LiquiMoly MoS2 effect on Engine Oil?

[TumblrDucks]

According to LiquiMoly this product seems to booster concentration of moly in engine oil. I have never used it and would like to see what it will do to my engine. Would it reduce wear on frequent short trip? How much moly ppm increase it would bring in 5 Qt. engine oil? Thanks.

 

[JimPghPA]

Moly is a good additive IF water does not get to it.


Add water and becomes something you do NOT want in your engine oil.

 

[oldhp]

Moly is a good additive IF water does not get to it.


Add water and becomes something you do NOT want in your engine oil.

I assume you mean condensation?

 

[kschachn]

According to LiquiMoly this product seems to booster concentration of moly in engine oil. I have never used it and would like to see what it will do to my engine. Would it reduce wear on frequent short trip? How much moly ppm increase it would bring in 5 Qt. engine oil? Thanks.

Reducing wear is relative. Does Liqui Moly provide actual teardown numbers to show how much wear is reduced? One would need that to know whether it is worth the effort or not. If wear is reduced by 0.001% that's still a reduction but hardly significant. Somehow I get the impression this is the case with many such additives.

 

[BigTimeTA]

Reducing wear is relative. Does Liqui Moly provide actual teardown numbers to show how much wear is reduced? One would need that to know whether it is worth the effort or not. If wear is reduced by 0.001% that's still a reduction but hardly significant. Somehow I get the impression this is the case with many such additives.

MoS2 has synergistic effect on ZDDP and is capable of making ZDDP tribofilm more effective. In theory it should reduce wear; The question is by how much in practical terms? And whether or not this reduction in wear will justify the cost. I think MoS2 might be of interest to higher RPM engines in track use case, and most other applications will see diminishing returns.

 

[OVERKILL]

MoS2 has synergistic effect on ZDDP and is capable of making ZDDP tribofilm more effective. In theory it should reduce wear; The question is by how much in practical terms? And whether or not this reduction in wear will justify the cost. I think MoS2 might be of interest to higher RPM engines in track use case, and most other applications will see diminishing returns.

As with most things chemistry, there's a balance and just dumping in MoS2 may or may not have a synergistic effect depending on how the oil was formulated. It's quite possible; probable in fact, to create some other negative side effect with this process, could be something as simple as increase propensity for deposit formation or a reduction in cold temperature performance.

 

[Brian123]

As with most things chemistry, there's a balance and just dumping in MoS2 may or may not have a synergistic effect depending on how the oil was formulated. It's quite possible; probable in fact, to create some other negative side effect with this process, could be something as simple as increase propensity for deposit formation or a reduction in cold temperature performance.

This will be a bad example, but I will take a shot at this, discliamer, no UOA. LOL I used this stuff in a small lawnmower engine and besides turning the oil grey I do not know what it did. I will say that after the 1st oil change the oil still had a grey color and not until the 2nd oil change was the color gone.

As with any oil additive it may work for some people and not for others.

 

[drtyler]

The only measurable effect will be less cash in your wallet.

 

[benjy]

there is always a lot of claims-MARKETING- for various additives but usually LITTLE proof!!

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

According to LiquiMoly this product seems to booster concentration of moly in engine oil. I have never used it and would like to see what it will do to my engine. Would it reduce wear on frequent short trip? How much moly ppm increase it would bring in 5 Qt. engine oil? Thanks.

There’s already some good advice in this thread, and I’ll throw this in for you to digest: in the last thread I remember perusing on this, the OP was again thinking lots of extra moly would prevent wear.

I think that’s a largely spurious assumption; one of the UOAs in that thread showed similar mileage to the universal averages and a moly content that was literally 3x the universal average…. Yet “wear” metals as a whole were literally exactly in line with universal averages.

To me, to the extent that a UOA can assess wear (TL;DR: it can’t) this shows moly does not positively or negatively impact results. Moly is a softer metal, and I think it acts more as a “shock absorber” or sound dampener. Sure, there are some papers showing moly “reduces friction” which is likely true, but if there’s no measureable benefit, is it?

IMHO, if you think your application requires “boosting”, save your money and buy a better oil rather than dumping random additives in.

But the good news is, your engine is far more positively impacted by the fact that you 1. Use an oil that meets the required specs, and 2. Change it at the recommended frequency, than it ever will be by dumping additional additives in with the oil. You can take that to the bank.

 

[TiGeo]

There are several threads in the additive sub-forum on MoS2 as well as some of my UOAs when I've run MoS2 in the UOA sub-forum you can search on title for "MoS2" to help answer your questions or at least provide lively discussion on the topic.

 

[hrv]

Moly is a good additive IF water does not get to it.


Add water and becomes something you do NOT want in your engine oil.

there is always a lot of claims-MARKETING- for various additives but usually LITTLE proof!!

One proof is the less amount of green in your wallet for purchasing the snake oil...

 

[hrv]

There are several threads in the additive sub-forum on MoS2 as well as some of my UOAs when I've run MoS2 in the UOA sub-forum you can search on title for "MoS2" to help answer your questions or at least provide lively discussion on the topic.

View attachment 122317

right up there with Dura Lube///Prolong and Motor Kote...

 

[RDY4WAR]

MoS2 has synergistic effect on ZDDP and is capable of making ZDDP tribofilm more effective. In theory it should reduce wear; The question is by how much in practical terms? And whether or not this reduction in wear will justify the cost. I think MoS2 might be of interest to higher RPM engines in track use case, and most other applications will see diminishing returns.

Not really. It's not effective enough as a solid particle additive to be of use. Most race oils, the initial dose of liquid MoDTC outperforms the solid particle MoS2 by quite a bit, and they top treat with more MoDTC and other moly-sulfur complexes on top of that. If reducing friction was a shooting sport and MoS2 was a .22lr, then the low dose of MoDTC already in modern API SP add packs would likely be a 5.56/.223. Dedicated race oils are a .338 Lapua.

Adding seasoning to a flank steak won't make it a filet mignon. If you were to add a MoS2 supplement to one of those race oils, it's likely the conflicting chemistry would do more harm than good, if anything at all.

 

[TiGeo]

right up there with Dura Lube///Prolong and Motor Kote...

MoS2 has been studied and used as a friction modifier for years - while you may feel it doesn't add any value, I wouldn't place it in the same category as Slick50 etc. It's not a "snake oil".

 

[sk_pete]

Plenty of modern organometallic additives, leave mos2 for mowers...

 

[wpod]

It turns the oil Silvery grey. I would wonder if it makes a difference in metal to metal contact if the engine ever gets to the point.

 

[TumblrDucks]

Thanks for all the suggestions and advice. No MoS2 for my engine.

 

[kschachn]

Thanks for all the suggestions and advice. No MoS2 for my engine.

Well to play the devil’s advocate I agree with TiGeo above. I am of the opinion it doesn’t hurt anything either. How much it helps would be the question. I’m going to guess it does help a little. I wouldn’t throw it out on the basis of fear only.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

A bit of it is O.K. in splash lubed ODPE. Like my Chonda powered Generac.

I will recommend against LM MoS2 in pressure lubed engine with full flow filtration.

I found a few drops make a good penetrating oil when taking my Gas Oven ignitor bracket apart

Fell for the heavy hype on here a decade ago, and my Honda Fit sport engine suffered terribly.
This made me quite unhappy for being the gullible fool - and really knowing better
Correlation, causation, coincidence? Can't say.