That site is rigged. Why are they not comparing two 80-90 or two 75-140 gear oils, one with lucas and one without? You can't say it is doing that b/c of the lucas WHEN YOU ARE USING 3 DIFFERENT THINGS TO START WITH. Thats like saying the third is the reason the second is different than the first. He has no credability in my book, any fourth grader would tell you to do an experiment you need a control. People really need to look closer at his "experiments"

 

I still dont understand why peope spend 2-6 times the price of a quart of oil for a quart of real thick oil (lucas) and add it to thin oil. Why not use a thicker grade to begin with? The store shelves are full of API-rated straight 30, 10W-40, 15W-40, and 20W-50 as low as $1.

Jim

 

Not sure what you are getting at, as the simple test shows oil X in a simple gear box, and then what oil X looks like with lucas added to it, and nothing more.

If a simple gearbox as this can get motor oil mixed with lucas to foam, imagine what's going on in your engine under pressure.

Heck, you can even get the counter display to accomplish the same thing if you spin the gears fast enough.

Maybe this simple test involving a tranny may sway you...http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/...=002696#000000

"I still dont understand why peope spend 2-6 times the price of a quart of oil for a quart of real thick oil (lucas) and add it to thin oil. Why not use a thicker grade to begin with? The store shelves are full of API-rated straight 30, 10W-40, 15W-40, and 20W-50 as low as $1.

Jim"

For the same reasons that people still buy Slick 50 and the such!

 

LOL, go back and read it AGAIN.

Here is what you will find,

Pic ------------ Left Oil ------------------------- Right Oil-----------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 ----- Schaeffers 267 80w90 Blend ------- Penz. 80w140 Synthetic
2 ----- Schaeffers 267 80w90 Blend ------- Penz. 80w140 Synthetic
3 ----- Schaeffers 267 80w90 Blend ------- Penz. 80w140 Synthetic
4 ----- Schaeffers 267 80w90 Blend ------- Penz. 80w140 Synthetic
5 ----- Schaeffers 267 80w90 Blend ------- Penz. 80w140 Synthetic W/ Lucas
6 ----- Schaeffers 267 80w90 Blend ------- Penz. 80w140 Synthetic W/ Lucas
7 ----- Schaeffers 267 80w90 Blend ------- Penz. 80w140 Synthetic W/ Lucas
8 ----- Schaeffers 267 80w90 Blend ------- Penz. 80w140 Synthetic W/ Lucas
9 ----- Schaeffers 7000 15w40 ------- Delo Penz. 15w40
10 ---- Schaeffers 7000 15w40 ------- Delo Penz. 15w40
11 ---- Schaeffers 7000 15w40 ------- Delo Penz. 15w40 W/ Lucas
12 ---- Schaeffers 7000 15w40 ------- Delo Penz. 15w40 W/ Lucas
13 ---- Schaeffers 7000 15w40 ------- Delo Penz. 15w40 W/ Lucas


Hmmm, i though it was oil x vs oil x with lucas. Obviously this is not the case. LUCAS WAS ADDED TO OIL THAT FOAMED BEFORE IT WAS EVEN ADDED!!!! Look at picture #3


By the way, last time i checked my engine's oil pan wasn't 1/4" wide. A more realistic approach would be put these gears in a tub of oil, not a skinny shaft where the oil has no where to go. I run lucas in every oil in my truck. I have check oils hot and cold, never any foam. I have checked differentials after long drives and there is NO FOAM. Like i said before, this test is RIGGED. Why doesn't he do it with a REAL application, get a rear diff and spin it up with a clear diff cover. Seriously, I wish people would stop spreading this link and actually thinking it is for real. I mean look at the first test, THEY ARE NOT EVEN THE SAME VISCOSITIES!!!

 

Wow, that is some nasty looking "oil" after the test. Makes me re-think using Lucas. Odd, however, that when I drained the oil from my Vic, the oil was a normal dark brown with no foaming or milky color. Regardless, think I'll try the 15W-40 or 20W-50 next time around. Just wish Valvoline made the MaxLife in those grades.

 

Lucas serves no purpose in good running engines, but in engines that have seen better days it is unlikely to cause problems but help cover up problems. I would say it is worth it to add to your engine if you are burning allot of oil and its time for a rebuild or a new truck. From personal experience when engines are shot it does not matter what weight you use they all burn easy and the only thing that slows the process for a little bit is heavy gunkey additives.
I’m really not much a fan of that Lucas test because I don’t think it accurately shows what’s happening in an engine or differential. Motors don’t have that type of gears that are spinning in a pool of oil and differentials do not contain straight cut gears. The only thing it looks like it might somewhat duplicate is a manual transmission.

 

Why wait until it is burning alot of oil? Why not start as soon as you detect oil consumption, and adjust amout of lucas with the amount of consumption. If it is using a slight amount, and is rather tight for the most part, run a half a quart or so. If it is more worn, run a quart or more.

Most all will agree that this addative helps worn engine run longer, by slowing the wearing process. Then why not always run a little in good engines to slow its wear? It only makes common sense to do it that way. Why wait until it has worn alot when you could've prevented it sooner?

Give you an example- You have two brand new engines, you run them exactly the same, run the same oils in them, and maintain them exactly the same. Theoretically they should both wear exactly the same. Now before ever starting them you add a slight amount of lucas in replacement of the engine oil in one of the engines. If lucas has proven to prolong the life in old worn engines, it must multiply the effect in a new engine. Therefore, the engine without it will get worn and eventually consume oil, yet the other with lucas in it is not as worn. The owner then decides to add Lucas to the more worn one. Now they are run longer. No matter what, the one which has lucas added latter will always have more wear than the one without. If they are both running the same oil, one will not wear more than the other, unless there is internal problems, which would appear on the more worn one anyway.

Basically without lucas, you have more wear. With it, less wear. If you wait to add it once you already have wear it will prevent future wear, but not repair damage already done to it. It will always have more wear than the engine that always ran with lucas.

 

If you use Lucas or any thicker oil (10w40 on up) in a modern engine, you are begging for wear problems, sooner rather than later. Immediately, your MPG will drop. If you are getting say an average of 16mpg, and want to get 10-11 mpg with the cost of today's gasoline, it's your money to waste. Cold starts. That thick oil stabilizer, even in the summer, will pump much slower to the top of the motor. That is what will cause wear on camshafts, lifters, valve springs and timing gears / chains. Then I guess, with your new, but worn engine, Lucas and similar additives will be just what you need. BRanger94 post #21, is correct. Modern engines, even older, well maintained yet "tight" engines have no use for Lucas, and similar products. I am not saying Lucas Oil Stabilizer is a bad product. Only, it's proper use, which is not in a modern, or "tight" engine...

 

Hey Expysport, they make Valvoline Maxlife in 20-50W, it is at Wal-Mart and Checker, Autozone, I have bought it and used it. The 15-40W is not available in Maxlife.

 

Sweet!! Thanks for the info!

 

Unless you live in Europe, but here you can get Valvoline Durablend in 15w40.

Hey, take 10w40 Maxlife and mix in a quart of NAPA straight 40. That ought to approximate a 15w40 as the straight 40 would thicken up the base oil.

Alternately a 50/50 mix of Maxlife 10w30 and 20w50 should approximate a 15w40.

The mad oil mixer strikes again!

 

They also make a thinner product which is synthetic, for ricers and new engines it says.

 

Rigged or not, you cannot argue the "real world" effects from Lucas on the second link I provided.

Yes, Bob's test lacks controls, and yes there were different oils compared, but that was not the point that was trying to be made.

The point is the before and after effects by adding lucas to a perfectly good oil, regardless of brand, by using a setup similar to Lucas's own marketing display.

BTW, if you think your motor doesn't have 1/4'' gaps where oil is being pushed for lubrication, you are sadly mistaken.

I hate to "TooT" Flash's horn, but he's the real voice of reason, as I'm sure that he's see one or two measly tests.

Who knows, maybe he likes his horn "TooT" 'ed!

 

I don't need to see someone else's test that show something other than real world results. I didn't say that i don't have 1/4" crevaces through which oil is pumped, in fact there are many and even smaller than that size. What i did say was my OIL PAN is not 1/4" wide!! The point being that if the pool of oil is designed with the size of the gears in mind. Any oil in the enclosure shown in his experiment would fail at high RPM's. The point being that when the gear is spun up at 10,000 RPM (highly unlikely in your engine, tranny or diff's) there is not enough oil to the left and right of the gear to fill in where air is getting trapped into the oil. If it was put in a large bucket of oil you will not get the same results. Keep in mind that oil pans, levels and volumes of oil are all engineered to work as they should. His testing apparatus is designed to show failure. If it was wider and held more oil, and possibly had a higher level of oil, the results would not be no where near what is on there.

Take a differential for example. Ring gear and pinion gear. Both gears are always 50% under the resting level of the oil, plus the pool of oil is much WIDER than the gears, not to mention they are slanted and not straight toothed gears. If you have never looked at the inside of a rear axle, it is designed for the movement of oil. The ring actually pushes oil up into the pininon's bearings and exits out the top and falls back onto the ring gear. What does bob's show? Well nothing but a poorly designed and under lubricated box of gears. Only 1/4 of the gear is under oil!! You will get his results if you drain half the oil out of your rear axle!! There is a reason we have dipsticks and why fill plugs are mounted where they are. Each gear box requires a certain amount of oil to work properly. If it is too low, well you can see from the "experiment." The oil is just pushed out of the way and nothing replaces it. Notice how the walls help keep the oil on the other side of the gear, and actually trap it from comming back, again this won't happen in a wider pool of oil.

I rest my case, this test has always been, and always will be rigged. If you don't believe me, build one yourself. Like i said before, get a rear axle and fill it 50% with lucas for all i care. YOU WILL NOT GET BOB's RESULTS!!

 

Bingo!

If your engine is old, smoking, and / or making noise, heavier oil helps. My '92 Explorer has a little piston slap and consumes about 1 quart every 3000 miles with 10w30. I switched to 15w40, and the piston slap goes away as does most of the consumption.

This is not for everyone. If you have a new modular motor with 40,000 miles, well maintained, and not making noise, you will gain NOTHING by using heavier oil.