Engine Additives

[Ross]

I now have 10,000 miles on my MM, and I want to make it last forever and be a classic someday. I have changed the oil more frequently than necessary, and I believe strongly in preventive maintenance. I want to add some kind of engine (and maybe transmission) additive to help give me longer engine life. There are a lot of additives out there (Slick 50, Microlon, Rislone, Prolong, X1R, etc., etc.), and I want to know which will be best to add to give me longer, more useful engine life, with less wear and tear. Any suggestions? Thanks, guys.

[merc406]

They are not needed with the oils that we have now and are a waste of good money.

[WolfeBros]

^^^What Merc406 said^^^
The oils we have now are the best they have ever been.
Keep up with the frequent change interval. Use a good name brand oil and filter and save the rest of that money for adding some mods down the road. :D

[RF Overlord]

Ross:

DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!! :nono:

Go to the Federal Trade Commission's web site...the reason you don't see so many of those "Slick 50", "Duralube", and "Z-MAX" ads on TV anymore is because the FTC has determined that they did NOT do what they claimed, and in some cases actually INCREASED wear in the motor, and has barred those companies from making their unsubstantiated, and in some cases, falsified claims.

Use high quality oil, a high quality filter, change them at the appropriate intervals, and your motor will last as long as you want it to. :up:

[Thomas C Potter]

The ultimate is to install a Preluber. I can not believe the number of self proclaimed car nuts who will not consider a preluber. All my old cars have them, and at day 366 my blue MM will have!!!

[gonzo50]

Originally posted by RF Overlord
Use high quality oil, a high quality filter, change them at the appropriate intervals, and your motor will last as long as you want it to. :up:
The best kind of maintenance is preventive maintenance at scheduled intervals not to exceed the recommended service mileage listed in your operator / service book. That little extra effort now goes a long way later. Just my $.02

[TAF]

Originally posted by Thomas C Potter
The ultimate is to install a Preluber. I can not believe the number of self proclaimed car nuts who will not consider a preluber. All my old cars have them, and at day 366 my blue MM will have!!!

I'm still confused about this "day 366" magic number...and...I'm not even touching the "Preluber" for fear of shutting down another thread :lol:

[engine23ccvfd]

What Taf Said!!!

[WolfeBros]

Maybe if someone can explain WTF a preluber is we may or maynot have an opinion on it. Enlighten us please. And oh by the way.......there are alot of 'car nuts' on here with alot of knowledge.

[RF Overlord]

Originally posted by TAF
I'm still confused about this "day 366" magic number...

Yeah...me, too...I asked in another thread and got no response...

A preluber, IIRC, is a canister that fills with oil while the engine is running, then holds that pressurised oil after you shut the motor. When you next start the motor, the oil is released, delivering the oil faster and getting the pressure up sooner. Probably be of some value in a car that's rarely driven and sits for long periods without running, so the oil film evaporates, but in a car that's driven daily, I can't see that it does much...certainly can't HURT, though...

[nomad]

My .02.
I believe a few people are confused about the warranty coverage.Day 366 would equate to one year and a day.They seem to be saying not to do any mods until after the warranty is up.But, the MM warranty,and 99% of FOMOCO vehicles, is 3 years 36,000 miles.Just a thought,I could be wrong[it's happened B-4.:confused:

[FLA RAUD FAN]

Hey guys ,
Not positive on this, but I think a preluber is an additive that leaves a coating on the internal parts to help reduce friction at startup.
I had a Toyota Tundra V8 that I traded in on my MM and it would have a valve tapping noise on first start up ,particularly after the truck had been sitting a couple of days.
I used Prolong additive in a recent oil change and the valve tap dissappeared.
The additive is drained at the next oil change so I can't see how it would cause any long term problems.
JP

[FLA RAUD FAN]

Sounds like RF has the definitive answer on the Preluber.
The knowledge just keeps coming thru on this site!!!!

[nomad]

A lot of articles on preluber.I like this one.
http://www.ifsja.org/tech/motors/preluber.shtml

[LincMercLover]

Like my Dad always said, "Rebuild and tune-up your engine in a can!!!" :lol:

[RF Overlord]

Originally posted by FLA RAUD FAN
Sounds like RF has the definitive answer on the Preluber.
The knowledge just keeps coming thru on this site!!!!

Well, I was CLOSE, anyway...I know I saw something matching the description I gave in an article, or a catalog...

Looks like this pre-luber is actually an auxiliary electric oil pump, but the concept is similar...

[WolfeBros]

Ok.....I get what it is and believe it can't hurt.
That would be very beneficial on some diesel turbochargers where they are dependent on a drip down type of oilers and where they heat soak once the engine is shut down, shortening bearing life. And they would have been great on the engines in the 50's 60's 70's 80's. I dunno......we have engines that go to 100k miles before the first tuneup these days... I can't see the expense......but sure go ahead......it can't hurt a thing. IMHO. And yeah this comes from a self proclaimed car nut. But sliced bread it aint. :D
I feel flames.......

[Thomas C Potter]

Yes, one version does use a pressurized canister, I prefer ther 12volt unit made by Research Lubrication Inc (I think)!!. My experience and seeing test data from various articles over the years has soundly convinced me of the benefits. Make your own opinion though. $370 plus some.

[Thomas C Potter]

Forgot to mention my 366 day reference, I just assumed you all have heard of this old saying that one day after warranty, all is game!! Yea, we now have 3 yr wrnty, but who can wait that long!!

[RF Overlord]

Originally posted by Thomas C Potter
Forgot to mention my 366 day reference, I just assumed you all have heard of this old saying that one day after warranty, all is game!! Yea, we now have 3 yr wrnty, but who can wait that long!!

Yah, I HAD heard of the saying, but since warranty on most cars is at least 3 years, that's why I didn't understand the 366 days part... D'OH!

And as to your second sentence: "Yea, we now have 3 yr wrnty, but who can wait that long!!"... What's the difference if you do the mods NOW or after 1 year, you're STILL voiding the warranty, so may as well do it NOW and get all the benefits and enjoyment...either that or wait the 3 years until the warranty is up and you're no longer interested... :(

IMHO...

(sorry jgc...I couldn't resist... ;) )

[merc406]

The oil ac***ulator is a nice addition and is only 65 bucks plus $ for the mounting brkts. But needs an oil outlet, mine is plumbed into the remote oil filter setup. If you have an oil cooler on the new Marauder you could plumb it their using those lines, oh mine is manual, but elec. is avail. These provide pressure during hard cornering and at other times when the oil is flowing away from the oil pump pickup, like at the dragstrip when launching hard.

[UncleLar]

Wear at start up is a major factor in the longevity of an engine,that's the reason oil filters have anti drainback check valves in them. The prelube does work as it will prevent dry starts,where you start the engine and get no oil pressure for a few seconds or longer,but I wonder how it'd work in the situation that really causes wear on the engine,right after you change the oil and filter you climb in and fire it up and watch how long it takes to fill the filter with oil and get pressure up,does it help there? On cars that had vertically mounted oil filters I always filled the new filter with clean oil before I mounted it and got oil pressure a lot sooner. If you decide to put a remote filter on your car you might want to mount it verticallyfor that reason. As for the preluber,it'll help,'specially if you want to try for 300,000 miles without a rebuild.

[RCSignals]

Ford does not recommend use of any additives like that. If you have a problem that becomes engine failure, and an analysis by Ford determines additives were used, it could void your warranty.

That said, the only additive I know of that is approved by FAA for use in aircraft engines and is used by some heavy truck manufacturers, such as Kenworth, is microlon. In fact years ago when I searched a local source for it, (not Oregon at the time) the Kenworth parts department is where I found it.

[martyo]

Pre-lubers: Very popular in marine applications, particularly large diesel rigs. Although I have never used one, I have read good things about them. Certainly solves the dry filter problem immediately after an oil change.

[jgc61sr2002]

The only additave to use is new oil and a new Motorcraft filter on a regular basis. 3,000 miles or 3 months. IMHO. John

[SergntMac]

Originally posted by jgc61sr2002
The only additave to use is new oil and a new Motorcraft filter on a regular basis. 3,000 miles or 3 months. IMHO. John

Works for me...

[Paul T. Casey]

Only additive I use is a hunk of that sticky magnet stuff, like you make refrigerator magnets from. I place it on the closed end of the oil filter, thinking it may help in holding ferritic debris in the filter.

[RF Overlord]

Careful, Paul...

If you use too big a magnet, you might alter the flux of the oil, causing it to anneal and lose its agility.

[Bigdogjim]

Originally posted by SergntMac
Works for me...

And me three.. 3,000 miles OR 3 months.. Time is just important as miles.....

Also works in the fleet of 17 Ford vans that I oversee with 7.3 L diesel's and 5.4 L gas.. some have 250,000 miles and use no oil.. IMHO

[ChuckB]

OK so there i stood in my local Kragen because of this thread reading the additives. Mosty teflon or PTFE in the 5 to 15 micron advertised range. then over to the oil filter section. Fram X2, M1 and K&N state filter effeciency 99.9XX% for 2-3 micron and greater.

so does this mean you pour in the PTFE and it goes straight to the filer and stays - making it the slickest filter on the block but doing little else? sounds to me like that's what happens - anybody got any other ideas / explainations?

[LincMercLover]

Wow... Good point! Gotta love this site, everyone does a little bit of homework around here to benefit the group! Nice work Chuck! :up:

[RF Overlord]

Originally posted by ChuckB
OK so there i stood in my local Kragen because of this thread reading the additives. Mosty teflon or PTFE in the 5 to 15 micron advertised range. then over to the oil filter section. Fram X2, M1 and K&N state filter effeciency 99.9XX% for 2-3 micron and greater.

so does this mean you pour in the PTFE and it goes straight to the filer and stays - making it the slickest filter on the block but doing little else? sounds to me like that's what happens - anybody got any other ideas / explainations?

Chuck:

This link (http://www.msgroup.org/TIP043.html) has the quote I was looking for. DuPont, makers of PTFE (Teflon), have said that PTFE has no business being in a car engine.

[Ross]

WOW! I never expected to get so many, ans such well reasoned, responses about NOT doing something I was planning on doing. I guess I'll just keep doing what I was going to do anyway, and take my baby back to the dealer every 3K miles for an oil and filter change, especially since the dealer is the only place I can find that has the 5-20 weight oil recommended. Thanks for all the info, guys. Ross

[chapel1]

I get smarter everyday by reading this site.You guys are great.

[drkknight196]

I would NEVER put any of that crap in my MM or any other car I own for that matter. So I echo the other comments here -- regular oil and filter changes with high quality oil (I use synthetic) is all you need. High quality gasoline also has all the additives you need to include detergents.