Who uses additives?
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 515
Likes: 0
From: IL
Who uses additives?
I was looking around the Lucas Oil site and considering a fuel additive for my truck. When I was a kid, a friend's dad used Marvel Mystery Oil in the fuel as a top cylinder lubricant. He seemed to know his way around an engine very well. Maybe he knew something I don't. I've always avoided additives because I considered them snake oil.
Racer
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 251
Likes: 0
From: Lake Hughes CA
Re: Who uses additives? (FERL 73)
fuel additive for my truck.
It does not seem to hurt anything, who knows if it helps? :confused: I use it on advice from my mechanic (an 80 year old semi-retired guy who only keeps his shop open to keep himself busy and B.S. with customers). He said to use it when I started only using it every couple weeks.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 787
Likes: 1
From: Toronto Ontario
Re: Who uses additives? (gerry c)
I was at a dinner party and I sat beside a chemist that worked for Exxon and I asked him the same question. He said do not add anything to your engine other then a name brand oil. Bottom line additives are a wast of money. The formulation of oil is a very complex science with the perfect amount of each additive which performs a specific task. when we add other additives that may be enough to srew-up the balance of the oil and damage your engine. Bottom line Don't try to outsmart the trained engineers. Stick to a good brand oil and changed regularly and your engine will love you for it. Others have said adding additives to your engine is like showing a porno movie in an old age home " It may work or it may not, hopefully it wont do any harm.
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 3,631
Likes: 14
From: Fountain Hills AZ
Re: Who uses additives? (FERL 73)
Most all name brand fuels already have adequate additives for normal use. The same detergents that are added to keep injectors clean are also very effective at cleaning carbs and the back sides of valves in our old engines. In the case of a daily driver, espeically one that spends most of it's running time at hwy rpm, pump gas will keep everything squeaky clean without any help. On the other hand, if your car spends a lot of time in low rpm conditions and/or, like many performance or classic cars, spends most of it's running time in short trips, idling while fiddling, etc, additional help may be needed. The biggest problem that I've seen is deposits on the back side of the valves. A big cam, big intake, and big ports can equal long warm ups in addition to slow intake charge velocities. The end result is fuel sitting on the back of the valve and forming into sludge. I can't recommend one additive over another but I'd be leery of a product that's been around for so many years without knowing that it's been updated to current technology. I've used Chevron's techroline (sp?) and have been satisfied with the results.
