Help! - I am gunshy!!!

[Baby Grand]

But I do remember having bought a used Nissan Sentra, and my grandfather bought me a bottle of Slick 50. I am not sure what was in that can, but after I changed the oil during the winter, I have to take a road trip. I could not get that car to heat up in 5th gear. I had to run 4th just to keep from freezing.

A bit off topic, but that's interesting - I had an 88 MAzda MX6 that I treated with Slick50 after the break-in period. Zip for heat. Replaced the thermostat with no change. Replaced it again with a high temperature 'stat. That allowed me to almost defrost the windshield, but my feet were still freezing. Then I put a piece of masonite with a few holes over the radiator and that got me some more heat, but not much. As a kid I was sold by Andy Granatelli and his turbine car, but by the time I actually owned a car I was more fixated on the PTFE in Slick50. Never did figure out if the Slick50 had anything to do with the heat or even if it did anything good for the motor.

Back to the OP's question - I'm with many here who recommend using the specifed engine oil and filter and that's it. One of the parameters that is used to design journal and rolling element bearings is the type of oil. The selection of the oil determines, in part, what the operating clearances of the bearings will be. Any oil additive that changes the properties of the oil does not get taken into account by the engineers who designed the bearings, so putting that stuff in your crankcase is really rolling the dice. You have to ask yourself, do you feel lucky?

-Jim

 

[Dr. Bob]

John Thomas:
I remember used motor in glass bottles! Man, that brings back memories. You much be an old fart like me?

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

John Thomas:
I remember used motor in glass bottles! Man, that brings back memories. You much be an old fart like me?

I'm not old, (62 ain't old, is it?) Ky was just a few years behind and was still using them bottles of oil in the early 60's. I saw some of those bottles with the metal screw on tops for sale a couple of weeks ago in of all places a Antique store.

 

[veresjwv]

John Thomas:
I remember used motor in glass bottles! Man, that brings back memories. You much be an old fart like me?

I am not old enought to remember glass bottles, but I can remember cans that you had to shove a pour spout into if you were lucky enough to have a pour spout. If not you would poke a screwdriver through it in two places and then pour it all over the engine because you couldn't direct the flow. AHH the good ole days!!!

 

[bp fick]

Additives prey on two unrealistic hopes. The first type preys on the belief in magic that a "mechanic in a bottle" can somehow "fix" or at least negate worn rings, seals, or bearings. Well, there is no mechanic in a bottle.

The second kind of additive is similar in that it too hopes for the genie in the bottle to somehow add even more goodies to the oil, that ones engine will just run forever and do so incredibly efficiently as it does. Not too likely that a bottle of any additive will add anything to a top grade, top shelf motor oil that already has the very best additive package that technology provides.

Finally, there is the "if a little is good, a lot will be even better" temptation. Somehow even MORE additives than the oil already has in it will make it even better.

 

[firefighter jim]

I'm not old, (62 ain't old, is it?) Ky was just a few years behind and was still using them bottles of oil in the early 60's. I saw some of those bottles with the metal screw on tops for sale a couple of weeks ago in of all places a Antique store.

Believe it or not,,,I have 2 of those old glass oil bottles and stamped steel nozzles that go with them and guess what I use at oil change time....You got it! They work great! By the way,,,I m not too far behind you in the age department,,,,,,,,,,,,,59. Jim

 

[megaboz]

This appears to me to be more of a coolant issue than a lubrication issue. You may want to consider that your thermostat had some way stuck fully open or had malfunctioned which would have nothing to do with the lubrication of the engine. (Slick 50) It may have later become unstck and started working right. Engine thermostats will do that and drives people crazy. A lot of times we relate a malfunction or a fix to something totally unrelated to an occurance or event that actually has nothing to do with the problem or fix. I have had this happen to me many times through life. I rocked my B7800 one time on a hill because it wouldn't start and decided rocking it was the answer then I unplugged and reattached the lugs on the seat safety cutoff switch and decided that was the answer but later figured out that it was probably the foot pedal not being dead center the whole time. When I tried the other fixes I was touching the foot pedal and recentering it which let the tractor start. I hear people tell of problems and fixes which puzzle me because I logically know that problem and the fix they describe can not be related but they swear to it.

You may be right. At the time that is what I attributed to it.

But to bring things back to topic, some additives do have merrit, but typically if you change your fluids regularly before they have completely worn out there isn't much of a need for them.

 

[Dr. Bob]

What about all of those diesel truck fanatics that add antioxidants to their oil? I read the Powerstroke website and they are always sending their oil off for analysis and adding stuff to it. Anyone familar with this train of thought? I have two Powerstroke diesels and have never added anything to the oil. I just follow the manufacturer's recommendation.

By the way, I'm 58 and lived across the river from Kentucky (in Ohio). When you are a teenager you don't have the money to buy first class oil. Just enough for gas and a six pack!

 

[megaboz]

What about all of those diesel truck fanatics that add antioxidants to their oil? I read the Powerstroke website and they are always sending their oil off for analysis and adding stuff to it. Anyone familar with this train of thought? I have two Powerstroke diesels and have never added anything to the oil. I just follow the manufacturer's recommendation.

By the way, I'm 58 and lived across the river from Kentucky (in Ohio). When you are a teenager you don't have the money to buy first class oil. Just enough for gas and a six pack!

There are many reasons for doing the analysis. I don't know about the additives being added to the oil.

Unlike a lot of us with smaller tractors, the diesel truck engine costs about $10,000. Also, not many of us try to add 25 to 50% more power to our tractors. There is the issue that the DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) on the newer trucks, that many of them are ending up with Diesel in the oil. I recently just had my truck done and there was about a half quart of diesel in the oil. This shortens the drain/change interval.

Also with the analysis it is possible to catch things going wrong before it totally breaks the motor or makes the repair even more expensive. Excessive ring wear, bearings, etc because of the different metals, you could preempt an engine failure with an oil analysis.

It is also possible with some of the new filter technology and syntehetic oils to extend the drain intervals in diesel vehicles. Amsoil claims that on a diesel engine you should be able to get about 20,000 miles between changes with just their synthetic filter and oil (that is assuming that you are not getting diesel added back to your oil pan thanks to the DPF cycles).

Our vehicles are abused far more than our tractors (well I expect there might be a couple of people who may abuse their tractor). Regular fluid changes with the approved fluids and filter replacements will take care of our tractors without the need for super special bottles of additives.

TLC always makes things last longer.

 

[Hvytrkmech]

What about all of those diesel truck fanatics that add antioxidants to their oil? I read the Powerstroke website and they are always sending their oil off for analysis and adding stuff to it. Anyone familar with this train of thought? I have two Powerstroke diesels and have never added anything to the oil. I just follow the manufacturer's recommendation.

By the way, I'm 58 and lived across the river from Kentucky (in Ohio). When you are a teenager you don't have the money to buy first class oil. Just enough for gas and a six pack!

The main reason for doing an UOA (used oil analysis) is to see the actual condition of the engine. A UOA will show different wear metals, source metals, additives and the level of additives left in the oil at the end of a given service period. It will also show fuel dilution %'s, coolant contamination and silicate contamination, (air ingested contaminates). Doing a UOA on any engine is beneficial. I do UOA's on all my equipment at my shop, (18 trucks), it has helped me find excessive bearing wear affording the opportunity to correct the issue's before a catastrophic failure. I also have done UOA's on my B7610, ( one test at 97hrs) both hydraulic oil and engine oil. As well as doing both transmission fluid and engine oil on my Cummins powered pick up.