What's the deal on Lucas Heavy Duty Oil Stabalizer

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Hey everyone. I am looking for an additive to help reduce the amount of oil my engine consumes. I drive a 2004 Toyota Highlander with just under 200k miles. I have used Lucas Heavy Duty Oil Stabalizer in the past, girlfriends dad is a mechanic and swears by the stuff to help reduce consumption. And truth be told it really does make a difference, in a 5K OCI I have to add maybe 1-1.5 quarts total. Used to be a lot worse. But reading some on here a lot of people are saying the stuff is bad? What is the deal and why? What is a good alternative? Thanks so much, have a great day.

PS: PCV valve was changed 10k ago so that is not a concern for consumption
 
It thickens the oil a bit some people recommend to use a thicker oil instead. What oil viscosity are you running now?
 
Is that engine one of Toyota engines that use oil because of a pistons]design problem?
 
The major issue is that Lucas Oil Stabilizer thickens the oil, but because it does not itself contain any beneficial additives, what it really ends up doing is reducing the effectiveness of the motor oil to clean and neutralize acids. The end result is thicker oil that won't protect as well.

You're much better off going up a grade in oil thickness. If you're using 10W-30 oil, then bump it up to a quality 10W- or 15W-40 oil.. such as Shell Rotella.
 
Originally Posted By: SirTanon
The major issue is that Lucas Oil Stabilizer thickens the oil, but because it does not itself contain any beneficial additives, what it really ends up doing is reducing the effectiveness of the motor oil to clean and neutralize acids. The end result is thicker oil that won't protect as well.

You're much better off going up a grade in oil thickness. If you're using 10W-30 oil, then bump it up to a quality 10W- or 15W-40 oil.. such as Shell Rotella.


This 100%.
Originally Posted By: SubieRubyRoo
Don’t use it. That’s the deal.

Buy a thicker HDEO like Delo, Delvac, or Rotella. Lucas “waters down” the effectiveness of any oil. It’s that simple.


^That also. Better to step up a grade of oil. Maybe a HDEO like Rotella T5 or a high mileage oil would be a step up from 5w-30; at least in favor of those instead of Lucas. Not worth it. You could go to a 10w-40 or even now during an OCI on 5w-30.

Another thing would be to do a piston soak overnight next time the plugs are due.

Lucas is fine for masking and helping with viscosity...but so does going up a grade of oil and you get more for less money. It's a money pit or an expensive band-aid at best.
 
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I'd sooner run 20w50 or SAE 50 over Lucas in an engine to help with consumption. If you're using 5w30 now stepping up to an inexpensive 15w40 would yield about the same increase in viscosity as mixing in Lucas at the recommended dose and the 15w40 would be a boost in additives over the 5w30 as opposed to a dilution of the additives with Lucas. Walmart 15w40 is great stuff and it's cheap, try that and report back.
 
Do a piston soak with a solvent. I used mmo and lc20. Check the thread where I asked a similar question about oil consumption in a Highlander. After that use an oil a grade or two up depending on consumption. I think I used 5w-40 euro oil at the time because that's what I had. There were several suggestions to try a high mileage oil as well.

Lucas is to be stayed away from. There is no point in adding a substance that dilutes oil additive packages when you can just use a thicker oil.
 
I bought a qt for a Jeep. BIL wised me up. I used it to lube the cams on a Honda head R+R instead. Stuff is really too slippery for assembly lube. I would use a cheap 20w50. After I poured a can of Berryman's B 12 Chemtool into what is in the sump and idled it for 10-20 minutes. A fill -idle - drain using kerosene is what Smoky Yunnick recommended 50+ yrs ago.
 
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Dilutes the additive package but it’s thick. Would quiet a loud old engine. I have 4 gallons of it that I bought for $9 at a Kmart that mistakenly was shipped it instead of the usual quarts they have. I don’t know why I bought it. It just seemed like a good deal.

I’ve used thickeners like it in small engines to get a bit more use out of them. Usually stuff I garbage picked. I’d probably reserve it’s use for that.
 
I'd probably enjoy lighting $9 on fire and running around the yard naked more than I would enjoy finding out how quickly Lucas can do bad things to my engine (OPE, car, etc).

It's been proven to entrain LOTS of air in the oil (on this site, no less), and even if you're brand new to oil you should be able to understand that air is not a lubricant, oil is. You've got three choices, the way I see it: 1. live with it; 2. run a thicker oil and live with it and a little lower consumption; or, 3. rebuild the darn thing and start over. Your money, your call. But IMHO the Lucas is at best a very poor choice to put in your sump and should be avoided at all costs.
 
I know Lucas products are not a favored product here and I have never used any of them but if they are as bad as everyone says they are on BITOG wouldn't there have been a class action lawsuit against Lucas by now? Remember the class action lawsuit against Slick 50? As litigious as society has become I'm sure some law group would have went after Lucas by now if their product was purely useless.
 
Originally Posted By: airbusdrvr
I know Lucas products are not a favored product here and I have never used any of them but if they are as bad as everyone says they are on BITOG wouldn't there have been a class action lawsuit against Lucas by now? Remember the class action lawsuit against Slick 50? As litigious as society has become I'm sure some law group would have went after Lucas by now if their product was purely useless.

Here is their description:
Quote:
A pure petroleum multi-use oil supplement. Controls noise, heat and wear in manual transmissions and differentials. Number one in the heavy duty and high performance industries.

Lucas Oil Stabilizer is a 100% petroleum product formulated to eliminate dry starts and reduce friction, heat and wear in any type of engine. It allows motor oils a higher degree of lubricity which reduces oil consumption and operating temperatures. Use Lucas Oil Stabilizer in gear oil to stop leaks, reduce operating temperatures and increase the life of the gear oil. Since it is pure petroleum, it can safely blend with all other automotive lubricants, even synthetics, ATF and mineral oil. It keeps old engines alive and new engines new.

In Ford Powerstrokes we suggest one quart of Pure Synthetic Oil Stabilizer per oil change.

KEY BENEFITS
Increase oil life at least 50% longer
Reduces oil consumption
Eliminates dry starts
Raises oil pressure
Increases power and miles per gallon

Let's break it down to see why a lawsuit against it would fail:
Quote:
A pure petroleum multi-use oil supplement. Controls noise, heat and wear in manual transmissions and differentials.

All technically true, though what "control" it exhibits is not mentioned.

Quote:
Number one in the heavy duty and high performance industries.

Unspecific regarding what it is actually "number one" at accomplishing.

Quote:
Lucas Oil Stabilizer is a 100% petroleum product formulated to eliminate dry starts and reduce friction, heat and wear in any type of engine.
All may be technically true, though I could "formulate an oil to shoot rainbows out of the tailpipe of cars", and describe it as such. Whether it acutally accomplishes this feat is irrelevant.

Quote:
It allows motor oils a higher degree of lubricity which reduces oil consumption and operating temperatures.

Compared to what;
High performance oil?
Acetone?
Water?
Air?

Quote:
Use Lucas Oil Stabilizer in gear oil to stop leaks, reduce operating temperatures and increase the life of the gear oil.

Just a command with no claims made.

Quote:
Since it is pure petroleum, it can safely blend with all other automotive lubricants, even synthetics, ATF and mineral oil.

Yes it can be "safely blended". How it affects the performance of those products is not mentioned.

Quote:
It keeps old engines alive

Questionable, but impossible to prove true or false unless you can create alternate parallel timelines to compare

Quote:
and new engines new.

Our attachment to the physics of this universe keeps new engines new. So the fact it does not create a wormhole or a portal through time makes this statement technically true.

Quote:
In Ford Powerstrokes we suggest one quart of Pure Synthetic Oil Stabilizer per oil change.

Just a suggestion with no claims of its effect

Quote:
Increase oil life at least 50% longer

50% longer than what;
the life of a gnat?
the last 2000 years?
a normal oil change interval?

Quote:
Reduces oil consumption

Compared to what and measured how?

Quote:
Eliminates dry starts

Technically true, though the oil already in use also accomplishes this

Quote:
Raises oil pressure

Likely true

Quote:
Increases power and miles per gallon

Compare to what?

So you see, "marketing" allows for many words without actually saying much of anything. It is a carefully crafted statement that gives little guarantees and only vague ideas of what it might accomplish.
 
Originally Posted By: andyd
A fill -idle - drain using kerosene is what Smoky Yunnick recommended 50+ yrs ago.


Most of what was recommended 50+ years ago is not relevant today - different engines, different available products...and years of actual proven information that was not available then.

If you had nothing else available maybe kerosene was the best evil. Today you'd have to be an idiot to do that.
 
Originally Posted By: OilFilters
Originally Posted By: andyd
A fill -idle - drain using kerosene is what Smoky Yunnick recommended 50+ yrs ago.


Most of what was recommended 50+ years ago is not relevant today - different engines, different available products...and years of actual proven information that was not available then.

If you had nothing else available maybe kerosene was the best evil. Today you'd have to be an idiot to do that.


Kero would be a really quick way to clean up a dirty engine. I'd be OK pulling the plugs and turning it over with the starter periodically over a period of a couple days.

The proof would be how dirty the drained kerosene looks.
 
My first car, the inside was solid sludge...the rocker arms had their own grooves, and a half quart of oil would go from off empty to full...so sump was too.

A scraped a half gallon of black goo out of the rocker cover, and what I could get out of the sideplates. Took off the sump plug, poked a hole through to drain the oil out, then added kerosene, probably a gallon.

Idled it for a half hour, and it came out like gear oil...black, globby and disgusting.

Put el cheapo 20W40 recycled oil in it, and it burned a quart in a week.

Drained it and replaced it, another quart the next week...I thought the engine was toast.

20W50 Valvoline XLD, and I drove the snot out of it (138 c.i. 6, 3 speed auto, and four wheel drums) for a couple years, then sold it for 7 times what I paid for it.

I
 
My mechanic liked Lucas HDOS also for old cars. After learning about what the product really was on this board, I used what was left of my gallon by mixing it with diesel to burn a stump, and summer chainsaw bar oil mixed with 10w30.
 
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