Oil addatives????

[John White]

I have several vehicles, including a dozer and BH. I hate to think what it would cost if I had to replace a engine. Some are getting up there in miles. I know most of us have been to the county fairs and seen the fellow with the straight 6 engine run it with no oil or water and it wont lock up. I know Wynn's makes one, so does JB. And I am sure of a dozen other brands. What are your thought on these additaves. Are they worth the cost? I wonder if the concentration they add is the same as recommended on the can. I recently had a head gasket go on my Ford ranger and did not detect it for awhile. So unfortunaly I drove it, not realizing the problem till it got hot, of course anti-freeze in the crank case. I replaced the head gasket and new oil. So far, ok. But would one of these addiatives gave me a little more portection. I know with oil at $4 a quart or more and most of those additives at around $20 a can. That adds to the overall cost. And that is what all of are trying to avoid. And if so, which brand is the best. Any oil co.'s ever run any tests. I know Wynns says theirs is the best and JB says the same thing.

 

[ray66v]

In this day and age, it is ridiculous to think that the additive companies have something meaningful, the oil makers don't already put in oil for ordinarily usage.

The only time I would use an additive, is if I wanted to try and modify the oil, because I had a special need like reducing oil burning, in a worn engine.

 

[daman1]

There are some good additives(mainly anti-wear,esters for seal conditioners) yes it's true but no miracles in a can, you run with out oil or severely over heat you'll have damage.

in short stick with a good name brand oil that meets your API spec and you'll be fine.

if talking your diesel engines any 15w40 will work,but i'd stick with any of the "big three" Delo,Delvac,Rotella and you'll be fine.

my self i run all synthetics little added performance against high oil temps,oil oxidation and cleaning.

 

[sw03]

I have been running LC20 in oil for years..Very good product and UOA show it works nicely.

 

[Soundguy]

I have several vehicles, including a dozer and BH. I hate to think what it would cost if I had to replace a engine. Some are getting up there in miles. I know most of us have been to the county fairs and seen the fellow with the straight 6 engine run it with no oil or water and it wont lock up. I know Wynn's makes one, so does JB. And I am sure of a dozen other brands. What are your thought on these additaves. Are they worth the cost? I wonder if the concentration they add is the same as recommended on the can. I recently had a head gasket go on my Ford ranger and did not detect it for awhile. So unfortunaly I drove it, not realizing the problem till it got hot, of course anti-freeze in the crank case. I replaced the head gasket and new oil. So far, ok. But would one of these addiatives gave me a little more portection. I know with oil at $4 a quart or more and most of those additives at around $20 a can. That adds to the overall cost. And that is what all of are trying to avoid. And if so, which brand is the best. Any oil co.'s ever run any tests. I know Wynns says theirs is the best and JB says the same thing.

ditto what ray66 said.

as for your coolant in the crankcase for a while.. I'd have changed the main and rod bearing shells as they are possibly close to being wiped out... coolants hard on them..

for the average vehicle, run a specified grade clean oil and service it and your filters at reccomended times.. even 4$ fram filters and 11$/5qt supertech 10w30 oil should be fine... for extreme duty machines like towing rigs , etc.. some more money in fluids likely has some tangible benefits for you..

soundguy

 

[brucew44guns]

If you ever had opportunity to go to a major oil company sales meeting, I'm talking a meeting where distributors and sales guys meet with company reps to discuss products, trends, maintenance, etc, a question like yours usually comes up.
Mobil, Shell, Chevron, Conoco and probably all the rest, will quickly advise not to use additives in their crankcase products. The oil company spends a lot of money testing, and they pay big money to the additive company that sells them the package. They don't want foreign witch brews added into their excellent blends. The idea that you would buy a new KW, run Delvac 15-40 in it, but you dump in a gallon of Lucas just because you love your truck, is not sound thinking, at least not to Mobil Oil or the others. I tend to agree. I sell Conoco Power D 15-40 to a firm who blades county roads with Cat graders. They go 500 hours between changes, (at 50 MPH on an over-the-road truck that is 25,000 miles). The oil analysis at change comes back perfect, everything looks great, so why would anyone dump in Bardahl, Lucas, Alemite CD-2 or some brew like that?. Use a quality product, it will work.

 

[Egon]

If you ever had opportunity to go to a major oil company sales meeting, I'm talking a meeting where distributors and sales guys meet with company reps to discuss products, trends, maintenance, etc, a question like yours usually comes up.

I can recall hearing a rep. from one of the majors saying the additives were real good money makers. He also said that they weren't required. I also got the distinct impression that the makers and sellers of the additives may have been owned by the majors!

 

[DEWFPO]

When you start using additives your basically entering into a very expensive chemistry experiment, on your nickel. Oils are complex and they require allot of testing to make sure they do what they are supposed to do and do not do what they are not supposed to do. To add other chemicals into this mix is like betting in Vegas. You are changing the chemistry of what has been tested and guaranteed. It may not cause a problem and it may help but you are taking a chance. You said the equipment is expensive, why chance it? Just perform the mfr's recommended maintenance with quality products and you should be fine for a very long time. An upgrade to synthetic lubes can help and is not a chemistry experiment in the making.

DEWFPO

 

[twarr1]

Use a good quality oil and filter and change them regularly. It's really that simple.

 

[crashz]

Generally I agree with all above. Any API certified oil and decent filter will offer much better protection than oils produced 10 years ago. With regular maintenance, your engines should not need and probably will not see any differnce with any additive.

That being said, I like a clean engine. I personally have seen great results with Lube Control and AutoRX. I've used both in my daily drivers and have noticed very little difference (as they were maintained well), but in two very neglected cars, I've seen phenominal results. So on engines that may have a sketchy past, I run a cycle of AutoRX. I plan on doing a compression test on my dump truck, run a round of AutoRX through it and test again.