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Exactly. It's not very well regarded by anyone other than those who use the Lucas marketing materials as their source of information. Turns out Lucas Upper Cylinder Lube and Cleaner doesn't clean much at all, and lubes even less than it cleans.
Just like one-size-fits-all engine coolants, any fuel additive that works for both diesel and gas won't be very good at either one, and certainly not the best.
Here's a detailed analysis of several popular (and unpopular) lubricity products. It doesn't test or analyze cleaning or other properties, only lubricity. You may be surprised at the results.
Diesel fuel additive version 3-1.pdf
Mercedes specifically recommends
against Lucas products in Sprinters, BTW.
For purge cleaning, LubroMoly Diesel Purge (NAPA carries it) is good to dump into a new fuel filter, as is Sea Foam (Lucas most definitely is not).
For normal, every-tank cleaning, Red Line RL-2 (best), Liqui Moly Diesel Anti-Knock Plus, or Standyne Diesel Formula or Standyne Performance Formula work extremely well.
For Sprinters, which really and truly need a cetane of 50, probably the best combination is
Amalgamated TDR-S for cleaning and cetane boost, and Red Line RL-2 for additional cleaning and lubricity. It's kind of an expensive combination, though.
A very good close second, because it's more readily available and generally cheaper, is a combination of Power Service Diesel Treat with Cetane Boost (the white jug... gives a 6 cetane boost, while the gray jug only gives 4 but is an anti-gel for use in the winter) and Howe's Meaner Power Kleaner (unquestionably the best carbon deposit cleaner and preventer on the market at anywhere near that price point). The combination of the two (about 4 ounces of each for every tank) gives you the correct lubricity, cleaning and cetane boost that Sprinters need. The higher cetane gives you quicker and more complete burns with less carbon residue, and thus better fuel mileage.
If you can find premium diesel that's 50 cetane already (Canada, California CARB diesel, and most "premium" diesels like BP and Chevron branded fuels, or diesels that say "premium" on the pump) and that already has the additives that the above combinations will give you, then you really don't need to add Power Service or Howe's or anything else, although the addition of a little Howe's (couple of ounces to 20 gallons) is not a bad idea.
Bob's the Oil Guy, Sprinter-Source, and especially the TDI Forums cover all this in excruciating detail.
SHARP327 said:
running the cleaner through the fuel tanks leads me to think of cleaning the tanks and fuel lines 1st. and then pushing the dirty fuel through the engine...this is only a thought of mine but makes since to me.
It's not the engine where it gets pushed into, it's the fuel filter, which will then get clogged. The key is to use a cleaner in every tank, or nearly every tank (not just once every 3 or 4 tanks or once or twice a month when you think about it) in order to keep the tank clean and prevent moisture from accumulating.
