lambert@vax4.DEC (04/27/84)
Subject: Re: indestructible autos First off, I have always heard that the syntho-oils were not all that they were cracked up to be, mainly due to the fact that their chief claim to fame is their long "life" - the fact that they retain their viscosity for a longer period of time (and under more adverse conditions) than petroleum based oils. This may be true, but oil in an engine still gets dirty. It should still be changed often and regularly, regardless of the type of oil used. Therefore, you're perfectly welcome to pay $2-$3 a quart for syntho-oil that should be changed in the same timespan as good ole Quaker State. Also, can you get the stuff at the local gas station when you're down a quart? If the benefits really outway the cost for you, go for it. (The dealership that sold me my GTI uses Quaker State products, and Q.S. offers a liftetime guarantee on their oil that says they will replace your engine if it ever dies due to "oil-related failure", provided you always use Q.S. oil. Don't know how much trouble you'd have if you tried to make a claim, but I like guarantees....) As for other things for extending the engine's life: There are several Teflon oil additives on the market now, and I've heard that they DO work well. You put them in your oil and they form a thin (permenant?) Teflon coating on the insides of your engine. One brand name that comes to mind is "TC3" or something like that. I've seen it sold at auto shows, but I haven't seen it in the stores. As I remember, it carrys the standard "if it breaks your engine, we'll replace it" warranty. Supposedly, a manufacturer of this stuff put on a demo at a local track. They took a car with a new engine and the additive in the oil and ran it for 5 minutes. Then they drained all the oil out and proceeded to drive the car around the track for several laps. The engine didn't seize, and apparently didn't suffer any severe damage. Now I didn't see this with my own peepers, so I can't swear by it. It did come to me from a reliable source, however. Has anyone else ever heard of these things? Is it just another "Motor Medic" gimmick? Good luck with your truck, -- Sam Lambert Path: decvax!decwrl!rhea!vax4!lambert
kiessig@idi.UUCP (Rick Kiessig) (04/28/84)
I've used an engine oil additive called "Microlon". They
claim they treated a Renault 5 with the stuff (which involves
driving for about 1000 miles) and then drained all the oil
from the car. Then they drove it around France for several
thousand miles! Pretty impressive, I thought. So I bought some
and used on my BMW 320i. I changed my oil every 7500 miles
or so, and had zero engine problems for the 45000 miles or
so that I drove the car.
They also claim a very small increase in gas mileage -
on the order of 1-3%, and an equally small increase in available
horsepower. And they have a highly filtered product approved
for use on airplane engines.
Rick
--
Rick Kiessig
{decvax, ucbvax}!sun!idi!kiessig
{akgua, allegra, amd70, cbosgd, harpo, ihnp4, ios, qubix}!idi!kiessig