Marvel Mystery Oil fixed my compression and misfire issue

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Exactly. I always thought the same thing about a certain oil in the past. If this certain oil didn't have the names "Royal" and Purple" in it, it very likely would have been a BITOG favorite, instead of the target of a BITOG hate fest.
I remember when Valvoline was considered a subpar lube around here because they used sodium back in the day. It almost always produced great UOAs and there was never anything to indicate it was anything put a quality product but….
 
I remember when Valvoline was considered a subpar lube around here because they used sodium back in the day. It almost always produced great UOAs and there was never anything to indicate it was anything put a quality product but….
It wasn’t in a yellow bottle too!
 
Here is the analysis on the original MMO from 2014 and comments about each component in MMO:
Marvel Mystery Oil - Analysis by University lab (Any element with 2 ppm or lower is not reported)
Phos - 631 ppm Use: Anti-wear
Potassium – 60 ppm USE: Buffer and weak detergent.
Viscosity – 2.3 cSt@100C, 7.9 cSt@40C Comment: One very LV liquid! Due to light fraction Hydrocarbon Content. Flash Point – 143F
Hydrocarbons: Naphthenic Hydrocarbons Use: Oil Carrier and weak Solvent Mineral Spirits Use: A Medium Solvent
Chlorinated Hydrocarbons of orthodichlorobenzene Use: Strong solvent and decarbonizer.


General Comments:

1) MMO was originally designed as a fuel additive to help remove or reduce tetraethyl lead deposits created by the high lead content of previous era gasolines. Spark plugs might be good for a maximum of 30,000 miles because lead deposits would form shorts across the spark gap, resulting in misfires.

2) I do not recommend the use of MMO in the crankcase because the very low viscosity of MMO presents a problem for low viscosity oils in the XW20 range or lower, in that it reduces the oil thickness (viscosity), the Minimum Oil Film Thickness (MOFT) between reciprocating and rubbing parts,, and lowers HT/HS values.

3) IMHO, there are better fuel system cleaners out there with the PEA carbon dispersants included,

4) If you think you have stuck piston rings, or combustion chamber deposits, or sludge deposits, the High Performance Engine Cleaner (HPL EC) is currently the best engine cleaner available.
What about mixing MMO with a 30 or 40 weight?
Is it a decent cleaner for the money?

Especially us Canadians getting HPL is like finding Jimmy Hoffa.
 
Though I believe that the OP has a cool story to convey, but if knowledge is why we are here to begin with (as it is for me) then by reading @MolaKule's post, we all should gain knowledge and appreciate it! Nothing beats knowledge and science in real life.
Yes on both counts. From first hand experience it will do some cleaning. Absolutely fascinating how much knowledge he has, always enjoy his reads.
 
Type F was always used as my back yard engine flush.

Trans fluid has so many uses, it’s greatly underrated

Reminds me of my Grandpa, good memories.
If his old cars were low on oil, and nearing oil change time, he would pour in some Automatic Transmission Fluid.
Then drive it for a few days, and drain it.
He swore that it helped keep his engine clean.
Considering he drove an old car, with a lot of miles, and it ran great still, maybe there was something to his madness.

Back on topic, I've never heard of Marvel Mystery Oil before this thread.
 
Thanks, I did not know that. I just want to make sure my spider injectors stay clean because they are notorious for sticking.
The new Multec II injector design(MPFI) with the long plastic tubes at the end of the injectors was meant specifically to eliminate the carbon fouling/injector sticking issues of having the original poppet nozzles(CSFI) so close to the valve. That is all to say that your new injectors should remain much cleaner and not get stuck due to carbon buildup. A bottle of PEA-based injector cleaner once a oil change is what I do as a maintenance item.

I have done the same swap on my 98 K1500 when I had the top end pulled apart to replace intake gaskets years ago.
 
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I have a 2001 Chevy Blazer with the 4.3 Vortec. It only has 107k miles. I bought it with 103,300 ish miles.

So about 2 months ago, random misfires started occurring. I've been having random misfire issues on cylinder 1,2,3, and 4 for about two months. These cylinders are the two front cylinders, and the middle cylinders on each bank.

The engine was running rough enough for me to realize that my engine was misfiring. About once a week, I would get a P0300. The P0300 was always pending, but once a week, the counts would rack up and cause the engine light to come on.



About 6 months ago, I’ve replaced the spider injectors, and the lower intake gaskets, so I knew these weren’t causing the misfires. I also always run a bottle of Techron about once a month, so I knew the fuel injectors were clean enough.

So I checked the distributor, spark plugs, wires, ignition coils, ICM, and the vaccum. Camshaft retard was also at 0 degrees. Everything was in great shape and was working properly, verified by my scan tool and the tests I performed. When I took the distributor out, the lifter valley was pretty brown looking, little bits of sludge on the inside. But the distributor gear didn’t have that much wear on them. Rotor and cap was also clean. I also took off the valve covers to actually look at the rockers to make sure they were opening and closing all the way, and they were.

So I decided to do a compression test. And the compression on cylinder 1,2,3 and 4 was lower than the rest. Number 1 was the lowest of them all, reading at 105psi. I got worried, because I was thinking maybe somebody swapped a junkyard Vortec before I bought it.

I had a bottle of marvel mystery oil laying around in the garage, so I added some to the crank case. I drove with it in my engine for about 3 days, and the misfires disappeared. The engine started smoothing out the more I drove it. The misfire counters are reading zero now, and the history counts are also zero.

I just checked the compression again yesterday, and the compression was all pretty much equal across all cylinders, nice and high in the 145-155psi range. I took the distributor out again, and the lifter valley was noticeably cleaner, still brown, but the bits of sludge was all gone.

The crazy thing is I’ve been using Mobil 1 0w40 Euro oil this whole year, and I’ve been changing the oil every 3 months. What’s up with that BITOG?


So, the moral of the story is, MMO does work.
I don’t know how well it works as a fuel system cleaner, but it sure did work very well in the crank case for me.

Anybody that has low compression, and a dirty engine, use some MMO. It works very very well. I don’t think it’s snake oil :)
MMO cleared the Misfires in 3 Days! Why mention Mobil 1 0W-40 with MMO, they do not go together. It would have been nice if you could have documented what you did in a YouTube Video. You mentioned changing Mobil 1 0W-40 every 3 months, any UOA's, how many miles were driven in 3 months?

Valve Cover Pics before and after would also have been nice 2 C

Glad MMO worked 4 u!

You did mention that this was a Used Car, any idea how long this car had been sitting?

You said The Moral of the story is that MMO worked for you, sorry 2 say that your story is just a story.

Claims made without evidence can be dismissed without evidence!
 
What about mixing MMO with a 30 or 40 weight?
Is it a decent cleaner for the money?

Especially us Canadians getting HPL is like finding Jimmy Hoffa.
See Post #73

"General Comments:

1) MMO was originally designed as a fuel additive to help remove or reduce tetraethyl lead deposits created by the high lead content of previous era gasolines. Spark plugs might be good for a maximum of 30,000 miles because lead deposits would form shorts across the spark gap, resulting in misfires.

2) I do not recommend the use of MMO in the crankcase because the very low viscosity of MMO presents a problem for low viscosity oils in the XW20 range or lower, in that it reduces the oil thickness (viscosity), the Minimum Oil Film Thickness (MOFT) between reciprocating and rubbing parts,, and lowers HT/HS values.

3) IMHO, there are better fuel system cleaners out there with the PEA carbon dispersants included,

4) If you think you have stuck piston rings, or combustion chamber deposits, or sludge deposits, the High Performance Engine Cleaner (HPL EC) is currently the best engine cleaner available."

You can order HPL's products through https://www.advlubrication.com/collections/automotive-lubricants
 
Screenshot_20231226-103955_Firefox.jpg


I found this, maybe its true, I don't know, but interesting.
 
See Post #73

"General Comments:

1) MMO was originally designed as a fuel additive to help remove or reduce tetraethyl lead deposits created by the high lead content of previous era gasolines. Spark plugs might be good for a maximum of 30,000 miles because lead deposits would form shorts across the spark gap, resulting in misfires.

2) I do not recommend the use of MMO in the crankcase because the very low viscosity of MMO presents a problem for low viscosity oils in the XW20 range or lower, in that it reduces the oil thickness (viscosity), the Minimum Oil Film Thickness (MOFT) between reciprocating and rubbing parts,, and lowers HT/HS values.

3) IMHO, there are better fuel system cleaners out there with the PEA carbon dispersants included,

4) If you think you have stuck piston rings, or combustion chamber deposits, or sludge deposits, the High Performance Engine Cleaner (HPL EC) is currently the best engine cleaner available."

You can order HPL's products through https://www.advlubrication.com/collections/automotive-lubricants
Shipping and customs charges make it way to expensive to use.
 
4) If you think you have stuck piston rings, or combustion chamber deposits, or sludge deposits, the High Performance Engine Cleaner (HPL EC) is currently the best engine cleaner available."
Do we have actual evidence of this in controlled testing or vs. other popular products? Tough one for me at least on that statement, I've used it for sure in multiple vehicles but I'm not sure if it does much vs. anything else I've used. Their oil on the other hand seems to be a viable long-term cleaner-upper based on several users here experiences and the EC just a prep for that. Maybe "currently is my recommendation for" is a better way to say that, and coming form you, that does carry weight more than others around here.
 
You are attributing causality to mere coincidence.

Mobil 1 may have been a change in oil, and the misfires may have started subsequent to that change, but there is no evidence that Mobil 1 caused your misfires, or lowered your compression.

Sometimes, I wish I could walk by each car being worked on near my shop, and shake a stick over them, chanting ”Ugga booga”.

Then when the car is fixed, I could go back and take credit. Clearly, the car was broken. Also, clearly, my sorcerous use of the stick with the incantation happened before the car was fixed.

Ergo, I fixed the car with my magic.

See how that works?

Correlation. Not necessarily causation.
The difference is the car was fixed by some other method after your chant, here with the OP, he dumped MMO in and it was fixed according to his story, and that's all he did so your analogy isn't a good one. What fixed the OPs car that was the source of the correlation with MMO?
 
The difference is the car was fixed by some other method after your chant, here with the OP, he dumped MMO in and it was fixed according to his story, and that's all he did so your analogy isn't a good one. What fixed the OPs car that was the source of the correlation with MMO?
The analogy is good.

The OP is looking only at the chant, while ignoring all other potentialities.

If I consider only my one action, the chant (and it’s the magic stick, too, but let us not get too picky) is clearly the cause.

The failure in logic is attributing causality, when there is only correlation, and other possibilities remain unexamined.
 
The analogy is good.

The OP is looking only at the chant, while ignoring all other potentialities.

If I consider only my one action, the chant (and it’s the magic stick, too, but let us not get too picky) is clearly the cause.

The failure in logic is attributing causality, when there is only correlation, and other possibilities remain unexamined.
Yes, I get what you are saying that you are attributing the chant to MMO but again....the shop fixed the car, here, there was no other reason I can attribute to his results unless he is not telling the whole story/ Here, MMO is an actual product that is supposed to do this with other testimonials of improvement like this, your stick is not. If he had used HPL EC I can bet the convo here would have been different.
 
I've used MMO. Lots of engines, various manufacturers, and various levels of previous maintenance history. In a couple cases it did nothing, neither good or bad. But in majority of cases it did what it is known to do.

- When used in the crankcase it quieted many lifters and/or valvetrain noises. Long term good results continued long after MMO was used.
- It revived multiple fuel gauges across different vehicles, smoothened out the normal engine vibrations, and quieted the fuel pumps, when used in the fuel tank.
- In OPE or older vehicles it kept the carburetor clean, and improved starting after off-season or long sitting.

Science and engineering are useless, if its findings can't be confirmed by real world results. My personal real world results, across a huge number of units, tells me that MMO is still a product I can rely on in an application that needs it. Such as some of the applications I listed above, and more. Although I'm still salty about it doubling in price through this inflation period.

It's no mystery that most people hate on that product just because of its gimmicky name. At the end of the day it's one of the few products that works, and achieves the most positive improvements per dollar spent on it. From a small B&S mower, to a Komatsu mining bulldozer, and everything in between that's seen any maintenance neglect.
 
I worked in a motorcycle shop in the late 70's. It was 18 miles to town, and every now and then, a brand new motorcycle would simply "lock up" on the way. Let it sit for 15 or 20 minutes and it was good to go.

The regional rep told us that it was because the Japanese motorcycles were built to very close tolerances, and that they needed to be warmed up for several minutes before riding them, in order to "equalize the cylinder temperatures".

That same day, a salesman sold the shop owner two cases of Marvel Mystery Oil - with instructions to "add four or five capfuls to the gas tank" on each new motorcycle. After that, we never had another incident.

Looking back, we probably could have used a little 2-stroke oil instead. Or....
 
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