STP Engine Treatment

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My minivan withn110k on it has been a little louder than usual. Ticking and tapping when warmed up and at idle. Its quiet any other time. Not sure sure exactly what is causing the racket but i have searched and found that there a quite a few of these engine's that tap and tick like mine (3.5l toyota) anyway....i have been using maxlife 5w20 and on a whim i added a bottle of the blue stp to thicken it up. I am pleasently surprised at how it lessened the noise. What im wondering is about what viscosity am i running with 6qts 5w20 plus 1 bottle (small bottle...guessing a pint ??). On my next oci i want to get the same weight oil so as to not run the addative. Thanks for any info. If you have any other insight on the best oil for a noisy toyota feel free to let me know.
 
It will bring it up to a 10w30. Stp has a viscosity of about 200 cSt @ 100c. Fairly thick especially at 40C which is 2875 cSt. Thankfully the bottle is usually only 15 oz, as even double that would make the mix really thick.

Maxlife 10w30 should do the trick
 
If it were mine i would try the marvel mystery oil instead of the STP for ticking..it has helped some on here including me. Probably some gum or varnish on one of the lifters that needs a little cleaning. Try a fresh oil change with a pint of MMO along with a quality filter then see how that works for you.
 
+1 no STP
There are many stories about guys who work in the oil fields. If the mechanics found out that you added anything but oil to their trucks you'd get disciplined. If you added STP you were fired on the spot.

Use lubro moly oil saver or Schaffers Oil Treatment 321.
 
The old STP is considered worthless around here, but I used it a lot as a kid and have fiddled with it a few times recently and still find it useful for thickening oil in a pinch and yes it can have positive effect on some noises.

As for your actual question, a bottle of STP in a normal crankcase is going to jump your oil up one grade, so yes it's now a 30 grade as already stated. That does not mean using any old 30 grade is going to create the same result however, but it might.
 
STP does not have a great reputation. I would not suggest MMO either. So Keen or Auto-Rx or synthetic oil (NAPA). At your mileage I would not suggest changing grades from the owners manual. Better to clean the engine and lifters.
 
Originally Posted By: SuperDave456
+1 no STP
There are many stories about guys who work in the oil fields. If the mechanics found out that you added anything but oil to their trucks you'd get disciplined. If you added STP you were fired on the spot.

Use lubro moly oil saver or Schaffers Oil Treatment 321.


FTR it's Schaeffers #132.
wink.gif
It's a very good product. Having said that, there are some additives and cleaning products that need to be heated to pour when the weather is cold. They would be the last thing I'd want to add to my engine oil in the winter months.
 
Yeah.....didnt really want to do the stp but just wanted to test out if thicker would help with noise. I voted for the 3$ stp over a complete oil change at the time since my maxlife had only 1200 miles on it. At 5K Ill try 10w30. Thanks
 
Originally Posted By: Familyman
Yeah.....didnt really want to do the stp but just wanted to test out if thicker would help with noise. I voted for the 3$ stp over a complete oil change at the time since my maxlife had only 1200 miles on it. At 5K Ill try 10w30. Thanks


You don't have to go thicker to help with noise, maybe give Lubegard engine treatment a try? It is not thick at all. It is like thin motor oil, very fluid. Our SUV had a tapping/knocking noise when it was cold. I tried Lubegard, I was surprised it worked so well, took away the noise. Lubegard even mentions it in their description on their website, "•Eliminates lifter and other objectionable noise on startup, especially in cold weather".

http://lubegard.com/~/C-180/LUBEGARD+BIO-TECH+Engine+Oil+Protectant
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: njohnson
Originally Posted By: Familyman
Yeah.....didnt really want to do the stp but just wanted to test out if thicker would help with noise. I voted for the 3$ stp over a complete oil change at the time since my maxlife had only 1200 miles on it. At 5K Ill try 10w30. Thanks


You don't have to go thicker to help with noise, maybe give Lubegard engine treatment a try? It is not thick at all. It is like thin motor oil, very fluid. Our SUV had a tapping/knocking noise when it was cold. I tried Lubegard, I was surprised it worked so well, took away the noise. Lubegard even mentions it in their description on their website, "•Eliminates lifter and other objectionable noise on startup, especially in cold weather".

http://lubegard.com/~/C-180/LUBEGARD+BIO-TECH+Engine+Oil+Protectant


Biotech Engine Protectant has a pretty good following here, with many satisfied users. It might be worth a shot.
 
I like lubegards trans additives so I may go with their oil additive. Actually didnt even know they had something for oil. I appreciate all the knowlege and advice on this board.
 
I went to lubegards site and saw two products for engine oil...the bio and a heavy duty. It was vague as to the difference between the two. Is there a reason to choose one over the other?
 
The only thing STP is good for is rebuilding large industrial electric motors and generators with Babbitt bearings, 10 to 36 in. dia. shafts on these.
After bluing and scraping the bearings (a lost art)to get the correct surface contact to the shaft, we would pour several gallons of STP on the bottom bearings, set the shaft in place and pour more STP on top of the shaft before installing the top half of the bearing. We would then roll the armature over 360 deg.
Never lost a new bearing this way.
 
I am selling the Malibu soon and threw in a bottle of STP high mileage to quiet it down some before trading it in. Did a fine job for that but I wouldn't use it normally.
 
Originally Posted By: Bgallagher
I am selling the Malibu soon and threw in a bottle of STP high mileage to quiet it down some before trading it in. Did a fine job for that but I wouldn't use it normally.


Lucas Oil Stabilizer does a good job for that too. We took a few bad trades over the years due to a lousy used car manager who only knew how to check for collision damage. They'd go into the shop and when we got the bad news that the car had engine problems, they'd get a bottle of Lucas OS and off to the wholesaler they went. Occasionally they made the line. It quieted them down too.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: Bgallagher
I am selling the Malibu soon and threw in a bottle of STP high mileage to quiet it down some before trading it in. Did a fine job for that but I wouldn't use it normally.


Lucas Oil Stabilizer does a good job for that too. We took a few bad trades over the years due to a lousy used car manager who only knew how to check for collision damage. They'd go into the shop and when we got the bad news that the car had engine problems, they'd get a bottle of Lucas OS and off to the wholesaler they went. Occasionally they made the line. It quieted them down too.


Two more reasons why I never want to buy a used car...
;^)
 
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: Bgallagher
I am selling the Malibu soon and threw in a bottle of STP high mileage to quiet it down some before trading it in. Did a fine job for that but I wouldn't use it normally.


Lucas Oil Stabilizer does a good job for that too. We took a few bad trades over the years due to a lousy used car manager who only knew how to check for collision damage. They'd go into the shop and when we got the bad news that the car had engine problems, they'd get a bottle of Lucas OS and off to the wholesaler they went. Occasionally they made the line. It quieted them down too.


Two more reasons why I never want to buy a used car...
;^)


haha, I agree. I don't purchase anything with under 25k and without a clean carfax. My Malibu had 175k and wasn't loud (i.e. no mechanical issues) but I wanted to make sure it was perfect. For people who own(ed) old ecotecs know they are not known for being quiet.
 
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