The bulk of the heat is produced by the combustion of gasoline, not frictional losses (and especially not those that could be reduced via an oil additive; the coefficient of friction of a PCMO is already very low). So unless you are lowering the heat of combustion of the gasoline then you won't reduce the total heat load of the engine very much at all. And besides, the frictional losses are themselves produced by the gasoline combustion since in order to turn the engine you have to burn gasoline. So in reality it is additive, not a separate heat source.
Unless the ambient temperature is very low and you are running at a very low load, then you will not run the engine at a temperature that is lower than the thermostat setting. There is simply too much heat from combustion to stop it. We're talking hundreds of thousands of Watts, even in a small ICE like the one in my 1NZ-FE. If I somehow reduced the oil-related frictional losses in that engine even by half, there is simply no way it would come close to lowering the overall heat output enough to lower the coolant temperature in a noticeable way. I mean, look at the almost miniscule improvement you get going to the low-viscosity oils that are being used today.
Also in an ICE, lower operating temperatures equal lower thermal efficiency. You really want the engine to operate at as high a temperature as possible. The Japanese did a lot of work on uncooled engines (adiabatic), but those require exotic materials that are very expensive. So you resort to rejecting heat to keep the block, pistons and head from melting. But every BTU you reject through the cooling system is a BTU that is forever unavailable to do useful work. Engine designers do not want the engine operating at anything other than the thermostat setting and they do a lot to make sure it doesn't happen very often, or for very long.
Of course this post will immediately be labeled as "trashing people's info" when in reality we have had no info presented that is valid in a statistical or scientific way. I don't have a dog in this fight either (despite several poster's protestations to the contrary), but when sound engineering and chemistry is being tossed out the window, it's hard not to comment.
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: simple_simon
Like how an oil additive magically changes the temperature of the thermostat installed in the cooling system? With that kind of "proof", Archoil has a LONG way to go to prove themselves to the intelligent members of BITOG.
You're right it can't change the thermostat setting. But lets say the thermostat opens at 195°F, and the fan kicks on @ 210°F, what if the additive keeps the engine below 210°F, and that can be documented? Or instead of the fan coming on in 20 minutes it kicks on in 40 minutes, and runs less time, and it can be documented. Is that possible? Would that be worthy of some consideration? These are tests I'd like to see. Just thinking out loud. No dog in this fight.