Spring Diesel Maintenance Most Truck Owners Forget
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56:19
Concept
freezing diesel fuel
In winter, diesel can get thick and start to gel. When that happens, the truck may be hard to start because fuel can’t flow the way it should.
Term
lubricity additive
Lubricity additives help diesel act more like a lubricant. That can protect the precision parts in the fuel system from extra wear.
Term
injectors
Injectors are the parts that spray fuel into the engine. If they get dirty, the engine can run rough or not burn fuel as well.
Term
DPF
DPF means a filter that catches the dirty soot from a diesel exhaust. Over time it has to clean itself out, or it can get clogged and cause problems.
Company
diesel extreme
Diesel Extreme is a diesel additive/product the host recommends to help clean out soot and carbon. They also say it won’t fully “fix” a DPF if the filter isn’t regenerating correctly.
Term
lubricating the fuel
Many diesel fuel treatments include lubricity additives to improve the fuel’s lubricating properties. This matters because diesel fuel lubricates components in the fuel system (especially high-pressure pumps), reducing wear.
Term
C-tane boost
Cetane is a property of diesel fuel that affects how easily it burns. A “cetane boost” additive is meant to help the engine burn the fuel more cleanly and reliably.
Term
additive solution
A fuel additive is something you pour into the tank to help keep the fuel in better shape. The point here is that people often wait until the truck is already acting up.
Term
stabilizing
Fuel stabilizers slow down fuel oxidation and degradation during storage. For diesel owners, this matters when trucks sit for periods or when fuel quality varies by season and supply chain.
Term
rust inhibiting
Rust inhibitors are additives that help protect metal surfaces in the fuel system from corrosion. This is particularly relevant when water contamination is present or when fuel sits for long periods.
Term
cents per gallon
Additives are often priced as a small amount per gallon of fuel. That makes it easier to judge if it’s worth it compared to the cost of diesel itself.
Company
Hot Shot Secret
Hot Shot Secret is a company that sells diesel-related products, like additives. They’re mentioned because their network can help collect information from many trucks, not just one.
Concept
R and D
R and D means research and development. It’s how a company tests ideas and improves products based on what customers are experiencing.
Company
hotshotseeker.com
They’re saying you can buy their products online directly from their website. That means you don’t have to go through a store or dealer to get diesel parts.
Concept
canaries in the coal mine
“Canaries in the coal mine” is a metaphor for early warning. In this context, dealers and repair shops see symptoms first in real-world use, before the broader industry fully recognizes the pattern. That early detection helps identify root causes and triggers fixes like TSBs.
Brand
DFC diesel
DFC diesel is a company that sells diesel truck parts and engines for people who want upgrades or replacements. In this episode they’re sponsoring and helping with technical info.
Concept
OEM engine
An OEM engine is the factory-style engine, built to the original design. The host is saying that sometimes you want something more than the basic factory spec.
Concept
better fuel economy
Fuel economy is how efficiently an engine converts fuel into usable work, usually measured as miles per gallon (or similar metrics). The host connects the piston/engine build choices to improved fuel economy, implying efficiency gains from better combustion and airflow.
Concept
increased torque
Torque is the twisting force an engine produces, which strongly affects how strongly a truck accelerates and how well it pulls at low to mid speeds. The host groups increased torque with the other benefits of the upgraded engine/piston setup.
Company
fastride.com
They’re pointing you to a website where you can shop for a fuel upgrade. The idea is to find the right setup for your truck.
Term
urea and water
DEF is made by mixing urea with water. The truck relies on that exact mixture to make the emissions-cleaning system work.
Term
fuel dilution
Fuel dilution means some diesel fuel ends up mixed into the engine oil. That can make the oil thinner than it should be, which isn’t great for protecting engine parts.
Term
detergent
Detergent is an additive in oil that helps keep the engine cleaner by preventing gunk from sticking to parts. It helps manage buildup from normal diesel operation.
Term
oil filter
An oil filter traps suspended contaminants as oil circulates through the engine. The speaker is describing a cleaning mechanism where loosened deposits end up captured by the filter or removed at the next oil change.
Term
oil analysis
Oil analysis is when you send a little sample of your used oil to a lab. They look for signs of engine wear or dirt in the oil so you can spot issues before they become expensive repairs.
Term
oil change
An oil change is when you drain the old oil and put in fresh oil. It’s part of keeping the engine clean and lubricated.
Term
baseline
A baseline is your first oil test result that acts like a starting point. After that, future tests are compared to see if things are getting better or worse.
Company
kershaw.kaiusa.com
That link is the sponsor’s store website. They’re telling you where to go to buy something with a discount code.
Term
EDC
EDC means “everyday carry.” It’s the kind of knife you’d keep with you for normal daily tasks.
LIVE
Welcome to the diesel podcast presented by DFC diesel.
Oh, welcome to the diesel podcast.
Got a bunch of cool maintenance products I see in front of you there.
And we're just getting out of that, you know, the winter season where we had
talked a couple of times about freezing diesel fuel and all the issues that we
have in winter.
And you'd mentioned, Hey, there's a, there's a huge opportunity that truck
owners have as we get into spring to really potentially avoid some costly
repairs or, you know, some different things based on, you know, the weather
changing. So welcome back.
Look forward to chatting with you.
Hey, thanks, Patrick.
It's always good to come on with you and glad to kick off another, another
season and get, get this cold stuff behind us.
So, uh, yeah, looking forward to talking about a little bit about what winter does
to these diesel systems and what to do to get ready for spring.
It is the season.
So what, what happens to trucks like for the last five, six months when they've
been colder temperatures, rough starts, cold starts, all that sort of stuff.
What, what does it do to a fuel system?
Well, you know, it's, it's one of those things where it's, it's a rough, rough
time of year on diesels in general.
And I know, um, a lot of people, you make it through the winter and they think,
well, everything's going, maybe it's time for some maintenance and whatnot, but,
uh, uh, it's not broke yet.
I'm not going to go and fix it.
But in reality, uh, your, your biggest issues fail after winter.
Uh, it's really kind of like the, the lead up to failure.
So it's a perfect time of year to just hit the reset button, uh, do full
clean out on everything and set yourself up for the spring correctly.
So, uh, yeah, let's start with the, let's start with the fuel side.
Uh, because it's something that you and I've talked about a whole bunch.
And, uh, one of the biggest problems with diesel fuel in the winter, well, we've
talked a lot about how little they advertise the fuel.
We hope we have some good anti-gel in there from the pump, et cetera.
Uh, but also the chemistry changes in the fuel systems, um, in the
fuel that we get from the pump.
And so you get a larger variety of fuel in the winter than you do in the
summer, um, some for the good, some for the bad, but, uh, that variety of
fuel often starts to cause problems as well.
So the, one of the, one of the things I always first look at, uh, and especially
if we start doing like some fuel sampling for some of our big fleets that
slow down in the wintertime, uh, moisture, you know, it's, it's the water in the
system, we, we have the changing climate.
So, uh, as the temperature swings, you start to develop a lot more moisture in
the system than you naturally do in the, in the warm days of, of, of the summertime.
And, um, especially with more bio now in our fuel, which attracts moisture, even
on top of that, uh, we're just compounding it in the wintertime.
And, uh, and that moisture gets in the system.
And, uh, we all know the problems with that.
And then it can also lead to oxidation and, and all sorts of, of, of headaches
that you may not feel as you exit winter, but it took its toll and each
winter it takes a little bit more toll on that.
So I think that's one of the key things with the fuel that, that we always
want to kind of look for is, uh, is getting all the moisture out of the
system after a big, uh, uh, change to the, change to the temperature, the
ambient temperature out there.
What do we, what do we do like in springtime to clean as much of that
out as possible?
Well, the first thing is your, most people don't see it or feel it right away.
The first notice you're going to have is usually some, uh, mile per gallon
change and that's just when the fuel system's kind of dirty, kind of
struggling from the, uh, you know, the harsh winter.
So, uh, we've talked a lot about our everyday diesel product, you know, it's
a, it's a fuel system treatment that you should be using every single tank.
We have a winter version.
So hopefully in the winter, you're using that to also add the, the anti-gel to
it, but the big hitter to come out of the spring is our diesel extreme.
It's, uh, it's got the same six components because, you know, we've talked
a lot about fully formulating the fuel to bring the pump fuel up to a premium
spec, uh, uh, making it a great fuel as well as protecting the fuel system.
Well, we keep all of that in the product in our diesel extreme product.
But this is really designed to do a deep full system clean.
So it does have injector cleaner, a water demulsifier, uh, uh, in injector cleaner,
I'm sorry, injector cleaner, c-tain booster, water demulsifier, lubricity additive,
a rust inhibitor, and a stabilizer.
What makes this one unique is that we max out what the EPA allows us to put
in for fuel system cleaning.
So there's just nothing stronger out there to do a one tank full cleaning.
So that time of year when we're, I usually get around to my diesel extreme.
Every time I change my oil, it's kind of my reminder, you know, I'm cleaning
out the oil side, it's probably time to clean out the fuel side.
And this is the time of year, regardless of where I am, where my intervals fall.
Um, I always hit the reset button to start the spring.
It's the time to clean it all out.
So first thing I do is, uh, hit the tank with a heavy dose of deep diesel
extreme, make sure that we clean out the entire tank, the lines, all the way to
the rail through the injectors, get everything flushed out and give you a
clean start for the year.
Now, one unique thing that I don't know if I've even talked to you about, uh,
one of our newest products, uh, we just released this past year, it is our
diesel injector flush.
And this is, uh, I know you, you, you love my, my stupid analogies I use all
the time to try to explain this stuff.
Um, I've said to you a lot that diesel extremes kind of like going to the
dentist while everyday treatments like brushing your teeth every day.
Well, we now have what I consider orthodontal surgery.
So this diesel injector flush is diesel extreme on steroids.
Now it doesn't have all the extra, uh, ingredients to, you know, to, to, that
we try to formulate in an everyday use.
This is specifically a problem-solving project.
Matter of fact, it is so potent that let's not really even call it a fuel
additive.
Uh, this is really designed for, uh, shop use, um, very talented, uh, people
that can wrench pretty well, but this product's intended to be plumbed
directly to the rail.
So if you're coming out of winter and you're having some injector issues, um,
the fuel system kind of, uh, feels like it needs to clean out 99% of the time
diesel extreme can get the job done.
Um, if you're still struggling after a dose of diesel extreme, there is this
new option called diesel injector flush.
It's a little more aggressive and it also takes, it's not as easy as pouring
in the tank because this would require you, uh, plumbing it to your lines.
Um, a lot of guys have lift pumps.
Um, it's a good way to pick it up there or the old gangster way of doing it
also is pulling your fuel filter and filling that up.
So he gets a slug of this right to the rail and, uh, there is, if, if this
doesn't clean out, uh, that part of the fuel system, then you have a bigger
problem and nothing's going to clean it out.
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One of the things that I, I noticed with my own truck, like during the winter
time is I idol it a lot more and I imagine that just that lower engine
temperature, lower RPM, you know, sometimes it's 15, 20 minutes, whatever it
might be, like it's just, there's probably more soot and more accumulation of
it that's going to build up that I've done for the last five or six months.
And then all of a sudden the weather changes.
Now we're in the 60, 70s, 80 degrees.
I don't have to do that, you know, as often.
Is that where diesel extreme will, does that clean it out or give me the best
option to do it without plumbing it in like the, the newer product you guys
have, where I got to pull that right from, you know, either the fuel filter or
in one of the other options.
Yeah, you nailed it.
Um, those long idols, uh, that we do in the winter time, we, you know, I, I let
mine start up a lot longer.
I let it, uh, you know, before I jump in, but a lot of people also don't shut
them down in the winter either.
So we see so much more idol hours and you're right, you're sending a lot more
particulate to the DPF, if it's a emissions truck, uh, but the, the soot game
really steps up in the winter time.
So, um, now on a DPF system, it's going to actually be cleaning itself out with
the regions.
So your regions are probably up quite a bit in the winter time as you have more
idle time, uh, now using a good fuel additive, uh, bringing that sea tane up allows
for a more complete burn of the fuel, um, which is less particulate to the filter.
So, um, it helps that process, but you got to remember, we have a lot of
different varieties of fuel in the winter and we're also adding stuff.
You know, um, there's only so much you can put in a formula, uh, whether it's
the fuel jobber or if you're adding additives yourself that there's technically
a give and take with that.
So we need anti gel in there in the winter.
Um, so if you don't have as much sea tane, you're going to be sending more
soot through the system.
And so after a whole winter that the soot buildup is one of the biggest issues.
And you're also just being inefficient at that point too.
So, uh, diesel extreme is the product that you'd use, um, that's going to clean
up all that soot and carbon deposits that are left behind.
Now it's not going to clean out your DPF.
There's different ways that you have to do that if it's not
regenning properly, uh, but, uh, the fact that you'd know that you're going
through more regions is telling you that how much soot you're putting through
that system.
So it's just even more vital to, uh, run a batch of diesel extreme through to
make sure that you've got a nice clean start for the spring.
I'm going to throw you a curveball here.
Uh, bring it.
I like curveballs.
Like for those of us that live in the Rocky mountain region, you know, like this
time of year, we start to warm up, gets into 60, 70s, but some of our biggest
snow is in March and April where, you know, you get a foot, foot and a half of
snow and then next day it's back up to 70 degrees or 60 degrees.
If I go through this process where I clean out what happened during the
wintertime, use a diesel extreme and then a week or two later.
Temps drop back down to 30, 20 degrees, whatever it might be.
I get some snow.
Do I need to restart that clean again?
Or is it just, cause it was only one time where it's just a few days.
It hasn't had the accumulation of months and months and months.
I don't need to do it again.
Good question.
Uh, not too much of a curveball.
I think I can hit this one.
I hung it out over the plate too much.
But, uh, it is, no, it really is a good question though.
Uh, the, the diesel extreme is going to clean it down to zero, right?
So there's two gains that you get from the diesel extremes, the
reach, restoring of performance and then the adding of performance.
Like the, the adding side just comes from the C-tane boost and the
lubricating the fuel that's keeping the pump, you know, lubricated.
Um, but the first side is actually restoring lost efficiency.
So once you've got it cleaned out, that's like trying to clean the glass.
You just clean.
So, uh, it's already pretty clean.
So if you then have another snow and you're staying on diesel fuel
additive for a while, um, assuming that you're staying with a fuel additive, uh,
we like for our EDT bottle, let's say that you just did a deep clean with
diesel extreme, but you're still on the winter defense.
You're still, uh, using the, the anti-gel product to get through the winter.
You're, those all have injector clean them as well, but we dial that
injector cleaner down to just to keep clean level so that it provides
proper maintenance, but it's also affordable to use over the long term.
So if you were just now to do a deep clean and then you still had some,
some deep snow to go through and the winter wasn't quite done with you,
you're going to be fine.
Uh, as long as you're staying on a, on the fuel additive that has injector
cleaner in there to keep it nice and, nice and clean, uh, but coming off
the back end of a diesel extreme flush, it's just, uh, it's a sparkling clean
system that, um, if you had another couple of snows out of it, that you were
on cold weather, you can continue on with your maintenance.
As long as you're doing a maintenance program where you're keeping
fuel additive in there.
How common do you think are, or maybe, maybe not common's right word, but I
think I always like to think about like, uh, a truck enthusiast listening to
this podcast, they're in the shop or they're driving or they're hot
shotting or something like that.
And like we all have that friend or group of friends or something that's
got 350,000 miles on their truck.
They've never done anything to the fuel.
It runs as great as it did when they got it off the lot.
And then we have other people that have had issues with their fuel systems.
And some of them have gotten pretty expensive to fix.
Like the feedback you get from the shops that you work with, or even people
calling in on the phones, like how common is it for people to develop or
notice problems with their diesel truck during this seasonal change?
Once it, once it warms up, is it more common than we may think it is?
It is, it is, and that's, that's a great question.
That goes down to our whole world anyways.
It's us trying to educate people that maintenance is a lot cheaper than, you
know, you know, the prevention side's a lot cheaper than, than fixing problems.
So, um, but a lot of times people don't look for an additive solution until
they have a problem.
And then a lot of times that person then becomes an additive user to, to prevent
it going forward, but this is the time of year when people usually see it.
And I, and it go, again, it goes back to that mindset of you kind of know, you're
the one starting your truck every day.
You know, it's tougher in the winter.
You know, it's, it's kind of ornery when you get her going and everything.
So, uh, when you make it through that winter and it starts to warm up and your
truck's firing up and getting to temperature a lot quicker and all that stuff,
you kind of feel like, Oh wow, I made it through.
But, but the truth of the matter is, uh, you know, that, that wear is being done in
the winter when that happens, but it really doesn't show its face until you
start getting back to springtime temperatures and heavy usage again.
Now we're not giving it, it's not just idling for warm up, but we're using
the vehicles a lot more for most people.
Um, and so it's kind of coming out of that long slumber of winter and we're
often running.
So it's the spring when a lot of times the winter caused issues start to show their
face.
So that's why we always find that spring is the perfect time to hit the reset button.
Um, I like to do it in the fall as well, you know, but I think it's more important.
Uh, after, uh, after the winter, uh, as you go into the fall, you know, we, we
talk often about, you know, when it's time to start using a winter additive and
everything and the mindset is, Oh, we kind of made it through our heavy season
and starts to slow down.
We're hitting this cold season.
Well, these trucks like to be worked.
Diesel's like to be running.
They like to be driven for a while.
You know, they just, they don't, they're not your normal A to B grocery
getter, um, that actually puts more load on these systems than, uh, one that's
being used hard.
So, uh, in general, we see that usage goes down in the winter.
Um, idle time goes up and you think the average mind would say, Oh, well, it's
getting a little bit of a break this winter.
When in reality it's like one of those work dogs, you know, it wants to work.
You got to walk the dog.
So, uh, when it's all trapped up in the winter, we want to do a, a good
maintenance, get everything nice and flush.
So it's ready to run when springtime comes.
One of the big things with diesel fuel, like I used to think when I first got a
diesel truck way back when, and for a long time of owning one, I always looked
at it like gas, like, you know, you have a gas vehicle, you pick the octane fuel
is fuel.
You don't really have to worry about much of any of this with a gas vehicle.
And I used to think diesel was kind of the same way.
I thought there was just like one set standard.
Everyone achieves it regardless of where you purchase it from, but I've
learned through doing episodes and talking with you and, and, uh, just
discussing the inconsistency that's there from pump to pump, the amount of water,
the sea, tane, lubricity, the change like with ULSD compared to older trucks that
were designed on something with more sulfur in it.
It's just so inconsistent.
And I immediately think of like when you own a diesel truck, one of the things
that maybe people don't tell you is they're more expensive to maintain.
They're more expensive to fix.
And you look at a price of a set of injectors or a CP4 or CP3, it gets
really expensive really fast.
So I don't think as a diesel truck owner, you can afford to not do maintenance on
it, or to not have a preventative maintenance program, I should say.
Well, you pay one way or the other is kind of how I look at it, you know?
And, uh, you're right.
They're, they're, they're great.
They're great vehicles that last forever when you take care of them.
And, um, we are punished by how poor diesel fuel is.
And you're right.
Initially there, like gasoline is a whole different ballgame.
And gasoline is a very highly refined product.
Um, what I always find strange is inside the gas world, somehow it's
made it to the gas consumer, you get multiple great options.
Um, and there's some reason for octane from engine knock and stuff, which
we'll get into on the gas podcasts one time.
But, uh, as far as the diesel podcast, the, the, the fuel, we get one, we
get one choice at the pump and it happens to be the fuel that is terrible.
You know, and so we don't get options at the pump, but there are a couple.
There's like some cool Midwest, uh, places that I've seen that actually
have premium diesel fuel options at the pump that it'd have treated fuel,
which is really cool.
Um, I wish everybody would have that option, you know, but, uh, that's
why our world exists is because this gives you the ability to, you know,
treat your own fuel and make sure that you're bringing poor fuel up to spec.
And what's, what I find really interesting about it since they've got
that all buttoned up on the gas side and you have your options of, of, you
know, these platinum tier detergents that they're throwing in their fuel, but
you're paying 20, 30, 40, 50 cents more per gallon for those fuel and people
don't blink and do it at the pump.
But yet when they look at the additive market and on the diesel side, since
you don't have that option at the pump, it gives you your choices to purchase
a product and add it yourself.
And then people say, well, it's expensive.
Well, a treatment of, a treatment of EDT, which you can use in every single
tank, um, which does those six things I mentioned earlier, you know,
sea tane, lubricity, injector cleaner, water, demulsifying, stabilizing
and rust inhibiting does all of those.
And you're talking a few cents per gallon to treat.
So, uh, yeah, I get it.
You have to go into the store, buy a bottle.
You have to dose it yourself.
It's not as easy as the gas pump of just hitting a different button.
But if you had the option with the expense of his diesel fuel, certainly
has gotten right now, it's through the roof.
If you had the option and you pulled up to the pump and it said 489, or
you could have premium fuel for 492, how many people are going to opt for the
489, you know, it's like, well, for a few pennies, as much as I'm paying
for a gallon, I want this better fuel.
Well, that's really what we're offering.
You just have to do it yourself because the fuel stations don't blend
to give you those options.
That's the hardest part when I talk to somebody who's got a, it just has
their like their first diesel truck and they're trying to get a handle on
all the information that's out there and they're reading or watching YouTube
videos about all the parts and all the upgrades they can do.
And I can identify it with it myself because I spent years just thinking
diesel fuel is diesel fuel, it was to this premium standard and that's how
it's refined and why would I use an additive?
And I think through lots of conversations we've had in time and, you
know, just educating myself through like these conversations, I realize, no,
I have to do something like I, if I want to buy injectors, I want it because
I'm making, you know, I'm going for a power goal here.
I don't want to have to buy them because, you know, there's a bunch of debris
in them or something happened and, and, uh...
Well, and it's tough too.
This goes back to the whole, the whole snake oil world of, of additives, you
know, and there, there was a long time and there still are a lot of poor
additives out there and they give the whole industry a bad rap where somebody
is using a product and it doesn't do what it says it's going to do.
Um, and that creates distrust with the customer.
You then compliment that with people that have had a vehicle for a long time and
never had an issue with it.
And so therefore, and their one vehicle case study, they don't, well, why
would you need additives?
I've never put an additive in here.
I've never gelled up.
I've never, you know, um, you know, had a fuel system water issue or anything
like that.
The, the fact of the matter is like you're, you're lucky, you know, it's like the,
it's a crap shoot with the fuel testing.
Maybe we can do a, a fuel sampling, uh, podcast again.
I think it's been a few years since we've done that to show all the testing
across the country.
And one thing we love to do is show the testing at our local place across the
street that we get samples from all the time, just to kind of have a long term
study and how it moves even at the same pump, literally from day to day, week
to week, how different the fuel is.
Um, if you do the same thing with gasoline, it is a hundred percent more consistent.
It's a much more reliable product and everything.
So, uh, the person that navigates this diesel world with, uh, never having
an issue and not having to use an additive, like that's not making a statement
that you don't need this stuff.
That's making a statement that that's a really fortunate person.
And you should be happy that you're in an area that's getting a really good
fuel and you probably treat your truck pretty nice and that's great.
Uh, but we can show you plenty of reasons, uh, why this diesel fuel that we
get from the pump is not, uh, best for your expensive investment.
That's really the area that I hone in on, because like, if I'm trying to see
if a certain model truck has a consistent issue or we're talking about
fuel additives and fuel system damage, if I just ask one person for their opinion,
I'm just getting that sample size of one, right?
But it's almost, I think once I talk to a shop that does 60 to 100 trucks
of a month or something, well now there's 60 to 70 or 100 data point sets.
And then with a company like Hot Shot Secret and your dealer network, now
you're dealing with all these shops all over the country.
Your data points are going to be more varied.
You're just going to have more of them to where, you know, we, we know
if there's consistent issues out there and we're all kind of.
That, that's what feeds our R and D here.
Um, and I'll tell you something unique about it too.
Uh, we struggle with, with all of our sales channels, right?
So we sell direct on our websites.
You can go to hotshotseeker.com and buy our products.
You can go to the retail store, is that all the auto parts stores,
all the truck stops.
Um, we have a huge dealer network, uh, independent shops out there
that are selling our stuff.
So it's looked at as a, as revenue chains, if you will, um, it's tough
to balance because of it, but we fight really hard to keep all of these
tentacles out there, not for the revenue, but basically for the feedback that we get.
It helps us in the R and D it keeps our, um, it's the same reason what we do
when I'm on the road all the time with our motor sports stuff.
Yeah.
It's great branding for hot shots to have our name out there and have race
trucks with our stickers on the side.
Love my guys.
Don't get me wrong.
It's great for us, but being out there helps us stay close to the customer,
stay close to the, the people that are really die hard, diesel performance enthusiasts,
the ones that are really pushing these applications hard.
They're the ones finding the issues with these vehicles before they, before
it's widely known, um, and you're right, our, our shops, our diesel, uh, partners
that are our dealers are our best like canaries in the coal mine.
They see this stuff well before, and I'm not going to say they see it well
before the manufacturers, because the manufacturers see it, but the
manufacturer's job is to cover it up and they don't want people to know
they're having, you know, injector problems or, you know, system problems.
And they put out TSBs to try to clean it up before it becomes a bigger issue.
Whereas the shop guy, he's the guy that's getting the trucks coming in with
these problems and, you know, asking the OEs and the OEs are saying, we
don't know anything about this, you know, and it must be, must be that guy's problem.
And, uh, they bring it to us and we can start looking at it, uh, before.
Now in, in full disclosure too, we work with the OEs as well.
So sometimes we're getting it from both sides and OEs privately coming to us to
say, Hey, we got a problem here.
Can you help us?
And just so happens to be that a lot of our dealers start to see these
problems out in the real world more and more of these trucks are coming in with
this specific issue.
And, um, you know, obviously we had to keep those two worlds separate.
But, uh, uh, sometimes we don't hear from the OE side and we get it from the
shop side first and then sure enough, once we're already working on a problem,
it actually helps us out when the OEs come knocking, we can, we're kind of
already down the road working on it.
I'll give you, I can't tell you who, but, uh, this product right here,
this diesel injector flush literally was a product made for an OE that is having
a major issue with, uh, their injectors.
And we developed this formula specifically for the OE to handle their problem.
And, which is doing a great job of, by the way.
And, uh, uh, we decided it was unique enough and a little bit different than
our diesel extreme and thought it'd be a great product for our shops to be
able to use when they are dealing with major injector issues that isn't as
simple as like a pour in for diesel extreme to, for a customer to take home
with them, um, that we put it out into the hotshots label.
And now it's available to our shops to start knocking out these problems.
But this is 100% developed with an OE for their problem, uh, formulated
specifically for them.
So, uh, so you're right, the, the world's kind of connect and knowledge is
everything and the better we can communicate and stay in tune to what's
going on with, uh, uh, all the new technologies coming out always has its
pluses and its minuses.
And we just happen to live on that part of the world where we keep our
eyes on the minuses and try to formulate solutions for those.
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.
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 Power
Stroke remanufactured engines that are set to a standard of ISO 9001 2015
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So, you know, when you get one of those engines, the type of quality that's
built behind it with an industry leading warranty that's really comprehensive.
And, you know, 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
dfcdiesel.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 dfcdiesel.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.
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Is this spring cleanup?
Is it just as important on a pre 2007 truck as it is a newer one?
Or are there challenges with the newer trucks because of the emission systems,
the injection pumps, the higher pressures, the precision of how they're
injecting fuel and everything where it's maybe more important on a newer
truck to do the cleanup?
I don't want to let one off the hook.
It's equally important to make sure it's happening to both, but it can
certainly be a lot more costly and domino effect on the newer trucks.
Simply because of how much has been modified in the emission system for
emission standards, but it complicates things.
And then these systems get really expensive, which I'll throw you a bonus
one today. We're going to talk a little bit about oil and fuel, but
put out our new product here is our Defender, which is a death additive.
And this is a perfect example of why we brought this out.
There's a lot of issues with these DPF systems.
You know, death fluid itself is is urea and water.
It's a very poor product or it's just some nasty stuff, but it
crystallizes really bad.
This this compounds in the wintertime.
And then again, with the downtime that we have, again, it allows it to grow more.
The crystals really need like air to grow.
So keeping your just like we tell people in the fuel tank, keep the fuel
tank topped off as much as possible.
That's less air inside that can condensate on the on the side walls
of the fuel tank that brings moisture in the system.
Same thing is going on inside your death system, inside your death tank as well.
If you keep that topped off, the generally the crystals won't
form too too much inside the fluid itself.
But once your tank level starts going down, crystals start forming all throughout
the tank, and that's usually where problems start to happen.
You're also generally not using as much death in the winter, only because
there's not as much driving and there's not as much, you know, the usage
of the vehicles are down a little bit more.
But the irony to that is you are putting more particulate to the filter
because you don't have as much sea tane usually because we're having
more anti gel and different types of blends in the in the winter.
So it's kind of a give and take.
It's like, yeah, we're not maybe working them as hard, which again,
they like to be worked hard, but also while they're kind of taking a break,
we're also kind of putting some weird different variants of fuel through.
So one of the biggest systems that takes that hit also is the death system.
So this is a good, cool new product that we just released this year.
And this an eight ounce bottle like this treats eight cubes of death.
So it's a really inexpensive product.
I think I think it's 10 bucks for that.
So you're talking like a dollar a cube is pretty much which treat.
And that will not only prevent crystal formulation, but it also removes
all the crystals too.
So it's a perfect product to add to this spring cleanup so that we have
a nice cleanup of the death system as well and make sure that that emission
system, which is finicky and expensive is getting the best maintenance
that possibly can.
So to recap, to recap it, or I guess to help me understand it.
So say in my truck, I run EDT, you know, throughout the year.
It's March getting into warmer temperatures.
Now I would use diesel extreme to be able to clean up what accumulated,
you know, through, through the wintertime.
If, well, for the shop owners out there, that newer product that you have
would be something that if it's really, really bad and, um, you know, you
gotta, gotta really deep clean the fuel system.
That would be the process to go.
And then as I go through spring and head into summer, I go back to EDT and
I'm good to go for, for the warmer months.
Yeah, you nailed it.
Um, we recommend doing a, a diesel extreme dosage every about 6,000 miles.
So some people that's quicker than, than others.
Um, but, uh, the diesel injector flush, uh, that would be, you know, again,
it's not going to hurt anything.
It's, it's a super deep cleaner, but generally go to that if you need
something stronger than diesel extreme, and I'll even tell you, I hate to
pull the, pull the curtain on some of our dealers, but there's a lot of
diesel shops out there that offer fuel system cleanings, you know, a
fuel system cleaning service.
And frankly, what a lot of them are doing is they're pouring diesel
extreme in your fuel tank.
So, um, and they're buying it by the bulk and it's a great way to do it.
And, and they charge you a few bucks to put it in there, the tank for you, but
they're not getting in there with the toothbrush and scrubbing at your
fuel system, you know, so, uh, it's something you can do on your own.
And if that 6,000 mile or interval you're going more than that over the
summer, I would recommend another cleaning in the middle of the summer,
wherever that 6,000 mile or intervals up.
The only time I make a little variation on that is right now when I'm coming
out of the spring, I don't care if I just did it a thousand miles ago.
It's my way to kind of again, hit that reset button every, every year and, uh,
and just do one tank of diesel extreme and then get back onto the EDT diet.
So make sure we're keeping it, uh, lubricated and clean in every tank.
Are there any other parts of my maintenance program?
I should think the same way coming out of winter.
Is there things that I need to do with the oil?
And there's a lot of products you guys have.
So now my mind's starting to go to other systems in my vehicle to think,
well, I need to do something because I've been idling it a lot.
It's, I've had temperature swings, all that kind of stuff for the last
five or six months.
Yeah, absolutely.
Oil side, oil side's big deal that often it doesn't get the love we wish it would.
Um, I think, I think the fuel side is a little bit more front of mind to diesel
owners, uh, but a lot happens on, on the oil side.
Now I'll same thing.
We're dealing with, uh, so we're looking, we're dealing with, uh, fuel
dilution.
Um, we're looking at water in the system.
Uh, all this happens because of the temperature changes, uh, that you see
just like on the field side, the same thing happens on the oil side.
One thing is a little different on the oil side that I think a lot of people
forget is that in your diesel oil, um, we have, we have detergent.
We have, uh, they're, they're a, they're a base that fights the acids that
are introduced into the oil, just from the combustion of it, uh, the way
and diesel engine works.
So some people feel like, uh, they haven't put that many miles on their
truck, maybe like, Oh, I just changed the oil, you know, right before I kind
of tucked her away before the winter, um, maybe I only had a thousand,
a couple of thousand miles on it.
So I still got a nice long interval in front of me.
This is certainly a place I like to start fresh every single spring.
Uh, but there is a, there is a measurement of how many miles you're
putting on your oil and how, you know, make sure it's not shearing and
make sure it's staying in grade, make sure it's aditized and detergents are
up, um, what we call total base number and, and there is something to that
interval, but as soon as you introduce acids to diesel oil, they start
to break down the oil naturally.
They start to combat the basis.
And once you've dropped your base number too low, there's no returning it.
Um, and it doesn't matter if that oil has five miles on it or 50,000 miles on
it, it can be, it can be time to change it.
So, uh, those that have tucked their vehicle away or just haven't used it
much over the winter, um, time counts quite a bit.
Time is almost as important as mileage on, on, on the oil as well too.
So just because it doesn't have that many miles on it does not mean that
that oil is always perfectly ready, good to go.
Um, depends how it was stored and how it was run there.
So that's, that's one, I think that all of us from gets forgotten and this
goes back to the, the way to clean out the oil side of engine and, uh, our
addiction eliminator, this was our flagship product, which started the
company, of course, you and I have talked about this over the years, many
times, and it's often known as a Huey injector product.
Unfortunately, I think because we, we really kind of beat that drum to let
people know, um, that this is a great product to clean out the Huey injector
on the fuel side of things, but it's an oil side engine cleaner.
You can use it in gas, diesel, lawn mowers, weed, wackers, you know,
excavation trucks, you name it.
If it's an engine, you can use addiction eliminator in it.
Now, what makes it unique is we can clean out the inside of an engine while
we're lubricating it.
And normally that's a given to take most products out there that clean
out, um, the oil side of an engine are harsh solvent based products.
Uh, they, they do clean.
They can clean.
Oh, we won't take that from them.
There's some good, there's some good cleaners out there, but it's also at
what cost, uh, when you really rob the oil of lubricity, um,
you might be helping to scrape carbon out of there, but you're also drying
out bushings and, and, and, and another just naturally bring the
lubricity of the oil down.
Um, we do it differently.
This product uses some very high end technology.
Um, but it's a, it's group five esters that are their job is to find and
clean out the carbon deposits.
Your oil is a hydrocarbon.
So as you, as you work this oil, the hydro side burns off and it leaves the
carbon by itself behind and that's the black muck that you see inside the
tarnish and varnish on an engine.
Um, it's stuck on there pretty good.
Like it wants to bond to the metal and it's usually in what we call hot spots,
which are your tightest tolerances where the oil is being coked and leaving a
deposit behind.
So your choices are either cleaning with a harsh solvent or some very
unique chemistry and that's what we do.
The group five ester we use actually re hydrates carbon.
So when the carbon is left behind by itself, we are basically turning that carbon
back into a hydrocarbon.
It bonds with those carbon molecules and turns it back into a liquid form and
lifts it off the surfaces of these internal diesel parts.
So then it just gets picked up in your oil filter or once you get done with
that interval, when you dump your oil, all that nasty gunk is coming out with it.
So it's just a very unique way to clean, um, while we lubricate and the
follow up to sticks and luminaries are FR three, which is our friction reducer.
This is our magic sauce that we put in everything.
This is our way of, uh, anti-wear.
So this is found in every single one of our engine oils, trans fluids, gear oils.
We infuse this into every oil that we make.
Uh, it's also part of sticks and eliminator.
So while sticks and luminators doing a great job cleaning, it has the
nano, uh, protected in there that's, uh, keeping everything lubricated and
actually reducing wear while it cleans.
So there really is not a better product when you're coming out of this winter to
clean out that oil side of, uh, the diesel engine than a dose of
sticks and eliminator with an oil change to start the year off.
I bet you get a lot of great feedback from oil analysis and maybe
shops or big customers or, or just repeat customers that you have where they,
I mean, maybe get you a sample right before they do this.
And then afterwards to be able to see the difference.
Yeah, we love analysis.
We've talked about that a lot, Patrick.
It's, it's, um, it's one of those things that's, uh, you know, we're, we live
in a world of parts per million.
So we see things happening well before they happen.
And, and more so, I think to me, it's also kind of like a psychological thing.
Uh, once you're starting into the world of oil analysis, like you feel more,
oh, how do I put it in tune with your truck?
It's kind of like, you know, we, we all kind of feel responsible.
I mean, anybody who's watching diesel podcast is probably a diesel junkie.
Like I get it.
We love this stuff, right?
So we have a passion for it.
So we want to take care of our vehicles.
And when we put them on a good maintenance program, um, it's great.
Like you feel your, your startups are great.
You know, you're getting great mileage, uh, everything's working.
There's all these variables that you can kind of see and feel in your own truck.
Um, maybe somebody who jumps in your seat, maybe not feel what you're talking about
because we all kind of know our vehicles, like more than the average person.
So there's some pride to how well your truck's running and there's some smarts
to it too, right?
It's a big investment.
So you're being smart by doing it.
But as soon as you introduced oil analysis, uh, which doesn't cost much,
I, we do analysis at, at cost here at hot shots.
These kits are, I think 25 bucks.
Um, and that even comes with like a prepaid mailer.
So comes you fill it up on your oil change and you just drop it in the bag
and comes back.
But what happens is you get to see this first like blood report of your truck.
And it makes no sense to you your first time, which is cool.
We, you can always call us.
We'll walk you through an oil analysis and it's funny how quick people
kind of pick it up, you know, and they start to start to see things.
And, um, the game starts changing because the first oil analysis is kind of like,
yeah, it's kind of like a shot in the dark.
It's kind of a baseline kind of see a snapshot of time where we're at.
And then you get another oil analysis on your, on your next interval.
Well, now we got two data points.
So we got another snapshot, but we also start to see trend lines.
What's changing and which direction is it going?
And then if you're an oil nerd or a diesel nerd, like we are, like,
then you all of a sudden you get excited about this.
And it was like, I can't wait for my next one to see where this is going.
And so it's, I think it's something for, for us that have a passion in trying
to take care of something that we love so much.
Um, you start opening up the oil analysis world and keeping a close eye on it.
It's something that's like objective, you know, it's like, um, it's, it's, it's
straight data that shows you, it's like a, it's like a scorecard.
It's like, how well are you doing with your maintenance?
Like go ahead and test yourself, see where you're at.
And, uh, and then once you start to understand them, you kind of understand
the life of your vehicle and what you're doing and how it's really impacting
rather than just what you feel in the seat of your pants, you know, when you sit
down and hit the throttle and go, I think it's feeling pretty good.
Well, there's ways to quantify that.
And, uh, an oil analysis is just a great place to, if you care about your vehicle,
it's a cheap, easy investment, um, that really kind of professionalizes
your, your commitment to your vehicle, if you will.
Is that maintenance, like schedule or plan?
Is that something like, I know you, so I could just like email you or call you,
but if I didn't, and I, you know, called in the hotshot secret or emailed in and
I, and maybe have a fleet of trucks or maybe it's just a single vehicle that I
want and I want to be able to give it its best chance at success where you
guys can help me and say, all right, let's start with an oil analysis.
Let's check this out.
What have you done with your fuel system?
Like, do you guys help or walk people through that?
Um, yep, we do it all the time.
We, we have, um, our direct department that oversees all of our, uh, dealer
accounts and our, we have a bunch of fleet accounts.
Like we, we have some pretty, pretty big relationships that we work on testing
giant fleets and keeping maintenance schedules and all of them all the way
down to the average guy who's never even done an oil analysis in his life.
And he just went to our website and ordered a kit for 25 bucks.
And, uh, now the results came and he doesn't know what to think.
He gets to talk to the same tribologists that these giant fleets do.
So, um, uh, sometimes I'll take that call.
If I've got to, you know how I do, how I, you know, translate for our robotic
nerds in the lab, the, the, the fleet managers are pretty good talking
their talk, but, uh, sometimes, you know, if it needs a more layman's term,
I can do that as well.
Uh, but yeah, we love that we get excited about that.
Like that's what we get excited when people get excited about this stuff.
And so I, I love when people try one of our products for the first time and
they're getting into the lubricant world because again, there is so much doubt
out there because of poor products have been on the market.
So anytime we can get a new user into our world, we're excited.
But when somebody gets an oil analysis, like we get really excited because
like, it's like, oh no, we're about to, we're about to have an oil nerd here.
This is going to be cool, you know, and, um, and, and, and it's, there is some
very simple things that you can look at on this stuff and learn as you go.
And then, and one of the things that's also cool about our oil analysis,
like if there's anything that gets flagged in there that's bad, then we
actually reach out to that customer before they even reach out to us.
And so like our lab will call that customer and say, I mean, even sometimes
stop driving that vehicle immediately.
You know, there's, we have a major issue going on or so forth.
So, um, you know, we can see head gaskets going before they go.
And there's a ways to save you a lot of money from, from headaches,
from, from doing this type of testing.
But, uh, but yeah, to answer your question there, the everyday guy who's
never done this once in his life can happily buy a cheap kit for 25 bucks
and learn more about his vehicle and have access to our tribologists here at
no charge.
We, it's just a service we provide because the more, uh, the more oil nerds
we can, we can make out there, the, the more we'll be happy.
It's such cheap insurance, like 25 bucks to tell me if I'm going to have to
pay for a head gasket job or I got something going on.
Like I talk about parts all the time on the podcast and sometimes I ask,
like, you know, what's the labor bill?
How does this all factor in?
Like, what's my out the door price to do this?
And it gets really expensive, really fast.
And so to me, that'd be the place that I'd start is doing oil analysis,
get something going.
And then like the topic today of what to do in springtime, like we really
focus heavily on what to do as we go into winter, right?
Cause we don't want to freeze or want to gel up, but we never really think
about, well, what do we do after that?
How do we get ready for spring, summer, all the, those harsh conditions?
So it was really helpful to, to talk about this today and walk through
the products and what they do and how they help.
Yeah, man, we, we love this stuff.
And, uh, like I said, we're also an open book here.
So if people have questions about this, um, we answer the phone here at hot shots.
Uh, you can shoot us an email, you can find us on our website or a social,
um, and help walk people through this.
Cause it is that time of year and, uh, the questions will start coming in to us.
So I appreciate, you know, coming on with you and kind of getting some of this
info out there, but, uh, well, you know, one thing I didn't mention also,
not just oil analysis, we do fuel analysis as well.
Fuel analysis gets a little bit more pricey, but it's that time of year
that if you ever want to do one or kind of know, um, you know, maybe, uh,
maybe you feel like you're doing pretty good with your field.
Maybe you're in the area that's getting pretty good feel.
We can find out, you know, we can tell you, uh, now the only catch
with the fuel analysis is it's that fuel and we can also show you how quickly
it changes, but, uh, it's that time of year to do that reset.
So, um, my perfect world, I'm about to take my hotshot secret truck,
which is a 21 gram, six, seven Cummins, and it's getting
addiction, lemurs, clean the oil, it's getting diesel extreme.
Let's clean the fuel.
It's getting the death out of it.
Let's clean the death out and I'm going to do an oil and fuel analysis.
So I have another trend line and I can start the season clean and, uh, and
then I've been doing this for a year.
So it's really cool to see the report stacked up over the years and see
the trend lines of the health of the engine.
So it's just a good reminder that we've somehow survived the winter.
Most of us, you might still have some, some winter to pay out there, uh,
Patrick, but, uh, most of us are through and it's time to, uh, start
the, start the spring with the reset button.
It'd be really cool.
Maybe next time to go through the analysis on your own, on your own truck
and look at what, what it's been over the years.
And I think it'll help, it'll help somebody that's thinking about, okay,
what, what do these numbers mean?
And why is, maybe we compare it to somebody who just sends one in the
same kind of year range truck and there's different.
And I think that would really help, uh, kind of seeing what this
maintenance schedule can do to help with, you know, wear and reliability.
I know it's going to be a month or two before we chat again.
And I saw on the hotshot secret, maybe it's Facebook or Instagram, you guys
had a map of where you guys are going to be at.
So if people are looking to see where's Kyle going to be here in the
next few months or like, you know, get closer to summer, what are some, uh,
what are some events or some places you're going to be at?
Everywhere, man.
Uh, it's already started.
I've been on the road for five weeks and I've got a couple more in front of me.
Um, not sure when this is going to air, but, uh, we will, uh, we got
Matt's Min America Trucking Show, which has become one of our biggest shows,
uh, at the end of March here.
And then once we get into April, uh, it all starts kicking off and the motor
sport starts, you know, I'm just kind of getting through our, our trade show type
of year.
So we're a lot of, uh, industry shows.
We've just done a lot of mining shows, agriculture, um, a lot of trade shows
with our, our, our, uh, you know, brick and mortar auto shop stores.
Now the game kind of turns once April comes, then it's time for motor sports
again.
So, um, happy to say we just renewed all our contracts, uh, title sponsor of
NHRDA, uh, outlawed diesel super series, uh, gonna be at UCC.
We just renewed our contracts with NTP and pro polling league.
So, um, if you've got a truck and tractor pole going on you, um, a drag race
going on near you, there's a good chance for there.
And, uh, I've got two teams down the road and you can always check our social
and see where we'll be at, but it's a great place to, like I said, you know,
uh, we always like people calling in here if they've got questions.
That's also another reason why we're always out in the field too.
So if you ever see our green canopies anywhere, you know, you can always stop
by and, um, just chat if you have a question, I have guys drive their trucks
right up to my booth because they want to show me something and stuff.
So, uh, we love that stuff.
So, so yeah, come see us out in the road and, and, uh, hope maybe you can put
your diesel out and, uh, uh, join one of these series.
It's dude, they all have kind of an entry level type of stuff and we're
trying to get more people involved.
So, um, the drag racing side is really easy.
The, all of our, both NHRDA and, uh, ODSS have, uh, an ET bracket class.
And I can't tell you how many times we've talked to a guy that's sitting in
the stands and going to the parking lot grabbing his truck and bringing it out
on the track and people just can't believe you can do that.
And not only can you do that, you can really compete at that level too.
So it's, uh, it's fun.
So we want to get more people involved.
So if you've never been to a diesel event, come on out and see us.
And, uh, if you do stop by the hot shot seeker booth and say hi.
Very cool.
Kyle, I appreciate your time today chatting with us about this important.
I'd say often overlooked or completely overlooked part of, of maintenance.
And look forward to seeing you guys out there and appreciate the knowledge.
Thanks, Patrick.
See you next time, bud.
Don't forget diesel fans.
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Also want to give a shout out to some of our Patreon supporters.
Robert, John, TSW diesel, all of our other Patreon supporters, all of you who
follow us on social media.
We appreciate all your support here in your 10 of the diesel podcast and look
forward to bringing you more of the content that you want to hear in 2026.
Till next time, keep the shiny side up.
About this episode
Spring is the “reset button” for diesel trucks after months of cold starts, idling, and temperature swings that quietly degrade fuel and oil systems. The hosts break down why moisture and bio-attracted water lead to oxidation, how winter fuel variety increases soot and DPF load, and why a deep fuel clean with diesel extreme (plus a stronger rail-plumbed diesel injector flush when needed) can restore efficiency. They also cover oil-side issues like fuel dilution and total base number dropping over time, recommending oil cleaning plus oil analysis. The discussion ties it all to preventing expensive injector/DPF problems and includes product and event updates.
Original notes
Hot Shot’s Secret chats with us about a commonly overlooked part of
maintenance - Spring cleanout. All Winter your diesel truck endured cold
starts and increased idle time. What does that do to a fuel system?
Does engine oil take a beating as well? We cover a Spring checklist to
ensure your diesel truck doesn’t skip a beat.
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The Diesel Podcast
The Diesel Podcast
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