Engine Additives

in General
The now closed Welcome Conference's engine
treatments-worth the money? (Topic #215).
Check out the beginning of the discussion and
come back here to continue it.
Bonnie Rick
Town Hall Community Manager, edmunds.com
treatments-worth the money? (Topic #215).
Check out the beginning of the discussion and
come back here to continue it.
Bonnie Rick
Town Hall Community Manager, edmunds.com
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Tufoil was created by a Mr. Frank Renick of Upper Saddle River N.J. in 1973 during the gas(sic) shortage/crunch. Being a petro-chemical engineer helped. I use this "additive" because no only did
it seemed to work, I proved it over and over using hard numbers before and after, via pressure and amp data that it "does" work up to its claims. Popular Mechanics tested it and concluded, Hey it works!
Try it, most local parts stores have it. it sells
around 5-8$ a 8oz bottle. used to be 18$.
one last statement, it made every manual transsmission shift smoother within 1 hour or less of driving. Dont use it for "Motorcycle" engines as the clutch shares the same oil on most
brands and can cause clutch slippage.
blessings
maydaytoy
same thing with spark plugs-split fire is one big joke-got nailed by the gov. for mis??leading statements. reminds me of the good ole boys in texas that sold a gas additive- 1 tablet per fill-up-instant result. they made thousands of dollars-guess what-they were Moth Balls!!
by the way-i teach automotive technology-30 years in the field-what fun!!!how many people can have a fun job like this!!!!
You might be able to buy the kit OTC or have a professional do the work.
A lot of alleged great results car owners get from additives *are* nothing but placebo effects. Techron definitely is not one of them. Lubro-Moly is another FI cleaner popular with the VW crowd. In addition to pour-into-tank cans, Lubro-Moly also makes a super concentrate "pro" version that taps in directly to the fuel distributor of CIS injection system found in '80s and early '90 European cars.
I don't know about one per tankful, though. You'd be better off using a gasline antifreeze once in a while and keeping a full tank of gas during the winter.
Militec is not teflon based? It's probabably one of the few products that really works by treating the metal molecularly. It has been used by the Government for years and is well documented as to benefits etc. in official Government correspondence that I have seen.
Where have you seen this official correspondence? I would love to be able to read up on this product.
What is Militec? I have never heard of it!
If additives are bad, then why do gasoline producers blend in additives with their products; and why do the additives vary among gasolines. One of the best additives for injectors, for example, is Techron, which is also contained in Chevron gas.
I admit there is a lot of snake oil out there, probably more of it than of good products; but, one probably should not carte blanche reject all additives, merely because they have discovered a few bad ones. Do the research and decide for yourself what is good and what is bad.
I enjoyed steverobinson's comments and reference article on the additive tests. I wish they had included Miletec. I have never seen any public testing or reports on the product - only Government documents and personal, and admittedly anecdotal, comments such as mine. If you ever hear of any, I would like to know.
I think mechanical problems ought to fixed mechanically and chemical problems fixed chemically. If the radiator is leaking, I'd rather pull the radiator and get it fixed rather than pour a can of mystery additive in it hoping it'll plug the leak while not gunking up the water pump and thermostat. Now I consider carbon buildup a chemical problem which then requires a chemical solution (pun intended). I like Techron for that, so does some car manufacturers.
I won't draw conclusions for you. It's up to you to decide how to treat your car. I just don't like the argument that if there are thousands of additives out there, some of them must be good. The statement may be true, but the *assumption* bothers me. Apply that logic to other sales scams like pyramid schemes and see how far that goes.
A chrome plated can sat under the hood and used a roll of toilat paper to filter your oil.
County fairs would have convincing displays where hawkers would extol the virtues of these.
The claim was you never had to change your oil, just the roll of paper!
I have also changed the oil at 89,000 miles so I know that the benefits stay between oil changes.
My question is how would any of these additives, especially gas and oil ones, alter your normal vehicle maintenance over time.
For example, does the fact that you have used the additives have any bearing on your oil choice, fuel choice, etc.?
I am a skeptic of all these snake oils for your car and find it hard to believe that they do any good.
And regarding them advertising on the Winston Cup cars, believe me, the engine builders do not put that stuff in their engines. All they do is take the advertising dollars. There are no race teams using these products in their high dollar race engines so don't take that as an endorsement of quality, it is just advertising.
Have you seen the Prolong commercial where they freeze the engines in ice for days and they still start? Does that look amazing? Do you realize that the large layer of ice is a good insulator and keeps the engine insulated at 32 degrees? Now it does not seem so amazing that the car started does it? Any car will start at 32 degrees.
These things are very questionable products. Let's see them put that engine in liquid nitrogen and Prolong still let it start. Then we would have something.
I think the placebo effect is widespread in everything automotive. If it let you sleep better at night...
Every snake oil company counts on the millions of Americans to "just try it once". I'm not gonna suck on a toad just because some people tell me I might like it. The "don't knock it till you try it" argument just doesn't work for me.
Now if Prolong were to pay me a million dollars, you bet I'll change my tune in a heartbeat. :-)
If the engine compression is good and your smoke is due to oil rather than fuel, suggest that you change oil and filter very frequently the next few times and replace the valve seals. A competent shop can do this without removing the cylinder head(s). Also manually clean this area, preventing sludge from falling through he drain holes to the crankcase.
Others may not agree, but I dislike the idea of any cleaning agent added to the crankcase because that agent will be pumped through the oil passages to critical-wear surfaces throughout the engine. The cleaning agent cannot adequately lubricate these surfaces. The result may be a cleaner engine but, because even a few seconds of runtime without adequate lubrication can damage bearing surfaces, there is likelihood of significant mechanical damage.
Thank you very much for your reply. What you said makes a lot of sense. Just so you know...I am getting blue smoke at startup. So I guess that means I have the seeping oil at start. Do you possibly know how much it would cost to fix this properly like you said above by replacing the valve seals and cleaning etc... Also, what kind of auto shop should I take the car into to have this done? My car is a '95 lexus ES300. I bought it used about 3 months ago. Thank again, you have been a great help.
Why bother? Even if they do have some miniscule benefit. Use good oil and your car will last a long, long time.
Sorry, I'm not sold!
If the the three prospective shops provide wildly different descriptions, get another opinion until you have believable information. Then make your choice. The mechanics who see your car are likely to see something that I don't think of.
By the way, please first be sure the PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) valve and it's associated tubing/piping are in good condition. This is a $5-$10 item and there's a slim chance it could be the problem.
Good Luck and Buckle UP
Big Al
Is that Fortune 100 company you work for perchance Prolong, Inc?
-cr
I bet you thought about that question for a about a week, no I'm sorry four days. So you do have a good thought process. Anyway, like I said before, everyone needs to see what works best for their vehicle and stop wasting everyones time trying to be cute and slamming people who do their research and show positive results. If you don't like it...don't buy it. And please don't waste anymore E-mail space on Edmunds Town Hall trying to be cute...it's lame!
I could brush my teeth twice a day like my dentist and parents told me... or I could do it once a week with some magic toothpaste...
I could bath daily or use some of that nice smelling deodorant to skip a couple of days and no one will notice...
I could go to my doctor on a regular basis for a look see and fix what might be acting up or I could wait until the illness required serious hospitalization.
Owners manuals, recommended maintenance, dealerships, service stations, auto parts stores are there for a reason and have worked fine for everyone that I know that has utilized them. Stay up late watching "Magic Potion" Television is a fine example of free enterprise. Promise me the world and I'll ignore what my manufacturer/dealer/Doctor/Parents told me. Oh.. and I will complain about the poor quality of my vehicle when something goes wrong.
bottom line... buy what you want... just read the book, follow the instructions, and enjoy the products of automotive ingenuity.
Although, if I had a race team, and you paid me money to run your snake oil product, I would probably take the money, smile, and promote their product.