My 1986 Jeep Wrangler has 286,000 miles on it. I have used Slick 50 since I bought it at 28,000 miles. When Quaker State bought Slick 50 it seemed to slowly change in consistency. Was the formula changed? Did they eliminate the Teflon? What gives?
Have you even considered contacting Quaker State ? They might have a material data sheet on their web site.
I think it is called the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) or more recently, Safety Data Sheet (SDS). This should be the more recent one, and I doubt they have older ones on line.
Forgive my ignorance, but why would one use Slick 50?
3 Likes
Don’t you remember the TV ads, showing how Slick 50 (allegedly) coats the engine parts with a special “wear reducing” substance to prevent engine wear upon startup? It seemed plausible at the time, but since it’s been years (maybe decades) since I’ve seen an ad, maybe it was a bunch of BS?
'Cause you’ve got $15 burning a hole in your pocket after your oil change that just HAS to go into the engine.
It is supposed to be friction reducing oil treatment containing Teflon. Usually referred to as “snake oil” like similar products.
4 Likes
my impression as well, as I strongly suspect that the physics of what is happening are not the same as on a teflon-coated frying pan 
4 Likes
Study after study have shown that products such as Slick 50, Lucas, and such are not good at reducing friction and wear inside an engine under real operating conditions.
4 Likes
I can’t count the number of vehicles I have maintained that ran reliably well past 300,000 miles on their original engines and there were possibly 6, including 2 that I owned that clocked past 400,000 miles and running great and only 1 ever saw Slick 50. The proper combination of the proper vehicle, maintenance, driver and operating conditions determines the likelihood of a long and boring life of a vehicle. I kept a 70s Ford van running 1,200,000 miles replacing the engine 5 times. When the sheet metal joints on the sides began to separate allowing rain to leak in and the clutch/brake bracket became too worn to safely operate the brakes the truck was driven to the scrap yard. I seriously doubt that Slick 50 would have added a single mile to any vehicle. But many of those who are willing to spend that extra $15+/- are often the ones who are meticulous in maintenance and particular in their choice of vehicles and how they drive them.
2 Likes
As you might have figured out from the previous responses, this isn’t the forum where you want to ask that kind of question, because we see products like Slick 50 as worthless snake oil.
Many of us here have vehicles with more miles than yours that never used Slick 50 or any other product like it, and never needed it.
Wow, I never knew. As soon as the car manufacturers catch on to putting teflon in their engines, their sales will soar. Oh, so why don’t they? Guess they just haven’t seen the ads or been in an AZ store.
I know only few oil additives what do really work, but they have nothing to share with a frying pan coating
That’s probably the reason they are not that well known, isn’t it?
If you feel the need to spend extra money on the oil, use a quality synthetic of the viscosity range specified by the car maker. It will probably save you money and do a better job of protecting the engine.
I always max out my allotment of Mobil 1 during those rebates. I buy a 5 quart jug and filter at Wal-Mart and get $17 back. You can do two of these in the spring and two in the fall. Of course you can have someone else do it as well and get even more!
…or you could just use the store brand synthetic and save yourself the trouble of applying for the rebates.
3 Likes
I doubt there is anything wrong with the store brand and most meet the current SN API spec. Mobil 1 tends to meet other specs such as GM Dexos and such from other automakers which the store brands do not, at least on paper. I understand that a lot of those specs are all about paying a licensing fee and not what is actually in the oil. I have done research using information by others, including those who have done an oil analysis on new and used oil, and have settled on Mobil 1 EP for most of my oil uses.
I actually don’t think the store brand is bad. I just know that I am getting something good with the Mobil 1 and since I have the rebate, I am paying the same or less than the store brand price. It takes a couple minutes and can all be done online. No stamp or mailing is required!
I have also read very good reviews of the Pennzoil Platinum or whatever and would consider that for future oil changes as well. The only thing holding me back is that I have never been a Pennzoil guy but it looks like their synthetics have really stepped up the game.
Yeah, I am probably going overkill with these oils but at least it is something worth getting unlike Slick 50 and the other snake oils out there.
I noticed the last time I bought oil that Wal Mart Supertech is now Dexos approved, or it says so on the bottle anyway.
there are using less zantham gum in the formula. i say store the bottle in the fridge and than pour it in the motor. it will seem real thick than.
I’ve recently read a post in NIssan forum, where the forum’ guru made a 12K miles run on Walmart’s SuperTech synthetic and then submitted the oil for the lab analysis to get some real data. Not surprisingly, the oil was close to its limit on the base number, but was still holding strong, the wear particle numbers were surprisingly good.
That made me go and research the hard numbers behind it. It took a little bit of googling to get to the oil specs and test data, and they were quite good: TBN is a little bit lower than Mobil or Valvoline, viscosity is a little bit higher than these brands on both cold and hot (although still in the required range), NOACK is very reasonable, under 11%.
That made me to switch to their store brand, and so far it runs quite good for 2K miles, moreover I observe some positive effect from the slightly higher viscosity, as the valves are not as noisy as before when starting on cold outside temperature.
That is good. There are so many newer cars that require this for warranty coverage that is only makes sense that this oil meets their specs. I am assuming that they don’t meet any of the more stringent ACEA specs required for various European makes just yet.
I personally try to avoid Wal-Mart and it is often several months between visits. There are like 3-4 things that are cheaper their, are actually better quality (very rare), or can only be bought there so I do have to still go. Getting these oil deals is one of those reasons.
2 Likes
100% with you on this!
Once they changed into “supercenters”, I’m trying to avoid getting there for anything but few things.
1 Like