Contractor
Diesel fuel in it's simplest terms is a thinned down fuel , the principal agent is a thinner refereed to as Kero , this acts as an anti gelling agent in a simple nut Shell , On older Diesels of yesterday it was not an issue, but it is with Newer technology engines on the OM 612 the fuel composite virtually ate the rubber o rings out simple test put a piece of old rubber in a bottle and pour Kero on it and leave it for a day or two and see how it expands and becomes distorted and extremely soft, add the contaminated fuel 'Diesel from the dealers pump! think of the holding tank it's in many cases non filtered,and or not maintained! it costs the operator about half a cent per liter to keep those filters in perfect condition, to filter the fuel that is delivered into your vehicles tank , add a little mix of water from ground seepage yes tanks are cracked and corroded especially at valve crossovers, it gets in old fuel cross mixing between tanks that use both Gas and Diesel depending on volume required, sesonal...not on your main stream truckers! "fuel stop", but say marginal towns, where Diesel is not the main fuel source.Gas, Oil, water, do not mix that well, so separation and gelling will occur, as a result of contaminated fuels.
From 1997 to last week we have tracked US fuels this is in another thread, , this month the Bush administration was offered over one trillion dollars on a low doc fixed interest bearing long term loan , from the European Union, to help finance US refineries and pipeline operators to upgrade what can only be described as antique infrastructure's, It won't happen with MR Bush He's in the back pocket of the farm and speculators folk who look after their own , next government.
Fuel Diesel is of a poor grade in the US there are many reasons as to which oil is used for Diesel and this also is dependent on imported Diesel from Singapore there are more than one grade of Diesleine type fuels.
Sprinters in the USA use water separators, ours don't have them, as it's not an issue.
We do have in three states a so called winter grade fuel not one but two the latter is called Alpine Winter fuel I'd say it's very similar to your Winter Diesel fuel 20% mix of a soluble thinner Kero.
Red-Line 85 Plus+ works for this fuel it has a higher Cetane booster along with a water purifier or separator ...I do not claim this is the beat of winter additives it has an extra compound added to it , this solvent is similar to Amsoil under a different chemical name but it has an identical reactor but the lubricity of the Fluid is much higher, and has longer lasting values than Amsoils as such, It also produces less carbon emissions as a result of an added Cetane boaster
Basically I used it for three weeks on a Winter Diesel fuel there was a strong cabin smell coming from the crankshaft breather pipe which of course entered the cabin..either it was cleaning up the sulfur content in the fuel or cleaning up excess carbon soot inside of the engine fuel filters fuel rails and mixing it up with the oil , the smell went, it could have been temperature related?
PS because of the added Kero the Cetane level drops so HP is not as high as you would expect from summer grade Diesel. Because I have used an additive from square one My MPG are spot on ... no variations 20 around coastal roads lots of gear changing , hill climbing and speed limits Urban around town includes Hi-Way 25 MPG long distance hi_way straight run from Hobart to Launceston 31.3 MPG.. normally loaded between 1.5 Tonne to the full limit of 3,5 T , there is almost no difference between a loaded or empty van, In 2/12 years not one single problem no warranty issues and only one oil change due for a major service in the New year. at 47K
The difference between your engine 5 cylinder not including the V6 as an example is that my engine is a four inline 313 CDI it has a slower take off not much but its slower the mid range RPM is higher and far more effective with turbo boost that the five cylinder including the fact it does 100 MPH flat out,
No Speed limiters OILS 15 W40 this goes against the mainstream of US folk who have a mind set Mobil is the oil to use, it's not that oil was meant for 1.5 to 2.8 T Sprinters sedans AND ONE TONNE UNITS , engine PRESET FOR SERVICE IS 40 THOUSAND ks NOT miles THAT'S 24 THOUSAND MILES, USING HEAVIER OILS THAT OPERATE AT HIGHER TEMPERATURES RETAIN A HIGHER LUBRICITY VALUE, WITH A FULL 500 HOURS OPERATING PERIOD PRIOR TO LUBRICITY VALUES STARTING TO DEGRADE,,, The use of an additive gives my van a balance of a cleaner fuel and cleaner filters the oil seems to like the little extra additive but I can not explain where the chemical reaction comes into play there is none or very little vanish build up in the engine, the EGR value is relatively clean no sticky oil like substance and the out side of the engine is almost perfect, very little carbon soot visible air cleaners are still in excellent condition and like new underneath at the bottom of the filter.
Which ever way you look at this that engine runs like clock work , so some thing is working ! either its the use of the Upper cylinder lubricant and or oil , fuel or all three combined, it's fault free.
I will be changing both upper cylinder lubricants next year and changing over to Fushe oils I have no complaint with red-line, there is better and its Australian because we use 10/ppm fuel I will be switching to a low ash oil as both the 5 cylinder and 4-inline had a PDF in the year 2005 -06 My thoughts are only Fushe has an oil that will work for my Sprinter down under that will continue to give the results I come to expect form a MB sprinter proper.
In closure the fuel quality issue will not go away! as fuel demand based on population increases over the next decade, There will be a national outcry on this as fuel costs impacts and the CPI increases on local produce such as staple food supply.
Ethanol based fuels are not the answer
to less dependence on imported fuels,, Energy to produce grain stock fuels... will exceed the three energy savings, three fold in green house Gas emissions, as to the ultimate cost? it will be enormous towards the tax payers
as to subsidy's towards farmers who will produce the stock, for the so called cheap fuel of tomorrow, {some ones going to pay and pay big time for this, and a' hard, hard , rains a' going fall on your good folk, sooner than latter}
FORD and GM with exemption after exemption the EPA has no power and the DOT can't even work it out, next Government problem, Time for a change! "Migrate Down under"
Richard
or condone 
and dam I 'll export it in, with both additives that do work, and oils that last.
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both the 4 and 5 cylinder engines are very simular.