Anyone using Slick 50 or similar additives in Prius?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GadgetMan2 @ May 6 2007, 05:50 PM) [snapback]436518[/snapback]</div>

i think its been pretty much proven that slick 50 just does not work, or could potentially harm your engine
or most likely will get stuck in the oil filter

http://skepdic.com/slick50.html has some info

excert
However, such solids seem even more inclined to coat non-moving parts, like oil passages and filters. After all, if it can build up under the pressures and friction exerted on a cylinder wall, then it stands to reason it should build up even better in places with low pressures and virtually no friction.

This conclusion seems to be borne out by tests on oil additives containing PTFE conducted by the NASA Lewis Research Center, which said in their report, "In the types of bearing surface contact we have looked at, we have seen no benefit. In some cases we have seen detrimental effect. The solids in the oil tend to accumulate at inlets and act as a dam, which simply blocks the oil from entering. Instead of helping, it is actually depriving parts of lubricant" (Rau).

 

Plain and simple truth is oil additives are nothing more than snake oil. Use at your own risk.

Todays oil meets or exceeds standards that oils in the past could not, when oil additives like STP and the like actually did something. Today all oils have all the additives you will ever need, some more than others. If you want top protection use a synthetic oil. Mobil 1 is the best to purchase(and has prompted many an argument with Amsoil sellers) due to its high availablity, you can find it just about anywhere. It also meets all standards set out by the manufacturers. There are other brands of synthetics, Amsoil, Redline, Royal Purple, but they are usually sold through third parties, not in stores. In addition, Synthetics have been proven to last twice the service life of dino oils, and with proper filtration can go as much as 4 times the change interval of a dino, they dont break down as quickly, hold suspension longer, hold the packages longer, etc..

In my F350 Powerstroke diesel I do regular oil analysis to determine when to change the oil, and with no filter change in between have run over 9000 miles on Rotella T non synthetic oil. The results came back that I could run it at least another 2500 miles before changing it out. The measure the packages in the oil, the lubricity, the suspension, and any impurities it has such as coolant, carbon, fuel, iron, etc, and can tell how well the engine is wearing after a few samples to give a baseline. If I swtiched to synthetic diesel oil(very expensive) and installed a bypass filtration system, switching out filters every 5000 miles, I could see at least 20,000 miles on one oil change on the diesel. Since the Prius doenst have a bypass system available, nor do I ever see one coming in the future, and the fact it doesnt hold much oil, running for 20K on one oil change isnt likely to happen, but you could go to 10,000 miles between full changes just by replacing the filter at the regular interval and topping off the oil lost in the filter, about a pint at the most. Not that I would recommend doing that, but to point out the fact that you dont need any additional additives.

 

The Prius sold in the EU has a usual 12 month 10,000 mile oil/filter service interval, running ACEA spec motor oils. No fancy snake oil, no biting nails, no used oil analysis every 2,000 miles.

With Mobil 1 0W-20 and the dealer oil filter, my used oil analysis over a very severely cold winter and 6,500 miles indicated no problems at all. The oil was good for a lot more.

 

Many oil additives have chlorine-based compounds. Apparently chlorinated compounds can decrease friction quite significantly, at the expense of possibly damaging other engine components (rubber gaskets and the like).

That famous "demonstration" on TV that shows a bearing that spins under a huge pressure when the additive is applied is a prime example of a chlorinated additive.

I would never, ever put any of that stuff in my engine. Frankly, it just doesn't need it. When the oil is changed in my car, what comes out after ~5,000km is a very, very light brown colour (like honey). I imagine it could keep the engine running far longer, but frequent oil changes are one of the cheapest, best ways to prolong engine life.

http://www.qmimo.com/chlorine.htm

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GadgetMan2 @ May 8 2007, 03:14 AM) [snapback]437364[/snapback]</div>

and running your cars without slick 50 probably would of resulted in no ill effects either
providing the oil is changed...

i guess when you save money on gas you have more money in your budget to spend a little
extra money on worthless crap like slick 50.

 

heres another bit of tidbit i found... back in 1998, in the case of raysik vs quaker state, quaker state
paid out 20 million dollars in a class action lawsuit payable in demonations of $15 cash rebates for slick 50.

A consumer class action alleging that Quaker State - Slick 50, Inc. sold engine treatments that failed to provide promised extended engine life.

i wouldnt touch it

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GadgetMan2 @ May 8 2007, 04:14 AM) [snapback]437364[/snapback]</div>

How do you know your oil passageways were not getting clogged by solids? Did you remove the engine and do a complete tear-down inspection on your Pathfinder? Do you cut your oil filters up and inspect the filter elements for solids and particles? 160,000 mile is not high mileage for a modern automobile engine, it is normal and routine. If you don't get 250,000 to 300,000 miles out of an engine you should be pissed.

As everyone here has said, Slick 50 and their like are snake oils. Just use the factory recommended oil and change it on the factory recommended oil maintenance cycle. (The factory maintenance cycle is very conservative anyway)

BTW, Mobil 1 is not magical either. If you are changing it on the factory's cycle of every 5K miles or even worse every 3k or 3500 miles your just throwing your money away. Conventional motor oil is good for at least 7,500 miles in a conventional engine. Toyota has most likely cut this back to 5K miles because the Prius engine cycles on and off so much.

One of the guys at work hasn't changed the oil is his S-10 since he got it 60K miles ago, he just tops it off. Now a don't recommend that but it goes to show that motor oils and engine materials have come a long way.

 

I've used Slick 50 in all my cars since it came out, and got a lot of miles out of them, the best being over 300,000 on a Corolla. Like everything in life there's pros and cons, but it isn't "snake oil." The ingredients do have a physical effect on the engine.

 

Just checked my records and that Corolla actually had 378,000 miles on it when I sold it (for $500) with the engine still going strong. It had transmission issues that I didn't want to deal with,that's when I bought the Prius. So the Slick 50 probably didn't hurt it.