[S-cars] oil additive

[CyberPoet]

As far as everything I have read, all of these kind of additive oil
products (restore, miracle, etc.) contain some combination of three
basic ingredients:

1. A heavy weight oil (you are better served by a mid-weight dino oil
changed twice as frequently, such as Castrol 20W50 or 30W50, depending
on your ambient environment and driving distances). Basically, putting
a thicker oil between the rings and the cylinder wall will reduce the
amount of blow-by in a worn engine (and reduce the amount of oil lost
to drainage).

2. A teflon based powder product (supposedly designed to ease the
lubricating surfaces) -- the problem is that teflon as a free molecule
changes shape in a non-desireable way at very high temps as would be
experienced in engine oil (to think of it a different way -- if it
provided such great benefit, why don't the motor oil firms put it into
the oil to begin with?). Dupont also has a disclaimer on their website
concerning the advisability of using teflon-based motor products, and
why they won't permit their name on any such product;

3. A lead substitute -- some form of soft metal or compound that will
help seal minor (microscopic) scratches in the cylinder walls and help
seal the valve surfaces. The problem with this is that modern engines
(those built since 1979 for the US market, if I recall the year
correctly) were not designed to use a metal additive (such as lead) --
by the time enough metal builds up to give true benefit, the catalytic
converter is coated (and if the engine is injected, and the injectors
are also), among other parts.

So what's the best way to treat an older or worn-down engine?
(A) More frequent oil & filter changes (to help prevent further wear)
and flushes to remove varnishes & build-up;
(B) A slightly thicker oil (1 step up -- if you're using 10W30,
consider a 15W- or 20W-whatever if it's in the temp range for you);
(C) Always cut open the oil filters -- that way you will see if some
parts are eating themselves up before they become catastrophic;
(D) Always permit the engine idle time before putting it under load. At
least 60 seconds, to ensure all the load-bearing surfaces are well
oiled before being stressed heavily.
(E) Planned overhaul (yank the engine, hone the cylinders or replace
the sleeves if present, drop in new rings, clean the tarnation out of
everything in the engine, renew the little bits and every bearing).
Best done by acquiring a second engine of the same type (cheap if
you're not worried about it being particularly good to start with) and
tearing it down & rebuilding it over a week or three or five rather
than being in a time crunch with the engine already in the car. Great
snow-bound project for those cold, boring winter days when the in-laws
are visiting.

Thoughts for the day:

BMW's factory racing division only uses engines that come out of used
passenger vehicles that already have 60k miles (100k km) on them,
before prepping them for racing. Why? Primarily because the years of
driving have heat treated the metals of the block to a 'deep' hardness
level that isn't cost-feasible to accomplish in any other way.

For the cost of a good quality synthetic oil, you could probably change
your car's oil with regular good quality 'dino' oil twice as often
(every 1500 miles instead of every 3000) -- and your engine would gain
far greater benefit from doing so. The only real benefit to synthetics
is their extremely light frictional mass which permits faster RPM
changes (say 2k to 4k RPM) -- so, if you don't tend to drive your
engine like a performance beast much of the time, go the old fashioned
route and double up on your oil changes instead. Your car will love you.

Cheers!
=-= Marc Glasgow

On Sunday, April 6, 2003, at 05:52 PM, Chad A. Clark wrote:

> Marc,
>  Have read with interest your posts over your time here on the s-car
> list
> and appreciate all your wisdom. My only question for now would be,
> what else
> do you know about Restore engine treatment. Thinking about using it in
> my
> '92 just for the claims alone from their marketing department. Thanks
> Marc,
>
> Chad