Low grade fuel in Top End

If your talking about Diesel power plus.. the blue stuff.. I use it in the winter in Canberra seems to make starting easier... but I notice that the active ingredient is ethanol.... A mate puts about 25 ml/100ltrs of metho in his fuel and he says that that does the job...But ethanol wouln't increase the cetane rating just make the diesel a little more volatile...

Hey Rick, this one's called Diesel Power, it's yellow in colour and states it contains 880g/L 2 Butoxyethanol. So I guess it's probably the same as the product you mentioned.
Actually, when the good wife noticed that the name began with Butox, she automatically equated it with Botox and wanted to inject it into her forehead to reduce her wrinkles. I told her I'd have to start buying it in 44 gallon drums to make any difference!!

I've tried a couple of different additives to try and overcome the problem, but not Diesel Power. As you say, the active ingredient is ethanol which would definitely contribute to easier starting in lower temps, but it would not boost the cetane rating.

Ideally, the cetane rating should be 40 or above to eliminate diesel knock - I don't know what the rating is for this low grade fuel in Darwin.
BP boast a nationwide rating of 45, but it would seem that their standard might not apply to the Top End. The worst fuel appears to be Shell which might explain why they offer 4 cents/litre discount with Coles shopping dockets.

Diesel 1

G'day Mike,

I couldn't comment on the Alice refinery - perhaps Slammin can answer that one - it's his neck of the woods.

Diesel 1