Hey there,

I was just curious about an oil additive called Engine Restorer. It comes in a silver bottle with red and blue labelling. There is a 4,6, and 8 cylinder bottle. A friend of mine recommended it. Have any of you tried it? Heard anything about it? THanks in advance.

- Tom

 

i've used it in my mom's neon and my wife's trooper. I think you will see a very slight difference, at least my mom and my wife said so. but those were only 4 poppers so if u run it in an 8 cyl. you might see a good difference. I was thinking of dropping some in my iroc. i'll let ya know when i do and if i see a difference.

 

I used this on my last car, a Dodge Shadow with 156k miles on the non-turbo 2.5L 4cyl. It had 147k on it when I bought it. I did actually notice a difference in performance, so I do think its worth it for the few dollars it is. My buddy who recommended it to me used it in his '91 Nissan NX2000 (2.0L SR20DE motor) and liked it. I have yet to spend the few dollars to throw in my new (to me) Trans Am, but when I do, I'll also let you know of the results.

 

Good to hear I've actually used it in my two previous camaros (both 305s) and I really did notice a difference, within about 500 miles too. I used to put it in religiously with every oil change. However an engine builder mentioned that using it may make the motor unrebuildable? So on that note It wasnt until i officially figured out that I don't have the money to ever rebuild my motor anyway that I started putting it in. But another mechanic mentioned oil additives being crap and that they can cause damage to the engine? What do you think? Thanks in advance.

- Tom

 

I would imagine this one is okay. Actually I was reading through an older issue of Hot Rod Magazine (about 8 or 9 months old) the other day and there was an ad for this stuff in there too. I've heard a lot of people have success with this, so I think this one is okay. I know I've heard some bad stories about oil additives before, but so far nothing about this one in particular.

 

I put some in my Camaro and it seemed to work pretty good for me.

 

HAHA, lets make some placebos and try it..

Someone else takes the car for 10 minutes, have 3 people get it in their cars, and 3 people not get anything in their cars, but tell them all they got it.

Then see how amny out of 6 say they had improvments

I know im stupid.....

 

I put some in my engine and I felt a difference. no it wasn't a plecebo effect, the #2 cyl had very low compression and the rest weren't much better. however after I added the restore I definately had better compression and a smoother idle. also I wonder how much truth there is to the "it makes the engine unrebuildable" statement, can anybody verify that?

 

You can feel compression differences? or you took a compression test before and after?

I dont see how it sould make it un-rebuildable.

 

I put it in a diesel tractor that had low enough compression it wouldnt start without starting fluid. After the treatment it would start on its own again. I also put it in a van that was so worn out it would foul the plugs once a month. Afterwards it went 6 months between plug changes. So it does help. However, I later had to replace a piston and sleeve in the tractor. I found lots of engine restorer material in the crankcase. When you pour it in you'll see lots of metallic lookin stuff in the can. There was alot of this in the filter too. I suppose if this stuff got stuck in the oil passages it might be hard to clean out.

 

That is the big argument too with that slick 50 stuff,and even fram uses in some of there filters,is that teflon stuff.
There have been supposed accounts of people losing oil pressure with those additives because it builds up in the passage ways...
You got to think if its strong enough to seal up some rings that are starting to get bad...it might seal other things up too...

Its probably useless on a good running engine,and the ones that would get an improvement from it,are probably ready to fall apart anyway. Once rings/rods.ect. start going up...theres no magic cure there gonna fail sooner or later.

At the very best its a bandaid on a shotgun wound.

 

if they used molybediumdisulfate or whatever teh crap is wouldn't that help if you coudl actually keep it in suspension in the oil?

 

If you have low compression and a bad idle, and adding this stuff fixes that, it's probably just really thick oil. So try using thicker oil rather than this.

About teflon. Once it's made, it will not stick to anything. It's completely inert, even inside an engine. That's why they coat frying pans and laboratory equipment with it. So it's not going to seal your rings or clog any passageways, just as spraying it on your toilet or shower will not make it so that those stay clean.

 

We had one customer who slick 50'd his motor to death. He was putting it in every single oil change. It completely plugged up the oil passages. Problem with the teflon is its a small particle that cant be dissolved with solvents. So when the oil sludges up the teflon particle is stuck in it and forms a sort of cement. The detergents in the oil cant dissolve it so it just keeps building up.

Engine restorer isnt just a thick oil. There are some kind of metallic looking particles in it. If you ever pour it in anything it looks like a can of blue goo filled with glitter.

 

Teflon, if it really is teflon, will not bind to anything in your engine nor form any kind of cement. The guy put slick 50 in his engine, the blockage was probably just because he wasn't smart enough to take good care of it.

When my old 305 went, it was burning oil really badly and I decided to try some engine restorer. The stuff I used was just really thick oil, nothing metallic in it. Having little metallic particles in it would make me want to use it even less

 

Ya.. I dont pour anything in my motor unless the things totally wore out to begin with either. The instructions on the can say to shake it to stir all that stuff up. If you dont all the "glitter" is stuck on the bottom. Really looks scary to me, but it does seem to work on worn out motors. Must be the "CSL" stuff they talk about filling in the cylinder scratches. I'd suspect its some kind of soft metal.

As for the slick50/teflon type additives, i think if you pour enough of anything thats a solid in an engine you'll eventually plug it up. And as you say nothing touches teflon, once its in there you can't dissolve it. The pan and heads in this guys motor were actually pretty clean, the oil galleys and pump were fubarred. He was a distributor and when he contacted them, they said not to use it as often as he was. He was changing oil and adding the stuff every 2500miles.

For my own motors, unless its shot and I need another 6months.. They'll just get mobil 1.

 

Great to see some info on this topic. I used the Restore stuff, about nine months ago, did notice a slight difference in engine smoothness. (Didn't shake it though, and didn't see the "glitter" and probably wouldn't have used it if I did!) Besides, my motor doesn't burn oil, and has quite likely been rebuilt at some point. I'm just kind of an auto parts store geek, and I'm fascinated by "tune up in a bottle" type stuff, like Berryman's, which works really well, by the way.

I had also used Restore on my old Camaro, with a pretty used engine, and noticed a much bigger difference. Of course, I used Slick 50 on that car, too, so it's hard to say which worked the magic. Based on my latest car, I'd say Slick 50 is the way to go, and it provides the most benefit.

I used Slick 50 a few months ago, now just running oil, and I definitely noticed a difference, quantifiable on the tach. Engine now runs a couple of hundred RPM lower at the same speed, eg. over 80 mph at two grand, vs. 2200 rpms before the Slick 50. And the motor revs smoother. Wouldn't recommend using it every oil change though. Says on the box it's good for 50,000 miles, so I'm assuming one time will hold you for quite a while.

HIlton's Hyperlube is another oil additive I've used, very thick like Lucas. Good stuff, but I would think that it's better for bagged motors with lots of rooom for goopier oil. I worry that oil thickeners in a good motor will rob power, and block up the oil filter.

 

wow I haven't seen this thread in a while, anyway (if anyone still cares that is) getting better compression wasn't a plecebo effect, I did varify it with my compression gauge (a nice matco one, not a parts store special).

also I agree compeletly and without argument that it is a band aid fix, not a permanet solution.

 

Slick 50 had nothing to do with this.. Your torque converter probably wasn't locking up for some reason before.

 

Always wondered about that, the torque converter lock up, and how that works exactly. Speeds and rpm have been consistent since. I assumed the Slick 50 was allowing my car to make the same speed with less rpms due to reduced internal friction.



Further reading on the subject suggests that if you do use Slick 50, don't use it every oil change, ditto for any of these additives, as they can gum up a motor over time, with stuff that oil detergents can't dissolve. A good running motor shouldn't need this stuff anyway, right?

Anybody use Duralube, or Prolong?

P.S. I think Hyperlube (like Lucas) is good stuff if yer burning some blue, and you are saving up for that swap or rebuild, IMHO.

 

Unless Slick 50 magically changes the number of teeth on your gears, it didn't cause whatever you noticed.

 

I tried Restore once, did notice a bit of a difference--however, does it contain a chlorine compound? Read somewhere that some additives contain something very much like soap which reduces friction but eventually eats at engine parts.

My .02, have used Hyperlube for years, think it's a great product for a high miles engine. Also had positive results with Slick 50, however, one application is supposed to last 50,000 miles. Some swear by Lucas.

I'd say, switch to 20/50 oil, and use Hyperlube Racing Formula if anything. In a new or rebuilt motor, stick with oil. Additives can help with the looser tolerances in worn motors, but are unnecessary in a motor that's in good shape. And save for a rebuild, or motor swap.

 

heres what every one of my mechanic school teachers taught me this saying "THERE IS NO MECHANIC IN A CAN" if it leaks it wont fix it...

 

Additives are just expensive thick oils with fancy names.
All other stuff, like teflon, will be trapped in the oilfilter within minutes, causing the same filter to work less accurat....
Decide for yourself.....!