# Adding two stroke oil to diesel fuel?



## airstream (Jan 7, 2009)

Hi,

After reading on MHF that several MH owners were adding two stroke oil to the diesel fuel I asked the question

" can this do any harm ? "

Answer came back

"Contamination of lube oil into the exhaust system is very detrimental and can irreversibly deactivate the catalyst within a few hours or days."

So if your van still has its cat?

Food for thaught eh?

Regards Ray


----------



## 747 (Oct 2, 2009)

No cat on my van.

Scrap men please take note, you will be wasting your time.


----------



## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

No cat on mine and pre electronic. I also add it to my 1993 ZX.

Ray.


----------



## cabby (May 14, 2005)

can I ask why they were doing this.

cabby


----------



## loddy (Feb 12, 2007)

lubrication


----------



## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Personally I read a long description from a German site which said it gave some improvements.

So with nothing to loose I started adding it to my 2000 pre electronic Fiat 2.8. I did notice a smoothness immediately. Nothing in power or mpg but it definitely it revs smoother and not like an old truck before.

Ray.


----------



## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

A load of Ed Balls.
Sales gimmick.
Psycological effect Ray. 

Enough lubricant in the fuel.
I have never had an engine problem with a diesel vehicle.
I have been driving diesels for 30 years plus. Most did 36 k plus miles a year. Thats over one million miles.

Dave p


----------



## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

It just might be psycological Dave.
But somehow at 60 it now sings as against lumbering. As I have a gallon of 2stoke oil gathering dust, I will use it.

Ray.


----------



## pneumatician (May 1, 2005)

Do you remember "Redex" upper cylinder lubricant at a penny a shot.

Castrol R is the stuff don't think it does anything but leave a great smell in your wake. Petrol engines only.

Steve


----------



## fdhadi (May 9, 2005)

I remember we used to add petrol to diesel to stop it freezing


----------



## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

Back in 1980 petrol addtion was a necessity for my Peugot 504 pick up in freezing weather.

tony


----------



## Traveller_HA5_3DOM (May 9, 2005)

Upper cylinder lubricants were added in the 60s to petrol engines to assist with the lubrication of the upper piston rings. The petrol fuel had a natural diluting effect on the thin film of oil as the piston rose to the top of the stroke and could result in the oil film breaking down with subsequent wear on the bores. 
Diesel fuel on the other hand is oil and the main reason the engines outlast petrol ones is the natural upper cylinder lubricant of the diesel fuel.


----------



## Skar (Jul 13, 2010)

I heard about this and decided to give it a go, to be honest I'm unsure if there was any improvement but there certainly was a problem when it came to MOT time....

Mine is an old merc engine with 250k km on it and we couldn't get it through the emissions test, finished up having to drain the tank! We then added clean fuel and a commercial cleaner and it sailed though...

Steve


----------



## 747 (Oct 2, 2009)

Skar said:


> I heard about this and decided to give it a go, to be honest I'm unsure if there was any improvement but there certainly was a problem when it came to MOT time....
> 
> Mine is an old merc engine with 250k km on it and we couldn't get it through the emissions test, finished up having to drain the tank! We then added clean fuel and a commercial cleaner and it sailed though...
> 
> Steve


How much and how often were you putting the oil in Steve?


----------



## BillCreer (Jan 23, 2010)

The other week, when I was distracted, I put 7 galls of petrol into my 2ltr HDi Berlingo which already had 5 galls of diesel still in it.
I did something similar about 10 years ago and got the same feeling in the pit of my stomach as as realised what I'd done as I returned the nozzle to the pump.
It drove the 2 miles home without a hiccup.
Next day I bought 3 10 ltr plastic containers and drained 30 ltrs from the tank into them.
I then put 250ml of 2T oil in the tank and drove to the petrol station and filled the tank with DIESEL.
I now put 10 ltrs of my mix in with each tank fill up and give it 250ml of 2T for good measure.
The Engine is just coming up to 90k mls and is running better than ever.


----------



## Bill_H (Feb 18, 2011)

running quieter?
Earplugs are cheaper than 2T.


----------



## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

So someone in a back room somewhere has a far better idea of what is the best formulation for Diesel fuel is than the actual fuel companies then ???

What a total and utter load of b******** :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: 

Its the same as these crackpot devices that claim to offer huge MPG savings by "magnetically lining up the molecules in the fuel" To the best of my knowledge there is sod all thats magnetic in a fluid such as petrol and diesel :roll: :roll: :roll:


----------



## locrep (Dec 5, 2011)

I am with you Mrplod..

BillCreer hopefully it won't, but do let us know if it stops running..


----------



## BillCreer (Jan 23, 2010)

Bill_H said:


> running quieter?
> Earplugs are cheaper than 2T.


Hi Bill,

I am putting the 2 stroke oil in to compensate for the lack of lubrication in the petrol that I'm adding.

The point I'm making, I suppose, is that engines are more resilient than people might think. If you can happily run them on old cooking oil then, as long as there is lubrication for the pump, whatever you shove in there is not too critical.

I did a similar thing 10 years ago to a Citroen BX and it went on to do another 50k trouble free miles before I sold it.


----------



## Jezport (Jun 19, 2008)

BillCreer said:


> Bill_H said:
> 
> 
> > running quieter?
> ...


Modern common rail diesels have pumps that run at such close tolerances that the lubrication in the fuel is important so running a short distance with petrol can cause catastrophic damage.


----------



## denisl (Mar 16, 2011)

So would the advice to anyone in BillCreers position be to add some oil immediately if you intend/need to drive it?


----------



## spatz1 (May 19, 2011)

Jezport said:


> Modern common rail diesels have pumps that run at such close tolerances that the lubrication in the fuel is important so running a short distance with petrol can cause catastrophic damage.


and anyone with a n early 1.5 megane diesel is in very much danger of finding out and the repair is a complete drain , clean of all fuel items after the pump is replaced and can cost over £2000 

But my repair was £16 as i cheated and fitted an electric pump to feed the fuel in as it actualy only knocks the bit of the pump that draws the fuel from the tank and has run perfect for well over a year like that...


----------



## Jezport (Jun 19, 2008)

denisl said:


> So would the advice to anyone in BillCreers position be to add some oil immediately if you intend/need to drive it?


If its a common rail diesel and has petrol in the tank recovery is the best option. Only a scientist could tell you if adding oil to a tank of petrol will make it safe to drive on. It cant make it worse.

If you add a small amount of petrol by mistake and then fill the whole tank up with diesel to dilute it then it will be OK. I started to fill my last van with petrol and realised after 2 litres so just filled it up with diesel and all was OK.


----------



## goldi (Feb 4, 2009)

Afternoon all,

You could get redex for diesels up to about three years ago I do, nt know if you can still get it but it did make them go better. The idea was to clean the injectors. I was acommon thing at one time to add petrolto diesel in the winter to help get them started. I would not add petrol to todays engines, they are much more complex. I have added 2 stroke to my van and it makes it quieter and does alittle more mpg but only on long journeys when the engine get hot for long periods. I will use up the tubes of 2 stroke and then not buy any more.


norm


----------



## BillCreer (Jan 23, 2010)

denisl said:


> So would the advice to anyone in BillCreers position be to add some oil immediately if you intend/need to drive it?


Hi,

Even if I'd had oil with me I'd filled the tank so there was no room :lol: (but I would have put 250ml in)

I don't bother putting 2T oil in the Berlingo as it a modern common rail design so should not need any extra lubrication with normal diesel.

I do put 2T oil in my Ducato HDi as that has an old(very expensive) type of pump which was designed before the modern diesel formulas. A bit of extra and cheap lubrication can't harm it.


----------



## 747 (Oct 2, 2009)

I do not bother about what the sceptics say. None of them are motor engineers.

I am happy to put 2T oil in now and again (not every tankful).

BTW, I also put Redex diesel treatment in, usually in the late summer when I am using the van a lot and just before my MOT date (September). I usually buy my Redex from Wilkinsons as they are cheaper than Halfrauds (who isn't). A mixture of treatment and long runs will clear out any crud you have accumulated. :wink:


----------



## SamAhab (Aug 23, 2011)

raynipper said:


> It just might be psycological Dave.
> But somehow at 60 it now sings as against lumbering. As I have a gallon of 2stoke oil gathering dust, I will use it.
> 
> Ray.


Advise against using oil with dust in it!


----------



## Andysam (May 10, 2005)

2T is regularly added to all years of Transits on the Transit forum. The consensus there is that there IS a measurable improvement.

I don't use it but keep meaning to get some. ULSD simply does not have the same lubrication properties as regular diesel.

Bear in mind that the cat is NOT emissions tested, in fact many people remove the cats in diesel vans to improve both performance and economy. Manufacturers don't put them on to save the planet, they are made to add them. Personally I think 2-3 mpg more without a cat is better than 2-3 mpg with a cat.


----------



## Yeti (Jan 17, 2006)

Just to add my tuppence to the diesel/petrol mix discussion.
A couple of years ago I inadvertently added 40 litres of petrol to our 316 cdi Sprinter, not realising the mistake I then drove 300 Kms throught the Alps, only noticing that it was a devil to start.
On reaching Frieburg I went to the Mercedes dealership for a diagnosis
I was of the impression that there could be an ECU problem or the fuel feeder pump on startup, otherwise it was going well!
I was horrified to be told and then shown the fuel in puddles on the workshop floor being set alight with a lighter.
I would not believe it but I found the receipt for the last fuelling and sure enough 40 Lt benzina pb.
Cure was to simply drain the remaining 20 liters of fuel, flush the tank, change the fuel filter and refill wth diesel
That was some 20,000 miles ago and it still goes well with no change in performance
Incidentally I was physically sick when I realised what I had done because I am a diesel engineer by profession


----------



## duxdeluxe (Sep 2, 2007)

Modern ULSD lacks a natural lubricant (the sulphur......) so the oil companies added their own lubricity improvers to compensate. What happened then is that there was an EU requirement to add bio fuel to diesel, which happens to be an excellent lubricant (up to 7%) so lubricity is not currently an issue. Lubricity tests are a part of the EN590 diesel spec so any pump fuel should not need any two stroke oil added. I would not add anything myself to the diesel, but if it makes someone's engine feel better then why not? It's your engine, and your money after all........ Still just about a free country.


----------



## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

duxdeluxe said:


> ........ Still just about a free country.


Soreeeee, I take issue at this last statement. Can we clarify please?

Ray.


----------



## Skar (Jul 13, 2010)

747 said:


> Skar said:
> 
> 
> > I heard about this and decided to give it a go, to be honest I'm unsure if there was any improvement but there certainly was a problem when it came to MOT time....
> ...


As I recall it was to the suggested levels which I think were a third of a litre to 60 litres of diesel, done on every fill.


----------



## duxdeluxe (Sep 2, 2007)

raynipper said:


> duxdeluxe said:
> 
> 
> > ........ Still just about a free country.
> ...


Well, I did say "just about".............


----------



## 747 (Oct 2, 2009)

Hi skar,

I believe you should start off with 1/3 of a litre but then reduce it to 100 ml (1/10 of a litre). At that amount you should be able to do it every fillup without harm. I use (well, guess) 100 ml and have a 75 litre tank. Since my local Shell garage changed hands and put up the price, I generally use Asda more than anyone else and use the 2T more often.

I suppose it depends what vehicle you have and what engine. Some people with older vehicles can happily run on veggie oil and I know some people who never waste their old engine oil, they just pour it into the fuel tank.


----------



## locrep (Dec 5, 2011)

747 said:


> I do not bother about what the sceptics say. None of them are motor engineers.


Wrong...


----------

