Oil Additive debate - if all are snake oil then...

[Riqrat]

This question has popped into mu head after reading and hearing many people make statements like:

"My engine is clearly quieter than it was."

"It runs much cooler."

"I notice less vibration..." "..my mirrors don't shake as much" "...you can now stand a coin on it and it does not fall."

"The oil is staying cleaner longer with the same filter and oil I've always used."

etc. etc.

Many say you only need to change your oil and filter every x miles and nothing else. If this is true, then why are others noticing the above? And no, this is not placebo.

I have a 2002 Honda Odyssey VTek 3.5 with 177k miles on it. The idling is insanely quiet and smooth for an engine of this miles that has travelled the country and carried large loads at times. This after I tried out an additive. Called my wife out to the garage and said "babe, you gotta check this out." It's her van. Too early to tell how long it will last like this but it clearly runs better right now than with just oil and I use high quality Shaeffer and Amsoil oils on our vehicles.

What say you?

 

[TheExpectorate]

I say? Good for you.

More seriously, I am happy the additive has appeared to help your engine. Just curious which additive you put in. Many many folks do not accept the "feels like" judgement criterion as valid, I have also questioned this but if it maybe did something to your oil or coated something or our standard understandings of what additives claim to do.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Riqrat
Called my wife out to the garage and said "babe, you gotta check this out."

LOL! I would have gotten a blank stare if I asked my wife.

 

[sasilverbullet]

Sits back, waiting for the fun!

 

[RooflessVW]

Not all additives are snake oil.

Many are.

 

[rustypigeon]

I have seen people claim that an oil additive "lowered the RPM of their engine on the highway". Somehow that additive was able to change the gear ratio of their transmission.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

No. I am not biting.

I will not ask you what the additive is.

 

[John_Conrad]

that is funny arco!

fishing?

 

[CharlieBauer]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Riqrat
Called my wife out to the garage and said "babe, you gotta check this out."

LOL! I would have gotten a blank stare if I asked my wife.

My wife would be highly suspicious.

She'd ask "Why are you calling me 'babe'?"

 

[ShotGun429]

They (additives) dont do much if anything.

 

[John_Conrad]

Originally Posted By: CharlieBauer
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Riqrat
Called my wife out to the garage and said "babe, you gotta check this out."

LOL! I would have gotten a blank stare if I asked my wife.

My wife would be highly suspicious.

She'd ask "Why are you calling me 'babe'?"


yup, unfortunately or fortunately which every way you want to look at it...

my wife would say "ok, what is it you really want to buy?"

LOL

 

[mbacfp]

Not sure all oil additives are snake oil, but do believe the majority are. Only oil additive I "felt" (no scientific study to prove) was Archoil 9100. Is it all in my head? Probably as I have zero facts to say either way. Only other additive I used was in my 1984 Camaro (15+ years ago)...I believe it was called Tribotech.

Riqrat, what additive did you use?

 

[TheExpectorate]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Riqrat
Called my wife out to the garage and said "babe, you gotta check this out."

LOL! I would have gotten a blank stare if I asked my wife.

That's true love.

 

[BrocLuno]

OK, I'm over a 1/2 century old so I grew up in an era when oil was not nearly a sophisticated as it is now days. All consumer market oils were Group I and in that environment additive worked quite well. we soon figured out which ones actually did something and which were snake oil.

One of the most effective ones was Lubri-Sil marketed by Classic car wax. You added a small bottle you your oil and the motor went crazy. You needed to be cruising along soon after adding it, or you'd get stalling and such. If you were cruising along you could feel it working. Occasional back fires, popping, snorting bucking, etc. All related of course to lifters clearing of varnish and momentarily sticking open leaving the valves off their seats for a cycle or two.

Drive 500 miles and change the oil. From that day forward, your engine ran smoother and you got better mileage (if it survived...). It was more extreme that even Kreen is today. But the varnish it was fighting was tough to get to w/o a boil-out/rebuild.

OK, fast forward to today when you can pull a valve cover and still see the rockers and all there little bits. You can still see casting marks and the cylinder cross hatch after 100,000 miles. Whole new world. And we have oils that will slowly dissolve accumulated varnish over time (mostly synthetics) and we have high mileage oils that will slowly soften seals. All things that additives used to have to do...

So what works today? Kreen (but can't be shipped into Calif...

). BG109 (no matter what they call it). STP for old clunkers and smokers. Marvel Mystery oil for some things like rusted parts or top-end lube. Trans-X for auto-tranny's that have minor slip issues related to seals and sticking valves. And a few others. Break-Free Gun Solvent as a ring treatment in the plug hole overnight (and some MFG ring soakers).

But, they have to be targeted at a specific problem. Oil is good enough for general cures on its own. So be careful and ask questions...

 

[gfh77665]

The benefits of Restore additive (used in old tired engines) has been quantified with cylinder by cylinder compression tests. FWIW.

 

[LoneRanger]

Originally Posted By: ShotGun429
They (additives) dont do much if anything.


Actually, they do. They can interfere with the desired balance and effects of the additive package blended in at the plant before bottling.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Originally Posted By: Riqrat
And no, this is not placebo.


Proof? Sorry, but I simply don't accept your postulate.

Originally Posted By: Riqrat

I have a 2002 Honda Odyssey VTek 3.5 with 177k miles on it. The idling is insanely quiet and smooth for an engine of this miles that has travelled the country and carried large loads at times. This after I tried out an additive. Called my wife out to the garage and said "babe, you gotta check this out." It's her van. Too early to tell how long it will last like this but it clearly runs better right now than with just oil and I use high quality Shaeffer and Amsoil oils on our vehicles.


That doesn't speak very highly of your choice of "high quality" oils, does it?

Originally Posted By: Riqrat
What say you?


David Hannum and Thomas Tusser were right.

 

[Kawiguy454]

+1 BrocLuno from the heart of the Kalifornia Kollective said it perfectly.

 

[SirTanon]

Originally Posted By: Riqrat
This question has popped into mu head after reading and hearing many people make statements like:

"My engine is clearly quieter than it was."

"It runs much cooler."

"I notice less vibration..." "..my mirrors don't shake as much" "...you can now stand a coin on it and it does not fall."

"The oil is staying cleaner longer with the same filter and oil I've always used."

etc. etc.

Many say you only need to change your oil and filter every x miles and nothing else. If this is true, then why are others noticing the above? And no, this is not placebo.

I have a 2002 Honda Odyssey VTek 3.5 with 177k miles on it. The idling is insanely quiet and smooth for an engine of this miles that has travelled the country and carried large loads at times. This after I tried out an additive. Called my wife out to the garage and said "babe, you gotta check this out." It's her van. Too early to tell how long it will last like this but it clearly runs better right now than with just oil and I use high quality Shaeffer and Amsoil oils on our vehicles.

What say you?


Two words: Selection Bias

 

[UltrafanUK]

Originally Posted By: Riqrat
This question has popped into mu head after reading and hearing many people make statements like:

"My engine is clearly quieter than it was."

"It runs much cooler."

"I notice less vibration..." "..my mirrors don't shake as much" "...you can now stand a coin on it and it does not fall."

"The oil is staying cleaner longer with the same filter and oil I've always used."

etc. etc.

Many say you only need to change your oil and filter every x miles and nothing else. If this is true, then why are others noticing the above? And no, this is not placebo.

I have a 2002 Honda Odyssey VTek 3.5 with 177k miles on it. The idling is insanely quiet and smooth for an engine of this miles that has travelled the country and carried large loads at times. This after I tried out an additive. Called my wife out to the garage and said "babe, you gotta check this out." It's her van. Too early to tell how long it will last like this but it clearly runs better right now than with just oil and I use high quality Shaeffer and Amsoil oils on our vehicles.

What say you?


Can you post UOA results for the use of this additive ??

Many additives designed to reduce wear contain thickners, so they often reduce engine noise or rattle. That does not mean they reduce wear.
Using expensive boutique oils might not produce better results than using top of the range major brand oils (Mobil, Castrol, Shell or Liqui Moly).

I would never use an oil additive in an engine under warranty and only use additives made by major brand oil companies to address specific problems like severe duty use or high oil consumption.

If the engine oil does not discolour, the detergents might not be working correctly, although some petrol engines do take a long time before contaminating the oil when in good condition.