Additives? Do they really work??

TomsNeon · Post by **TomsNeon** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 9:45 am

Question for you all. Do any of these additives really work or are they just hype that will kill the engine before it's time for it to go on it's own? The stuff like Lucas Oil Treatment, Bars Leak Stop Leak lineup, Restore Engine Treatment, anything by Gunk, etc. Any opinions, pros, cons are encouraged and yes I'm asking because I don't want to kill my Neon before it's prime.

NEON PARABOLA · Post by **NEON PARABOLA** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 10:13 am

I OCCASIONALLY use Lucas oil stabilizer but other than that, just straight dino oil in the engine and no cheap gas from shady gas stations.

Donkeypuncher · Post by **Donkeypuncher** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 6:28 pm

I'd stay away from any oil additives, a good synthetic is all that is needed. Most of the other additives are junk, some work temporarily then cause all sorts of other problems like that stop leak stuff.

The good ones that I can think of are seafoam, combustion chamber cleaner, redline water wetter, and the lucas products. I'm sure there are more that I haven't used.

Definitely stay away from any prolong, zmax, slick50, dura lube, motor up, or any other oil additive.

stdlystdmufn · Post by **stdlystdmufn** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 7:29 pm

i like seafoam, any kind of combustion chamber clearner, water wetter. i don't like lucas oil products and i wouldn't use any kind of stop leak. if something is leaking it should be fixed. also the stop leak just gums everything up and causes all kinds of problems when you go to service the coolant system later.

timk225 · Post by **timk225** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 1:15 pm

I just have to laugh at the array of repairs-in-a-can at the local Advance Auto Parts. If something is leaking, fix it! Bars Leaks really makes a brown / purple gunky mess out of your antifreeze, and the most outrageous one I've seen is the head gasket repair in a can.

I think some are good when used as maintenance, such as Seafoam and other good brands of fuel injector cleaner, but I'd buy good oil in the first place, not use oil additives.

Green liquid tire sealer in a can? Get the damn tire fixed. A/C system sealer? Get it fixed. Radiator leaks? Get it fixed.

I know not everyone can afford to just go out and do this, take a good look at some of the people in an auto parts store sometime. Then you have the moronic sales people to make things worse with their idiotic advice, but a half-assed repair is a waste of time and money and only causes more problems.

Post by **occasional demons** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 6:20 pm

You can get a gallon of fuel injector cleaner for under $4, at any gas station that sells E85. It will likely work better than any puny little bottle you pay almost as much for.

Slime tire sealer? Nothing wrong with that.

It can get you off the side of the road, if you have an air compressor. The stuff works as well as a tire plug, and is faster/cheaper than going to a tire shop. And the bonus is, if you do get another puncture, it will seal that also.

Anything that a plug or Slime won't fix, you probably need another tire anyways. Just be sure to let them know, when you are due for new tires.

Even if you have free flat repair, at most places you are going to be there for at least a half hour or more for them to get to it. Plus the time to get there, after removing the tire, and putting the spare on.

I have better things to be doing...

But in most other things, stop leak additives are usually not the best idea.

Altho I did get about 60,000 more miles out of my steering rack in the '01, from a simple bottle of PS stop leak. So it is tough not to justify trying at times. It isn't often you get that many miles of use for such a cheap price.

NickKo · Post by **NickKo** » Sun Jul 07, 2013 10:50 am

Generally speaking, I like the Lucas products.

HOWEVER, I did read a 'bad' review (from someone who sounds like they know) on the Lucas Oil Treatment - They stated that it seems to lead to aeration in the oil - which is not a good thing.
This was info that I found in a google search... I should have saved that info, 'for future reference'. I don't recall if they were a circle track racer, or engine rebuilder, or someone else who would be 'knowledgeable' about the subject.

As far as the other products that Lucas sells - I love their stuff, such as the Lucas Injector Cleaner, for example.

- Nick

Haganracing · Post by **Haganracing** » Sun Jul 07, 2013 11:06 am

Seafoam <3

I have tried Lucas products in the past and won't use them again. Just wasn't satisfied at all with their products

g_force58 · Post by **g_force58** » Mon Jul 08, 2013 4:25 pm

Not trying to bad mouth any product but I tried the Lucas oil stabilizer and soon after my cam was scored. On tear down I found nothing wrong with the roller rockers other than scoring all the way around 3 rollers and the cam lobes. I do run Mobil1 in the engine now but I think that will be the only thing that will go in the crankcase from here on out. by the way, the scored rollers spun easily and were smooth with no apparent drag. would be different with spring pressure on them I suppose.

heyybaker · Post by **heyybaker** » Tue Jul 09, 2013 7:57 pm

Another supporter of Seafoam here. It's the only additive I've ever used. When I had my R/T I used it 1/3 in the oil, 1/3 in the gas tank, and 1/3 through the vacuum line. Unfortunately, totaled it not long after, so wasn't able to report much. HOWEVER, on the car I have now, I used an entire can in the gas, and I have to say although it wasn't extraordinary, the fuel economy improved noticeably. If I weren't so strapped for money, I would have used it in my oil before changing it, too.

Post by **racer12306** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 9:32 am

Additives are not necessary in a normal engine.

The key to keeping a Neon engine alive is changing the oil at a reasonable interval (less than 7500 miles in most cases) with any modern engine oil, synthetic is not needed.

I love Lucas for what they do for the drag racing world, but not a fan of their products. There is no need to put something that thick into our engines. Most of the time additives are just band aid for the true problem.

The Oil Expert has spoken.

Post by **jonnymopar** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 12:47 pm

occasional demons wrote:Slime tire sealer? Nothing wrong with that.

Yuck. There's nothing wrong with it providing that you never have to dismount a tire that's full of that crap. It is freaking nasty. Anybody that uses it should be obligated to warn any tire tech that works on their car. Besides, the plug kits are a much better option. Not as good as a patch from the inside, but I've put thousands of miles on tires that I plugged myself (one roadside) without a single problem.

The head gasket stop leak has got to be one of the biggest jokes out there. What do you add it to? I'm pretty sure that a head gasket fail in several ways can leak several different things, all of which require a proper repair.

There is one additive that I've been very interested in for a long time, but never tried, and that is adding acetone to your fuel. Some people rave about the results, others saw zero effect.

yyourb0yy · Post by **yyourb0yy** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 5:19 am

Yes seafoam is great. I've also had luck with engine restore treatment (used to make my engine tick go away temporarily) but stay away from anything with stop leak. My rack and pinion was leaking a little so I put lucas steering fluid with stop leak into my car. About a week later the ps pump seized and the pulley snapped off.

bobneon2k · Post by **bobneon2k** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 10:55 pm

In general most products are garbage but there are some that do work. I use lucas fuel injector cleaner about once a month or so. chevron techron is another fuel system cleaner with a good rep. I also use lucas oil additive. My car was burning oil (no point in using synthetic if it's burning up) and a mechanic friend of mine recommended using it with each oil change and now I am not burning oil anymore. seafoam is also good but only when you want to strip all the gunk out of your engine at once. that stuff is like draino for your engine. It is not to be used frequently. maybe once a year or two.

NEVER USE ANY TYPE OF STOPS LEAK! that stuff will work as a temp fix but at a huge maintenance cost down the road. The previous owner of my last car used that stuff in the radiator and I ended up flushing my coolant system twice a year for 5 years before I got it all out. And that tire inflator stuff is crap too. it fills your tire up with foam that hardens like a rock. sure you'll get home but you'll need a new tire for sure. for a couple of bucks more get a tire inflation pump that plugs into your ashtray

stdlystdmufn · Post by **stdlystdmufn** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 11:58 pm

if you really want the best combustion chamber cleaner there is, old old mechanics used to add a tiny (very tiny) bit of brake fluid into carbs to clean the chambers. but if you want an easier way just get yourself a water injection system

for a good oil system cleaner you can always use a qt of atf in place of one of your qts of oil. you can get dex and merc for cheaper than atf4 but atf4 has more cleaners and additives

INVUJerry · Post by **INVUJerry** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 1:25 am

jonnymopar wrote:
occasional demons wrote:Slime tire sealer? Nothing wrong with that.
Yuck. There's nothing wrong with it providing that you never have to dismount a tire that's full of that crap. It is freaking nasty. Anybody that uses it should be obligated to warn any tire tech that works on their car. Besides, the plug kits are a much better option. Not as good as a patch from the inside, but I've put thousands of miles on tires that I plugged myself (one roadside) without a single problem.

The head gasket stop leak has got to be one of the biggest jokes out there. What do you add it to? I'm pretty sure that a head gasket fail in several ways can leak several different things, all of which require a proper repair.

There is one additive that I've been very interested in for a long time, but never tried, and that is adding acetone to your fuel. Some people rave about the results, others saw zero effect.

I did the acetone thing for a while on my SXT. Used 3oz per tank, and I didn't notice any improvement. I would put the acetone in, then add the gas. The biggest difference I noticed is I would drive differently knowing I was trying to save gas by using acetone.

C1DoG · Post by **C1DoG** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 7:15 am

I don't use any additives, just the higher octane gas and I have had no problems. Between that and general maintenance I am good.

timk225 · Post by **timk225** » Fri Aug 02, 2013 11:49 am

About 10 years ago I had a 1972 318 Dodge Dart that I did the steam cleaning trick on. Take off the air cleaner, fill a spray bottle (like an empty bottle of glass cleaner or something, with a squeeze trigger pump) with plain water, and put the carburetor on a fast idle and spray water into the engine. The theory was that the water in the engine would steam clean the combustion chambers.

I went through the whole bottle, which took about a half hour, and can't say for sure that it was any kind of a miracle cure, but it didn't hurt anything either.

A modern day cars' ECU would probably have a heart attack if you tried something like that!

Sometimes I think the old school mechanics of the 60's and 70's had some of the neatest tricks for repairs and maintenance.

Post by **jonnymopar** » Fri Aug 02, 2013 1:29 pm

timk225 wrote:Sometimes I think the old school mechanics of the 60's and 70's had some of the neatest tricks for repairs and maintenance.

With the amount of attention cars required just to run properly, if you did it for a living back then, you needed those tricks to save you time. I love talking to the old timers about that stuff.

2GN.ORG

Additives? Do they really work??

Additives? Do they really work??

additives, do they work