Hi everyone .Now that the weather has turned. We now can get under the hoods of our daily veihcles. Does anyone run any additives in there engine and trans fluids for wear protection ? My00 f-150 has 100k mi and i have a 99 monte w/ 175k on it . im getting ready to do all the cleaning and tuning under the hoods (of what you can doo these days).
The way gas is and the miles on them i thought it wouldnt hurt .
Now its to figure out what to use :bash: so many to choose from. Any
imput on what to use? If i had the money i would start looking for newer rides , but were buying revs this yr (priorities ) :tongue:.
I thought of using z-max or engine restore in them but just not sure what to use. Any ideas?

Lucas has a good product line. As for trannies, I like to add a supplimental cooler to the existing one. Heat = premature failure and poor wallet economy!!!.

Never been much of an additive fan, just quality fluids and frequent changes.

Most manufacturers don't support the use additives. From what I hear, additives (with the exception to drygas) cause problems down the road. However, those cars, esp. the one with 175k, "down the road" may not be seen by you.

The best you could do to improve engine longevity is run quality synthetic oil (Mobil1, Castrol GTX or Syntec) that is changed every 6-8k miles or every year.

Run a compression test. If it is fairly good, leave it alone. If not, Engine Restore is suppose to provide good results.

Like thumbdoctor said, try Lucas. I am going to try it in my Subaru. I am going to try it in the motor and the tranny stuff they make.

Originally posted by CORY9@Apr 30 2005, 06:43 PM
Never been much of an additive fan, just quality fluids and frequent changes.
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I am with cory I have 121,000miles on my 1998 Chevy Z71 4x4
She still is going strong! Never in my life have I added a additive
to any of my vechicles. :D

personally from what i've tried and heard, stay away from additives. in the past i've tried trans-medic, and noticed no difference at all. I've used Revitalizer (similar to Sea Foam) and did have good results with that. Only other thing i would try which i hear has good results is add a little Lucas Oil Stabalizer to your engine oil and at every oil change.

and i have to disagree with droptop on your oil change intervals, once a year or every 6-8000 miles is WAY too long. We change our oil and filter every 3000-5000 kilometers, and the results show...........

-Neil

If you run Synthetic it becomes a costly oil change, and I for one hate leaving oil in the sump that long. My preference is quality products every 5,000 kilometers, and I've had great results. To each their own I guess.

Good2Go- 6-8k miles ONLY with synthetic. With the regular mineral/dino oil, I agree, 3,000 miles is best.

Some engine oil additives use lead for lubricity.After 2000 miles the lead breaks down into different propertys and can cause increased engine wear.

well so far i have nt had time to tackle anything yet . It,s been one of those wks . Basiclly im just trying to stay on top of things. In the past ive ran slick 50 in the truck . I run a semi synthetic oil from day one(valvoline, dura blend) . With some other changes ive done it boosted the mpg by 4. Then i went and put big gribbers underneath it , looks cool but id payed for it . Its time for new meats this summer too, so im thinking of dropping down a size . Plus it will help wear and tear on the old gal .

The best thing you can do for any vehicle is proper maintenance. I am a certified auto mechanic and oil changes vary on the type of oil you use.
some modern synthetics can go as long as 9000miles between changes, but the price reflects this as they tend to cost three times as much. also another note on synthetics I have hear stories of problems in high mileage engines. It seems the synthetics cause the seals to swell less than conventional oil, causing leaks.
I personally don't use additives, most seem to be "snake oil" or "mechanic in a can" and generally only cure symtoms and not the cause, and don't do anything that proper maintenance doesn't do.

one more thing since we are on the subject. Remember to flush out your cooling system at the recommended interval. Coolant doesnt lose it freeze protection, but does lose its ability to prevent corrosion. your radiator and heater core will thank you for it

Synthetic oils are real good, and the lucas products work well also.

The only time I've ever used an additive is when I had a truck whose engine was already starting to go. I used Restore and it made a HUGE difference! I don't know how long it lasted, as I sold it shortly after. I wouldn't even consider adding anything if the engine is still running strong.

As far as additives go, I would never use a stop leak type of formula. Many of those fluids gunk up the rest of the engine and cause trouble shortly after.

I do however use things like STP fuel injector cleaner at every oil change. You simply add one container to a tank of gas. I think those do a great job.

I use Mobil 1 Synthetic Oil for higher mileage engines. 10W-30. I still change it every 4500-5000 kms, and I just think it provides the highest level of protection for your engine. My 1992 Chevy Lumina Euro only has 133,000 kms on it, but I still baby it.

I was thinking about adding some synthetic transmission fluid as well. SLick 50 and Dura Lube seem to be good products. These aren't meant to fix problems, but rather provide some preventative measures.

Originally posted by pce73@May 20 2005, 01:28 AM
one more thing since we are on the subject. Remember to flush out your cooling system at the recommended interval.* Coolant doesnt lose it freeze protection, but does lose its ability to prevent corrosion. your radiator and heater core will thank you for it
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That's some good advice. I'm going to get that changed.

What ever you do dont use NOS octane booster, i put a LITTLE bit in my quad than a while later i needed a new float valve..corroded to much

Originally posted by CORY9@Apr 30 2005, 08:43 PM
Never been much of an additive fan, just quality fluids and frequent changes.
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BINGO! I agree. Alot of the products out today don't do what they say. Numerous manufacturers had law suits against them for false claims. In some cases they can cause more harm than good. I use Amsoil engine, transmission, differential oil/fluid, and their gas addative (do to the fact I think the gas to water % around here is somewhere like 50/75 gas/water. --that's it. My 96 Ram has over 150K, doesn't leak or use a drop of any petroleum product. Unfortunately, is does use gas! Runs strong as ever. Also, that was a bad year for trannies in that truck--never a problem. I could just be lucky on that issue. :)

Castrol is putting out oil for higher mile engines. You might try that if you don't like synthetics-I like to change my oil every 5000 miles (high speed driving) along with the filter-gtes all the crap collected out of the system.

PM as said above is incredibly important.