Slick 50 and oil additives

jarrus

Pro Tuner
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337
Location
West Midlands, UK
Car
Suzuki Swift Sport
I've used SLICK 50 in the past once, I was told it's good, I've used it once in my engine, it doesn't seen any different,

What do you know about this? is there such thing as a good oil additive?
 
Re: Oil advice for modifiers

Thanks, i will remember next time, I haven't put any in since, (this was over 18 months ago) and the oil has been changed at least 3 times since then
 
I used to use it years back til I did a bit of research.

Then I realised all you really need are regular oil changes and don't thrash your engine when it's cold.
 
Additives - DON'T, in a word. The exception is an engine flush but even then only if you have oil related problems. Still, this needs to be carefully monitored otherwise you can do more harm than good.
 
There is no need to flush the engine and flushing can be harmful. What can happen is the flush can loosen harmless deposits in the engine, but then not remove them. Your new oil goes in and after it gets warm and is flowing nicely, the bits which are loosened come off into the oil, so you end up with hard bits floating around in your oil - the last thing you want. If you really want to flush the oil system, the best thing you can do is drain out the oil that is in there, put in some cheap (the cheapest you can find) mineral oil and run the car for 15 minutes to an hour so the oil gets nice and warm. After running it, drain out the mineral oil and put in the correct oil.
 
thick it is then, hahahaha.

No. Slick 50 also makes a range of other fluids. Some are additives some are general replacement fluids.

At one point there was a Slick 50 branded PAS fluid I seem to recall. Cannot see what made it special, most cars use ATF Dexon (I/II/III) for the steering.

Slick 50 also has a range of fuel treatments and fuel system treatments. These are probably OK but I have not checked out the chemistry of them.

Whether any are necessary is another matter. Whether they work is yet another. I doubt any will do any harm though.

But be careful with Euro IV/V diesels. Do NOT use any additive unless the literature specifically says it's safe to use in cars with particle filters.
 
The only one I've ever seen on the market and has definat differences was "Activ8". Went to a car show a few years back and the bloke had it on demo. Good stuff and definatly doesn't affect the engine badly. Also, agree with the above guys, dont engine flush, ever...
 
Here are the comments of John Rowland, a highly respected oil chemist, regarding aftermarket additives


'A number of ‘add-on’ additives intended to improve the performance of commercially available automotive lubricants have been marketed in recent years, under such names as ‘Xxtralube ZX-1’, ‘Metol FX-1’, ‘PPL Anti-Friction’ and ‘Activ-8’.All such products share the following characteristics with ‘X-1R Friction Eliminator’:-

1)They all contain chlorinated paraffin ‘extreme pressure’(EP) compounds first used in the 1930s in heavily-loaded industrial gearboxes, and in some automotive transmission applications, mainly hypoid gears.

2)They all corrode copper-based alloys at moderate temperatures, easily exceeded in all engine, and most transmission applications. This problem was recognised in the 1930s, and chlorinated compounds were never used in transmissions with bronze bearings or gears. No responsible manufacturer ever suggested using them in engines where their increasing activity at high temperatures could lead to piston ring corrosion and bore glazing. (For the same reason, modern ‘hypoid’ additives are not used in engines, even though they are much safer than any chlorinated additive.)

3)X-1R Friction Eliminator and its clones are based upon very outdated technology, which was abandoned by responsible lubricant manufacturers for automotive transmission uses in the 1950s. Chlorinated compounds still find applications in metal working, but their use is on the decline because of health and safety considerations.

4)When burnt, chlorinated paraffins produce corrosive hydrochloric acid, and organo-chlorine compounds including the highly poisonous phosgene gas. Apart from these corrosion and health hazards, with petrol engines the deactivation of exhaust catalysts is also a problem.

5)Unfortunately, these additives give spectacular results in simple EP test machines such as the ‘Falex’. As a marketing ploy, a demonstration of this type looks impressive to those not aquainted with the above facts. Also attractive is the low cost of chlorinated compounds, allowing profits of several thousand percent to be made.'

As you can see, John isn't too keen on Activ-8
 
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It would be fair to say, here on Torque Cars we like hard facts,

I've used an Oil additive once and will never again from the advise given, although I think I haven't caused any damage to my engine, or at least I haven't from the Slick 50
 
(As an aside on the earlier comments the slick 50 power steering fluid had a rubber seal rejuvinator if I recall correctly so claimed to stop power steering leaks!)
 
That seems like a far more genuine claim for Slick 50, but pretty much all oils contain additives to improve seals, they just don't feel the need to boast about it.

Cheers

Tim
 
Stay away from all additives to the oil for the reasons stated, and stay with an oil that meets the latest ILSAC, API or ACEA standards. Don't try to play chemist. You can make an oil that reduces wear, at the cost of sludge build-up. Oils are balanced polar compounds. If you look at the development studies, every formula that left a cleaner engine had more wear. Those that had less wear had more piston deposits or sludge.

On flushes, stay away from the quick ones. They will dislodge particles too big and can clog passages, especially in the bearings. Residuals also stay in the engine. An oil change only takes out 80 to 90% of what is in there (depending on engine, level, etc).

An occasional (50,000 mile interval) addition of something like AutoRx that works in 1000+ miles, plus its rinse cycle can clean things up safely and reduce noises in lifters, as well as cleaning and softening seals.

The suggestion of straight mineral oil won't do much. No additives... will just absorb the loose stuff. A good diesel formulation for a cycle is better if you don't want the AutoRx type solution. (This isn't a plug for that brand although I know it works, just that type of product).
 
Miller's flush additive is pretty gentle - it's detergent based rather than solvent based. But with more and more oils becoming capable of operating in both diesel and petrol engines there should be less of a problem with deposits anyway simply because of the oils increased level of detergency.
 
Would not use Slick 50 in a motor .Should be ok in a gearbox .
FWIW I use PRO MA additives in my race 350 hp atw race car (20000 K's) and my 70000k tow 4wd with zero problems.PM has been independently tested and results signed off by Queensland TAFE engineers
 
Use good oil in the first place. I don't recommend the use of any additives, why mess with what the oil company has spent a lot of time and money developing?

Cheers

Tim
 
Slick 50 contains Teflon. Teflon is DuPont Industries trademark for PTFE. Poly-Tetra-Fluoro-Ethylene.

DuPont NEVER intended it to be used in liquid suspension form. Especially not for engine lubrication purposes.

Any-way........ DuPont refused to sell the stuff to Slick50 (I forget the name of S50's corporate owner).

S50 went to the Federal courts and filed a case against DuPont under Restrictions of Trade Legislation.

DuPont was forced to supply Teflon (PTFE) to S50 and production began. . . . .

Once the occasional (not many - very little engines were damaged - most were simply claims that the product did nothing) lawsuit landed on S50's corporate desk legend has it that their lawyers sent the claims directly to DuPont ! ! !

Weird !!
 

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