hot shot secret diesel oil additive - snake oil?

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I've been reading a bit about hot shot diesel oil additive. It's supposed to work wonders on the ford 6.0 diesel engine, and also to a lesser degree on the ford 7.3. I'm wondering if it's worth trying in my 2000 F250 4x4 with 7.3 diesel with 165k miles. It's about $50 to $60, so not cheap. My truck runs well and gets decent mileage, but runs a bit rough when cold. I'm basically hoping for a magic trick that will get me 1-2 better mpg. I've got a 1000 mile trip in a couple weeks pulling a 6x12 trailer. My truck is all stock (stock engine, stock tires, no lift, no chip, no exhaust), except for a cone air filter. At 60 mpg, I average about 17 mpg empty, and with my popup cabover camper only 13-14 mpg. I'm afraid pulling the trailer I'll only get 13-14 mpg at 60 mph. I realize to someone with a gas engine, this is excellent mileage, but we always want better then we got!

I've done the simple stuff like cleaning the ebp tube and changing out cps module for the correct one. I run Diesel Kleen fuel additive in most fillups (seems to keep my injectors quiet - or maybe I'm just a sucker for snake oil).

Any input on hot shot secret or other snake oil products?

Thanks!
 
Quote:
If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, then it must be a duck


I just read their website and surely looks like snake oil. Better to stay away from it
 
your engine is 444 cuin. not much you can do to improve milage other than your driving habits. instead of powering up hills let it lose speed.the higher the boost the more fuel its using.
 
Try switching to a 10w-30 and avoiding an oil additive. The 10w-30 will all but eliminate the cold-romp and you may see an increase in mpg.
 
Have tried it. Epic fail. The replacement "guarantee" is useless when a product doesn't work, also. IF you are experiencing sluggish and rough cold starts, try 2 bottles of RevX. We buy it by the case for our 6.0's and 6.4's diesels, ans couldn't be happier. 100% smoother starts, idling,and better longevity on oil changes. Our UOA's come back in great shape. The 10-30 is also a good choice. We use it and 5-40 synthetic WITH the RevX. The RevX is designed to keep the thimbles clean in your injectors, and it helps with the breakdown/shearing caused by the high pressure oil pump. We have lost only 2 injectors currently this year, which in itself is quite a feat, considering we have 70+ 6.0"s and 6.4's in our fleet.
 
Originally Posted By: HPCGMC
I've been reading a bit about hot shot diesel oil additive. It's supposed to work wonders on the ford 6.0 diesel engine, and also to a lesser degree on the ford 7.3. I'm wondering if it's worth trying in my 2000 F250 4x4 with 7.3 diesel with 165k miles. It's about $50 to $60, so not cheap. My truck runs well and gets decent mileage, but runs a bit rough when cold. I'm basically hoping for a magic trick that will get me 1-2 better mpg. I've got a 1000 mile trip in a couple weeks pulling a 6x12 trailer. My truck is all stock (stock engine, stock tires, no lift, no chip, no exhaust), except for a cone air filter. At 60 mpg, I average about 17 mpg empty, and with my popup cabover camper only 13-14 mpg. I'm afraid pulling the trailer I'll only get 13-14 mpg at 60 mph. I realize to someone with a gas engine, this is excellent mileage, but we always want better then we got!

I've done the simple stuff like cleaning the ebp tube and changing out cps module for the correct one. I run Diesel Kleen fuel additive in most fillups (seems to keep my injectors quiet - or maybe I'm just a sucker for snake oil).

Any input on hot shot secret or other snake oil products?

Thanks!

Your Diesel Kleen should be all you need. I run TCW-3 2-cycle oil in my Cummins because I have a VP44 injector pump (mechanical).
 
"Your Diesel Kleen should be all you need. I run TCW-3 2-cycle oil in my Cummins because I have a VP44 injector pump (mechanical)."



OP's injectors are a totally different animal.
 
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I wouldn't buy the Hot Shot based solely on their radio commercials. First they claim that stiction is a 'stuff' instead of the difference between static and dynamic coefficients of friction... then they close with the line 'POWERED BY SCIENCE!'. Their tagline might was well be: 'We don't have a clue what we're saying, but we want idiots to think that we do!'.
 
Agree with the others, and...

Even if this stuff does let you gain 1 or 2 mpg (very unlikely), how many miles do you have to travel to pay back that $60 before it starts saving you money? You haven't saved a nickel until it's paid for itself.
 
CPS? Does that mean crankshaft position sensor? If it does, it really shouldn't have an effect on engine performance.

Powerstrokehelp recommends using Hot Shot diesel additive, but I don't know if they are 100% trustworthy.

Originally Posted By: Ken2
Agree with the others, and...

Even if this stuff does let you gain 1 or 2 mpg (very unlikely), how many miles do you have to travel to pay back that $60 before it starts saving you money? You haven't saved a nickel until it's paid for itself.

Savings in fuel aren't the only savings you might get. If the injectors and HPOP can be proven to last longer, that is another factor in how much money he could save with Hot Shot additives.

Does your engine have an EGR system? Sometimes those fill the air intake with soot, and that is what hurts MPG in some older diesels. Unfortunately, I don't know of a simple way of solving this problem. I have only heard of solving this problem by removing the entire intake manifold and EGR valve to clean it.
 
Originally Posted By: BigWrench9
Seems to me that PowerstrokeHelp reccomends RevX. We've had 150,000 miles to test Hot Shot Secret.Absolute FAIL, other than totally wiping out the viscosity. 400,000 plus miles a year in our fleet proves that RevX works. 2 injectors in 400,000 fleet miles/70 trucks....Yes, I'm very pleased with it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=f6F2Xfv3bqI

Okay, my mistake. I got confused.
 
See the thread I just started before I saw this one. In my one truck experience REV X works. However MOS2 seems to work every bit as well or better for less money.
 
Snake oil is a term banded around all the time usually by people that want to maintain their ego's. It's a fuel system cleaner and lubricant for injectors, it'll work, the performance gains are usually from the cleansing of the system which you say you do often so you may not feel much difference. Cetane boosters are like octane boosters, not a lot happens in real world but it will make the diesel burn cleaner reducing emissions and engine deposits.

My friends and I (and many others) have had good results from 2-stroke oil being added to diesel, might be worth investigating.
 
I have noticed that the Rev-x works faster, but the Hot Shot's is more long term. It looks like Rev-x is using several hyper lubes that will lubricate the build ups, it clears up the symptom, but doesn't really get to the heart of the matter. I am always cautious with friction additives like that, a lot of them use chlorinated parrafins; which are super slick, but create hydrochloric acid in an engine.

The Hot Shot's on the other hand uses a bunch of detergents. I know guys where it takes a good 4,000 miles of running it to get better, but it does completely clean off the poppet valves in the injectors. They may actually be changing up the mix of the Hot Shot's too, to get it to work faster. Though that may just be here-say...

I think any fuel additive that will boost the cetane and lubricity is always good to use. Better protection, and you can generally get a little mileage boost from the cetane. I always like flushing the fuel system with a cleaner once or twice a year
 
Well, I don't think I can rule definitively on whether it is or is not snake oil. I also don't go around telling everyone how great it is or recommending it BUT.....I've used to treat two different Powerstrokes (one a 7.3 and the other a 6.0,) each bought used with about 180k on the motor.

Both showed noticeable improvement (less rough cold running) after a single 7,500 mile OCI with the HSS.

YMMV
 
I think any oil additive is snake oil and can sometimes mess with the additives in the actual oil and make them not work right. I don't run oil additives in any of my engines and never will.
 
I'm new to your site. Great information.

I've been using a friction modifier called Archoil in my 05 F350 6.0. Amazing results. Engine is actually quieter,better cold starts, stiction issue gone, truck runs cooler. I live in Las Vegas and have been working in San Diego. Drive usually uses 21 gal, with Archoil used 18 gal. This was checked on 15 trips.

All equipment on truck- exhaust, intake, intercooler, etc is Banks. BPD oil and EGR cooler.

Spent a lot of time drag racing, used all types of "magic" additives. First time the results were immediate.

Appreciate any feedback.
 
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