Diesel injection is how the engine sprays fuel into the cylinders. Newer systems can control the timing and amount more precisely, which helps the engine burn cleaner and run better.
Full synthetic oil is a higher-end type of engine oil made with synthetic ingredients. People choose it because it can handle heat and stress better and work well with modern engines.
Supply chain is the whole process of getting products from where they’re made to where you buy them. The host is saying bulk orders can run into trouble even if day-to-day availability is okay.
An engine install is when a shop swaps your old engine for a replacement one. They have to make sure everything needed to run the new engine is ready, not just the engine itself.
A turbo is a device that uses the engine’s exhaust to spin and push more air into the engine. More air can mean more power, but it also makes the engine work harder, so the right oil matters.
A damper is a part that helps reduce shaking and vibration from the engine. During a rebuild or install, you want the correct damper so the engine runs smoothly.
Breaking in a new engine is the first period of use after it’s built or rebuilt. The goal is to let internal parts “seat” properly, and that’s why oil choice can be restricted during that time.
A surcharge is an extra charge added to the normal price. In this case, it sounds like shops are paying more not just to get the oil delivered, but also to have the used oil taken away.
Oil distributors are companies that supply diesel oil to repair shops. If they charge extra fees for delivery, the shop usually passes that cost along to customers.
An oil change is when a shop removes the old oil from your engine and puts in fresh oil. This episode suggests the price of that service is going up because the oil and the fees around it are costing more.
Disposal here means what happens to the used oil after it’s drained. Shops often have to pay a service to collect and handle it properly, and that cost can increase.
Biodiesel is a type of diesel fuel that’s made from plant or animal oils. Even if you think you’re buying “regular diesel,” many areas blend in some biodiesel already.
Term
B10
B10 means the diesel blend has 10% biodiesel mixed into 90% regular diesel. So most “normal” diesel you buy may already include some biodiesel.
The Alpina B10 is a luxury sedan that’s been upgraded for stronger performance and smoother driving. It’s based on a larger BMW 5 Series platform, but Alpina tunes it differently than the standard version. It’s mentioned because it’s a well-known “performance luxury” option, including in diesel-related discussions.
Flash point is basically how “easy” a fuel is to ignite. If it’s higher, the engine may not burn the fuel as completely. That can mean more smoke/soot and worse fuel economy.
A DPF is a filter that catches the smoky soot from a diesel exhaust. If the engine makes more soot than normal, the filter fills up faster. That can lead to more frequent service or regeneration problems.
EGR is a system that recirculates some exhaust back into the engine. Its job is to help reduce pollution. If the fuel causes extra soot, the EGR system can get clogged up more easily.
The fuel filter is like a screen that keeps dirt and water out of the fuel system. If the fuel is contaminated, the filter gets clogged faster. Then you have to change it more often.
A fuel additive is something you add to diesel to help the engine run better. The host says additives can reduce maintenance problems, especially when the fuel isn’t ideal. They’re basically arguing it can improve how completely the fuel burns.
Term
C-tain booster
A cetane booster helps diesel ignite more easily in the engine. If it ignites better, it can burn more completely. That can mean less soot and fewer problems over time.
Diesel fuel can sometimes mix with water and form a “cloudy mix.” Water demulsification helps that mixture separate so the water can be dealt with instead of sitting in the fuel system.
In cold weather, diesel can get thick and start to gel, which can stop the engine from getting fuel. Anti-gel additives are designed to keep diesel flowing in freezing conditions.
OptiLube is a company that makes diesel fuel additives. The point here is that they make different versions for different weather and driving needs, not just one “magic bottle.”
Lubricity is how well the fuel “lubricates” the moving parts inside the fuel system. Better lubricity can help reduce wear in parts that rely on the fuel for protection.
The intake manifold is the part that brings air into the engine. If it’s clogged or blocked, the engine doesn’t get enough air, and it won’t run well no matter what fuel additive you use.
Term
plastic spider bridge
The “plastic spider bridge” sounds like a plastic piece inside the intake system. If it’s damaged or blocking airflow, the engine can’t breathe, so additives won’t fix the power loss.
CP4 is the name of a high-pressure fuel pump on many diesel trucks. It’s responsible for squeezing fuel to very high pressure so the injectors can spray it correctly. If the fuel is contaminated or the system has air/water problems, that pump can wear out or fail.
After treatment systems are the parts that clean diesel exhaust after the engine burns the fuel. If the engine doesn’t burn fuel cleanly, it can create more soot and leftovers that these emissions systems have to deal with. That can lead to problems or reduced performance over time.
A lift pump is an extra fuel pump that helps deliver fuel to the engine more consistently. On many diesel trucks, it can help prevent air from getting into the fuel system, which protects expensive injection components. Some owners also see better mileage because the fuel burns more cleanly.
FAST is a brand that makes aftermarket fuel system parts for diesel trucks. In this discussion, it’s used as an example of a lift pump system that helps remove air and water from fuel. That can help injectors spray correctly and burn fuel more efficiently.
Air Dog is a brand of aftermarket fuel lift pumps for diesel trucks. People install it to help deliver cleaner, steadier fuel to the engine. That can help the injectors spray better and may improve mileage.
“Two microns” is how fine the filter is. Microns measure tiny particle size, and a 2-micron filter can catch very small debris that could hurt the fuel system. The goal is cleaner fuel reaching the injectors and pump.
Air aeration means air gets mixed into the fuel. Instead of the injectors getting clean liquid fuel, they may get a fuel mixture with bubbles. That can make the spray worse and cause the engine to burn fuel less efficiently.
The spray pattern is how the injector mists the fuel inside the engine. If the spray is clean and consistent, the fuel mixes with air better and burns more efficiently. If air is in the fuel, the spray can be uneven and combustion suffers.
Horsepower is a way to describe how much power the engine can make. When people modify diesels, they often talk about horsepower gains from tunes and hardware. Here, the host says a lift pump helps the truck handle the tune so you can reach higher output.
A “tune” is when someone updates the engine’s computer settings. It can change how much fuel the engine injects and how it responds. People often pair a tune with other upgrades to get the most out of the truck.
RPMs are engine revolutions per minute—how fast the crankshaft is spinning. When fuel delivery and filtration are restricted, engines often feel like they “fall off” at higher RPMs.
It means people are waiting longer than recommended to do things like oil changes. The risk is that the engine can wear faster or get damaged because it’s not being serviced on time.
Term
emission intact trucks
“Emission intact” means the truck’s emissions system is still working properly. If you skip maintenance like oil changes, the engine can build up more contamination, which can hurt it over time.
“Run the rail dry” means the high-pressure fuel line isn’t getting fuel. On a diesel, that can be dangerous because the pump and injectors depend on fuel to keep things properly lubricated and cooled.
Vacuum here means low pressure in the fuel lines. If the system isn’t getting fuel the way it should, the pump can struggle and the engine may not get the right amount of fuel.
Your fuel system is everything that gets fuel from the tank to the engine. If flow is restricted or pressure drops, the engine can run poorly and expensive parts can wear out faster.
The Lucid Air is an all-electric car, meaning it runs on a battery instead of diesel or gas. It’s designed to be efficient, so it can go farther on a charge and still feel quick. The podcast mentions it because it’s known for strong performance and efficiency.
A lift kit is what raises a truck higher off the ground. It’s often done so bigger tires fit and you get more clearance, but it can also make other parts wear faster if the setup isn’t right.
They’re basically saying: don’t spend all your money on looks and upgrades if it means you neglect the stuff that keeps the truck running. Regular maintenance and fuel/oil care can save you from costly repairs later.
Klamath Falls is the Oregon city where the hosts drove their trucks for the fundraiser/car show. The mention matters because it frames the event context for the truck community and the kind of drag/burnout activity they’re doing.
A burnout is when you spin the tires on purpose to make smoke and heat the rubber. Saying “120 foot” means they do it for a set distance as part of the event.
Car
Duramaxes
Duramax is a diesel engine used in certain Chevy/GMC trucks, and it’s popular with people who modify trucks. The host is saying they try to balance power upgrades with maintenance so the truck doesn’t break.
A “long block” is basically the main part of the engine assembly. It usually means the core engine internals are being replaced or upgraded, not just small parts.
LBZ is the name people use for a particular version of the Duramax diesel engine. Diesel fans talk about it because some engine versions are more popular for certain upgrades and builds.
Term
stroker pumps
On a diesel, the fuel pump is responsible for getting fuel to the injectors at the right pressure. A “stroker pump” is a performance version meant to deliver more fuel for a stronger tune.
Longevity here means how many years or miles a truck can go before it starts needing big, expensive repairs. They’re saying today’s trucks may not last as long, partly due to injector problems.
Injector failure means the diesel spray system isn’t working right anymore. That can make the truck run poorly and can require costly injector replacement.
Company
AirDoc
“AirDoc” is referenced as a lift pump company that supports improved diesel fuel filtration and delivery. The speaker credits it as doing well compared with what they see from factory filtration.
Injector nozzles are the precision tips that meter and spray diesel into the combustion chamber. Because they’re built to tight tolerances, they’re sensitive to contamination and can be damaged or worn faster if filtration and fuel quality aren’t kept up.
Term
23
The speaker is saying the injectors can only tolerate a certain level of dirty fuel. If the fuel filter lets through too much, the injectors get beat up faster.
IDI stands for “indirect injection,” a diesel combustion system where fuel is injected into a pre-chamber rather than directly into the main cylinder. The speaker contrasts older IDI engines’ reputation for longevity with modern engines that may be more sensitive to filtration and fuel quality.
“Out of warranty” means the vehicle is no longer covered by the manufacturer’s warranty terms. The speaker’s point is that once coverage is gone, owners must be more proactive about maintenance and service timing because there’s no factory safety net.
A factory warranty is coverage provided by the vehicle manufacturer for certain repairs during a defined period. The speaker’s point is that when that coverage is gone, owners may delay or skip dealer-level service, increasing the risk of problems from poor maintenance habits.
Some trucks show a message like “oil life” to tell you when the next oil change might be needed. The point here is that the message can be wrong, so you still have to check the oil level yourself.
A dipstick is a simple stick you pull out to check how full the engine oil is. Even if your truck has reminders, you should still check the dipstick to make sure the oil level is actually correct.
“Overdosing” here means the truck is adding too much during its emissions clean-up process. Too much can let diesel get into the engine oil, which is bad for lubrication.
Diesel engines have systems that clean up exhaust before it leaves the vehicle. If that system isn’t working right, it can cause extra diesel to get into places it shouldn’t—like the engine oil.
A “pending code” is like a fault that the truck noticed but hasn’t fully confirmed yet. Scanning can show these early clues before a warning light appears.
“Stored codes” are diagnostic trouble codes that the vehicle has confirmed and saved in memory. The host uses them to show that the truck’s computer often records evidence of the problem even if the driver reports no active check-engine light.
“History codes” are past fault messages the truck logged earlier. They can still be useful because the problem may come back even if the warning light is gone.
A knock sensor is a sensor that listens for abnormal combustion. If the truck logs a knock-sensor code, it usually means something is off in how the engine is burning fuel—not automatically that the sensor is broken.
The upstream knock sensor is one of the sensors that helps the engine detect abnormal combustion. The host’s point is that if this specific sensor is complaining, it often means the engine isn’t getting the right air or fuel—not just that the sensor needs replacement.
The air system is everything that controls how air gets into the engine. If it’s restricted or sensors are dirty, the engine can burn fuel poorly and trigger fault codes.
Metering means measuring and delivering the right amount of fuel/air. If the truck can’t meter it correctly, the engine can burn poorly and set fault codes.
A mass airflow sensor measures how much air is going into the engine. If it’s dirty and reads wrong, the engine can add the wrong amount of fuel and set codes.
A MAP sensor measures intake pressure. If it gets dirty or inaccurate, the engine may guess wrong about how much fuel to use and can cause trouble codes.
The air box is the part that holds the air filter and directs air into the engine. If it’s not sealed or clipped in properly, the engine may get the wrong airflow and set codes.
Overfueling is when the engine gets too much diesel for the amount of air it has. That can make the exhaust dirtier and can cause problems even if the car doesn’t immediately throw a warning light.
Diesel combustion can create soot (carbon) and tiny particles. Those get into the oil and can make it less effective at lubricating, which is why the host is concerned about bearing wear.
Bearings are parts inside the engine that help moving parts spin smoothly. If the oil gets dirty with soot or fuel, it can’t lubricate as well, and bearings can wear faster.
Oil weight is basically how thick the oil is. Thicker or thinner oil changes how well it lubricates the engine, especially when it’s cold. If you use a different oil thickness than the truck’s manual recommends, you may not get the protection the engine was designed for.
OEM means the original maker of the truck. They publish the rules for what oil to use and how often to change it. Using the wrong stuff can put you at odds with what the truck was designed for.
Car
2025 power stroke
Power Stroke is Ford’s diesel engine used in their trucks. The host is saying that if a 2025 Power Stroke owner can’t get the recommended oil, it could feel risky—because the truck is expensive and still covered by warranty. That’s why people would “freak out.”
A “30 day warning” means suppliers tell you ahead of time that things are about to change. The host is saying distributors usually give them a heads-up before customers feel the impact. That lead time helps them decide whether to stock up.
LIVE
Welcome to the diesel podcast presented by DFC diesel.
Kat, welcome to the diesel podcast.
How have you been this year so far?
So far, so good.
It's been a busy year, but which is always nice.
Not a lot of people get to say that.
Yeah.
I was thinking about you and Siski Diesel the other day.
There was a conversation that had popped up.
It was surrounding, I think I saw it on the Drive magazine,
and they had posted at first, I think it was from Toyota,
about a potential shortage of motor oil and some alternatives
that the dealership could use.
And then there was another thing circulating around,
I think, with AutoZone and an internal memo.
People had posted.
And I thought, I wonder how much of this is actually real?
Like, is it something that is affecting shops
and potentially what people are going
to be able to choose for oil changes?
And so I thought it'd be great to have you on the podcast,
ask that question, see what you're
seeing at not just with your shop,
but maybe industry-wide.
If that's a real thing, are there shortages happening?
Is it affecting what you can do?
So right now, we're not seeing any current shortages.
Our oil vendors and suppliers and distributors
that we deal with usually stay on top of that
and do let us know.
Stuff that they projected that they might start doing
is essentially restricting the amount
that we can order at a time.
So like right now, for our bulk oil,
we keep it's a Valvoline Blue, which
is a partial synthetic.
It's a 1540.
It's one of the more universal oils
that we can run in a lot of the trucks.
Typically, we order once a week or once every two weeks,
55 gallons at a time.
And they may start restricting that down.
So just to kind of help keep the supply chain intact
so people aren't overloading because they
did see where some of the shops are starting
to double up their orders currently.
So they're not restricting it right now.
But as the summer goes in, they may start
doing that to prevent shops from doing that.
Like how people run to the grocery store
and buy all the toilet paper, just to help prevent shops
from doing that.
Every now and then, sometimes we do
see with some of the full synthetic distributors,
sometimes AMSOIL, Schaefer, stuff like that,
we'll see a little bit of a delay or a restriction
during the summers on the amount of oil that we can get.
And they are projecting that right now,
but it's not currently there.
So for a lot of shops, like for what we do,
we get our normal oil deliveries.
We have our reps that stop by from Schaefer
and stuff like that and they'll kind of see what we're doing
and our stock's looking and they're like,
well, you look like you're doing OK.
Do you want to order anymore?
And it's like, yeah, probably throw a couple gallons
on there or a five gallon bucket.
We'll just put it on the shelf just in case.
But a lot of the dealers in town,
I know will kind of do that as well,
which is they're kind of the bigger problems.
Independent shops, not so much,
but the dealers are the ones that kind of start messing up
our ability to get oils and stuff like that
because the dealers will start overloading the distributors
and they're kind of the reasons why we'll get restrictions.
But like we push pretty hard,
especially on a lot of the newer trucks that are doing like a 1030
or any of the ones that are emissions intact,
that do the diesel injection, the motors
over like the 67 comments, the 67 forwards.
We lean on those customers a little bit more
towards the full synthetics like a Schaefer's or an Amsoil.
Something that has a little bit more additives in it.
So because we find that we don't really.
We don't have a lot of issues on supply chain aside,
as far as those companies go, just because a lot of, you know,
the average Joe doesn't normally use that type of bull.
And but for our like bulk ordering,
that's where we'll kind of sometimes bump into an issue.
Hey, these fans, if you're in the market for a new knife
or around the job site, around the house, hunting, fishing,
anywhere in between, our friends over at Kershaw knives
have a 40 percent off discount code for you.
If you go to kershaw.kausa.com, use code TDP402026.
You get 40 percent off MSRP.
It's a great way to save some money, get some cool gear
if you're in the market for a new knife.
They have a ton of different choices for blade steel, blade shape,
handle designs, different opening mechanisms.
And they've had a bunch of new releases here in 2026.
So if you're in the market, again, head on over to kershaw.kausa.com
and use code TDP402026.
Over the last, well, I'd say in your entire career,
have you have you ever seen an issue with restricting
or like say you can't get a common oil?
Has that ever happened before?
Because I can't remember like on the say the mainstream like kind of.
Side, like what a truck owner would see it being restricted till I saw those articles
and that's what kind of caught my attention.
But I'm so kind of often in a portion of this that I didn't know.
It was COVID during the COVID years, like 19 to 23.
We had six months stretches where we wouldn't get our oil delivery.
I mean, typically we see them once a week
and I'd be lucky if I saw them once a month.
And they would only let me order 55 gallons a month.
And that doesn't go very far.
So then at that point, then as a shop,
you're now stuck to going to the parts houses and now we're paying essentially
an extra 30% for that gallon of oil versus because obviously we order bulk.
So we do get a better discount, which allows us to pass it on down to the customer.
But now I'm having to get it through the parts house and we're having to
obviously pay more money and then the parts houses, you know,
they're under somewhat of a restriction itself.
So they kind of will put us under it.
But I remember I think it was 2021.
It is a stupid issue to have.
And it was my fault.
I completely overlooked it just because, you know, you don't ever think
like when you're doing an engine install, you know, you think of, you know,
you got your turbo, injectors, water pump,
your serpentine belt, your either pulleys, you know, your damper,
your bolts, your hardware, all your gaskets.
I completely overlooked oil.
I had four engines sitting here that I couldn't let leave the shop
because I couldn't get oil for them.
And with brand new engines, you can't put a full synthetic in them.
You know, we had AMS oil sitting here, we had Schaefer sitting here,
but you can't put a full synthetic on a brand new motor.
You can't do that when you're breaking them in.
Which that sucked.
That was my bad.
I completely overlooked that, but it was, that was in like 2021.
That was a stupid problem to have.
Especially when you're calling your customers like, hey, good news, I'm done.
Bad news is I can't do a can break in, I can't start your truck, we can't drive it.
I don't have oil.
And we have like 15 parts houses in the general area that we're in
between O'Reilly's, Napa, Baxter's, AutoZone,
some of the smaller independent ones, and it's like nobody had 1540 or a 1030
or, you know, any combination of what we could run in that motor.
And it's like, this is ridiculous.
This is a really stupid problem to have.
But I haven't bumped into that since then, thank God.
That was basically a span of three years where we had to be really, really, really, really careful.
About, you know, oil changes and being kind of strict with customers and they'd call and say, hey, I need an oil change.
It's like, okay, I have any miles on your truck.
Well, I'm at 3000 miles, but I want to get it done sooner.
And I'm like, no.
No, your truck's under 100,000 miles.
You don't need to do an oil change now.
We kind of are triaging, if you will, the trucks that needed oil changes.
It's like, I got a guy that's calling.
He's got over 5000 miles on his oil change.
He needs this.
You know, he's got a 200,000 mile motor.
Dude needs the oil change.
You don't.
Gonna have to push this out.
So we did have a, we did upset a lot of people during that time, but
I had to kind of be conservative of what we were using as far as material shop supplies.
So it seems like it's really not a situation where the sky is falling.
You can't get anything at all.
It's more so of just, maybe the flow's restricted and
Yeah, it'd be more strategic with it.
Yeah, we haven't bumped into anything yet where something has not been available.
If anything, it's like, Hey, you know, they're not restricting our orders quite yet.
They'll kind of be like, Hey, do you really need to order 10 gallons of this?
And it's like,
Not really, but can I please?
No, Miss Ray, you cannot.
Okay, fine.
All right.
It's the cost, maybe the bigger issue right now and the fluctuations with pricing.
Yeah, so all of our oil distributors, they do have a surcharge.
I mean, they all have surcharges on delivery.
They've gone up 20% on our oil for delivery and they tell us that's going to go down, but that's the same thing as a federal government saying.
Fuel's going up. Don't worry. The price will come down. I'm like, Oh, I'm sure it will.
I'm sure it will.
So just, you know, factoring that into the cost of the oil changes.
So the, I'd want to say an oil change has probably gone up about 20 bucks, 20 to 30 bucks.
It's between the search and added cost between the surcharge on the delivery, the cost of the oil, and then our disposal.
Because they're also charging us on that. There's a surcharge on the company that comes in picks up my oil.
So not only am I having to pay a surcharge on a delivery fee on the oil I receive, I'm also having to pay that to get rid of it.
So that got at, you know, that's, that only went up about 5%. I think it was about 5% on the last waste pick up.
Hey diesel fans, a major challenge that's impacting content creators right now is the endless wave of AI generated content.
Most media outlets are packed by a parent company or investors.
The diesel podcast has always been independently owned and operated.
Over the last 10 years, we've been able to have honest conversations with companies, racers, engineers and truck enthusiasts, just like yourself.
If you'd like to help us weather this AI content storm, consider joining our Patreon.
It helps us book guests, invest in recording equipment and tools and software to keep the show running and produce these episodes.
If you go to patreon.com forward slash the diesel podcast, you can help us for less than the cost of the meal and a fast food chain.
Thanks for listening and thanks for helping us create the content that you enjoy.
We look forward to another 10 years of bringing you content that you won't hear anywhere else.
Do you notice like when fuel prices jump the kind of questions you get from customers is different?
I don't find typically I think when fuel prices are more stable or more people are more accustomed to what it generally costs in their mind.
I don't get a lot of requests to do episodes about how do I get better fuel economy?
But I have noticed this year kind of an uptick in people saying, well, does the type of oil I use?
Does the type of any product ABC needs to help with my fuel economy?
Because I don't know what the national average is this last week, but I mean, I think it was up there towards $6.50 over the last couple of months.
And it seems like they've got more conscious about that.
Yeah, so like right now for us, we see it a lot for our state.
So Oregon actually has the highest mileage tax per fuel charge.
So right now we pay 40 cents a gallon in tax or fuel when we buy any type of fuel.
Oregon has the fourth highest cost for diesel in the nation.
It's California, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon.
So we get that question quite a bit and something that we always try to tell everybody and I sound like a broken record because we always have people to come in.
And they say, well, I don't run a bio diesel. I never do. I'm like, well, yes, you do.
All diesel in North America is bio in it.
It's been like that for like 15, almost 20 years now, probably even longer than that.
The very like the national, the nation average at least 5% of our diesel has to be bio.
And Oregon where we're at, obviously it's a very liberal state, unfortunately.
And the average diesel you're going to find is going to be about a B10.
And just for giggles, we sent in a sample to Blackstone laboratories to just take a look at the chemical compound of it to see, you know, what's in it as far as bio organisms mean algae.
There's algae in there because there is water. I mean, that's all it needs to live.
But 6% of that diesel came back as water.
Your trucks have a really hard time burning that fuel because then obviously the flash point of it goes up significantly because the flash point of diesel prior before adding bio to our diesel.
It was, I think in the 90s and that diesel, that flash point was like 146.
So your truck isn't going to burn it efficiently.
It's going to create a lot more carbon. It's going to create a lot more particulate and the more that you have, you know, obviously the not as clean the truck's going to run.
It's not going to burn it efficiently, which means it's going to waste more fuel.
It's going to clog up your intake manifolds, your turbo, your cat, your DPF, your EGR.
It just makes a mess.
Causes a lot more maintenance issues. It's going to soot up your oil a lot quicker.
You're going to notice that the truck will tell you to do your oil change a lot sooner.
You'll notice that your fuel filter changes. You're not going your normal 10,000 miles.
Most of our customers only about getting about 7,000 miles out of their fuel system before the truck is telling them to change it.
And we constantly get the water and fuel notifications and they're having to drain it.
So we get a lot of questions about that. So we have to, you know, tell our customers quite a bit, you know, rule with them.
If it's the cheapest diesel in town, it's going to have a higher biodiesel content.
So you buying cheaper diesel isn't doing you any favors.
Your truck's not going to burn it efficiently. You're going to get worse fuel economy. You're better off spending, you know, more money for the more expensive diesel.
Your truck's going to burn it better. You're going to get better fuel economy and maintenance-wise, you know, it's not going to, you know, screw you on the back end.
You know, that's, you're not going to have to be servicing the truck as often.
Do you notice a difference with your customers that may use a fuel additive?
Like, let's not even just say a particular brand, but just say fuel additives in general with that type of fuel and some of the inherent issues that can be present with it.
Do they fare better on the maintenance side?
Yeah, they do. Especially, I mean, additives across the board for companies, hot shots, obviously, they're awesome. I love those guys.
They clearly support our industry significantly. Their additives are awesome. They have a C-tain booster in there, which is going to help burn the diesel more efficiently.
Water demulsification, they'll have that in a lot of the additives.
And with buying additives, some of these companies, they have seasonal additives, because we always have people say, hey, you know, this brand, you know, I got this brand one time, but, you know, it treated 640 gallons, but then I got this one, you know, it only treats 150.
You know, what's the difference? It's going to be the, what's in the, sorry, what is in it for the additives? You know, chances are that 150 gallon treatment that you got probably has an anti-gel in it.
It has something, you know, else in there. Like, for example, OptiLube has like like 5 different diesel additives, but they're designed for different parts of the nation, different types of the year, different trucks.
They have a cleaner. lubricant. XPD series, which you can run pretty much year-round as long as you're not in an area where it gets super cold. They have a summertime blend, which that one treats the most. That one treats 640 gallons, but that's because it doesn't have any anti-gel in it.
That whole topic of fuel additives has always been really interesting to me, just in, I think, getting the reception of people like feedback we get on like a podcast episode and I like to have companies on to talk about it because I used to never really think about it.
I would just go to wherever, excuse me, I got fuel and I just fuel up. But I think through time and education, I thought, well, maybe I do need to do something with C-Tainne lubricity or getting the water out of the system.
And I actually did an episode recently with Hotshot Secrets and I told him, I'm like, I'm inherently kind of skeptical about things. So like, I'm going to ask you these questions from the perspective of being a skeptic.
And so I love to get your feedback as a shot because your customer is the person with the truck that's coming in there. You don't work for any one of these fuel additives companies or an oil company or a turbo company. You're focusing on your customers. I love the feedback that you get.
Well, then we find that, you know, not one truck's the same, not one customer's the same, not one fuel station is the same.
So we have an additive that works better for one guy than the other, you know, depending on how your truck's running and functioning, you know, do you have good compression?
You know, do you need something that runs a little bit more higher of a C-Tainne additive to help your truck burn this a little bit better? You know, are your injectors firing appropriately?
Is it, you know, for some of the customers that we find, because a lot of the times the idea of a fuel additive has always been, I guess, snake oil, you know, a lot of people do believe that.
And that I feel has been customers that have tried an additive that didn't work for them for one reason or another.
And then trying to explain that to them, it's like, well, what additive did you use? And they're like, well, does it matter? Yeah.
You know, you've got, you know, at 2021 Cummins or 2021 Ford or Duramax, it's like your emissions intact, you know, the trucks choked down.
You know, it's, you know, when we go and, you know, we'll schedule the truck in just for, I guess, a wellness check or a health check.
You know, we'll go drive it and see what it's doing. And it's like, this truck feels like it's underpowered significantly.
And we'll go and tear the, like for 6, 7, 4, we'll take the intake manifold apart.
So you got that plastic spider bridge up top and then you've got the actual metal one that's underneath it.
And, you know, you can't even shine a light through it. And we're like, this thing, no wonder you're not seeing a difference.
This truck doesn't breathe in at all. No, it doesn't matter what the heck you put in this. This isn't going to help you.
But a lot of the times we find that people that had random fuel additives, they didn't see a difference. They didn't see a difference because the truck had a problem.
It had an underlying issue that they were not aware of.
Or they're just running really bad diesel and there is nothing I could do to help you.
The fuel system is so crucial.
I know it is on all diesel trucks, but I think of like the last five years or newer type trucks and the demands that that fuel system has with the CP4, the injection pump, the injectors,
the pressures that they run, the after treatment systems and how they depend on how much you're burning and how that affects those systems.
It just seems like it's more important now than 2005 or year 2000 or the 90s just because of those after treatment systems and the quality of diesel fuel.
Yeah. And then the quality of our fuel is clearly has gone downhill. I mean, that's no surprise. Everybody knows that.
And that's been our biggest struggle is trying to combat that.
And then our biggest, you know, savior and that, you know, thank you, Brad. I love you from VAS.
We've been selling a heck of a whole lot of those lately, just as people because like for any of the lift pump systems, air dog, fast, I don't care, whichever one with those systems.
They're not designed to give you fuel economy, but a lot of people do end up gaining fuel economy, because if you can run a cleaner diesel with no air to your injectors to your pistons to your combustion chamber, you're clearly going to get better fuel, fuel economy.
So with those systems, obviously they filter down to two microns. Everybody knows this. They take out all the damn near all the water 99 plus percent and they take all the air out of the system.
And air is just as much as a contributing factor to failing injectors, injection pumps and poor fuel economy as dirty diesel.
So the best way to explain it that Brad had explained this to me before from fast is it's like when you turn on a hose that's been off for a while, it just kind of sits there and spits and sputters.
So that is what your injector is doing in the combustion chamber of your piston when you have too much air aeration in your diesel.
And if it's doing that, it's clearly not going to burn it efficiently, which is going to give you poor fuel economy and excessive carbon and particulate buildup.
So when you have a lift pump system and aftermarket one on your vehicle, it's going to pull all of that air out. So now you just you've gotten as a good clean diesel with no added air to your injectors and it just cleans up the spray pattern significantly.
So unfortunately, not a lot of people get to have this ability or see this but fast does travel around to their dealers and they have a really big trailer and in the garage side of it, it's a toy hauler in the garage part of it on the back.
They have one of their testing tanks and some people have seen them at some of the shows. A lot of the times if it's a bigger show, they have it on display where they're running the system, but you can actually see it and see an injector spray and you can see a significant difference in the spray pattern.
It does make a massive difference. And then with that, you know, obviously if you get that spray pattern cleaned up and it's staying inside the combustion chamber of your piston, it is going to burn it and atomize your fuel appropriately and it's going to burn all of it.
And in turn, you do get better fuel economy. So the systems aren't necessarily designed for that, but that's one of the perks and added benefits into doing those fuel systems.
And obviously they're designed as a replacement lift pump for when yours either fails.
It's a support team horsepower modification. You don't necessarily gain horsepower by just adding one. But for most people, like for example on dermaxes, one to 16th, they don't have lift pumps.
So, you know, you can tune it to exhaust and an intake. You're not really going to reach a 500 horsepower range without that lift pump.
You know, we did a dermax with a tune and intake and exhaust. This was a stop transmission save tune, my new it did about.
I think like 465 almost 470. And then we put a fast on the truck and it did over 500.
Didn't do any other tune changes. Nothing. That's just it's a supporting horsepower modification. It can get you there.
So with doing those lift pumps, they do.
You get more than just a lip pump. You get better filtration. It does help you pull on the top end of your RPMs. You will notice that the truck doesn't plateau as much as it used to.
And you do get better fuel economy. And plus the filters are cheaper.
You know, it's 50 bucks per set of filters and significantly easy to change. My by 6 year old can change them in 2 minutes. You know, it's really simple.
Do you think when or do you see when fuel prices fluctuate availability fluctuates costs are just going up that sometimes your customers will try to stretch their maintenance out farther to avoid the cost.
And then does it really have effects on the next time they call you with maybe issues or that's kind of where my mind is going with the cost because I know people are under pressure with the money side.
And then you think, well, you know, depending how much you drive fuel going up to where it does for cost can really have an impact. And then you try to stretch a little change a little farther weight on your fuel filters.
And then what does that actually do? Yeah, so we are starting to see that with customers. They're coming in like for our regulars, you know, normally I would see them 500 miles before their oil change.
Now they're coming in 1000 or 1500 miles over their oil change. And it's very similar to where you see a girl that didn't have bangs. And now she's got bangs. It's like, okay, what's wrong? What's going on?
You know, there's something happening. And they're like, well, you know, it's just, you know, the oil changes have gotten so, you know, so much more expensive. I'm like, it's only gone up 20 or 30 bucks.
What you're doing to that motor that's that long blocks 13,000, sir.
It's, it's not worth it.
And especially, I mean, again, on the emission intact trucks that do the diesel injection in the motor, we doing that and extending out your oil changes past its time to do them.
You're going to be causing yourself a world of hurt.
Significantly.
It's either, you know, we'll have them coming in and they're like, you know, I'm high on oil and we look at their oil change. I'm like, you know, is this accurate? Or did you get your oil changed? And you didn't change, you know, you didn't reset it.
And they're like, no, I haven't done it yet. I'm like, well, you got an extra 3 quarts of oil or 2 quarts of oil in your engine.
Now, because you went too long and the truck is, you know, you are getting dosed with diesel with those trucks. That's just the way that system works. There's no way around it.
You can't get around that. It's just the way it works.
That we are starting to see that when they do do that, it's there is long term damage that's being done as a being done right at this point in time. No.
But it's like, you know, you're taking a motor that could last, you know, to 300,000 miles and you're knocking probably.
Potentially 50,000 miles off of that life to save 20 or 30 bucks on an oil change.
It's a curating or for their fuel filters, you know, these fuel filters are getting clogged and all they're doing is draining their water, their fuel and water drain and trying to, you know, push the fuel filter thing.
Because fuel filters are expensive for these trucks. If you have a stock filtration system, they are, you know, they are expensive, you know, especially on a 6, 7 comments, you've got stock fuel filters.
You know, the 2 fuel filters, they're like almost 200 bucks for a stock ones from Mopar. That's just the fuel filters. That's not the labor to do them.
You know, so they'll push past that, but in doing that, you know, you are causing potential vacuum in that fuel system and restricting the flow and you could be causing the pump to have to either overwork itself, run the rail dry.
All the things.
I really pay attention to feedback from episodes and sometimes people out there will say, oh, they're trying to make money. They just want to still fuel out of it. They just want to do more oil changes.
And I'm listening to what you just said there and I'm like, what you would make off me if I went in there and said, hey, if it serves my fuel system, do an oil change.
It's not even the same world as if I went in and said, I need a long block.
And while people come in and it's like, I'm like, listen, yeah, this is how I make my money. Obviously, I'm making significantly more money off of me, you being negligent and trashing your motor.
But I do, it's so much nicer to deal with customers that are spending that money because they want to and they can, not because of negligence on their end of things and them having to take out a personal loan, refinance the truck.
You know, really struggling financially to get that done. And it's not my problem. This shouldn't be my problem, but I really do hate it where my customers have to do that. I detest it.
Especially when you look at the interest rates of loans and stuff, you know, all these companies and even we, you know, we accept these line of credits and I don't like it when my customers have to do that. I really do hate it.
It sucks just because it's a credit card interest rate is what it is. If you don't get it paid off within a certain amount of time. But I do, it's obviously nicer to work with people that are spending that type of money and doing that type of work because they were able to plan for it.
Or they want to do it. Not because it decided to let loose. And now this is their only vehicle and, you know, this is how they make their money. This is how they get the work. This is how, you know, they get their kids to school and they have to do it.
Common question we get from you guys a lot is, Hey, I need a diesel engine. I either, you know, I can't wait this long to get one or normal place I get stuff from it. It just takes too long or I don't, they don't have the parts in it that I need. Maybe my truck's not stock or I tow heavy with it. I don't want to go back with just a stock engine.
DFC diesel is a sponsor of the podcast. We worked with them, you know, hand in hand on doing episodes, answering technical questions. They have a complete lineup of Cummins, Duramax and Powerstroke,
The other thing with that is, you know, sometimes the options that are out there, it's just, it's a basic OEM engine. You want a little bit more. You don't want to have the same failure again. So there's a bunch of different series of engines that they have from core street tow haul and also the speed of air series, which we've covered on the podcast before.
There's a lot of really cool benefits to it. And if you have questions about that, reach out to them. If you don't know the type of engine that you're looking for, if you go to DFC diesel.com, there's a ton of info there. You can send an email or you can reach out to them.
Also, they're working with speed of air pistons, which it's the only piston that pays for itself. And there's a lot of really cool technology behind it. So you can add that into your build and be able to get better fuel economy, you know, increased power, increased torque and better engine life out of it.
You know, some of the most common engine applications or series of engines that they have with that lead time, a lot of them are in stock or they have really short lead times.
So you can check your favorite retailer or go to DFC diesel.com, check them out to see what's in stock, see what you can get. If you have questions, maybe you want to do, you know, something that's outside of the normal series of engines, they have tons of choices for rods, cranks, pistons, valve train upgrades, tons of different things.
So if you're in the market, definitely make sure and hit on over and check them out.
DFC is a six in one formula. It cleans injectors, boosts C-tane, and it has four times the lubricity as our leading competitor. So it's a great way to be able to stay ahead of the maintenance curve, avoid those costly repairs.
And the best part is it does the work for you. So all you do is add it to your regular fuel up schedule and it's doing all the heavy lifting so you don't have to worry about some of those issues that just come with diesel fuel anytime we buy it from the pump.
If you go to HotshotSecret.com, use code dieselpod20. It'll get you 20% off your order. We really appreciate the team and our friends over at HotshotSecret offering this discount code just for you guys.
So if you're in the market, head on over to their website, use code dieselpod20 and get 20% off your order.
I have some friends that, like, they'll get a new diesel truck or a new to them diesel truck and then they'll, they know I do a podcast with last few questions like, what do I need to do? How do I make this thing last?
And then sometimes I find that they're getting cheap on the maintenance side. But then I look at the truck and I'm like, you have a really nice lift kit. You have some really nice wheels and tires on there.
Like you invested the money in that side of it. Why are you trying to be cheap with the fuel side or the maintenance side?
Like that's what's really going to cost you some money if you got to replace parts or just have it down and always kind of chuckle a little bit.
And I'm like, just watch an episode or watch anyone's episode or just do a little research on this stuff before you go invest all that money into the lift kit wheels and tires and shift a little bit of that over to your maintenance side.
Allocate the money just a little bit better, which is actually really funny. So Matt and I, my business partner, we went over to a, it was save the basin foundation and fundraiser over in Klamath Falls.
It's a big car show. And so during the car show, what they do is they do 120 foot drags. Essentially, this is based.
It's 120 foot burnout. Rolling burnout is what it is. So they had a couple of the guy that puts on the event there. He helps out with it.
He owns our drag strip here and he had a couple of racers that fell out. So he gave Matt and I a call on Friday and he's like, I know it's super short notice, but can you guys bring a couple of the trucks up because we're short?
Like, yeah, why not? I think I have a better to do. So we drove over to Klamath Falls. It's like an hour or so from where we're at and it's kind of the same thing.
So we take our trucks there. Matt and I, everybody always gives us a hard time for the aesthetics on our trucks. I mean, they're very, we like the original kind of classic look because both of our trucks are classic body style Duramaxes.
The wheels that I have on my Duramax are original BMF, not soda, then BMF, then soda, then BMF.
BMF from when the Ryan's owned it from like 2012. And everybody always gives me flak because they're like, you know, why don't you put on some, you know, forged or why don't you do, you know, KG ones or something like that.
And I'm like, I really can't justify that. I'm like, if I'm going to spend that type of money, I'm going to do, do something else or like same thing with like our headlights.
I still have factory headlights on my Duramax. I don't, like, it's, there's so much more stuff on that truck that's, you know, significantly more expensive. I mean, that, I mean, the internals on that transmission were close to 11,000.
I mean, that long block was almost 20 in my fuel system between, because it's an LBZ. I mean, my injectors are 150% over from dynamite diesel. My stroker pumps from dynamite diesel.
I left pumps from fast. I mean, easy retail.
I've got a $10,000 fuel system.
My compound turbos, that turbo kit, that's an easy seven to $8,000 turbo kit.
I really do not feel the need to spend six to seven grand on wheels and tires.
I can't, I cannot, and that's the same way.
Like, we just, that and my oil changes that I have to do on that truck because the crank and the cam that's inside there.
Every other race, it needs an oil change and that oils like 80 bucks a gallon.
But I, that potiment is pristine, you know, I send in oil samples at least once a year just to kind of see how things are wearing, making sure the bearings aren't starting to chew through themselves.
That I'm not getting any excessive iron or boron or anything like that and everything is.
It's beautiful. I mean, that was a very expensive long, it was really expensive.
It's those injectors are very, very expensive. You know, everybody always asks, you know, how often do you change your fast filters a couple times a year?
But my new, I only put 500 miles on that truck a year.
But damn near every other tank, I changed my fuel filters because it's less than 50 bucks and that's a really, really expensive fuel system.
It's, it's worth it.
I was just thinking back to that kind of 2012, 13 timeframe and I was reminded of this truck that it was BMS.
I think they were called Novacanes and it was on a LB7 and it was that clap.
Well, we call it classic now, but it wasn't then it was just lowered a little bit in the rear, nice wheels and tires.
Really not. And I thought, man, that is so, that is so cool.
You just reminded me of that truck when you were talking about yours and those, those wheels and how, how, how good they look.
I love, it's like that, like that magazine cover behind me, that one has Novacanes.
That one has the Reapers, which that's what the truck still has on it now is Reapers.
And then I'll set a set of scars.
But I've always liked the BMF wheel.
I thought I have a question to ask you and I think, I think you'd be the perfect person to ask because you've been in this industry for so long.
And then you have these reoccurring or repeat customers over time and something that I hear or that.
I don't know how true it is, but what it is is that trucks don't last as long as they used to.
So when you think back to the early days and what those trucks are compared to now, do you notice a difference in longevity?
Or does it really just come down to the person and how they service it or a combination of both?
Combination of both.
The longevity part of it is coming into play from what we have seen because of the injectors.
And that's because, and that's going to be because of our diesel.
Nine out of eight out of 10 of the motors that we've had to replace lately have been because of injector failure.
And these injectors all had well under 180,000 on them.
And back in 2010, 2012, it was not unreasonable to get 300,000 miles out of injectors.
I'm lucky to see 200,000.
And it's going to be because of the diesel.
And the lack of understanding on how our industry has changed as far as the chemical makeup of our diesel and the fact that the fuel filter industry.
I don't think has necessarily as far as engineering has caught up with filtration on how they need to filter better other than our lift pump companies like Fast and AirDoc.
They're doing a fantastic job.
But factory, when these trucks are leading the lot, their fuel filters stalker, they're awful.
I mean, their stock fuel filters are like a six micron.
Your injector nozzles are really only designed to handle 23 at the most.
So they're taking impeding just right off.
Just right off the bat, they're taking a significant beating.
And then you have just this mindset of a lot of people that have these trucks or that have always owned diesels.
And that's something to try, not physically, I want to physically beat this into them when they're like, well, I've owned diesels for the last 30, 40 years.
And I'm like, okay, well, then you are the problem because are you maintaining seeing the same truck the same way you did 30 or 40 years ago?
And he's like, yeah, my truck's always lasted that long.
And I'm like, well, this is not the same truck. This is not the same motor.
The internal components are not made out of the same materials anymore.
They have different coatings on them.
The oil is not the same anymore. The diesel is not the same anymore.
You have to put a little bit, you got to do a little bit more.
And that's where we find that we have some of those types of customers can have that mindset that, you know, they can just do the basics and it'll be okay because, you know, they're, you know, they're 73 IDI made it, you know, 700,000 miles.
You're not going to get that. Not without, you know, really going above and beyond on additives and maintenance and upgrading your stock, you know, oil filtration, your fuel filtration and just really staying on top of that maintenance.
You are not going to get that. You have to try harder.
Is that one of the most overlooked parts of when you get a new customer, somebody stops by the shop and it's out of warranty.
So they're not taking it to the dealer anymore.
If they need something that they overlook how in depth the maintenance or maybe not in depth, but just how on top of it, you need to be when you don't have a factory warranty that potentially could back you up.
Or there's somebody from the service department at Ford or a Chevy dealer or Ram call you and say, hey, come in. It's time for your oil change.
They need to take that responsibility on themselves.
Yeah, they have that they need to take it upon themselves.
And a lot of times you can't always depend on the truck to tell you because we've had some trucks come in where it's like, hey, my, you know, change oil life came on.
So, you know, and you make a appointment. Okay, cool.
Get them booked. Truck comes in. Every diesel that we work on, they have their own individual catches for the amount of oil that we know that we should get out of them.
And, you know, the truck comes in, we start draining the oil, you know, the tech walks away to go get his oil filter or to go get something he comes back over and the oil's overflowing.
And it's like, oh, my God.
And then we have call the customer and it's like, well, you've got a problem.
And that's because you relied on the truck to tell you when to do it. You still need to visually check this stuff, you know, when you, you know, once every six, you know, once every six weeks or something, you know, check, check your dipstick.
Now, if it looks high, get that oil out and you need to figure out why there's something going on.
Chances are there's, if it's a newer truck, there's probably something wrong with the emissions system and it's overdosing for one reason or another.
And a lot of times when we do see that and then we'll go run free spring data or pending codes or stored codes or history codes.
Sure shit.
There's knock sensor codes in there.
And we're like, yep.
So your emission systems having a problem and your truck is overdosing on a passive or active region and it's dumping diesel into your crankcase.
So we'll do an oil change, but there is something going on.
And try and explain that to us like, well, I don't have any check engine codes and I'm like, these trucks are smart. They're not that smart.
Yes, it's all rammed by a lot of computers, but you do still have to do some general mechanical stuff and diagnosing on them because there is something going on.
At some point in time, you had a check engine code for a knock sensor and a lot of times, well, yeah, I had that, but my buddy cleared the code and then it never came back and it's like, well, tell your buddy.
Thanks.
Didn't help you. There's something going on and it does need to be addressed.
It's like nine out of 10 times you got a knock sensor code. It's not the knock sensor that's bad, especially when it's the upstream knock sensor.
If your upstream knock sensor is going off that just tells me there's something going on either in your air system or your fuel system.
Something's not metering right. Either your map sensors, nasty and dirty, your mass airflow sensors dirty, your air filters clogged or your air box.
I can't tell you how many times we've gotten a knock sensor code and we've gone and checked the air filter and air box isn't clipped on all the way.
So it's sucking air and it's throwing off the air metering for the mass airflow sensor, which is messing with the map sensor.
So now it's overfueling and causing a mess and you won't get codes for that.
I think what's so, why I love talking with you about these topics is, you know, one time at one time in my career, I worked on, it wasn't the shop side, but it would be like somebody would call in and say, hey, I want compound turbos, build transmission, something like that.
And I had so much fun like talking them like through it and they make the choices of what they want and then they come pick up the truck and then you see these grown men that are like kids when they go drive it and they're happy.
And then they'll like call you a little later and they're like, oh, I love this thing and toes my trailer so well.
Well, sometimes if like the install side was a little overwhelmed, you know, somebody be up at the counter and I'd go up there and you know and say, hey, can I help you with something?
You know, what can I do for you?
And it's this guy that's like he tells frustrated.
He's pissed off and it's because he's waiting.
It wasn't like he was getting performance parts.
He was getting something fixed on his truck and he's behind and it's like, I didn't like to deal with those at all.
I much rather would like like to see the, you know, 50 year old guy that just got compounds on his comments for the first time and he's happy.
And that always stuck with me about that.
And I think over time, like you had mentioned, the demands on these newer trucks are different than a 2005, 59 or 2001 LB7 or an old 73.
And it's not talked about enough in a way that if you buy one of these, you need to know you got to maintenance it more and it's going to be a bit different than those older trucks were.
And so I'm really sensitive.
And it's going to be more expensive. You know, you should run a full synthetic in them.
Those bearings need some assistance with the amount of carbon and particulate and diesel that's being thrown into that oil.
They do need, you know, it is, they are more expensive.
But I would hope that you would expect that if you're spending $100,000 on a truck.
I mean, it's going to kind of come with the territory.
Yeah.
It's really interesting.
I think hopefully it doesn't get as bad as maybe some of the media outlets or some of the commentators in the aftermarket industry talk about with oil.
But it was, I really wanted to reach out to you and connect on that side because you're one of the voices I trust in the diesel industry when something's going on to ask you.
I know you'll give it to me straight up and tell me what's going on.
And sometimes I think those jack wagons do that to try to, I swear to God, some of them are paid by the oil industry to try to move more product.
I'm like,
Well, it creates the idea of it.
I don't want to just blame them, but the idea of it can create panic because you think at least with those Toyotas and it was cars and smaller vehicles and they're talking about changing the oil weight and how you're going to have to change it more.
And I'm just saying, okay, well with the diesel truck, if you had to do that, you're changing it from what the OEM recommends.
There's so many other systems on those trucks.
What's that going to do?
What's it going to do for warranty and almost get in this like panic mode?
And I'm like, if I'm thinking this, I don't have one of these trucks.
But if I'm thinking this, what would I do if I had a 2025 power stroke and I'm reading or hearing something about, I can't get the oil weight that I need.
And I just paid $105,000 for this truck and it's under warranty.
I would kind of freak out a little bit.
So that's where there's people in this industry I trust to reach out to say, what are you seeing?
What is actually happening?
Is this something that you're going to see it way before I do or way before anyone who listens to this podcast?
So that's what's so helpful.
Well, especially with at least with the distributors that we work with or that we buy product from, they'll give us a heads up.
Like if they're starting to see that market shift that way, they do usually pretty good job on giving us at least a 30 day warning.
On, hey, this is where this looks like it's leaning this way pretty hard, you know, heads up.
And they haven't said anything yet.
And we get oil.
I mean, Schafer's, Am's oil, hot shots, docs, then our general vendor where we can get valveline, rotella, cash, you know, and stuff like that.
None of us, none of them have reached out yet to say, hey, you should probably stock up.
The only thing that they've reached out on lately has been the surcharges and to potentially see that they may go up again.
Well, it was helpful to connect with you on that.
And I think you made some excellent points as well with, with outside of just the oil side is staying on top of maintenance on these trucks and what you're seeing day to day.
So I appreciate your time chatting with me and sharing this knowledge.
And if you see things on these newer trucks that are happening, I really love that.
It's like a trilogy we did maybe a year or two ago where you're talking about six and power strokes and L5Ps and 67 Cummins.
And I know the 67 Cummins this year has had some changes.
So as time goes on, if you start seeing some things with the glow plugs or the eight speeds, let me know.
I'd say we're starting to see the HP fours and the Duramaxes, they're crashing pretty hard right now.
You think it's because of the fuel itself or is it the pump?
I would say the fuel, but there hasn't been that much of a fuel change since the truck came out, not that drastically.
We had last year, we had a 2021 in here that had a pump that failed, got a brand new one from Chevy, put it in.
It made it 4,000 miles and it started doing the typewriter tick, got it warranted out, put another one in and less than 2,000 miles, it started doing it.
And I'm throwing stuff at this point and I'm so frustrated because we're warranting this, like our labor.
And I'm gonna murder somebody.
I mean, these aren't re-man pumps, these are brand new pumps.
So I think the only thing good that we've seen trend-wise that's come out lately that, I mean, you can even ask Matt, I almost started crying at SEMA when I saw that the DCR pump conversion came out for the L5P.
I was so excited.
I'm like, finally.
Thank you, Sri.
Thank you, Jesus, because I hate doing CP3 conversions on L5Ps. I really don't like doing that.
Just because that pump, A, doesn't run as much fuel pressure, B, it needs a different lift pump because the stock lift pumps on the L5Ps are running, you know, well over 60 PSI.
And the CP3 is only designed to handle 18, so you also have to change the lift pump and it really just seems like that's taken a step back.
You're going lower lift pump pressure, lower fuel rail pressure. I don't want to do that. That doesn't sound like a good time.
You know, and the DCR pumps designed to handle the high lift pump pressure, so you can do a stock drop-in replacement DCR conversion kit.
We just got one from Dynamite Diesel.
We did it on a truck two weeks ago on a 2018.
Beautiful.
Didn't have to change anything.
No modifications.
It dropped right in.
No check engine codes.
Fuel pressure is great.
So those are going to be, because those started hitting the market on availability, I think, February this year.
So there's going to be probably a heck of a whole lot of those being done this year with the DCR conversions on the L5Ps.
We've already done, I think, like four or five of them.
Has that pump been, the DCR been one of the biggest changers from your perspective, not just with that, but also with the 6-7 forwards and how they're solving a major issue?
Yeah. At this point, it's like, I haven't seen a DCR pump fail, not to say they can't or that they won't, but I haven't.
Granted, if you have a 6-7 forward, you don't want to bite that bullet yet, you do the SNS diesel disaster prevention kit or bypass kit, and those do their job.
They do.
We've had multiple trucks come in where their pumps, their CP4s had failed, and it didn't do any other damage.
Everything else was salvageable.
You know, the only thing we had to do is clean and flush the fuel tank and the return line and replace the pump. That was it.
You know, they actually, that system does do its job. It does work.
But I love the DCR pumps.
I'm really excited.
Very cool. We'll have to keep me updated on if you start to see it be a huge trend on those L5Ps with the injection pumps.
I mean, there's a fix now for it, so that definitely helps.
But yeah, I love to hear the trends and the things that you see. You'd be able to help people out there.
So when they do spend money, it's on compounds that build transmissions and not on replacing long blocks.
Exactly. A fun stuff.
I definitely want to spend money on not having to spend, you know, five or six grand to replace the fuel system with the exact same thing that you just took out of the darn truck.
Very cool. I appreciate your time today, Kat. It's always great to chat with you and let me know of any trends that you're starting to see and look forward to chatting with you again.
Yeah, thank you.
Don't forget, diesel fans, make sure and head on over to kershaw.kaiusa.com. Use code TDP402026 for 40% off MSRP.
It's a great way to save some money, get some cool gear if you're on the market for a new knife or hunting, fishing, EDC, round the job side, round the house.
Then we've got you covered with a bunch of different choices for blade steel, blade shaped, different handle designs, different opening mechanisms.
They've had a bunch of new releases in 2026.
So again, if you're in the market, head on over to kershaw.kaiusa.com. Use code TDP402026 and get 40% off MSRP.
Also want to give a shout out to some of our Patreon supporters, Robert, TSW, Diesel, John, all of our other Patreon supporters, all of you who subscribe on YouTube and podcast apps, follow us on social media.
We appreciate all your support here in year 10 of the Diesel Podcast and look forward to bringing you more of the content that you want to hear in 2026.
Until next time, keep the shiny side up.
About this episode
Rumors of diesel oil getting harder to find get tested against real shop experience. The hosts say they’re not seeing current shortages, though suppliers may restrict bulk orders and seasonal restrictions can appear. During COVID, they faced months without deliveries, order caps, and higher costs—plus practical knock-on effects like delayed engine installs and “triaging” oil-change timing. Even when oil exists, surcharges for delivery and waste-oil pickup can push service prices up.
We’ve heard reports of oil shortages potentially extending into 2027 due
to supply chain issues. A diesel shop tells us if they are seeing any
restrictions and if it could impact maintenance - and even engine
repairs.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
