Who has used Slick50?

[Tosh]

Felt ripped off for $49 for Slick 50 in my 85 SAAB 900. Couldn't tell anything by temperature, revving, or MPG.
Got my money back on the $40(?) Z-Max under their money back guarantee since my MPGs didn't budge.
No more oil additives for me: synthetic oil seems all the money-spending I can justify.
Now fuel treatments, there's an area for spending money! Come on, FP60....

 

[CBR.worm]

I used Tufoil in my '86 toyota. It quieted a light idle knock. seemed to work.

 

[LubeOiler]

For the most part everyone got by without any hot spots causing a major malfunction.Perhaps in small amounts it doesn't hurt. The trans Slick 50 even has a 36K warrenty.Slick 50® High Mileage Automatic Transmission Treatment
The average age of a car on the road is 9.1 years. The automatic transmission fluids in high mileage vehicles can suffer from permanent viscosity loss and degradation in flowability. This out-of-spec transmission fluid can cause problems in the transmission such as wear, clunking, erratic or prolonged shifting, loss of torque, higher operating temperatures and automatic transmission fluid leaks. Most transmission treatments are added to try to fix a problem in a high mileage vehicle.

Slick 50® High Mileage Automatic Transmission Treatment is formulated to help cure the problems and to prevent them from reoccurring. The shear stable additive in Slick 50® High Mileage Automatic Transmission Treatment increases the viscosity of the transmission fluid back to the OEM spec and adds back vital compounds that are depleted over time. The restored transmission fluid will help improve shifting, protect against friction and heat, reduce leaking and maintain low temperature flowability. Slick 50® High Mileage Automatic Transmission Treatment comes with a 36,000 mile transmission limited warranty.

Helps to cure transmission problems of high mileage vehicles and prevent them from reoccurring
Helps improve shifting by restoring the viscosity of the transmission fluid

Helps protect against friction and heat

Helps maintain the viscosity of the automatic transmission fluid

Reduces leaking

Helps maintain low temperature flowability

Comes with a 36,000 mile transmission limited warranty
Available Size: 15 fl. oz. bottle Stock Number: 41806015
I think I will pass but if I can get 10more MPG ...Hmmm....

 

[kcryan]

i admit it, the I30 got it once

 

[Islandvic]

My dumb brother put it in his 95 Z71 350TBI w/ Pennz 30 HD.

I told him do not do it.

He did it anyway.

 

[Steelhead]

I don't even fry fish in teflon skillets.
Have fallen for the tv ad. years ago and tried the goop. No positive effects.
If it worked, wouldn't the racing boys use teflon coated rod and crank bearing, and how about a teflon camshaft?

 

[Thatwouldbegreat]

I always used a 3K OCI with Castrol GTX in a heavier multigradefrom the time I bought my first new car in the 70's.

Years ago, I was driving down the highway and saw a car with some sort of large sticker promoting 'Slick 50'.

I asked him about it when I saw him in a gas station and paid $50.00 and put it in my new BMW 325es which I ran on Castrol GTX 20W-50 and 3K OCI. I put in a Dinan chip, a free flow stainless exhaust and a K&N filter.

I used Slick 50 3 times, every 50,000 miles. And I always used Chevron Techron.

Then the independent BMW garage I used convinced me to switch to a small amount of Tuf Oil at every oil change..still on Castrol GTX and 3K OCI.

About 12 years ago, I started to hear arguments against additives and leaving the manufacturer's carefully balanced additive packages alone.

I switched Mobil 1 15W-50 and 5K OCI. I never worried about the additives, but I felt like I was really taking risks going out to 5000 miles between changes. LOL!

Then around 9 years ago, I switched to all synthetics since we moved to the mountains in Colorado, and the high speeds up long mountain passes meant a lot of time at wide open throttle, coupled with wide temperature ranges [ -10F to 100 F ]

About that time, I switched to Redline, and I was really worried about approvals, and it not being a major company.

Still I used 10W-40 Redline in the BMW 325es at 7K OCI...and it never ran better. I started using the complete Redline product line, and still do.


Now the BMW is at over 400K miles and I just drove 350 miles from Vail to Denver and back yesterday and the original engine still runs great. 27 to 31 mpg, no oil consumption, smooth and quiet.

Now I know that Slick 50 and Tuf Oil are snake oil, and K&N filters have some issues...and knowing what I have learned from forums like BITOG I wouldn't use them.

But, the engine survived and 20 years later is still in good shape at fairly high mileage...so despite my lack of understanding in the early days nothing did much harm.

Now, I'm about to use Auto-RX and switch to FP60 and maybe LC20...so the beat goes on!

 

[Thatwouldbegreat]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Meistersinger:
It's interesting that here we have a small sampling of users of slick 50 over the years, yet noone has a horror story to tell. However, none want to use the product know because of all the anti-slick 50 press they have seen. Just goes to show that a little bad press goes a long way.

---

There are posts about how horrible Fram filters are, or the various harmful additives, or bad/ overpriced/ deceptively marketed oils...and how great other filters/ additives / or oils are.

I think I am a typical BITOG reader...I want to get the facts, know how stuff works, and how a given products performs in the real world and in specific applications.

I want to have a basis to make good choices about auto maintenance.

I use Redline's entire product line, Mobil 1 oil & filters, Pure One filters, VSOT, Techron, and quite recently Auto-RX and LC FP60 AND LC20.

But how bad was Castrol GTX 20W-50 every 3K, or Fram filter, Tuf Oil, or Slick 50 ..if my car still runs great after 400,000 miles?

And how good is my current choice of products? Will they make a huge difference? Or help a little?

Since I think my driving environment in the rockies is tough, I think the choices are wise and I will stick with them.

But the quality of products currently available is
pretty high... I think most of the name brand oils, filters, and additives would work quite well.

Possible exceptions would be Chlorinated Parrafins, and maybe SM oils in older cars.

In general, I think the benefits or detriments of various products are real, but not huge.

 

[2004 F150 4x4]

I used it once or twice back in the early 90’s but have’nt used any since then. Did’nt seem to hurt anything. Was kinda pricey as I recall. I’m sure several people got wealthy off this stuff.

 

[Meistersinger]

It's interesting that here we have a small sampling of users of slick 50 over the years, yet noone has a horror story to tell. However, none want to use the product know because of all the anti-slick 50 press they have seen. Just goes to show that a little bad press goes a long way.

 

[GunjaDesi]

I once put it in my '95 Nissan 200SX & my gas mileage dropped. I got the oil changed a week after I added the stuff...didn't seem to make any difference on my car other than the worse gas mileage.

 

[XS650]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Meistersinger:
It's interesting that here we have a small sampling of users of slick 50 over the years, yet noone has a horror story to tell. However, none want to use the product know because of all the anti-slick 50 press they have seen. Just goes to show that a little bad press goes a long way.

---

If Sick 50 hasn't destoyed an engine belonging to one of the approximately 10 to 100 BITOGERs who have used it, it must be good product.

 

[adreed24]

Before I discovered synthetic oil, I used the following products in 2 of our cars:

Slick 50

QMI (it had a real-life astronaut on the box, don't remember who it was)

DuraLube (I was told this was mostly 10W30 dino oil with additives)

STP Engine Treatment with EXP (I think, or was it XEP). I read recently that this stuff was considered good in the 1980's, because it had a lot of zinc. It came in a red box.

Tufoil (I knew a guy who would buy cars, fix them up, and resell them, and he always put in some Tufoil. He said it made the engine run smoother and quieter and that it was good for the "upper part of the engine". I used it twice and it did seem to do what he said)

I never had any problems with any of these products, but once I started using Mobil 1, that's all I bought.

 

[Meistersinger]

[/qb][/QUOTE]If Sick 50 hasn't destoyed an engine belonging to one of the approximately 10 to 100 BITOGERs who have used it, it must be good product.

[/QB][/QUOTE]

No, of course not, and that was not my point. However, I have seen many more Bitogers on this particular thread saying they actually noticed benefits from the product, and none saying that it caused them any long term downside problems as is constantly espoused, without facts, in other threads.

For a snake oil it seems to be holding its own.

What I AM saying is, try to look at this impartially without all the negative press that is flung around without substantiated facts.

 

[kenw]

the facts as reported by Dow are that teflon suspended in oil is useless. Not harmful, just useless. As it was explained to me personally back in the 80s, teflon must be in intimate contact with the surfaces to have any benefit, obviously coated in oil it isn't touching anythign but oil; hence useless.

However for it to create real problems the oil part of S50 itself would have to be the problem, which it isn't evidently.

But then that lends credence to the thought that oil is oil.......

 

[Alex P.]

Most additives won't hurt anything but your wallet. But I won't let anyone who brings z-max up to the counter buy it. UNLESS they're using on someone else's car, and that person kills babies for a living. I mean seriously, colored mineral oil? Does it take a govt lawsuit to put a stop to that? Wait, maybe it does.

 

[oldblueglide]

I used it in an 89 Chevy Blazer 4.3 that smoked on start-up. Seemed to cure that for a few thousand miles but the problem resurfaced. I also came upon about ten of the Z-Max kits from an overturned tranfer truck full of Z-max. tried it too...junk!

 

[jeremyquinn]

crashz said:

"The proof of "something" happening is that my temp guage would read much lower for as long as I owned the vehicle. It was reading half way between the L and H (D@mn Ford gauages!) and immediately after would only creep right above L.
Thinking I had a cooling problem, I had the water pump replaced, thermostat replaced and a pressure test done all at the dealer under warranty. No problems for the next three years, but the temp guage would never reach the half way point again."

Back in 1997 I had a 88 Beretta and I put in some Motor Up...remember that stuff? And the exact same thing happened...IT RAN COOLER!! This was not my imagintation...I know exactly what the temp guage would read and it read lower from that point on!! Anybody have an explantion for this?

 

[Brett Miller]

I confess...when I was in college (1992) I had a bare bones 1990 S-10 with a 2.5 Iron Duke. I put in 1 quart of Slick 50 and 2.5 quarts of 5W-30 Mobil 1. It ran great and got a consistant 28 MPG. I wish I had that truck back but I digress. I even used Fram filters

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

And Brett Miller lived to tell his story!