Love my Lucas Oil Additives...

[trainwrecker823]

I've seen the link on bobistheoilguy.com about Lucas Oil Additives.

I've also seen the beautiful, clean oil that squirts out of my pushrods AND circulates in my oil pans. My 3-3/4 quarts of Castrol GTX with 3/4 qt. of Lucas Oil looks NOTHING LIKE what "Bob" shows in his little plastic box with gears. I don't have any "entrapped air" showing up in my engines' oil.

Also, I have VERY LITTLE goop stuck to my magnetic drain plugs. If Lucas was "entrapping air" in my oil, shouldn't I have more wear and more goop??

Lastly, at 3,000 miles, my engines' oil still looks new (just like Lucas advertises: "extends oil life")! I change 'em anyways, every 3K or 3mos.

Why does Bob's oil entrap air, but the oils in my engines do not?


FYI: I am not affiliated with the Lucas Oil Company. I just put it in everything (except steering fluid and martini's). My friends and I have been swearing by it for years--using it in '80's Chevy Camaro Race Cars, International Tractors, '01 Camry, '07? GTO, and various Ford and GM Pick-ups/Vans.

Lucas Oil Products:
The Pros: Better mileage, less wear, quiets engine.
The Cons: Other than having to pay for it, NONE.

 

[Pablo]

I bear no grudge with Lucas, but I don't think their products a miraculous or anything. Mostly high vis brightstock.

As for Bob's tests, indeed they are what we call "highly cheese". Never liked the unscientific aspects and some of the eggbeater ones are hilarious.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Yeah, it's got all that great stuff the stupid oil company scientists forgot to include.

It is kind of wierd how plain oil can pass all the extreme test specs for Euro cars without Lucas, it must be a conspiricy.

I'm shure it's the same conspiricy that keeps Lucas from any factory-fill contracts and submitting to those same tests themselves.

At $10 a quart for that amazing greasy slop, it definately meets my criteria for cost/effectiveness. You can document all the effectiveness, right, cool.

 

[Hitzy]

use good oil, and there will be no need or benefit of lucas oil treatment.

 

[d00df00d]

Oil color doesn't tell you much about oil condition or engine wear.

Less noise doesn't mean the engine is working better (the thicker oil might just be deadening the sound).

How do you know the additive is improving fuel economy and wear?

 

[-Clayton-]

Pucas oil stabilizer is only good for making your wallet lighter. Although the fuel additive is a decent product.

 

[bepperb]

It's a shame all those cars hitting 300,000, 400,000 miles without Lucas Oil Stabilizer. If only those people knew what they were missing.

 

[DieselTech]

I believe BOBs air and oil issue really helped Lucas realize there product was indeed doing this and harming the Powerstroke diesels HUEI injection system and High Pressure oil system. It is a fact the the stabilizer did do this and one main reason lucas developed the synthetic additive.

Use good oil and you don't need any of this stuff. Even the added cost you could purchase redline

 

[Colt45ws]

Lucas has nothing in it. Not even to replace the additives that were diluted down when you added it to the oil. All it is is a thickener. If you think you need a thick oil, buy a thick oil. Just my opinion.

 

[m37charlie]

According to its' MSDS/PDS, it is 100% residual oil (what the Navy used to burn in ships preheated first) with a viscosity of 110 cSt @ 100 C. Using the Rohmax calculator and assuming a VI of 100, that means it has a viscosity of >21000 cSt @ 40 C. The same as 5W40 motor oil at -35 C. or 15W40 at -25 C., the lower limits of their safe usability. Heaven forbid the stuff gets really cold. You are adding this your oil?
I have previously said I would only use a product like this if I had for example a bad rod bearing develop on a trip and it there was a need to get to the next place it could be repaired. Using it on a routine basis could cause the more viscous mixture to "rip" under high shear conditions, particularly when cold.

Charlie

 

[demarpaint]

We had a mechanic at a Honda dealership I worked at that added it to noisy Hondas. It would quiet them down just enough. Problem was he'd never tell the used car dept what he did to the cars to make them ready. Many times customers would come back after their first oil change complaining of a noisy engine.

IMO the only purpose that stuff has is to quiet something down in need of repair just long enough to unload it. I'd pass, I'd rather fix the problem then hide it. Or in the used car business I wish I had a manager who actually checked cars before he bought them. Glad I left that business.

 

[Trav]

I also live in Ma.At this time of year it maybe causing more cold start wear than less.I think the extra $10 spent on Lucas would be better spent on a motor oil upgrade or a trip to McDonalds.
Some people just cant believe that quality motor oil cant keep the engine alive and clean without some magical additive.If that's the case a quart of MMO would probably be more beneficial in winter.

 

[trainwrecker823]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d
How do you know the additive is improving fuel economy and wear?


I'm the kinda guy who checks his mileage at every fill-up. When I use Lucas in the oil AND gas, I up my mileage approx. 4MPG (factoring city/hwy/traffic/etc.).

I assume (yes, I know how to spell it...) it improves wear, as very little "goop" appears on my magnetic oil drain plugs.

As Trav mentioned, I am also concerned about the colder-weather affecting the Lucas.


I'd like to thank everybody that responded to my thread--you all seem well-informed. And you'll be happy to know (especially Jim) that I'm going to quit the Pucas...I mean Lucas...today! I'm gonna drop my fluids today, and run some MMO--just in case I missed a drop!

I doubt I'll be able to convince my friends to stop, but I'll try. Thanks again!

 

[demarpaint]

I'd love to hear your findings with the MMO. I've tried them all and keep going back to MMO for the UCL. I am experimenting, again with TCW-3, but seem to like the MMO better.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: trainwrecker823
I'm the kinda guy who checks his mileage at every fill-up. When I use Lucas in the oil AND gas, I up my mileage approx. 4MPG (factoring city/hwy/traffic/etc.).

Try a few fill-ups with just the Lucas fuel additive. That's decent stuff for sure.


Originally Posted By: trainwrecker823
I assume (yes, I know how to spell it...) it improves wear, as very little "goop" appears on my magnetic oil drain plugs.

Wear is a complicated issue. Adding the Lucas oil stuff might have just changed the sizes of the metal particles coming off your engine so that you don't see them on the drain plug. It might also be decreasing wear in some areas with ferrous metals, but increasing it in other areas where the metal doesn't stick to magnets. Without tear-downs, it's really hard (some would say impossible) to tell.


Originally Posted By: trainwrecker823
I doubt I'll be able to convince my friends to stop, but I'll try. Thanks again!

My brother had a friend who used Castrol Syntec 5w-50 with Lucas Oil Stabilizer in his Honda S2000. The oil is already way too thick for that engine (factory/service fill is a 5w30 conventional), and he adds the Lucas on top of that. We just couldn't talk him out of it. When we asked him why he used that oil and that additive, he gave the same old "never had a problem with them" answer...

 

[trainwrecker823]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I'd love to hear your findings with the MMO. I've tried them all and keep going back to MMO for the UCL. I am experimenting, again with TCW-3, but seem to like the MMO better.


Changed the Chevy's oil and transmission-fluid today. Added 1-qt of MMO (a bit more than needed, I know) to Castrol 5w30. I am using Castrol because I have gallons of it. Also added 6-oz. of MMO to 16-gallons of gas.

Tomorrow, I'll do the same to my Toyota. I'll post results as soon as I have them...

 

[glen242]

Originally Posted By: trainwrecker823

How do you know the additive is improving fuel economy and wear?


I'm the kinda guy who checks his mileage at every fill-up. When I use Lucas in the oil AND gas, I up my mileage approx. 4MPG (factoring city/hwy/traffic/etc.)....

quote]

How do you 'factor in' for mileage? How would I 'factor in' for time spent idleing in the garage during a tune up or what ever?

Always looking for new math formulas to justify things I do on my car.

Poor old me, I always thought gas milage was figured by miles driven/fuel used.

What constents do you use (factoring city/hwy/traffic/etc.)....to reach your conclusions?

 

[trainwrecker823]

Originally Posted By: glen242
Originally Posted By: trainwrecker823

How do you know the additive is improving fuel economy and wear?



What constents do you use (factoring city/hwy/traffic/etc.)....to reach your conclusions?



I fill up nearest to the highway, drive 350+ miles to see my son, I fuel up as soon as I get off the highway: I call this "highway" MPG (I've gotten up to 31.3).

When mostly around town, I track miles to next fill-up: I call this "city" MPG (lowest=18, best=25).

When I drive a lot of short-distance highway trips, with some around-town, I call this "average" MPG (I average about 28).

BTW--driving today without the Lucas and with MMO has greatly increased power and responsiveness to my 3.1L Chevy.

My oil pressure has also reduced about 20psi--Now reading 80psi when idled-up/driving, 60psi when warm, in park, and 40psi when in drive (car stopped).
With the Lucas, my oil pressure was RARELY below 80psi.

 

[JohnBrowning]

Why spend top dollar on bright stock that is reducing the additives in your oil by diluting it? Whynot just by thicker oil if youwant thicker oil? I have never had an oil not look good at 3000 miles but I normaly go 10,000 miles or 6 months which ever comes first. The color of my oil does not tell me anything at all really. I urine looks nice in a glass jar but that does not tell me it is clean, s sterile devoide of bacteria,blood, traces of protien etc......In order for me to tell what isin my urine I have to get it tested not put it in a glas jar or check for spots in my under wear! So what does your oil looking good on the dipstick after 3000 miles have to do with anything??? That is almost as pointless as my urine example above. I just got out of class and am going to school to become a Histologist so I look at all kins of body fluids and tissues what fun!Unless you have some way of doing molecular testing of that oil with your eye balls i would say your diatribe on Lucas is pointless.

1) Why add anything to oil to thicken it?
2) What does thickening the oil do for you over buying thicker oil to start with"
3) Why add Bright Stock to your oil?
4) What additives are in Lucaus and in what amounts?
5)If the additives in Lucas are in lower concentrations then in your regular motor oil then you are diluting your oil not adding anything to it!
6) Why would you want to end up with fewer additives in your oil then it starts out with?
7)When looking at your dip stick or even at the oil coming out of the push rods what are you seeing? I mean that oil comes out of that push rod might fast how are you supposed to see any microscopic bubbles traped in the oil as it fly out of the end of the push rod with both speed and pressure? You are not able to see the oil inthe oil pump that is for sure. Plus I believe that 3/4 of a quart is not the max amount that Lucas recomends either.

I can entrap air bubbles with their factory made displays at the parts store either the egg beater type of display or the one with plastic gears. Now if my handicapped self can crank the handle fast enough to entrap air on their own display that says it all. It is not like I am an olympic level Lucas Display Gear Cranking Gold Medalist. My kids love cranking it and watching not only the oil cling but the way it changes colors as they crank it faster. That color change they are seeing is tiny air bubbles entrapped in the fluid.

It goes with o ut saying that as the concentration of bright stock increases this effect increaser's. It is not even just Lucas in SOuth AMerica their are all kinds of different brands that are just like Lucas but they come in cans instead of bottles and they all do the same thing.


If you want to add junk to your engine go for it but try reading up some time on it. Their is a used oil analysis of it and also Risolen. Neither of them contain any additives that are not already in your oil and worse yet they are in concentrations lower then your cheap .49 a quart motor oil is!VII's and bright stock just what every engine needs? Their is more to or I should say less to Lucas then just traped air bubbles. SOme of their products are alright like their UCL.

 

[Colt45ws]

Originally Posted By: trainwrecker823

My oil pressure has also reduced about 20psi--Now reading 80psi when idled-up/driving, 60psi when warm, in park, and 40psi when in drive (car stopped).
With the Lucas, my oil pressure was RARELY below 80psi.

That tells me that the oil bypass on your engine is about 80psi and you were hitting it all the time with the Lucas.
Now think about it. Before you had so much extra pressure your pump was blowing oil right back into the pan all the time. Now, most of the time, your engine is getting all the oil it can pump. You are actually flowing more oil through the bearings, etc.