Oil & Fuel Mystery Oil

KennyG · May 9, 2012

I would never consider an oil in the radiator. Oil can foul heat exchanger surfaces and reduce heat transfer. I think the lube in antifreeze is a special compound that won't affect the heat transfer surfaces.

Bird · May 10, 2012

Jerry/MT said:
You know I hear people complain about the new gas but I can honestly say I have had no problems with it in any of our gas powered equipment including the Briggs and Stratton L head wheel line engines that sit for 9 months out of the year. I treat our ranch gas with regular Stabil when I fill up the gas drum. Our mowers runs fine, and so do the string trimmers, the TO-3, the generators, and the wheel line movers.

Same here. I always use regular Stabil in my small engine gas, use Stihl's synthetic 2 cycle oil in the gas for the Mantis tiller and Stihl string trimmer, and I use the mid-grade gas (89 octane instead of 87).

Soundguy · May 10, 2012

Jerry/MT said:
I remember those pushrods!! You oughta' try some ATF in the fuel. It's probably cheaper than MMO or the synthetic crankcase oil.

You know I hear people complain about the new gas but I can honestly say I have had no problems with it in any of our gas powered equipment including the Briggs and Stratton L head wheel line engines that sit for 9 months out of the year. I treat our ranch gas with regular Stabil when I fill up the gas drum. Our mowers runs fine, and so do the string trimmers, the TO-3, the generators, and the wheel line movers.

I've taken to dosing the gas in my other units with atf and upped the stabil as well.

the walmart syn oil really isn't too expensive. since I was normally using walmart 15w40 diesel oil in the gassers anyway.. all it did was add less than 10$ to the change.

I'm running it as a test case.. see what happens..

it's my newest 'prior' model.. I will pop the valve cover and see what if any, cleaning action from the syn oil has occured at oil change.... pan maybee too..

soundguy

ultrarunner · May 10, 2012

It was standard practice years ago to add water soluble oil to the radiator... don't know if MMM is of the same family.

A lot of my cars have zerks for water pump grease and I do add a few ounces of the water soluble oil to the radiators...

WANNABE1 · May 11, 2012

ultrarunner said:
It was standard practice years ago to add water soluble oil to the radiator... don't know if MMM is of the same family.

A lot of my cars have zerks for water pump grease and I do add a few ounces of the water soluble oil to the radiators...

Interesting, it would lik to know if MMO is in the same family and if that is what this person who told me about it does. If adding a little H2O soluble oil can extend the life of a radiator I certainly would want to do that for my tractor.

Bird · May 11, 2012

ultrarunner said:
It was standard practice years ago to add water soluble oil to the radiator... don't know if MMM is of the same family.

A lot of my cars have zerks for water pump grease and I do add a few ounces of the water soluble oil to the radiators...

It used to be quite common to put anti-freeze in the radiator in the Fall. Then in the Spring, drain it out, flush the cooling system a little bit and refill with water and a "water pump lubricate". Exactly what the water pump lubricate consisted of is something I don't remember, if I ever even knew what it was. In the Fall, it would be drained again and fresh anti-freeze installed. Some people even added water pump lubricate in the Fall, but the anti-freeze contains a lubricant so additional lubricant was unneeded.

Soundguy · May 11, 2012

WANNABE1 said:
Interesting, it would lik to know if MMO is in the same family and if that is what this person who told me about it does. If adding a little H2O soluble oil can extend the life of a radiator I certainly would want to do that for my tractor.

for about the 3rd time now.. NO it is not.

the msds on MMO is quite clear...

if you want a water pump lube.. use a water pump lube.

plenty out there.. OR just service your radiator normally.. the pre packaged antifreezes contain lubes and anit rust compounds..

here's a link to a gunk water pump lube.. about a bajillion ofher companines make a similr snake oil...

Gunk Radiator Anti-Rust & Water Pump Lubricant (11 oz.) - RADC10-12

rsewill · May 11, 2012

I used MMO for air cylinders whose seals had dried. Great for softening seals. Normally I used Type A ATF but when that quit working, for example, in the fall when I would use methanol in the air system, MMO to the rescue.

Chilly807 · May 11, 2012

There was a thread here a while ago about the ability of fuel additives to improve lubricity of low sulfur fuels. The linked article showed some testing of different additives, and whether or not the additives improved the oil's lubricating qualities. Marvel Mystery Oil was one of the few that actually made the situation worse, in other words it caused the fuel to become less lubricating, potentially causing increased injection pump and injector wear.

How valid any of this research was is debatable, as is any information, but it opened my eyes.

Sean

ultrarunner · May 11, 2012

Going way back... anti-freeze was alcohol based and would evaporate over time in non-pressurized systems...

It also offered little in the way of protection except to prevent freezing.

Most of my cars have zerk or a cup grease fitting for the water pump... some suggested a quarter turn at every fill-up...

As to MMO... seen cars with a MMO lubricator that mounted on the firewall and few a minute amount to keep the L head engine valves nice and free...