends w/ 53 cetane so that may be desirable to some folks. In CA we are blessed with the highest quality diesel in the nation, however it is also the most expensive @ $4 gallon currently. In addition to B20, we also have limited availability of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil as a bio-based D2 substitute, sold under the HPR brand name.

If you can get the cetane value 50-55+ is best. There are also organo-metallic based combustion improvers included in some additives which also help reduce soot, smoke and emissions. Both of these together can extend your DPF regen mileage considerably and improve oil life while reducing soot-based engine wear.

FYI I've been using different additives for about 10 years, and I've never seen any fuel economy improvements with CA diesel fuels. However I tried this stuff about 2k miles ago and I'm seeing an improvement of nearly 1 MPG using the recommended dose of 10 mL / Gallon. Also keep in mind I'm fueling with HVO which has a cetane value of 75, it is a pure parrafinic fuel and burns extremely clean, but it is still being enhanced by the additive TDR-FL sold by https://www.amalgamatedinc.com/tdr-fl.aspx . I imagine if you added TDR-FL to crappy truck stop D2 it would be a dramatic improvement in fuel quality. I'm not being compensated by Amalgamated, but just sharing my experience. My results so far are impressive.