Originally Posted by snoyes

About Slick 50 and the different additives out there.

The basic ingredient is the same in most of these additives: 50 weight engine oil with standard additives. The magic ingredient in Slick 50, Liquid Ring, Matrix, QM1 and T-Plus from K-Mart is Polytetrafluoroethylene. Don't try to pronounce it: call it PTFE. But don't call it Teflon, which is what it is, because that is a registered trademark. Dupont, who invented Teflon, claims that "Teflon is not useful as an ingredient in oil additives or oils used for internal combustion engines." But what do they know? They haven't seen the secret studies done by Petrolon (Slick 50).

PTFE is a solid which is added to engine oil and coats the moving parts of the engine.

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).

In defense of Slick 50, tests done on a Chevy 6 cylinder engine by the University of Utah Engineering Experiment Station found that after treatment with the PTFE additive the test engine's friction was reduced by 13.1 percent, the output horsepower increased from 5.3 percent to 8.1 percent, and fuel economy improved as well. Unfortunately, the same tests concluded that "There was a pressure drop across the oil filter resulting from possible clogging of small passageways." Oil analysis showed that iron contamination doubled after the treatment, indicating that engine wear increased (Rau).

the FTC and Slick 50

In 1997, three subsidiaries of Quaker State Corp. (the makers of Slick 50) settled Federal Trade Commission charges that ads for Quaker State's Slick 50 Engine Treatment were false and unsubstantiated. According to the FTC complaint, claims such as the following made in Slick 50 ads falsely represented that without Slick 50, auto engines generally have little or no protection from wear at start-up and commonly experience premature failure caused by wear:

"Every time you cold start your car without Slick 50 protection, metal grinds against metal in your engine."

"With each turn of the ignition you do unseen damage, because at cold start-up most of the oil is down in the pan. But Slick 50's unique chemistry bonds to engine parts. It reduces wear up to 50% for 50,000 miles."

"What makes Slick 50 Automotive Engine Formula different is an advanced chemical support package designed to bond a specially activated PTFE to the metal in your engine."

In fact, the FTC said, "most automobile engines are adequately protected from wear at start-up when they use motor oil as recommended in the owner's manual. Moreover, it is uncommon for engines to experience premature failure caused by wear, whether they have been treated with Slick 50 or not."

Originally Posted by dslpwr81

Well yes it is Blackstone. Since we are naming them, I had an extensive conversation with a gentleman there and we talked about oil samples and oil specifically for the 5.9 cummins. I mentioned I used Amsoil, Royal Purple, Valvoline and Rotella. The last oil sample that I sent it, it was Royal Purple. He told me that the 5.9 Cummins does not really care for that paticular oil. He said that certain diesels respond diff. to diff. oils. He said that with the thousands of 5.9 test that they do, in his opinion the best oil for the 5.9cummins is Rotella 15w40. I told him that I usaully run Rotella Synthetic and he said don't waist your money. Use the 15w40. He said that if you were worried about cold starts or dry starts, use a bottle of Lucas oil. Lucas oil turns out to be excellent in the 5.9 cummins. I have no reason to disagree or not believe him. He is the one who test oils, not me. I have tried the Lucas and my oil samples came back excellent. Call Blackstone on Monday and just talk with one of the guys there about the 5.9/Rotella/Lucas combo. It seems to work for me. Test come back GREAT.

Originally Posted by dslpwr81

Trik396. You may be right.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/images/lucas/lucas.htm

Originally Posted by DBLR

I think many of you would satin your shorts if you knew how much Lucas oil additive or power punch is used it semi trailer wheel bearings to help keep them rolling along with out fail. I can say once Lucas is mixed in it sure don't look like the photo on Bob the oil guy web site.

Originally Posted by DBLR

I think many of you would satin your shorts if you knew how much Lucas oil additive or power punch is used it semi trailer wheel bearings to help keep them rolling along with out fail. I can say once Lucas is mixed in it sure don't look like the photo on Bob the oil guy web site.

Originally Posted by D-Roc

You seem to be a strong advocate of lucas...do you use it in your Dodge Diesel truck? Any pros and cons?