What are the benefits to adding a ceramic oil additive to my 2008 Ford Focus with 80,000 miles. I have no problems, would like it to run a little quieter and of course I want to protect the engine from wear.
Zero, nada, zilch.
80k isn’t a lot of miles and not the time to be concerned about engine issues popping up if you have been maintaining it properly anyway. If you have no problems it is best to leave well enough alone. Google “snake oil.” I would [personally] advise against additives such as this unless they are recommended by the manufacturer. You’d be better off putting the $ you would spend on that in to a savings account and use those funds for maintenance/repairs down the line.
Accordion
If you do just the normal, regular, maintenance as scheduled, then come back at about 280,000 miles with a report. Then maybe we’ll talk additives. In the meantime, the engine is designed to be protected and maintained by the motor oil as specified in the owner’s manual. Follow that and drive on happy.
DO NOT uses additives for a properly operating engine.
As I understand the “ceramic” additives, they allegedly fill pores in the walls of the cylinders making them smoother. However, it is the oil that becomes entrapped in these cavities that forms a barrier between the metals of the cylinder walls and the pistons and their rings. You do not want to fill these cavities.
These wall cavities and the oil they entrap are so critical that in newly bored cylinders and new engines the cylinders are put through a “honing” process that creates controlled scratches in a cross-hatch pattern. Failure to do so will result in certain and quick engine failure.
Additives can be great for getting an extra year or two out of a beat up old engine, where it doesn’t matter when the engine finally quits. But they are not wise for an engine in good shape. Proper maintenance with the fluids recommended by the manufacturer will enable your engine to outlast the rest of the car. You want oil in your cavities, not ceramic.
I never have liked engine “additives” although most of them do no harm. The problem is that most of them do no good and are formulated to make the most profit for their manufacturers.
A friend was told by a mechanic to put Seafoam in his oil to clean up a sticky valve. He asked how long do I keep it in before the oil change? He was told 100 miles is good, but 500 miles would be better. His engine seized before the 500 miles.
A ceramic material in an oil additive sounds like the work of an ad copy writer in a state of mental delusion. A ceramic material is hard and abrasive like sand. If there is a ceramic material in the additive, your oil filter will pick out the larger particles before they damage your engine.
Engine additives are a billion dollar business (actually multi-billion).
One of the BIGGEST…yet pure snake oil is Slick-50. This company has been around fore about 50 years. And it’s a shame people still keep falling for this crap.
It’s so bad that their active ingredient (Teflon)…Dupont (owner of the Teflon brand) forced Slick-50 to remove the name from their product after extensive testing Dupont proved that Slick-50 was a complete joke. Since then Slick-50 uses the chemical name (PTFE).
Yet people are still buying it.
Gotta agree with everyone else. Just change the oil regularly, save your money, and be happy.
<b>"<i>One of the BIGGEST..yet pure snake oil is Slick-50. This company has been around for about 50 years. And it's a shame people still keep falling for this crap".</i></b>
A co-worker of mine back in the seventies, used to race formula Fords on weekends, and swore by this stuff. He tore down his engines after every race and was thoroughly convinced there was a great reduction in wear from using it. He bought it by the case. He tried to get me to use in in my car.
Never did.
I’ve got an 1980 4 cylinder compact tractor and it had a sticking valve. 2 years ago I put seafoam through the carberator and it freed the valve and it has been free since.
The only additive I would put in a car is zddp in a flat-tappet cam engine. Zddp is an extreme pressure anti scuff additive that is being phased out in motor due to the fact that it poisons cats (if you have excessive oil burn), NOT because it lacks merit.
Outside of that, if it did anything, the oil co.s would have already added it!
I keep my car looking shiny and new, and last summer I came out of a Lowes store to my car and there was a young worker from the local hotel parked next to it. He complimented me on my “new car” (his words). He also politely suggested that I should add STP every week to keep it running well. He was a nice kid, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him it already had over 200,000 miles and ran like new. Nor did I want to get into a discussion on additives, or discuss my background. I thanked him for his “tip”, wished him a great day and we both went our separate ways.
Nice kid. But I chuckle when I think of the conversation.
About 3 years ago a couple of friends were in town and I drove them sightseeing in my 2005 Accord. One of my friends complimented me on my new car. It was 7 years old at the time, and she could not believe that the exterior and especially the interior looked so new.