Opinions on Oil additives

[headmonkey 0]

Hello

I was just wondering what people think of Oil Additives such as slick 50 and the like. And gearbox oil additives such as Molyslip. I'm about to service my 2.0 16v C and I'm wondering wheather or not such products will make a difference.

Cheers

Rick

[stevemac 0]

You can have the benefit of my 15 years in the motor trade - do not use oil additives

 

If they were any good, the oil manufacturers would already be putting them in the oil.... :wink:

 

Definitely do not use engine flush - this causes no end of problems on older cars.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yep, mirroring what Steve says, don't use them. And if you look in the manual, you will see a line of text stating that VW do not endorse the use of oil or petrol additives in their engines.

 

"Pour in chemical" manufacturers play on the fact you can't actually see what's going on in the engine and any improvement will be pyschological and if you browse the net, you will find a law suit against against the manufacturer's of Slick 50, Quaker State IIRC, which highlights the damaging affect PTFE particles have on narrow oil ways. And going back to basic physics, how can a substance 'chemicallly bond itself" to a reciprocating part? It doesn't and anyone that cooks knows a fork can scrape away PTFE frying pan coatings all too easily.

[craigowl 0]

Used Slick50 for 18 years in all family's cars (engine and gearbox) with no engine wear probs.

Not scientific proof that it works, I know, so interested to hear other valid opinions countering its use.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Anything that says "Shake well" before pouring it into an engine should ring alarm bells straight away. It suggests solids are present that need redistributing into the carrier oil, in this case, PTFE powder, and not very good quality PTFE powder at that. And you seriously want to risk clogging your oil filter and oil galleries with it? Go ahead.....

 

Good engines don't need additives and neither do well maintained ones, so Slick 50 is a complete waste of money and it makes bugger all difference anyway.

[headmonkey 0]

Well I asked for opinions and thats what I got. :)

I'll be staying well away from from any of the miriad of potions that line the shelves of stores like Halfords etc then.

Cheers for the advice guys. :)

[stevemac 0]

Anything that says "Shake well" before pouring it into an engine should ring alarm bells straight away.

:lol: :lol:

[craigowl 0]

From an expert engineer specialising in VW:-

 

"....Had no feedback on Slick 50 in the gearbox. I have personally fitted to Scirocco

boxes and the present car has run 100k miles with no failure. It does smooth the

gear change.

 

.........Certainly haven,t heard of Slick 50 causing problems. It does wear out though.

Indications are that it lasts for 40k - 50k miles. The big bonus for the VR6 is to

combine engine oil slick 50 with Castrol GTX Magnatec 15w40 oil. The result is a

very quiet engine with hardly any OHC tappet noise, just purrs."

 

Another split of opinion re the C. :roll:

[Furkz 0]

Anything that says "Shake well" before pouring it into an engine should ring alarm bells straight away.

:lol: :lol:

 

common sense at its best :lol: :lol:

[chubbybrown 0]

I used to use Slick in all the cars I bought,slightly improoved mpg but then again they were cars from years ago.

 

All fords years ago when ran on the bench, ptfe was on all internal metal parts ( I dont know now though)

 

Improovments in engines and oils might have reduced the need for additives,the mitsi I have was always serviced thru the dealer by using castrol GTX and strangely they have gone into magnatec for the last service as I complained about top end noise,they also use a petrol additive every time they service it as they never told anyone its always supposed to be run on super unleaded and if the additive is not used the engines tend to die around 60k (YIKES) :? :cry: :roll:

just from carbon buildup,I think additives are ok as long as they are used every service,but not as a one off with high milage

I have ran a RS turbo totally on stp with no oil at all to shut the main bearings up for a while,I fancy putting redline mt 90 ? in the gearbox if the specialist recommends it like coullstar did with his old motor.

[craigowl 0]

My local garage owner, a formula Ford racer and Ferrari owner, who is always cynical about anything gimicky, said he thought that, on the whole, Slick 50 was beneficial.

 

My Peugeot 205 is still performing as good as new after 13 years of ownership. In recent years I have added about 20ml of Slick 50 to the engine oil at each change. Whatever the theories, whether they be scientifically based or merely hunches, if you find something works you stick with it. I havent had an engine wear problem in 32 years of car ownership but I tend not to screw the guts out of them, which will favour longevity. So, as we say in Scotland, "case not proven" either way.

[Scruffythefirst 0]

Don't do it. Spend the money you save on a regular oil changes and GOOD oil with an OE filter. Good gear oil is good too, aditives arent.

[craigowl 0]

Scruffser said

Spend the money you save on a regular oil changes and GOOD oil with an OE filter. Good gear oil is good too, aditives arent.

Always use quality oil and filters. For those of us with enquiring minds, though, are you able to point us to some evidence of a sound scientific nature that Slick 50 is not good? I will never use it again if I can read some authoritative proof about its worthlessness, otherwise I will be left feeling there is some unfounded prejudice about the stuff.

Car manufacturers are bound to be against its use - they want us to have cars wearing out, preferably well before 100k.

[kongo127 0]

Once i have used slick50 on my ax sport.

I just did it because the engine had enough miles and was drinking some oil. :roll:

About one year after that the car wasn´t pulling hard anymore. :(

I don´t know what happened, but i don´t intend to use any oil / fuel additives never more. :|

There´s nothing like a high quality oil and filter. :-P

[Kevin Bacon 5]

There's loads of info online about Slick50 and other oil additives. Have a browse and form your own conclusions.

The main argument against Slick50 is it coats non moving parts aswell as moving ones, namely oil filters and oil ways. And tests performed by NASA have shown it doesn't even coat moving parts anyway, especially bearings.

 

As with all car related pour-in chemicals there will be those for it and those against it. If you've been using it for 32 years with no problems, fair enough, no one is condemning you for that or trying to sway you against additives. On the flipside, my Grandad hasn't used additives in 50 years of driving and hasn't suffered from premature engine wear either.

 

I haven't used additives in any VW engine and have never seen wear under my ownership. I just don't like the idea of frying pan particles clogging up my oil filter.

 

If you want conclusive proof of something that does work, look at Mobil 1 oil. No additives used and they regularly strip engines after insane mileages and compare the wear to an identical engine run on mineral oil. The former is always still within tolerance.

 

Remember the advert? "After 500,000 miles using Mobil 1, this Mercedes driver is going to have his head examined".

 

As with all engine chemicals, you can't actually see what's going on inside the engine when you pour it in, so it's impossible to know if Slick50 is actually working or not, without stripping the engine and measuring the parts with a micrometer.

[Neil VR6 0]

Get some decent oil from these chaps, there's nothing they don't know about hydrocarbons:

 

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/

 

I bet he would have something to say regarding oil additives.

[beavis 0]

The answers simple really.. If the stuff is such a miricle substance why have the Huge oil giants not adopted the formula as a standerd consituent in their oils?

I'm quite paranoid now about what passes though my filler cap. 3 years back I changed my sump gasket at my old work one quiet afternoon, realised I'd forgot to pick up some fresh oil so pinched 4 litres of the Post Office finest mineral diesel oil that they use in the red vans, bad mistake, had a few puffs of smoke on the way home and all indicative signs of a blown charger oil seals. Stripped the charger down to find the oil seals completely dissoved. The detergents in the oil had killed the seals...

[mariovr6 0]

ok well here's what i think

ive tried slick50 and zx1 on golfs and other cars

every time i used them not long after id here tappet noise! wasnt like that before i used them!!

also starting using oil fast where as before it wouldnt use any!!??

on a good point took the golf for a mot and it past the the guy looked at the dip stick and it was bone dry!"!!! so in that case zx1 did save my engine!

ps i no nothing about engines!!

ive just changed the oil on my corrado vr6

is it any good changing it every 1000 miles?? can it do bad???

dont see it as a waste of money as 10 quid goes in all the time so why not spend the same on oil every now and then!?

[Jim 2]

Every 1000 miles is definately excessive. I'd say every 4000 miles if you are doing a lot of short journeys and are really concerned about prolonging engine life, etc - any more than that really is overkill!

[oilman 0]

My first post here and yes I am in the Oil business.

 

Here are an eminent oil chemists comments on these magic additives - scary reading and the reasons I don't recommend or supply these products.

 

My advice is to use a decent oil and you won't need to supplement it!

 

General Remarks on Chlorinated Additives.

 

A number of ‘add-on’ additives intended to improve the performance of commercially available automotive lubricants have been marketed in recent years, under such names as ‘Xxtralube ZX-1’, ‘Metol FX-1’, ‘PPL Anti-Friction’ and ‘Activ-8’.All such products share the following characteristics with ‘X-1R Friction Eliminator’:-

 

1)They all contain chlorinated paraffin ‘exteme pressure’(EP) compounds first used in the 1930s in heavily-loaded industrial gearboxes, and in some automotive transmission applications, mainly hypoid gears.

 

2)They all corrode copper-based alloys at moderate temperatures, easily exceeded in all engine, and most transmission applications.This problem was recognised in the 1930s, and chlorinated compounds were never used in transmissions with bronze bearings or gears. No responsible manufacturer ever suggested using them in engines where their increasing activity at high temperatures could lead to piston ring corrosion and bore glazing. (For the same reason, modern ‘hypoid’ additives are not used in engines, even though they are much safer than any chlorinated additive.)

 

3)X-1R Friction Eliminator and its clones are based upon very outdated technology, which was abandoned by responsible lubricant manufacturers for automotive transmission uses in the 1950s. Chlorinated compounds still find applications in metal working, but their use is on the decline because of health and safety considerations.

 

4)When burnt, chlorinated paraffins produce corrosive hydrochloric acid, and organo-chlorine compounds including the highly poisonous phosgene gas. Apart from these corrosion and health hazards, with petrol engines the deactivation of exhaust catalysts is also a problem.

 

5)Unfortunately, these additives give spectacular results in simple EP test machines such as the ‘Falex’. As a marketing ploy, a demonstration of this type looks impressive to those not aquainted with the above facts. Also attractive is the low cost of chlorinated compounds, allowing profits of several thousand percent to be made.

 

I agree with others - STAY AWAY!

 

Cheers

Simon

[Scruffythefirst 0]

Simon,

 

What are your opinions on engine flush treatments? Junk or not - I say junk personaly :)

 

I liked your posts ont he WSCC site too.

[oilman 0]

Simon,

 

What are your opinions on engine flush treatments? Junk or not - I say junk personaly :)

 

I liked your posts ont he WSCC site too.

Yes, I agree do not waste your money on flushes, some contain kerosene.

 

If you really want to flush your engine, use a good oil, it will still cost less.

 

Cheers

 

Simon.

[Supercharged 2]

I also read somewhere about putting a bit of ATF fluid into the engine and idling it for a few minutes before an oil change - I take it this isn't recomended either!

[craigowl 0]

Very interesting post oilman. Thanks.

Is Slick 50 one with chlorinated additives?

[oilman 0]

I also read somewhere about putting a bit of ATF fluid into the engine and idling it for a few minutes before an oil change - I take it this isn't recomended either!

 

This is not one I am familar with, I would not advise it.

 

Cheers

 

Simon.