can't.....stop.....talking.......RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN.........

XXL

 

OK, thank you all for the kind words.

 

Wait. What did you decide?
Put in the Slick 50 and upset your oils additive package or spend that money on a proven million mile engine protection oil like Mobil-1 or just to do nothing?

 

Slick 50 is bad news. It has never been proven to have any benefit and is believed to reduce engine life, cause knocks, and clog filters. Its such a scam and a waste of money in my opinion.

I used to think it might be good, but then I took courses in physics and metallurgy, and then I knew slick 50 was a scam along with all of the other snake oils.

 

1. Slick 50 will not clog oil filters. The PTFE particles are less than .05 microns in size. Find me a filter that can trap that small of a particle. Duh

2. Slick 50 is made with PTFE. Look it up. That is another name for Teflon and it's the most slippery substance in the world.

3. There were real test performed on engines with and with out Slick 50 years ago. Slick 50 engines showed less wear on certain critical parts. It works for its intended purpose but the marketing idiots went too far, made outrageous claims, lost some lawsuits and ruined the product’s name.

4. The guy who said use normal oil is not reading enough about modern synthetics and probably has no idea what properties his oil has, good or bad. Don’t do it unless you are willing to change it at least every 3000 miles religiously and plan on flushing your motor every 50k miles or so. Sludge is not a good thing for engines. (I bought my jetta used. It was a leased vehicle and dealership maintained for two years. They VW guys usually use Kendall 15W 40 for their oil changes. When I took off my oil cap, I would see brown sludge lining the inside of my valve cover. I drained and filled the car with Mobil 1 5W 30. Next oil change, Geee no sludge!!!???)

5. Amzoil, Mobil1 and Redline are "real" synthetic oils. Amzoil recommends 25k change intervals. Mobil 1 and Redline don’t make a statement either way. If yours worried, use an oil analysis provider every 5kmiles or so. They will tell you when to change.


I have used Slick 50 and normal oil on 4 BMWs, 1 Lebaron, 1 VW Scirroco, I VW Golf and an Eagle Summit. All of them are over 200k and some over 300k miles except for the two totaled in accidents after I sold them.

I now use Mobil 1 exclusively with no Slick 50. I have never had a car or truck not last well over 200K miles and never change my oil sooner than 15k miles. I use either the factory oil filter (except for ford), Mobile 1 or Pure One.

Do some research and make an educated decision for your self.

Look up the "motor oil bible", read, read, read....

 

jfgte, Since the "motor oil bible" was penned by people with an interest in selling amsoil, i wont read it. Everybody can make their own choice, but slick 50 is nothing but snake oil in my opinion. And if you research more, you will find many many people who say that at best slick 50 wont help your engine and at worst it will harm the engine. Following corresponds to your memo. 1. teflon can plug internal engine oil flow paths. 2. Whether a substance has a low coefficient of friction is no indicator of how that substance will perform when subjected to forces within an internal combustion engine. Liquid mercury and KY Jelly are pretty slippery substances but i wouldn't put them in my engine. 3. believe the tests you refer to were peformed on bench mounted briggs and stratton 3 horse engines. No correlation to the real life of an automotive engine. 4. Conventional oil of the correct grade and weight changed at mfg recommended intervals is a good thing. Syn oil changed at the same oil change interval is even better. 5. Mobil 1 make the oil, not the engine, and that is why mobil doesnt claim 15,000 oil change intervals. The best source for a recommended oil change interval is the manufacturer (IMO).

 

I believe Consumer's Report did a study on engine additives several years ago with NY taxi's. Results- no benefit.

I'm now wondering if the big cab companies are using syn. that would be the reaL indicator if it's worth it.

 

I found an interesting read on slick 50. See here.

They say: "In response to our inquiries about this sort of problem, several of the PTFE pushers responded that their particulates were of a sub-micron size, capable of passing through an ordinary oil filter unrestricted. This certainly sounds good, and may in some cases actually be true, but it makes little difference when you know the rest of the story. You see, PTFE has other qualities besides being a friction reducer: It expands radically when exposed to heat. So even if those particles are small enough to pass through your filter when you purchase them, they very well may not be when your engine reaches normal operating temperature."

 

I learned how they get teflon to stick to cooking pans. They coat the pan and then bake it in a oven to over a 1000 degrees. It has been a while since I read the article but I believe that was the basic process. Now our engines are capable of the same temperatures, epescially near the cylinders and heads. That ain't no place for teflon to be sticking in a engine. I'd rather keep the teflon for my fryin pan. Any engine restorer like Slick 50 that contains teflon is bad news.

 

The person who wrote the motor oil bible Michael Kaufman is not an Amzoil salesman. BTW, I decided to use Mobile 1 after reading the book so his supposed attempt to sway readers to buy Amzoil didn't quite work on me. He is simply interested in researching and publishing findings about motor oil and filters. That's it. He doesn't favor slick 50 either but that is not the main topic of his research. Fact is, if you use synthetics, you probably don't need slick 50 or anything else for that matter.

What expands with heat in slick 50 are the branch chain polymers. The same stuff that expands in multi-weight oil additives. When the substance is heated, the molecules stretch, they don't actually grow bigger. PTFE molecules getting "bigger" is yet another misnomer. There is truth in that some manufactures simply put PTFE powder into motor oil and sell it as a slick 50 equivalent. Now that would clogg the heck out of a filter.


The test I was referring too is mentioned in the another book (this guy must be a salesman too right?) What Auto Mechanics Don't Want You To Know by Mark Eskeldson. Read it.

BTW, air filters are the most neglected for of engine protection. Most of the contaminants that cause wear in the engine come in though the induction system. I have read that less than 1/2 a micro particles can make it from the intake all the way though the valves and cause micro scratches in the cylinder wall. If that is true, we all should be spending the most money on our air and oil filters if we really want the best ban for the buck.

 

Junk! I think the bottle even says "shake before using". Next time you see a slick 50 bottle in a trash can, cut it open. These are the same people that brought you "Lubrilon" in the 70's. It was junk then and it is junk now.

 

Hey, I remember that article! It's been a long time, but I remember that they found the best way to protect an engine is ......... GASP........regular changes with new oil & filter.

XXL

 

That's exactly right. Change your oil and filter per manufacturer's recommendations and use an API certified oil. BTW, CR changed every 5000 miles (just like the manufacturer recommended), and ran every test engine over 100,000 miles with no oil related problems and no excessive dirt, varnish, sludge, etc. build up upon inspection at tear down.

CR found no difference between any brand of oil, dino or syn. Additives such as Slick 50 showed no improvements whatsoever.

This was a very scientific, double-blind study. They ran each oil in 3 separate test engines.

 

Wow I'm shocked to hear this about slick 50. I thought it was the best thing you could do for your engine. Especially the way it costs so much you'd think it would be like a special treat for your engine.

 

I used Slick 50 in an older vehicle many years ago and did see an increase of nearly 10% in mpg with it. It was a somewhat hopped up GM 350 that was 20 y/o but only had about 60K miles on it. I doubt if the increase in mpg was worth the cost of the Slick 50.

Froggy