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Just Say No to Aftermarket Additives The performance benefits of aftermarket additives are mostly unsubstantiated AMSOIL has long discouraged motorists from using any kind of aftermarket lubricant additive. After all, AMSOIL synthetic lubricants use the finest quality synthetic basestocks and additive systems. AMSOIL's response to the question "Should aftermarket additives or aftermarket products be added to AMSOIL motor oils?" is " No, you don't need them. AMSOIL motor oils are formulated under the strictest quality control standards to provide superior lubrication performance. Additives cost money and only detract from the quality of AMSOIL motor oils." Additionally, not only do they detract from the quality of the motor oil, but they can also be damaging to your engine.
From Honda' website
PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE FOR YOUR HONDA Here is a copy of DaimleChrysler's Technical Service Bulletin dealing with oil additives Date: May 4, 2001 Models: All (BR/BE) Ram Truck 2001 (AB) Ram Van/Wagon NOTE: This bulletin applies to all DaimleChrysler models / engines built before and after the 2001 model year. Discussion: Engine oil additives/supplements (EOS) should not be used to enhance engine oil performance. Engine oil additives/supplements should not be used to extend engine oil change intervals. No additive is known to be safe for engine durability and can degrade emission components. Additives can contain undesirable materials that harm the long term durability of engines by:
Generally it is not desirable to mix additive packages from different suppliers in the crankcase; there have been reports of low temperature of low temperature engine failures caused by additive package incompatibility with such mixtures.
Policy: Information Only NOTES: What does this TSB mean? Use a quality oil that meets the API and viscosity specifications for your engine, and forget the mouse milk additives! Also - do not mix different brands of oil in your crankcase. Stay away from all aftermarket additives! You simply do not need them and you surely don't need the problems they may cause with your engine. If your still not convinced then think about this statement: The major oil companies, including AMSOIL, are staffed with the, bar none, some of the best chemists, scientists and engineers the world has to offer. Now, don't you think that if they determined that their motor oil was lacking an additive that they would blend it in their additive package? They obviously have the technology and resources and the financial backing to do it. Then why don't they? The answer is simple: They are not needed! How can it be that some fly by night additive manufacturer can have a miracle, cure-all additive without knowing the chemistry of the oil it will be used in? The answer is, they don't. They simply are out to get your money by using false and deceptive advertising to appeal to your desire to have what they are selling in your engine. They are masters at marketing, not science chemistry and engineering and I would equate them to nothing more than snake oil companies. Thank goodness for the FTC that is actually doing what it is supposed to be doing; protecting the consumer and going after these companies and hopefully put them out of business. Without going into extensive detail here's what you need to know about aftermarket oil additives: There are basically two types of additives used, either Teflon based with PTFE (like Slick 50) or Chlorinated based (like Dura Lube) with some type of carrier, usually a paraffin based carrier or other mineral oil. Some have extremely large amounts of moly, zinc or phosphorus, all extreme pressure agents which are detrimental to a motor oils proper function in the amount that they use. Teflon does absolutely nothing inside your engine. Teflon must be heated up to about 800 deg. F to get it to stick to anything for friction reducing purposes, just like the Teflon on a frying pan, yet in your engine all those suspended microscopic colloidal Teflon particles do is gradually attach to you oil pick-up screen and reduce oil flow to your critical components as well as reducing the oil flow in other critical internal engine passages by attaching themselves to the passageway walls. In addition, as your oil filter filters out some of these suspended Teflon particles, your filter flow rate will be reduced which may eventually become restricted and default in to by-pass mode, which means unfiltered oil will be flowing through your engine. Ever get bleach on your fingers? It's pretty slippery isn't it? Same principle here. Add enough Chlorinated components to a carrier and mix it with some type of teflon, moly, zinc or phosporus & you can reduce the friction, except for one "minor" thing: Chlorinated additives mixed with oil and subjected to heat forms hydrochloric acid! Hydrochloric acid is extremely detrimental to you internal engine parts. Get the picture? That's it in a nutshell. The bottom line is: When using a properly formulated motor oil you do not need any additives whatsoever and additionally, the additives you may put in can react negatively with the additives the oil company carefully blended in. The major oil and additive companies are some of the richest and most powerful companies in the world, and they certainly can afford to hire the top chemists that know how to properly formulate a motor oil (this is not to say they make a quality motor oil; just that they know how to properly formulate one to perform the functions it was designed to do and meet the required specifications). Then these additive companies pop up claiming to perform miracles with their outrageously priced snake oil. Do yourself a favor and stay away from aftermarket oil additives, regardless of how appealing the bogus claims they make in their advertising are! ... At a recent trade show we were at one of these miracle oil additive companies was there with a machine that demonstrated how their additive reduced friction. It was a motor with rotating solid steel disc secured to the motor shaft and a torque meter with a flat piece of steel mounted on the torque arm. They put every type of oil on the market, one by one, on the machine & pressed hard on the torque meter and at about 20-40 lb-ft torque the torque arm would stall the motor....that is until they cleaned it off & tried their (chlorinated) additive "IXL" on the bearing & ran the test. People were amazed as the meter peaked out at 140 lb-ft. torque and still didn't stall the motor. We knew what was happening but many unsuspecting consumers were eating it up and standing in line to buy the additive. The next day we showed up with some Head & Shoulders Shampoo disguised in an oil bottle & had the IXL additive people try it on their test machine. The operator was amazed as the motor just barely stalled at 140 lb-ft. The operator says that's pretty good stuff, what is it? We said Head & Shoulders. He was quite embarrassed to say the least. Head & Shoulders has high levels of high potency ZINC in it that attaches itself to ferrous metals. Coke soft drink will do exactly the same thing. ZINC reduces friction and provides anti-wear protection and is present in most motor oils at a much reduced level. Now, would you put Head & Shoulders in your engine? Additionally, the test machine was measuring EXTREME PRESSURE. Motor oils do not have extreme pressure additives blended in like gear lubes do nor do they need extreme pressure additives. Their is absolutely no need for EP additives in a motor oil. A gear lube would not stall the motor as easily because gear lubes have high levels of Extreme Pressure additives blended in, but do you think they would test their IXL additive against gear lubes? Heck no! They use motor oil....They are comparing apples to oranges & tricking you into buying their additive. Same theory holds true for Slick50, Prolong, Dura Lube, Motor Up, Valvoline Engine Treatment and many others. Please DON'T be fooled by oil additives. They simply are not needed and can be detrimental to the proper function of a motor oil.
Superior Oils and Lubricants Phone 918-269-0081 Toll Free 1-877-237-6323 8555 E. Wesson Ct., Claremore, OK. 74019
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