Additives that work.........

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How about a list of oil additives that we've used that worked. Observations and comments welcomed. Please no product bashing.

I'll start with MMO. Tradition passed down from my father, kept our engines very clean (visual inspection). Most were driven under severe Long Island, NY commuting conditions.

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Auto-Rx......worked every time I've used it. Increase in mpg, removed sludge (as evidenced in oil filter), and actually seemed to lesson oil leaks in older vehicles. I highly recommend this product.
Oh...I forgot....I also like Chevron Fuel Injector cleaner. Use it once or twice a year and after using product the engine smoothed out slightly in two vehicles I used it on. Can't say if it was placebo effect though.
 
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I've used LOTs o additives over the years, really for no good reason until I got my 9-5. In that car, arx was the only thing I saw according to visual inspection under the valve cover and examination of oil filters that did anything. That's not to say nothing else works! Just, for my specific situation, that's all I saw that worked.
I have no idea if the Rislone, CD-2, MMO, or Restore or Berryman Chemtool that I had used in the past on other cars did anything because I never had an identifiable problem that I monitored for improvement. It was more of a "this is bound to do something so let me dump it in" approach. I never had any sort of engine-related failure so at the very least, none of them HURT to terribly bad.
 
Don't believe in any boutique motor oils and stoddard solvent-based additives, except (a)AutoRx, which has helped in resolving numerous compression loss problems over the past 5 yrs; and (b) PEA based FIC (Gumout REgane/Techron concentrate).

I only believe in OTC conventional oils that consistently meets/exeeds latest API/ILSAC specifications (ACEA is fine also, but I'm indifferent to it for I don't own/operate/service European cars).

Q.
 
Additives that I have used with exceptional or great results are:

AUTO-RX - Cleaned the mega gunk buildup out my dads Caravan Engine and my Neon.

Amsoil PI - Cleaned a plugged injector in my Neon and generally works very well in making our family of engines run very smooth.

FP+ Fuel Additive - Works great as an UCL and keeps the fuel system clean and the injectors very very quiet.

Renewable Lubricants - Fuel System Cleaner Additive - Works great as an UCL and keeps the fuel system clean and the injectors very quiet.

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Mix of schaeffer's 132 cut with LC20.

I like MMO in the fuel - I can discern a difference that I can't with other adds. MMO and FP60 will both quiet a noisy fuel pump though, so lubricity is there.
 
The first additive I know for certain that worked was Marvel Mystery Oil in the gas tank of my 1971 (FREE) Dodge Dart. It had a pesky near-miss at idle that was kinda sorta like a burnt valve but a few MMO'd tankfuls cleared it right up. MMO worked fine in the crankcase of that car too but I won't go into detail as it would take up too much real estate but it did help there.

I use LC20 on a regular basis in my '95 Civic and it did remove the varnish on the valvetrain; it also appears to work exceptionally well as an oil antioxidant as the oil takes *much* longer to darken when I use LC20.

Okay, okay, Auto-Rx too- testimony number 80 on the ARX website is mine. As I type I'm draining the ARX rinse-phase oil out of my Civic; I'll pull the filter, cut 'er open and snap a photo or two and update my prior posting.
 
Originally Posted By: Spector
Tried most of them, even RX and none of them have lived up to the hype!
Did you try Auto-RXing that statement?
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(J/K)
 
Auto-Rx
Gumout Regane Complete
Amsoil PI

I've used MMO and found that it had favorable effects. I don't know if I could call it benefit, but absolutely no harm came from it, even at very high dosage levels.

I have a hard time with perpetual fuel adds.
 
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Auto-Rx
Gumout Regane Complete
Amsoil PI



..and these are your oil additives as to this post?
 
Good topic, I think the OP was referring to "Oil Additives" though. A-RX has quite a following. It thought we'd hit upon a few more hidden gems.
 
Originally Posted By: es350
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Auto-Rx
Gumout Regane Complete
Amsoil PI



..and these are your oil additives as to this post?


No. ..but while we are here...

The only other additive that I tried was VSOT. It left residue in my filter. I probably should have added only one oz per quart.

I am otherwise not into oil additives. I use MMO only in fuel ..and even that I don't do consistently. It sees my oil fired boiler once a year.
 
MMO works great for houses heated with oil heat. I had oil heat years ago, and added MMO at the beginning and end of the season. Never any problems with that old oil burner.
 
Lucas Power Steering fix (hey, power steering systems use oil too.)

My old 850 (see sig) started getting hard spots in the steering gear. So, I flushed out the old ATF with some new Castrol DexIII. Not only did it not fix the problem, but I lost ALL power steering assist.

Sucked the reservoir dry and plopped in (yes, plopped, typical lucas product, thick as molasses) a bottle of their power steering fix.

Five minutes of driving and the power steering system was as good as new! I was blown away. It was just a last ditch effort to bring it back before I dropped a few hundred on a new rack. This happened at about 120K miles. As you can see, I have more than doubled that mileage and the lucas is still in there.
 
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