Originally Posted By: glum
Is it really safe to use a quart of MMO in the crankcase?
yes. 1 quart of MMO, to 4 quarts of Motor Oil, that is, for a 5 qt. capacity crankcase. If the vehicle takes less than 5 qts, I go the idiot-proof way, and just use 1 pint (essentially, half a quart).
Originally Posted By: glum
I've always been surprised that people do this.
Marvel Mystery Oil has been tried and tested since what, the 1930s? I've not heard of any engines blown up after the addition of MMO
And I'm sure the guys got it down to a scient, as far as what concentration can "safely" be used without causing detrimental effects to the oiled system; bottom line, MMO "is" an oil, a light weight oil at that, if one were that paranoid of substituting a quart of MMO per a quart of motor oil, one could always go "up" in oil weight, at least for that one "MMO cleaning phase".....
Originally Posted By: glum
And yet if you put 3 ounces of Sea Foam in there, people call you an idiot.
yet again, people not trusting the manufacturers of these products....Seafoam themselves state that it can be safely used in the crankcase at 1.5 oz. per quart of oil....so, say in a typical 5 quart engine, you can safely add 7.5 oz. of MMO to the crankcase, either "post" OCI (that being, into the fresh oil) or "pre" OCI (that being, into used oil, _before_ your next scheduled OCI).
As marvel outlines usage requirements, so does Seafoam, they state to not go longer than 3000 miles or 3 months with the Seafoam in the oil.....
But personally, as my MMO experience, I'm willing to bet the Seafoam is likely "burned off" after about a good 30 minute run....just enough time to re-liquify carbon/sludge deposits, where it can be suspended in the motor oil, and then either:
a) deposited into the filter to be removed at next filter change, or
b) removed at the drain pan upon next OCI...
Basically, they work by reliquifying carbon/varnish that has been severly gunked up, so it can be drained out of the engine at the next service.
It's not "loosening huge chunks of sludge" as some may believe....but actually "re liquifying" the carbon/sludge build up.....I think Seafoam and MMO get the "bad rep" of the "Motor Flushes of Past" that were prone to clogging oil valleys, oil pickup pumps.
The only one "myth" of "olde" I could still understand would be the clogged oil filter scenario.....if the engine was "severely" neglected (sludged up....) I could understand the oil filter becoming so plugged up, that the filter goes into bypass mode, in essense, throwing back all the trapped debris back into the engine...
If you were in one of those instances of a possible sludge monster or neglected vehicle, to that I'd say change out the oil filter every 1.5k (mid-OCI)....no need to re-add MMO/Seafoam, as the oil will still be "fresh" so by then I'd imagine most of the "problem" would have been came clean with the MMO or Seafoam.