Have you Additived an engine to Death?

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SuperDave456

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I'm curious. Has anyone ever destroyed an engine due to the additives that they have added?

I don't personally know anyone who has.
The engines that I know have been destroyed are due to the individual never changing the oil. Typically by the time someone is looking for additives their engine is already messed up.

Miracle in a bottle does not exist.

Even the additives that are proven to do nothing do little damage if you change your oil out every 5,000

What is your Additive-to-death story?
 
+1 on people waiting until the engine is toast and then looking to additives to fix it. Happens all the time.
 
I've read on here about someone years ago that added STP to a cold engine, and then tried to start it. Apparently, the 'glob' of STP sealed over the oil pick-up, and starved the engine of oil, ruining it. This was on a 1968 Firebird, or something like that....
 
Put MMO in the snowblower that had fresh 10w-30 QSHM. Was made paranoid (beaten by the thin police) and added 4 oz MMO. Engine was knocking and very low on power through that snowstorm. Dumped that (once good) fill the next day and have 10w-40 in there now (2 thick but the only non-syn, non-5w30 around the house). We'll see if he lived today. Other than that - no, dont really like additives. Have used couple oz motor medic to make thin fills thicker and M1 5w-20 to do the opposite with no issue. My problems have been turing a deaf ear to engine noise running std 5w30 oils that are obviously not working (Like Peak)
 
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I would imagine that if someone went overboard with that molases known as STP oil treatment (or similar weight stuff) they could potentially run into oil pumpability problems on a cold start (especially in a cold climate).
 
I don't use most additives except sometimes marvel but i have seen people use certain engine flushes that worked to good and cleaned all the gunk off and there was a burning oil issue after that..
I advise not to use additives the oil companies spend millions to get the perfect formula and adding other "things" changes everything
 
Originally Posted By: addyguy
I've read on here about someone years ago that added STP to a cold engine, and then tried to start it. Apparently, the 'glob' of STP sealed over the oil pick-up, and starved the engine of oil, ruining it. This was on a 1968 Firebird, or something like that....


I remember something like this, but I thought there was a grey mess inside the engine; one of the knowledgeable people suggested the mix might have caused an issue with the VII and might have caused them to precipitate out. (or something like that)
 
I saw a TDI engine with the bearings destroyed from overdosing the fuel with anti-gel additive. Wasn't mine thakfully.
 
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/posts/305146/

Quote:

VII will fall out of solution if mixed with certain esters from other additves or oils added also some PCMO if made from disolved VII may have some un disolved VII in them, in this guys case perhaps a problem with the oil and additves pushing out sticky VII or not.
bruce


In the end it was a failed OP
 
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My dad, in his infinite wisdom, poured STP into his '86 Nova all the time. In fact, that car always shot PSF out the reservoir for some reason, so he dumped STP in there too. That car just wouldn't die and it ran like that for as long as I could remember. He gave it away with well over 200k miles on it and it still was running fine.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Havent folks clogged filters with PTFE junk?



Yes. I did it to a brand new 1991 Ford Escort and really should have known better than to do it. I lived in Delaware and poured it in the warmed up ready to go motor before leaving on a trip to Florida, Texas, Arkansas and back to Delaware. The lifters where taping before I got out of Dover and never stopped before I traded it off a year later for everything else that kept breaking on the car. I managed to break the only thing that was any good on the car -- the motor with a little bottle Break Free PTFE.
 
Originally Posted By: Steve S
Clogged oil filter?, it will go into bypass and no one will know the difference.


I agree, especially since I have seen a filter where it says it has PTFE embedded in the filter media.
 
If anyone here should have additived an engine to death, it should be me.
But, I am sorry, it hasn't happened.

The only time I experienced a really noticeable negative effect, was with Auto-Rx.
I had been using a product from Germany, called MolyPremium.
When I added Auto-Rx, I noticed that the performance of the engine went down.
I have tried Auto-Rx before and after this, but have never experienced this.

About the MolyPremium, it was actually quite good, but it became too expensive for me, when freight and customs where added.
 
Originally Posted By: SuperDave456
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The engines that I know have been destroyed are due to the individual never changing the oil.




I would add that some engines die due to poor engineering, metallurgy and machining. I agree it would be rare an additive would be at fault.......BUT for that matter is the brand of oil used in correct grade and OCI ever at fault? Than why are we all posting at an oil site?
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Man, I gotta get a life
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I am getting tired of the entire oil additive field myself. Mobil 1 5W30 HM oil has finally arrived at Wal-Mart for what looks like a good price and I am going to give it a try. Mobil claims that this oil can clean the internals of engines and I would believe Mobil before I would believe any of these oil supplement makers. And I am a good candidate for this oil since I have 80,000 miles on my engine. It says on the container that the oil is intended for engines with 75,000 miles or more.

People are saying here now that Auto-RX does not work well on aluminum engines. Well, I think my engine (Saturn Ion) has both an aluminum block and an aluminum head.

If I use any oil supplements at all I might add a small amount of MMO a few hundred miles before an oil change or I might give Lubegard Engine Flush a try (non-solvent).
 
No one needs a HM oil if the engine is running fine. Until an issue develops stay with what has been working. 80,000 miles, very doubtful it is dirty or sludged

As to additives, I swear TufOil killed my 85 Volvo, main bearings but cannot prove it, just a very very close coincidence
 
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