STP High Mileage

[Greg L]

Anyone ever use this additive? It looks to be new, in a silver bottle.

I have bought the older 'red' bottle of the oil treatment in the past, and used it as a zinc suppliment when I was in a pinch. It was used on my 1951 270ci Jimmy motor, and my son's 1965 230ci Chevy. Both are currently using Chevron Supreme 10w30.


Lately, my old motor has been smoking on warm-up with this 10w30 oil. It never did that before when I have used 15w40 or 20w50. My motor was a fairly recent rebuild (5 years ago) with about 3500 miles on engine.

I bought some of the new 'silver' bottle STP additive to hopefully stop the smoking, plus the ZDDP. I only added half the bottle after running the truck for 30 minutes. Only thing it did was quiet down the valve train.


Anyone know the reliability of this stuff? Is it bad/good for long term use?


Thanks in advance.


GL

 

[Mystic]

I think it is better to use the 15W40 or 20W50 motor oil instead of the STP. You said those thicker oils stopped the smoking. Of course in the wintertime depending on where you live you might have to use a thinner oil.

I also wonder why an engine that was rebuilt not so long ago and does not have a lot of miles is already having problems.

 

[Greg L]

Again, this was the first time ever I used a 10w30 weight on this motor....so maybe you are right.

I myself did not do the rebuild, the previous owner of the motor did. Maybe their idea of a 'rebuild' did not include a new set of rings and/or re-boring.


GL

 

[Thax]

Skip the STP and use Rotella T 15w40

 

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted By: Greg L
Anyone ever use this additive? It looks to be new, in a silver bottle.

I have bought the older 'red' bottle of the oil treatment in the past, and used it as a zinc suppliment when I was in a pinch. It was used on my 1951 270ci Jimmy motor, and my son's 1965 230ci Chevy. Both are currently using Chevron Supreme 10w30.


Lately, my old motor has been smoking on warm-up with this 10w30 oil. It never did that before when I have used 15w40 or 20w50. My motor was a fairly recent rebuild (5 years ago) with about 3500 miles on engine.

I bought some of the new 'silver' bottle STP additive to hopefully stop the smoking, plus the ZDDP. I only added half the bottle after running the truck for 30 minutes. Only thing it did was quiet down the valve train.


Anyone know the reliability of this stuff? Is it bad/good for long term use?


Thanks in advance.


GL


It's been discussed here not long ago and I personally wouldn't bother with it. There's also a VOA here showing a pretty disappointingly weak add pack, and lower than expected Zinc IIRC...

If you want to use a thinner oil (for cold weather I presume), I'd use Quaker State Defy HM 10w30 or 10W-40, which is high in ZDDP. Then go back to Rotella or Chevron 15w40 in the summer...

 

[Nickdfresh]

Here: https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2701357

 

[skyship]

Originally Posted By: Greg L
Anyone ever use this additive? It looks to be new, in a silver bottle.

I have bought the older 'red' bottle of the oil treatment in the past, and used it as a zinc suppliment when I was in a pinch. It was used on my 1951 270ci Jimmy motor, and my son's 1965 230ci Chevy. Both are currently using Chevron Supreme 10w30.
Lately, my old motor has been smoking on warm-up with this 10w30 oil. It never did that before when I have used 15w40 or 20w50. My motor was a fairly recent rebuild (5 years ago) with about 3500 miles on engine.
I bought some of the new 'silver' bottle STP additive to hopefully stop the smoking, plus the ZDDP. I only added half the bottle after running the truck for 30 minutes. Only thing it did was quiet down the valve train.
Anyone know the reliability of this stuff? Is it bad/good for long term use?
Thanks in advance.
GL


I don't know this type of engine, but it probably should use a classic car oil. At a guess a 10/40 or 50 with a high Zn level of around 1200 plus ppm. Another option is to use a High Mileage oil and if its warm in winter a 15w40 would be good.
Is the engine burning much oil?, as a bad fuel mixture can cause smoke that when mixed with steam looks like oil smoke. It might just be carbon in the cylinders and need a good run. Pray it's not head gasket trouble.
PS. I would bin the snake oil and look for a better oil, STP caused a near epedemic of sludge cases in the UK. It's only good for noise reduction.

 

[Clevy]

I think that particular oil treatment has less zddp then 10w30 oil does,so if your using it to try to fortify the oil with zddp you are actually weakening it.
Gm has a gm branded oil additive with iirc 60000ppm zddp. Find that stuff. You wouldn't need much to bring up the zddp levels

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: skyship
Originally Posted By: Greg L
Anyone ever use this additive? It looks to be new, in a silver bottle.

I have bought the older 'red' bottle of the oil treatment in the past, and used it as a zinc suppliment when I was in a pinch. It was used on my 1951 270ci Jimmy motor, and my son's 1965 230ci Chevy. Both are currently using Chevron Supreme 10w30.
Lately, my old motor has been smoking on warm-up with this 10w30 oil. It never did that before when I have used 15w40 or 20w50. My motor was a fairly recent rebuild (5 years ago) with about 3500 miles on engine.
I bought some of the new 'silver' bottle STP additive to hopefully stop the smoking, plus the ZDDP. I only added half the bottle after running the truck for 30 minutes. Only thing it did was quiet down the valve train.
Anyone know the reliability of this stuff? Is it bad/good for long term use?
Thanks in advance.
GL


I don't know this type of engine, but it probably should use a classic car oil. At a guess a 10/40 or 50 with a high Zn level of around 1200 plus ppm. Another option is to use a High Mileage oil and if its warm in winter a 15w40 would be good.
Is the engine burning much oil?, as a bad fuel mixture can cause smoke that when mixed with steam looks like oil smoke. It might just be carbon in the cylinders and need a good run. Pray it's not head gasket trouble.
PS. I would bin the snake oil and look for a better oil, STP caused a near epedemic of sludge cases in the UK. It's only good for noise reduction.


A post from skyship that is pretty much right on. Forget the stp stuff. Lucas will thicken the oil just as well but that isn't what your after

 

[skyship]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
I think that particular oil treatment has less zddp then 10w30 oil does,so if your using it to try to fortify the oil with zddp you are actually weakening it.
Gm has a gm branded oil additive with iirc 60000ppm zddp. Find that stuff. You wouldn't need much to bring up the zddp levels


Do you mean GM EOS additive that was designed as a flat tappet break in additive, then sold as a Zinc supplement before being withdrawn from the market in 2007? The EPA got on their case about fouling up the exhaust.
There are other Zinc additives for classic cars available, but classic car oils and High Mileage oils have enough except for break in use.

 

[ueberooo]

Originally Posted By: Nickdfresh
Here: https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2701357


So, is it probably correct that it is the same as the blue bottle (or red bottle) plus some seal conditioner???

So, what does regular STP add'v have that's actually of any use???

Is it just a Viscosity Index improver to bring the grade up a little?

Or are there other additives of any significant amount (because the amt of zddp is actually insignificant and will lower avg zddp in oil); like, are there detergents?