Oil additives??? Do they work
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Elder User
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 533
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From: Texas
Oil additives??? Do they work
Hello every one.
I was wondering. I've seen adds for all of thoses additives you put in your Oil, LIke Prolong and Z-max. Restore. Do any of theses work or a wast of money?
Thank you for your Advice
79 f150 Ranger
302 New EdellBrock manifold and 4bbl carb
I was wondering. I've seen adds for all of thoses additives you put in your Oil, LIke Prolong and Z-max. Restore. Do any of theses work or a wast of money?Thank you for your Advice
79 f150 Ranger
302 New EdellBrock manifold and 4bbl carb
Posting Guru
Joined: Jul 2001
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Oil additives??? Do they work
Well, I change vehicles frequently because I put alot of miles on one quick. I have tried almost all the trick additives and I can say with the exception of one, if they were free and I had to drive a mile to get it- I'd pass. Pure snake oil. Prolong, what a joke. The only thing it did was empty my pocket. Zmax, Duralube, all are junk. Oh yeah, the exception. The old, no longer made, Slick 50. Looked like milk coming out of the quart can. Wouldn't work on the newer motors anyway cause the teflon in it will cake up in the turns of the journals and plug 'em up. And it was suspect. I put it in a new, at that time, 81 Cougar with the disposable 278 V8. Mileage went thru the roof. Try hiway at 33 mpg's. Downfall, the ol'lady burnt it up sitting in 100 Degree+ traffic. So much for protection there.
Posting Guru
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From: Boise, Idaho
Oil additives??? Do they work
Many of the oil additives' main ingredient is zinc, a well known additive used in most motor oils. Obviously, the additives have it in higher concentrations. Other additives have an ingredient that helps restore old seals. There's an oil out called Valvoline Max Life that I use in an MGB. When I ran Mobil 1 in the MGB the gaskets leaked. The Valvoline Max Life stopped most of the leaking.
I also use Marvel Mystery Oil to help keep the crankcase and gas tank on my old truck clean. It contains something called 'wintergreen oil' that dissolves sludge and varnish.
Junior User
Joined: Jun 2002
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From: Cincinnati USA
Oil additives??? Do they work
That stuff is utter crap, and is not only a waste of your money, but could potentially have some bad side effects. Today's motor oils are very good and don't require the need for any additives. As long as you change your oil often and as recommended, there is no need to even look for snake oils. Some of the additives use Teflon which is a suspended solid. Solid particles don't belong in your engine, no matter how low the coefficient of friction is! Dupont even recommends against the use of Teflon in internal combustion engines. Some of the additives out there use Chlorine, or some varient, except the problem is that what happens when you mix water with Chlorine? It can form HCL which is a very strong acid. As far as Zinc goes, zinc is good for your engine, but in what amounts? The premium motor oils come with a higher concentration of Zinc, and in fact Amsoil's Series 2000 synthetic is not even API certified because it has a higher than allowed amount of Zinc, so who knows?
2002 True Blue SVT Lightning
-all stock and will stay stock
2002 True Blue SVT Lightning
-all stock and will stay stock
Post Fiend
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 5,228
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From: Running Springs CA
Oil additives??? Do they work
Zinc salts such as ZINC ALKYL DITHIOPHOSHATE are the anti-wear additives in motor oils. Here is the problem. The phosphorus part is harmful to catalytic converters. The EPA has required longer warranties on emission components. The automakers have to warrant the catalytic converter longer than the engine itself. The auto industry tells the oil industry to do something. So, motor oils certified by the API for gasoline engines have less zinc than they used to.
Even Mobil One has less than it used to, except the 15W-50 and motorcycle grades that do not meet all of the latest API certifications. Amsoil probably refused to change the formula on some of it's products also, and sacrifice the latest API cert.
Instead of adding zinc myself, with unkown results, I use Delo, which has about 50% more zinc already in it at no additional cost.
Jim
Even Mobil One has less than it used to, except the 15W-50 and motorcycle grades that do not meet all of the latest API certifications. Amsoil probably refused to change the formula on some of it's products also, and sacrifice the latest API cert.
Instead of adding zinc myself, with unkown results, I use Delo, which has about 50% more zinc already in it at no additional cost.
Jim
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