oil additives

[Todd Young <tyoung@wamnet.com>]

I don't want to start another never-ending discussion,
just found this on the Alldata site and wanted to pass
it along. As has been stated, whether additives help
or not is up to you to decide and act on.

Snake Oil Mythology
      Are oil additives worth using to increase engine performance and
life? There
      are so many info-mercials promoting various brands, each claiming
extensive
      research. Could any of these products damage engine parts? The
products being
      sold are Slick 50 vs. Prolong. I would hate to use one of these
products and
      find out that damage was caused from the product and therefore
voiding my
      warrantee.

Answer #1
      One should think about this for a minute. Ford, GM, Chrysler,
Toyota, Nissan,
      BMW, Mercedes, etc., are very capable and knowledgeable companies.

      If some simple additive could miraculously increase a car's
mileage,
      horsepower and performance, one of these companies would have
purchased it in
      a heartbeat. After all, their checkbook is so big that it wouldn't
be a big
      purchase for them.

      Here's an excerpt from statements made by DuPont Chemical Corp.
This
      statement was issued about ten years ago. DuPont's Fluoropolymers
Division
      Product Specialist, J.F. Imbalzano said, "Teflon is not useful as
an
      ingredient in oil additives or oils used for internal combustion
engines." At
      the time, DuPont threatened legal action against anyone who used
the name
      "Teflon" on any oil product destined for use in an internal
combustion
      engine, and refused to sell its PTFE powders to anyone who
intended to use
      them for such purposes. After a flurry of lawsuits from oil
additive makers,
      claiming DuPont could not prove that PTFE was harmful to engines,
DuPont was
      forced to once again begin selling their PTFE to the additive
producers. The
      additive makers like to claim this is some kind of "proof' that
their
      products work, when in fact it is nothing more than proof that the
American
      legal ethic of "innocent until proven guilty" is still alive and
well. The
      decision against Dupont involved what is called "restraint of
trade." You
      can't refuse to sell a product to someone just because there is a
possibility
      they might use it for a purpose other than what you intended it
for.

      So, with this much questioning of the effectiveness of additives
why would
      you want to waste your money? It's best to stick with what the
manufacturer
      recommends. Forget the slick side shows; after all they built 'em
they should
      know what works best in them.

--
Todd Young              WAM!NET Inc.
tyoung@wamnet.com       6100 West 110th Street
612-886-5051            Bloomington, MN 55438-2664
800-585-1133 ext.5051   http://www.wamnet.com/