Marvel Mystery Oil added to oil and gasket leaks

[urdrwho]

Of my four cars all are close to the 200,000 mile range. Two cars have had MMO put in with the oil and two never had it.

Of the two that never had MMO put in the oil, neither of them have any gasket leaks that leave oil on the driveway.

Of the two that had MMO put in the oil, both have gasket leaks that leave oil on the driveway.

It may be anecdotal evidence but with the cars I purchase in the future I don't think I'll be putting MMO into my oil.

 

[TallPaul]

If I put MMO in my oil it would only be for a cleaning, not regular dosing. But there are likely better products for cleaning. I do use MMO in the fuel tank.

 

[Kruse]

I'm a BIG believer in MMO or Kreen, but only if the engine needs it. If the engine is clean and has been well-maintained, just regular engine oil will be fine.

 

[SrDriver]

I really think that MMO did not cause the problem. I am over 70 years old and have used MMO in the oil when I lived in Wisconsin many years ago before oils that came along that worked well in starting vehicles in very low ambient conditions.

I have used in at every fill in the gas starting from the very first tank on too in countless vehicles over the years.

There have been a lot of threads both pro and con here but I have had good results with the stuff.

Many vehicles do not reach the 200 Thousand mile mark.

 

[hounddog]

I bet MMO didn't cause leaks. What are the vehicles you are discussing?

 

[urdrwho]

I think that was it, I fell for the label talking about adding it during oil changes.

"Marvel recommends replacing between 10 and 25 percent of your motor oil with MMO. "

I didn't add it at every change but I did use it more often than not.

In my one car directly after an oil change with MMO added, a terrible leak started at the rear of the head. There is a plate at the rear of the head that is impossible to reach, impossible to replace the sealing gasket. It was dripping onto the exhaust and smelled. All that i could attempt is to take RTV and smear around the plate as best I could. I could not reach all of the plate and to this day, I still get drips.

The last time I had an experience with oil leaks after an oil change was 15 years. At the time the car I bought was high mileage and synth oil was the new rage. I tried it only to witness oil seeping from all kind of places. I think the same can happen with MMO.

 

[urdrwho]

One is a 1990 Jag XJ6 and the other is a 1995 Subaru. On the Jag normally the only time you leak oil is from the valve cover gasket which is an easy repair. My oil problem is from another place and I think I'm the only one on the Jag forum with the problem.

According to the car dealer I use the 2.2 Subaru engine had the plastic cover inside the engine refitted with the metal retrofit. The Subbbie had been owned for 15 months. At purchase the car was bone dry of oil leaks until in my infinite wisdom I added the MMO during the second oil change. Since then the valve cover gaskets have been weeping and of course finding the way to the exhaust pipe.

Like I said it may be anecdotal but it is my personal experience.

I'm starting to agree with my car dealer/mechanic guy that some gunk is good gunk. And the gunk attached to the gasket edges may be good gunk.

 

[urdrwho]

I think I agree with you as a gas treatment it is worthy stuff.

Originally Posted By: SrDriver
I really think that MMO did not cause the problem. I am over 70 years old and have used MMO in the oil when I lived in Wisconsin many years ago before oils that came along that worked well in starting vehicles in very low ambient conditions.

I have used in at every fill in the gas starting from the very first tank on too in countless vehicles over the years.

There have been a lot of threads both pro and con here but I have had good results with the stuff.

Many vehicles do not reach the 200 Thousand mile mark.

 

[LeakySeals]

I see 2 possible answers.

1) The combination of MMO cleaning and thinning the oil allowed oil to flow from a pre-existing gasket leak that was plugged by deposits.

2) ...gulp... MMO speeds up the outgassing of seals, shrinking them leading to a leak.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: urdrwho
Of my four cars all are close to the 200,000 mile range. Two cars have had MMO put in with the oil and two never had it.

Of the two that never had MMO put in the oil, neither of them have any gasket leaks that leave oil on the driveway.

Of the two that had MMO put in the oil, both have gasket leaks that leave oil on the driveway.

It may be anecdotal evidence but with the cars I purchase in the future I don't think I'll be putting MMO into my oil.


I would avoid MMO at all costs.

 

[LeakySeals]

Originally Posted By: urdrwho
I think I agree with you as a gas treatment it is worthy stuff.

Originally Posted By: SrDriver
I really think that MMO did not cause the problem. I am over 70 years old and have used MMO in the oil when I lived in Wisconsin many years ago before oils that came along that worked well in starting vehicles in very low ambient conditions.

I have used in at every fill in the gas starting from the very first tank on too in countless vehicles over the years.

There have been a lot of threads both pro and con here but I have had good results with the stuff.

Many vehicles do not reach the 200 Thousand mile mark.
I'm the opposite. Would still use MMO in the oil but NEVER again in the gas of a modern engine. Non-technical description of why I blame MMO for my permanent P0420 CEL:

MMO is mostly Fine White Mineral Oil (+-75%) with some mineral spirits/cleaners in it (+-25%). Great decades ago for engines from an era that benefited from top cylinder lubrication, ran inferior motor oil with inferior additives, had no catalytic converters. Times have changed, so has motor oil, so have engine designs. Some newer cars are programmed with ridiculously high catalyst efficiency MIL/CEL thresholds. One of the primary enemies of the catalyst is oil. Oil makes the catalyst sticky, wet, can't get as hot. Exhaust carbon emissions stick like flypaper to the oily catalyst. The oil prevents the catalyst from super heating to burn of carbon, it fouls, becomes inefficient..boom P0420.

No more additives loaded with upper cylinder lube in my modern engines gas, not required or wanted. Just my view, right or wrong.

 

[Trav]

Quote:
One is a 1990 Jag XJ6 and the other is a 1995 Subaru.

That plate on the Subaru 2.2 has been a long time problem and can spring a leak regardless of what oil is used.
Valve cover gaskets on these engines leak often also.

The Jag? Its a 1990, many cars that age have leaks and don't run MMO. I doubt if it had anything to with MMO really.

 

[urdrwho]

YEs that 2.2 plate is a problem unless the plastic piece is replaced which was done on this engine.

The 1990 Jags main leak is the cam cover gasket which is easy to replace on a flat head 6. There are a lot of people that can't turn in a screw let alone replace that gasket, hence the leaks. I can replace it and have done much more such as engine replacements, head replacements and everything in between.

My leak now is at the rear plate on the head. It is a leak that I've only seen one maybe two other instances on the XJ40 (known as XJ6) in 15 years of Jag forum participation.

Plus three years ago I had the head off and work done at the machine shop. My fault that I didn't replace the plate gasket at the time of replacing the head. Bad bad me!! But there was no indication of leaking. The leak appeared quick and rapid about 4 oil changes ago. Something led to a quick and fatal gasket leak.

I could put some in the Caddie Northstar engine to see if the same thing happens. Use the Caddie as a test vehicle? That "ain't" gonna to happen.

Originally Posted By: Trav
Quote:
One is a 1990 Jag XJ6 and the other is a 1995 Subaru.

That plate on the Subaru 2.2 has been a long time problem and can spring a leak regardless of what oil is used.
Valve cover gaskets on these engines leak often also.

The Jag? Its a 1990, many cars that age have leaks and don't run MMO. I doubt if it had anything to with MMO really.

 

[LeakySeals]

urdrwho - Try what I use in the Camry in my signature. You get the best of everything. Extra cleaners, seal swellers/conditioners, full synthetic oil. The Camry has a lot of miles, needs some gasket repairs, if I discontinued use it would leak from everywhere. Its been holding that car together for over 100k now. Try one of the leakers for a couple of oil changes, about how long it takes for the swellers to take full effect. $25 a 5qt jug @ Walmart.

 

[hounddog]

I have used MMO in a number of vehicles with stuck oil rings,smokers and such with great results and no external leaks. I've used in in many customers cars for same reason. Stuck rings either after sitting long periods or after having head gasket repairs and smoking badly after digesting antifreeze. Never a oil leak from it. I have bought TWO Corvettes with 20,000 miles and OLM on 0. The Mobil One oil smelled bad and was BLACK. I added a Quart of MMO to each one and drove them 500 miles. Drained and refilled etc. Not sure if MMO helped clean things but I felt a lot better after. LOL. No leaks of any sort one a 6.0 the other a 6.2.

 

[skyship]

Originally Posted By: hounddog
I bet MMO didn't cause leaks. What are the vehicles you are discussing?


Yep, if you put solvent snake oil in the crankcase and are silly enough to drive around rather than use it at idle only just prior to an oil change, with a modern high mileage car it will dissolve the varnish that has formed over the years over the gaskets and around the seals. When the engine is hot is also increases the leak rate even without the gasket and seal leak risk factor.
Blocked turbo oil feed lines from dislodged debris are another risk, as is the real nasty diesel engine runaway caused by a serious turbo main seal failure and too thin a hot oil.
BUT oil leaks are good for a snake oil business, so just throw in another can full of stop gunk!

 

[SteveSRT8]

MMO has been around so long it may deserve a place in the additive hall of fame!

Skyship loves to make blanket statements about additives, completely ignoring the fact that everyone is different, thus an additive may be appropriate at times.

 

[Jim Allen]

Used MMO for the first time a few weeks ago. Normally I'm not an "additive guy." Nothing dramatic to report.

I was given a very tired, abused and neglected Ford LGT tractor (Kohler K-Series cast iron engine) that had been sitting outside abandoned for a number of years. It was mildly stuck but came loose with just a little WD40 in the cylinder. Changed the oil did some fuel system repairs and started it up. Runs well but smokes a little and uses oil. I've ran it about three hours and the smoke had been slowing down some but I decided to see if this "legendary" snake oil might have some effect. Put it into the gas AND the oil. In the oil, I used it to thin some 15W40 Rotella to about a 30 grade (calculated based on volume and a blending chart). If the rings are "stuck" they are getting hit from both sides. So far, no changes, but it's only run an hour or so since.

 

[MolaKule]

A farmer friend of mine had an old Oliver that had been sitting ouside for about five years without being run.

He wanted to get it running so we took the fuel lines off, cleaned the fuel filter, fuel tank, and rebuilt the carb.

I took out the plugs after soaking the plug wells with LC20 and then poured in about 5 oz of LC20 into each cylinder.

Once every day he or I went out and turned the crankshaft a few revs until it felt freed up, since we didn't want to break any rings.

Drained the old oil (and water emulsion) and put in some of my old SF5W30.

We put gas in it and fired it up. It smoked for about 15 minutes and then ran without ne'er any more smoke.

We then discovered it was getting hot and found out we had a radiator hose leak. Tightend hose, poured some more anti-freeze solution in it and fired it back up.

Got some decent tires on it and drove it 10 miles into the next town for a complete restoration. Compression showed only about 10-15 psi reduction per cylinder compared to a rebuilt engine.

 

[antiqueshell]

Originally Posted By: skyship
Originally Posted By: hounddog
I bet MMO didn't cause leaks. What are the vehicles you are discussing?


Yep, if you put solvent snake oil in the crankcase and are silly enough to drive around rather than use it at idle only just prior to an oil change, with a modern high mileage car it will dissolve the varnish that has formed over the years over the gaskets and around the seals. When the engine is hot is also increases the leak rate even without the gasket and seal leak risk factor.
Blocked turbo oil feed lines from dislodged debris are another risk, as is the real nasty diesel engine runaway caused by a serious turbo main seal failure and too thin a hot oil.
BUT oil leaks are good for a snake oil business, so just throw in another can full of stop gunk!



This. ^

My question is this....

If your engine seems to be performing well, why in the heck would you risk that good operation by adding some snake oil WHOSE MANUFACTURER CANNOT MAKE ANY SUBSTANTIATED CLAIMS?

If it AIN'T broke, DON'T "fix it"!

But why do I bother saying that? What blows my mind is that folks here on BITOG should know better. But they insist on being foolish.