Are oil enhancers worth it?

Burlyq · 02-19-06, 04:57

The government has been going after them lately, what do you think? Here's some helpful links.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1999/09/prolong.htm

http://www.prolong.com/Main.aspx
Prolong's public relations department say's this despite the FTC assertions and the settlement:
Q: Did Prolong get sued or fined by the FTC?
A: No, the facts are that the FTC thoroughly investigated all of the tests and evidence that supported Prolong’s product claims in much the same manner as going through a very detailed IRS audit.
Prolong has never been sued or taken to court by the FTC.
Prolong has never been fined by the FTC.
Prolong did not make false product claims.

Prolong Super Lubricants distinguished its conduct and had a much different experience than many of our competitors. The following products had claims that the FTC complained were false or unsubstantiated. The product owners were sued by the FTC and eventually entered into settlement agreements with the FTC and agreed to pay the following fines:
Date Product Name How the Case was resolved
1978 STP Oil Treatment Sued by FTC, Settled, Fined $500,000
1995 STP Engine Treatment Sued by FTC, Settled, Fined $888,000
1997 Slick 50 Engine Treatment Sued by FTC, Settled, Fined $10,000,000
1999 Motor Up Engine Treatment Sued by FTC, Settled, Fined $100,000
2000 DuraLube Sued by FTC, Settled, Fined $2,000,000
2003 zMax Power System Sued by FTC, Settled, Fined $1,000,000

Another link: http://www.carbibles.com/additives.html

truzoom · 02-19-06, 05:14

Nice to see you back! I've always thought these things were bull. Just buy a good quality oil to begin with and you won't have to worry about needing enhancers.

Burlyq · 02-19-06, 05:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by truzoom

Nice to see you back! I've always thought these things were bull. Just buy a good quality oil to begin with and you won't have to worry about needing enhancers.

TY tru, the truth was supposed to set me free but ended me up in Autopia jail for a while, lol. I've been over at Dclub, it's a cool site too.

wannafbody · 02-19-06, 05:31

My friend knows the owner of MAXI LUBE a non petroleum oil additive. He demonstrated with a pull lever against a round piece of metal. Using just Amsoil synthetic pulling on the lever added pressure to the round piece of metal and severely scoured the surface. He then added a couple of drops of MAXI LUBE to the Amsoil on a new piece of metal. He had to pull SIGNIFICANTLY harder and while he was able to mark the round piece of metal it wasSIGNIFICANTLY LESS scourged than with Amsoil alone. I was impressed. BTW I think prolong is pretty good too.

JohnZ3MC · 02-19-06, 09:22

Fellows,
An older article but still relevant:

http://www.oldengine.org/unfaq/additive.htm

In a nutshell, they seem to help very little and may actually cause some problems over the long run, but near the bottom of the article is a section on synthetic oils and a few interesting comments about them.

One of which was they could be mixed with conventional oils assuming their ratings matched, so if someone wanted to switch to a synthetic oil, a great deal of draining/cleaning of the conventional dinosaur oil is unnecessary. Just drain out the old oil and add the synthetic. We'll add the obvious caveat here also, a new filter would be prudent.
-John C.
______________

BenP · 02-19-06, 09:43

My take on these is that oil manufacturers don't spend millions developing their oils, why would they make them only so good? Tipping one of these additives in is playing with the chemical make-up of the original oil and may actually be detrimental to its quality. Indeed, a friend of mine added one to his car, and a week later the big end went. Maybe a coincidence, but I can't see how they do any good.

Ben

zippymbr · 02-20-06, 04:27

Just forget the additives and run Amsoil. Would you not think that car makers who spend millions on engine development would recommend and additive if the car needed it. Chevy does reccomend ome for the antifreeze in m old Blazer. Amsoil blows away the Mobil one I used to use. I have been using it as a yearly change for years and my cars still run like new. My fav is the series 2000 oil. The stuff just does not break own.

John Styrnol · 02-20-06, 05:32

Mobil 1 Full Synth for me.

Mr.Magic · 02-20-06, 02:00

I sell AMSOIL at my shop, and my customers just love it!

Scottwax · 02-20-06, 02:31

I'll just stick with Royal Purple.

Face it, if additives actually worked, car manufacturers would use and recommend them to increase their CAFE numbers.

drewski59 · 02-20-06, 02:56

Mobil 1 is just fine for me....

My dad used it in all his cars for years and years, and I'll continue that tradition!

ShineDaddy · 02-20-06, 03:20

[quote=truzoom]Nice to see you back! [quote]
For sure, why did you get the boot?

Hey B check your PM, later.

As for the oil question, I say if you change your oil every three thousand use the cheapones, if you push it with oil changes try Syn's, but leave the additives on the shelf.