Thread: Oil additives

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I haven't found any recent posts on this topic, so I'm starting a new one in this category. I would like to know if anyone has any personal experience with oil additives (STP, Lucas, etc.), and if so, which they liked or didn't like.

Back in the late 60's, a good friend of mine was running a '58 Chevy in F Gas with a pretty stout 327. Every two or three weekends, he would tear the engine down and find that the main bearings needed to be replaced. Because he also owned a service station, a representative of STP suggested to him that their product could reduce or eliminate that problem; that is, he would have to change the bearings less often.

All things being equal - no fresh line boring or crank truing - he found that he could go an entire season on the same set of bearings after adding the STP at the manufacturer's suggested ratio. Having sat in on several tear-downs, I can personally attest to this being true.

So, before anyone ridicules the notion of real "car guys" adding Motor Honey to their cars to keep them from smoking, I'm asking this because things have changed more than a little in the intervening 40 years.

I used to use GM EOS, but it has been taken off the market. I also heard that STP(red bottle) Is being taken off the market so I bought a case. Each help with adding Zinc, which the government has forced the oil producers to reduce in their oils to meet new polution stds.(SJ & SM rated oils).

slick 50 has saved a couple of my engines.. once my 429 broke a pump shaft 4 miles from home .. i drove it on in .. very well expected to find burnt bearings but they were like new .. replaced the pump and shaft and away i went .. that was about 6 years ago

Originally Posted by Dorsey

I haven't found any recent posts on this topic, so I'm starting a new one in this category. I would like to know if anyone has any personal experience with oil additives (STP, Lucas, etc.), and if so, which they liked or didn't like.

Back in the late 60's, a good friend of mine was running a '58 Chevy in F Gas with a pretty stout 327. Every two or three weekends, he would tear the engine down and find that the main bearings needed to be replaced. Because he also owned a service station, a representative of STP suggested to him that their product could reduce or eliminate that problem; that is, he would have to change the bearings less often.

All things being equal - no fresh line boring or crank truing - he found that he could go an entire season on the same set of bearings after adding the STP at the manufacturer's suggested ratio. Having sat in on several tear-downs, I can personally attest to this being true.

So, before anyone ridicules the notion of real "car guys" adding Motor Honey to their cars to keep them from smoking, I'm asking this because things have changed more than a little in the intervening 40 years.

I.M.O.,STP is nothing but an oil thickner.
Lucas is an oil stabilzer and makes oil cling to things and prevents foaming.
The best oil additive out there I.M.O.,is Comp cam's #159.
I use this in every hyd. or flat tappet engine build.
In street engines my customers have had zero hyd. or flat tappet cam failures.

Note the ZN content of STP(red) & GM-EOS.http://www.lnengineering.com/oiltable.htm

I have had good luck with DURA LUBE Advanced engine treatment . I used it in a 1973 Pontiac 400ci with over 140K miles . It made that engine run and sound like new . I also used it in a 151 4cyl that other oil treatment would not quiet down but it did . Real good stuff .

Take a look at a site called, "Bob Is The Oil Guy."

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php

Lot of knowledgeable folks on there as well as some good discussions on oil and filters.

I put some Lucas trans fluid in a 350 tranny that slipped bad, several years ago. It made a noticable differance, and allowed me to put off fixin it for the better part of a year.

Originally Posted by Don Meyer

Note the ZN content of STP(red) & GM-EOS.http://www.lnengineering.com/oiltable.htm

Note:The content of GM' E.O.S.
This is what I used but latley it has been hard to get.

My question is this though... even though the GM EOS has alot of zinc in it, aren't these all measured in PPM, meaning if you took the same amount of each and measured the zinc within, that's what you have? If this is correct, then you also gotta factor in how many ounces of the stuff in question is going in your engine... if you're looking at oil, you can times that number by 5 quarts, 6 in some cases.... but you only put one little bottle of the EOS in. I think even a bottle of STP is quite a bit bigger than the EOS bottle is it not? (how many oz. is actually in a bottle of it?) Personally, I use Shell Rotella or Delo400 diesel oil in 15w40, as I have read good things about both, and even with the new lower content of zinc, they still have more than most regular oils. I also use STP, red bottle if i find it, if not blue won't hurt either, and adds another 2436ppm of zinc. My grandfather swore by it, and used in in every oil change for 60 years and it never hurt anything, so I don't think its gonna do me any harm either.

Originally Posted by joeybsyc

My question is this though... even though the GM EOS has alot of zinc in it, aren't these all measured in PPM, meaning if you took the same amount of each and measured the zinc within, that's what you have? If this is correct, then you also gotta factor in how many ounces of the stuff in question is going in your engine... if you're looking at oil, you can times that number by 5 quarts, 6 in some cases.... but you only put one little bottle of the EOS in. I think even a bottle of STP is quite a bit bigger than the EOS bottle is it not? (how many oz. is actually in a bottle of it?) Personally, I use Shell Rotella or Delo400 diesel oil in 15w40, as I have read good things about both, and even with the new lower content of zinc, they still have more than most regular oils. I also use STP, red bottle if i find it, if not blue won't hurt either, and adds another 2436ppm of zinc. My grandfather swore by it, and used in in every oil change for 60 years and it never hurt anything, so I don't think its gonna do me any harm either.

It may not hurt anything but there are products out there that are much better.

Hey Eric, if you want GM E.O.S., try sdparts.com. On the item # search, type in #1052367.

One of the better oils today for non roller cams is harley davidson oil. You can also buy Valvoline racing (off road oil), but it is low or has no detergents.

compared to most regular motor oils doesnt look like my castrol 20-50 did to bad 1422 ppm compared to most

The charts listed are from May of this year....EPA and the fed's have reduced all the numbers since....be wary of what you read into those. Aftermarket developers are going forward with new additives. Research and watch the numbers as they come out. You'll be able to run the flat lobe style cams with the right stuff.