Hi, I'd like to get your veiws on oil addatives. Are they worth buying?
I found this Active 8 video on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ldl01tUaM4
Oil Additives
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Anorak_ian
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Stuart
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Re: Oil Additives
Stuart. M1030M1, Honda NC700S, Grom!, Toyota Corolla 1.4 Turbo Diesel. Favouring MPG over MPH.
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Anorak_ian
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Re: Oil Additives
Well bugger me with a fish fork 
Thank you for the link Stuart, very informative, snake oil it is then.
I particularly like this bit:
Typically EP additives used to be favoured in old gearbox oils, hence ratings such as EP90, because at low speeds and high loads you may not get sufficient oil film (think waterskier, at speed the water holds him up but at low speed the water moves aside and he sinks - it's the same with oil films in your engine, there should be no moving metal to metal contact and always an oil film in place). This is why the "bike show" demo works. They create a situation of slow movement and high point loading - exactly what doesn't happen in your engine, then show how a boundary lubricant will allow it to run for a while in the absence of an oil film. What is happening is that the EP additive is attacking the surface of the metals to form solid lubricant compounds..... and in the meantime the acidic nature of the additive is also attacking every other component wetted by the oil.
The late great JR of PB did a test some years ago of various additives on a sensitive dyno and found absolutely no change in power outputs.
Of course, if you plan to run your engine out of oil something like this may help you run for a couple more minutes. But TBH about the only good thing I can say about it is that unlike Slick 50, a slurry of PTFE particles, it won't block filters and oilways.
Thank you for the link Stuart, very informative, snake oil it is then.
I particularly like this bit:
Typically EP additives used to be favoured in old gearbox oils, hence ratings such as EP90, because at low speeds and high loads you may not get sufficient oil film (think waterskier, at speed the water holds him up but at low speed the water moves aside and he sinks - it's the same with oil films in your engine, there should be no moving metal to metal contact and always an oil film in place). This is why the "bike show" demo works. They create a situation of slow movement and high point loading - exactly what doesn't happen in your engine, then show how a boundary lubricant will allow it to run for a while in the absence of an oil film. What is happening is that the EP additive is attacking the surface of the metals to form solid lubricant compounds..... and in the meantime the acidic nature of the additive is also attacking every other component wetted by the oil.
The late great JR of PB did a test some years ago of various additives on a sensitive dyno and found absolutely no change in power outputs.
Of course, if you plan to run your engine out of oil something like this may help you run for a couple more minutes. But TBH about the only good thing I can say about it is that unlike Slick 50, a slurry of PTFE particles, it won't block filters and oilways.
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Stuart
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Re: Oil Additives
Stuart. M1030M1, Honda NC700S, Grom!, Toyota Corolla 1.4 Turbo Diesel. Favouring MPG over MPH.
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pietenpol2002
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Re: Oil Additives
For everything you'd ever want to know about lubricants (including snake oil) you'll want to visit http://www.bobistheoilguy.com
It is perhaps the best oil related site littered with enough engineers and scientists to debunk the most strident of snake oil salesmen. The oil additives section alone has about 500 postings.
That said, the one additive to consider would be a ZDDP additive if using an oil rated at less than 1200, as is now routinely the case with oils formulated for catalytic converters. Using an oil lacking the zinc in older engines (including most diesels) is to kiss goodbye to one's valve train. My solution has been to stick with Shell Rotella T. However, the Petroleum Quality Institutes research has the cheapo Walmart SuperTech Universal Motor Oil producing better numbers than the Rotella (check the zinc numbers in the links below). And it's cheaper. I should note also that these 2 oils don't have the "slippery stuff" found in typical automotive oils that would be the bane of a wet clutch.
http://www.pqiamerica.com/May%202013/rotella.htm
http://www.pqiamerica.com/May%202013/supertech.htm
It is perhaps the best oil related site littered with enough engineers and scientists to debunk the most strident of snake oil salesmen. The oil additives section alone has about 500 postings.
That said, the one additive to consider would be a ZDDP additive if using an oil rated at less than 1200, as is now routinely the case with oils formulated for catalytic converters. Using an oil lacking the zinc in older engines (including most diesels) is to kiss goodbye to one's valve train. My solution has been to stick with Shell Rotella T. However, the Petroleum Quality Institutes research has the cheapo Walmart SuperTech Universal Motor Oil producing better numbers than the Rotella (check the zinc numbers in the links below). And it's cheaper. I should note also that these 2 oils don't have the "slippery stuff" found in typical automotive oils that would be the bane of a wet clutch.
http://www.pqiamerica.com/May%202013/rotella.htm
http://www.pqiamerica.com/May%202013/supertech.htm
Ron