Expected results from oil additives?

Crazy Horse · Oct 8, 2012

This is probably an age-old debate and it's probably been talked about here countless times. Can a person expect any noticeable results when using oil additives which supposedly reduce oil comsumption and blow-by along with reduction of plug-fouling, etc? Please mention some specific products in your reply if you have had any luck (or no luck for that matter).

John T · Oct 8, 2012

Having been in the used truck n tractor business for years, hey sure I tried a bunch of snake oils to make a worn out vehicle stop so much blue (oil) smoking BUT NONE EVER WORKED !!!! and believe me I tried about all of em lol

That being said, I have had like 3 auto trannys that were slipping loosey goosey or slow or non shifting into which I added LUCAS TRANNY TREATMENT and I swear THE TRANNYS WERE CURED!!! Im serious as a heart attack n a train wreck IT ACTUALLY WORKED

While I cant post any other proveable or actual results from snake oil use and Im NOT saying anything other then Lucas tranny treatment worked for me, Lucas is still my favorite brand FWIW

John T

MisterT · Oct 8, 2012

(quoted from post at 19:11:00 10/08/12) This is probably an age-old debate and it's probably been talked about here countless times. Can a person expect any noticeable results when using oil additives which supposedly reduce oil comsumption and blow-by along with reduction of plug-fouling, etc? Please mention some specific products in your reply if you have had any luck (or no luck for that matter).

Over the years I have tried just about everything available that claims to reduce oil burning and increase the viscosity of the oil. NONE of them had even the slightest effect on reducing oil burning. NONE of them.

pete black · Oct 8, 2012

my thoughts, my perspective. additives have their place; however, metal loss is the primary reason for oil usage and additives do not replace lost metal. that said, additives can reduce oil consumption, reduce engine noise,slow down leaks and free up seized parts. i prefer lucus products.

dhermesc · Oct 8, 2012

Agreed.

Maybe an additive to help remove deposits on a dirty abused engine, but nothing liquid will replace metal.

Walt Davies · Oct 8, 2012

I agree John T they are all snake oil. Most of them are just junk a few are nothing more than what the oil manufactures put in their product and are not needed.
My nephew worked for a used car lot and they have a real bad smoking car and the boss put something in it and sure enough it quit smoking. He said it would last long enough to get it off the lot.
Walt
See we can agree on something's

Mike (WA) · Oct 8, 2012

I had a Toyota many years ago, it was about 5 years old and was using a quart of oil between changes. Neighbor talked me into Amsoil. Said it would stop the oil consumption (said to call him if it got down a quart, he'd bring me one free), and it would increase the idle speed because the bearings would be better lubricated. Had me run the car, and write down the idle speed before he made the change.

Believe it or not, he was right on both counts. No more oil usage, and idle speed increased by about 150 RPM (I adjusted it back to where it was supposed to be). We sold it before the 15k mile change time, so don't know how it turned out after that.

BCnT · Oct 8, 2012

the only thing i've used to stop fouling plugs are "foul points"
theyre threaded cups that fit into head and spark plug screws into them/
also there was a brown bottle of 8 balls in some greasy liquid...said install 1 ball in each cylinder...i have to admit it did work for awhile...maybe a month,and at 8 bux a bottle back in the early 70's i only tried in once.
K&W Transmedic was my Dodge Torqueflite repair kit in a can...had a few Dodges and Plymouths that would take forever in the morning to pickup a prime and move...pour a can of k&w in and they worked like new.

guido · Oct 8, 2012

Hello Crazy Horse,
A hole in your pocket! Snake oil! Old wives tale!
Really not worth the bother.
Guido.

casenut1 · Oct 8, 2012

i have had good luck with Shaffer's Oil for stopping an engine from smoking.

oldtanker · Oct 8, 2012

(quoted from post at 11:11:00 10/08/12) This is probably an age-old debate and it's probably been talked about here countless times. Can a person expect any noticeable results when using oil additives which supposedly reduce oil comsumption and blow-by along with reduction of plug-fouling, etc? Please mention some specific products in your reply if you have had any luck (or no luck for that matter).

Would help if you told us what it was going to be used on. A really nasty engine can have the oil returns from the heads plugged that can cause smoking and excessive oil consumption. Pulling the valve covers and and rodding out the returns, then flushing the top of the head with a solvent or diesel can cure that much batter than the "snake oils". If stuck rings are the problem there are ways with dealing with that. They range from a high quality oil and running it to soaking the cylinders with ATF. On the other hand bad valve seals and worn rings have to be replaced. Stuck will cause excessive blow by and oil consumption.

I will not put any of the snake oils in my engines. On the auto tranny side the "conditioners" are designed to make the seals swell. Most ofthen poor shifting are caused by one of several problems. First would be plugged filter. 2nd is worn seals. Make those seals swell and presto! The tranny shifts lke it's supposed to. It's still a bandaid.

Rick

uncle henry · Oct 8, 2012

i'm with john t i use most all the lucas products with all good luck

buickanddeere · Oct 8, 2012

There is an additive or two that will swell old seals and slow or stop leakage. For a while.....
Living on borrowed time if it works.

rrlund · Oct 8, 2012

Guess I've borrowed a lot of time. When I got my 2-135 White 9 years or so ago,the first time I really worked it hard it started leaking oil out of the rear main seal in a stream about the size of a pencil lead. I dumped a couple of bottles of Lucas additive in it. By the end of the next day it had slowed to an occasional drip. By the end of the second day it had stopped altogether.

Anonymous-0 · Oct 8, 2012

My grand-dad was a mechanic from the 1920's until he died in 1978...and he had little faith in what he called "mechanic in a can." But he DID endorse Rislone for taking care of sticky hydraulic lifters, and Hastings "CASITE" when poured down the carb to clean up carboned-up, sticky valves.

With CASITE, I doubt that the enviro-nazis will allow you to use it in that way anymore, because of the huge amount of smoke it created.

Anonymous-0 · Oct 8, 2012

My grand-dad was a mechanic from the 1920's until he died in 1978...and he had little faith in what he called "mechanic in a can." But he DID endorse Rislone for taking care of sticky hydraulic lifters, and Hastings "CASITE" when poured down the carb to clean up carboned-up, sticky valves.

With CASITE, I doubt that the enviro-nazis will allow you to use it in that way anymore, because of the huge amount of smoke it created.

Anonymous-0 · Oct 8, 2012

I have had good results with Lucas, Shaffer's oil and Sea Foam products. I have used Lucas and Sea Foam for the last 20 + years. I have used Shaffer's oil off and on over the years the only problem I had was finding a dealer that stayed with the company.

Anonymous-0 · Oct 8, 2012

I have started using Lucas with each oil change in both my vehicles.
1996 Ford F150 with 195,000 on it. I bought it with 180,000. At start up, it always took a few seconds for the oil pressure guage to come up, it just began to rattle a little each time at cold start up. With half a quart of Lucas in it, it no longer does it, oil pressure comes up instantly.
2008 PT Cruiser would routinely go down to add at about 3500 miles or so. Half a quart of Lucas and I don't have to add between changes which I change at 5000 miles. Coincidence? Maybe, but I am sticking with it.

36 Coupe · Oct 8, 2012

I have had a pint of MMO stop oil pumping in a Farm All A It was blowing smoke ring idling had oil seeping from spark plugs and fouling the plugs.The oil was black.Changed the oil and added 1 pint MMO.Friend bought the tractor cheap.I dont like MMO in a Crank case because it is 27% solvent.I used the tractor to rake hay and noticed the smoking was dropping off.Friend used the tractor to work his garden that summer.Plug fouling stopped.I did a compression check before the first oil change and had 100 lb on all cylinders.New oil next spring, no more smoke.On the other hand a few oz of MMO in the gas of my 640 Ford ruined the O ring in the gas shut off valve.

Jon Hagen · Oct 8, 2012

Most oil co's sell a HMO type oil formulation for high mileage engines that use some oil.

with the Cenex brand stuff, I have seen a 50% drop in oil consumption.

IndianaRed · Oct 8, 2012

Bought my truck in 2006, put Lucas in the oil, transmission, rear end, and fuel, never changed tranny fluid, rear end fluid once, nothing has failed in 577,000 miles. I tow and haul everyday.

Russ from MN · Oct 8, 2012

That rattle at startup is what I used to have when I used Fram oil filters! They have been found to have very bad check valves.

hintocw · Oct 8, 2012

Way back in the good old days (50"s, 60"s, early 70"s), I used a "mechanic in a box", i.e. several pellets that were put into the gas tank, and they really worked for cutting oil consumption and restoring compression. Use in Diesel engines was not advised and the advent of catylic (sp) converters pretty well stopped their use (would plug up the converter). I have forgotten the name of those things, any of you guys remember?

Anonymous-0 · Oct 8, 2012

My F150 has a Fram PH8A on it right now and no rattle! When I bought it and it rattled on cold start up, it was an off brand I didn't recognize. Again, maybe it is a coincidence with the Lucas, but I am sticking with it.

oldtanker · Oct 8, 2012

Easiest way to settle this.......look it up. The US Department of Commerce and every state government has find every "snake oil, mechanic in a bottle" company multiple time. They have all been sued many times over by users. They settle out of court almost every time to avoid bad publicity. Was just a big news story on it a couple of months ago. Independant studies have also shown that most if not all don't live up to promises and some can even be harmful to equipment.

You all do what you want to. I'll keep driving my 270,000 mile no additive vehicle.

But I know that some of you will agrue with facts.

Rick

mkirsch · Oct 9, 2012

There is no way to PROVE one way or the other whether the product worked or not in nearly every case. That is how they can get away with continuing to sell these types of products.

To prove it, you would need verifiable scientific data from a statistically relevant sample of engines from day 1. Basically you would need to run several of the exact same engines under the same conditions for the same amount of time, measuring whatever the product is supposed to "fix" at statistically relevant intervals.

Then you throw in the product and continue to make the same measurements on the same group of engines.

One person showing no results leaves the product's manufacturer several HUGE loopholes. Your engine was worn beyond the conditions our product was designed to work in. You used our product incorrectly. It says right on the bottle, "Results may vary."

Nancy Howell · Oct 9, 2012

Bought my 97 F350, 7.3 diesel in 09. Had 97,000 miles. First thing I did was get the tranny fluid/filters changed and added Lucas. Change the tranny fluid every 25,000 + Lucas.

180,000 now, no probs.

johnlobb · Oct 9, 2012

I bought a 5hp old orange Mont Wards front tine tiller at an auction years ago. The oil was dirty and even after I changed it, it smoked like a chimney. I put 1 oz of Sea Foam in the crankcase with each oil change and now it hardly smokes at all, only a little when I rev it up from an idle.

36 Coupe · Oct 10, 2012

Had the same problem with my 96 when I put 15/40 Rotella in it.Erratic oil pressure,rattle on start up.10/30 fixed the problem.Owners manual says 15/40 is ok.My truck says no.

36 Coupe · Oct 10, 2012

Read my post on the Farm All A.Never say never.

mkirsch · Oct 10, 2012

(quoted from post at 06:03:12 10/10/12) Read my post on the Farm All A.Never say never.

Goes back to my deal about proof...

You put MMO in the tractor's engine. It stopped smoking. Those two are not necessarily related.

If you could go back in time and NOT use MMO, and the tractor stopped smoking anyway, then what? You just went from "MMO's the best stuff in the world" to "MMO is worthless snake oil" right?

36 Coupe · Oct 10, 2012

A pint of MMO costs about 2 bucks .Any one can try it.Why the double talk?The tractor was useless, It couldnt run long enough to do any work before the oil change.My mechanic work goes back to the early 50s.Ive seen many bad smokers cured with MMO and Rislone.

55deere70 · Nov 4, 2012

FIL has a 94 F150 leaking PS around the sector shaft, leaking pretty good. He has to add PS fluid about every 2 wks. Put a bottle of Lucas PS in it and it slowed the leak way down. Put another bottle in after a month and it stopped the leak completely. Not saying it fixed the bad seal, but just saying that some of these things work and some do not.

Expected results from oil additives?

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