S
skippy
Guest
And for those that are thinking of using a "magic" additive....................
Think again:t
What about these aftermarket additives?
The whole basis of their claims is around a graphite or Teflon suspension in the oil, which acts as an additional lubricant. With graphite, think of a deck of cards. Place a load on top of the cards and it will support it. Place a side force to the load, and the pack or deck of cards will slide out. In other words, graphite can supposedly support vertical loading whilst allowing reduced friction. The main point where this applies is in the bearings in the crankshaft.
Other forms of solid lubrication include Molybdenum Disulphide and Teflon. In all these cases, it is a largish additive in the oil. To put it into perspective, the additive size is about 0.005mm. Your engines filter is approximately rated at 0.02mm in size. The filters will either remove much of these solid suspensions in your expensive oil or, the suspension will settle to the bottom of your sump.
In theory, this looks attractive, but in practice they have been known to clog oil ways and filters. Some of the claims look attractive, but I often see no supporting evidence. In fact several years ago the FCC in the US slapped Slick 50 with a $10 million fine for false advertising. They were unable to prove their performance claims of less wear and more reliable engine performance compared to motor oil alone. I regularly hear stories about how someone has driven 50 miles on a dry engine etc. but, personally, I have yet to have seen their evidence, (call me cynical!).
There have been many independent studies on Slick 50, the most noteworthy include the National Research Council in Canada and South ? Western Research Institute under the sponsorship of GM. None of these studies have found benefits and many have found drawbacks. Typical drawbacks reported in the literature and users include:
Settling and agglomeration of the solid additive particles
Filtration of the solid additive particles. (Some suppliers recommend not using a filter finer than 0.020 mm rating)
Restricted flow in oil ways and mechanical movement.
As with all aftermarket additives there are the usual problems such as:
Warranty of lubricant becomes void when aftermarket additives are mixed in, and some car companies will not honour the warranty, and believe me, if it came to court, it would be very easy to prove had been used.
Additive incompatibility with your existing oil. This of course relates to doping up with additive rather than buying a fully blended product.
Think again:t