just want to get opinions on oil additives from some people out there… i had mazda protege 2001 lx and i put dura lube in it once at 10000 and again at 50. then i put lucas oil additive which claims to give added protection to your car that oil doesnt give. everyone swears by it… even eliminates engine noises… today ive given that car to my friend and it has 208k on it and it still is so silent while its started that you can barely tell its on and it turns on immediately when you turn that key… can anyone share there opinion on them… im thinking about using them on my toyota i just bought. i have a high idle at start up and whne it let it warm up and let the idle go down… sometimes there is a tiny sound of knocking when i take off yet goes away totally when the engine is hot… thought i might try some of these protectants. can anyone share their thoughts
Motor oil already is 25% additives; all the RIGHT additves. If you regularly change oil and filter, your engine will still run very smooth at 208,000 miles. In other words, you don’t need additives, and too much of the thick stuff will cause excessive engine wear at startup.
If the valve gear is noisy, the best way is to adjust them, not pour an additive in. If the oil was changed on time the valve gear should not be noisy.
A favotite trick of crooked used car salesmen was to put sawdust in a noisy gear box or differential. That would quickly cause a breakdown once the new owner started driving some miles.
I don’t believe in oil additives and I’ve never used them. Using the correct oil, and changing it at the correct intervals, is the best way to achieve long engine life.
There’s no way to “prove” that additives extend engine life. There are too many variables. It’s all just advertising. If additives made a difference the factory engineers would recommend their use. Does your owner’s manual recommend the use of any additives?
But it’s your money, so if you think they work go right ahead and use them.
My family has had excellent luck simply using mechanic’s bulk fill no additives conventional oil. 95% of the battle is changing the oil in a reasonable time/mileage period for the driving type. 5% comes down to oil brand and possibly additives.
5% of 300k is only 15k more of engine life. However that being said very few cars are junked due to an non owner related oil failure.
As long as you follow the maintenance instructions in the owner’s manual and change the oil as recommended for your driving conditions and use an oil meeting the specifications specified you don’t need any additional oil additives. At most you might expend the life of the engine from 320,000 miles to 320,043 miles.
As others have said…No need for these expensive additives that do nothing to little more then what any good oil can do.