A while back, I started looking into a fuel additive I heard about called "Max Mileage". Unlike other fuel additives, this is a "fuel borne catalyst" and not something that is really new to the fuel additive market. Pittsburgh Power got a hold of it and simply increased it's popularity among the trucking industry after branding and bottling it under their name.
If you or someone you know has ever run a fuel borne catalyst from a company called "betterdiesel", Max Mileage is the same product, simply branded under a new name. I found this out after searching for as much information as possible regarding the catalyst, finding my way to and talking to the folks at betterdiesel, then being referred to Pittsburgh Power since I had first heard of the product from them.
Anyhow, I was skeptical. After speaking to the folks at Betterdiesel, I called Pittsburgh Power. At that point, I was told that the product would not be beneficial to my truck because it was non emissions. I called back to betterdiesel after that, and I guess that information was passed on to Bruce at Pittsburgh Power because I received a call from him a day or so later. After a lengthy discussion, he sent me a bottle to give it a try.
About 2/3 of the way through the bottle, both my 12.7 Detroit, and my APU engine were running significantly quieter and smoother. Fuel economy had climbed 2-3 tenths. I was also running another fuel additive at the time, and upon getting a 2nd bottle of the catalyst, I stopped using the other additive. I maintained my fuel economy improvement.
Weather cooled down, so it was time to run my bunk heater. As with every winter, the bunk heater would smoke like crazy, and struggle to start up. This would be the 4th winter of dealing with the bunk heater getting progressively worse. After using the heater regularly for a few cycles, I realized that the smoke on initial startup had greatly reduced, heater would start up sooner, and as of this post, there is no longer any smoke coming from the bunk heater and it is consistently firing up on the first attempt. Seriously, it was getting embarrassing to see the smoke coming from my truck when I would start this heater, and I was resigned to the assumption that this would be the year I had to finally replace it. Instead, it starts up better than it did the first year.
Also gone is the soot that would accumulate on the front of my trailer. Granted, it was only a very light film, but I knew it was there. The Fuel Borne Catalyst reduces the temperature in which soot will burn, and this is one of the key features where it is advertised to really help emissions equipped trucks. Not something I can verify, but it is said to greatly reduce regens, and also reduce DEF consumption. I've heard some say it really helped, others say they really didn't notice a difference.
That is my experience with the product. I recently bought my 3rd bottle, but with winter here, I am stopping usage of the catalyst in favor of running a winter additive. I was tempted to just run both, but struggling to justify the cost of running both at the same time so i chose to focus on preventing icing and gelling.
The fuel borne catalyst does have one potential area of concern. The introduction of Iron into your fuel system. I am from from being an expert in this area, so I don't know if the concern is truly justified or not. It is worth discussing though in terms of deciding whether this type of product is a good decision long term or not. If you do run the product, expect to see iron levels increase in your oil samples. This has been verified by many people, just not sure if it is a cause for concern or not.
For a non emissions truck, I don't see how the iron would ever by a cause for concern. For trucks with a DPF, I guess you might catch this to an extent in the filter, but at the same time, how much soot are you preventing at the same time?
Ultimately, I ran this product long enough to know that it changed the way both my 12.7 Detroit and my APU engine ran. Both definitely quieter and smoother. I also am 100% positive that this product cleaned up my bunk heater, which was scheduled to be replaced this winter due to the increasing smoke and start up fails that had increased each year.
Would I recommend it to someone who was having fuel economy concerns? Definitely. I would also recommend it to someone who was dealing with a truck that was running a little rough. I have read reviews by others who were dealing with engine problems and fuel economy issues where this product did really good things.
My opinion, I feel like it does a good job of slowly cleaning up an engine. Build up on sensors are one thing that can lead to fuel economy issues that are very difficult to diagnose on newer engines. You can slowly replace one sensor at a time, or you can give something like this a try to see if a couple bottles helps.
If you do choose to use it, plan on running a couple gallons through the engine to see what happens. Don't expect changes immediately.
If you or someone you know has ever run a fuel borne catalyst from a company called "betterdiesel", Max Mileage is the same product, simply branded under a new name. I found this out after searching for as much information as possible regarding the catalyst, finding my way to and talking to the folks at betterdiesel, then being referred to Pittsburgh Power since I had first heard of the product from them.
Anyhow, I was skeptical. After speaking to the folks at Betterdiesel, I called Pittsburgh Power. At that point, I was told that the product would not be beneficial to my truck because it was non emissions. I called back to betterdiesel after that, and I guess that information was passed on to Bruce at Pittsburgh Power because I received a call from him a day or so later. After a lengthy discussion, he sent me a bottle to give it a try.
About 2/3 of the way through the bottle, both my 12.7 Detroit, and my APU engine were running significantly quieter and smoother. Fuel economy had climbed 2-3 tenths. I was also running another fuel additive at the time, and upon getting a 2nd bottle of the catalyst, I stopped using the other additive. I maintained my fuel economy improvement.
Weather cooled down, so it was time to run my bunk heater. As with every winter, the bunk heater would smoke like crazy, and struggle to start up. This would be the 4th winter of dealing with the bunk heater getting progressively worse. After using the heater regularly for a few cycles, I realized that the smoke on initial startup had greatly reduced, heater would start up sooner, and as of this post, there is no longer any smoke coming from the bunk heater and it is consistently firing up on the first attempt. Seriously, it was getting embarrassing to see the smoke coming from my truck when I would start this heater, and I was resigned to the assumption that this would be the year I had to finally replace it. Instead, it starts up better than it did the first year.
Also gone is the soot that would accumulate on the front of my trailer. Granted, it was only a very light film, but I knew it was there. The Fuel Borne Catalyst reduces the temperature in which soot will burn, and this is one of the key features where it is advertised to really help emissions equipped trucks. Not something I can verify, but it is said to greatly reduce regens, and also reduce DEF consumption. I've heard some say it really helped, others say they really didn't notice a difference.
That is my experience with the product. I recently bought my 3rd bottle, but with winter here, I am stopping usage of the catalyst in favor of running a winter additive. I was tempted to just run both, but struggling to justify the cost of running both at the same time so i chose to focus on preventing icing and gelling.
The fuel borne catalyst does have one potential area of concern. The introduction of Iron into your fuel system. I am from from being an expert in this area, so I don't know if the concern is truly justified or not. It is worth discussing though in terms of deciding whether this type of product is a good decision long term or not. If you do run the product, expect to see iron levels increase in your oil samples. This has been verified by many people, just not sure if it is a cause for concern or not.
For a non emissions truck, I don't see how the iron would ever by a cause for concern. For trucks with a DPF, I guess you might catch this to an extent in the filter, but at the same time, how much soot are you preventing at the same time?
Ultimately, I ran this product long enough to know that it changed the way both my 12.7 Detroit and my APU engine ran. Both definitely quieter and smoother. I also am 100% positive that this product cleaned up my bunk heater, which was scheduled to be replaced this winter due to the increasing smoke and start up fails that had increased each year.
Would I recommend it to someone who was having fuel economy concerns? Definitely. I would also recommend it to someone who was dealing with a truck that was running a little rough. I have read reviews by others who were dealing with engine problems and fuel economy issues where this product did really good things.
My opinion, I feel like it does a good job of slowly cleaning up an engine. Build up on sensors are one thing that can lead to fuel economy issues that are very difficult to diagnose on newer engines. You can slowly replace one sensor at a time, or you can give something like this a try to see if a couple bottles helps.
If you do choose to use it, plan on running a couple gallons through the engine to see what happens. Don't expect changes immediately.
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