Originally Posted By: axjohn
So let me see if I understand this.
I'm using a moly oil, and a moly additive regularly (VSOT or Schaffers). If I then do an Auto-RX treatment, is the Auto-RX going to remove the moly that's "coated" or "burnished" or "embedded" into the metal surfaces of my engine?
Or am I just confused about what happened in Gary's case? What, exactly, is the stuff that is in the filter pictures?
The stuff in the images is the VSOT ..which is high in moly. I just had too high a concentration.
There's only so much capacity for moly uptake ..or so I reason.
From "Moly basics"
Engineers and scientists have tried for years to use Moly in motor oils but they had been unsuccessful because they could not find a way to keep Moly in suspension. Once Moly was put into suspension it would gradually settle out. It was easy to see it come out of suspension because a black sludge would collect on the bottom of the oil containers. In engines it would settle to the bottom of the crankcase or clog oil pathways and filters.
Engineers have overcome these obstacles. They have developed a process that keeps Moly in suspension and isn't filtered out. Since that time the product has undergone extensive independent testing in labs and in the field for many years to insure that the product stands up to the rigorous needs of today's engines. With the plating action of Moly reducing friction which reduces heat, this helps keep rings free from carbon buildup, prevents blow-by, decreases emission, and extends oil life.
For all we know VSOT was surplus stock of additives that couldn't be rework and had no useful purpose. Note that they also reduced the total concentration content after a given time frame ...or there just may be simple limits to what is going to stay in suspension over a given duration at a given concentration when there is nowhere else for it to go.
..but if not for how it confounded my testing of the 0w-10 oil that had NO MOLY, I don't see my experience as a bad thing. I don't know of the reactive properties of moly in that I don't know if "spent" moly is a valid state ..much like phos and zinc. That is, if it's still doing its job, I had a 150-200ppm "Moly drip" going on in my engine.
..but it obviously wasn't something that either I or Valvoline envisioned by design or intent. It may have ended up as an unintended, but coincidentally favorable side effect. Again, that assumes that moly ..hmm..what word/term to use
...potent ..viable ... ...ah-ha! doesn't become chemically inert.
