Slick 50 and Synthetic Oil
Stephen Early
>I run synthetic oil (Mobil-1) in my Toyota 4Runner. I've been considering
>using slick-50 as well, and have noted that there is no discussion on the
>label regarding using other than premium oil with slick. Is there
>likely to be a compatibility problem? Will I be lowering the quality of
>the synthetic oil bath with slick's oil?
>
I've heard that once you use a synthetic oil, NEVER use anything else. Based
on this advice I'd avoid the slick 50 in the truck. As far as the boat goes,
I wouldn't use it there since you intend to use synthetic later. Sorry I
can't tell you why.
Steve
Alan Harder
> I've heard that once you use a synthetic oil, NEVER use anything else. Based
> on this advice I'd avoid the slick 50 in the truck. As far as the boat goes,
> I wouldn't use it there since you intend to use synthetic later. Sorry I
> can't tell you why.
But Slick 50 is a motor TREATMENT. You put in a quart, it coats your
engine parts (with silicone?), and then you don't use it again for
50,000 miles. It's not an oil additive or an oil in its own right.
And it's definitely synthetic!
Alan
Peter Winship
been demonstrated to add to engine longevity. Don't you suppose that
the producers of motor oil would add this stuff if they did?
The research which I'm citing here was published by a motorcycling
periodical called Road Rider which contained a review of engine
treatments like Slick 50. Road Rider is like a Consumer's Reports for
motorcyclists. They accept no advertising, and frequently do product
reviews.
There have been numerous lab tests that have not been able to show
any advantage to engines when using these treatments. While the
marketers claim that their goo improves longevity and that they
have lab tests to prove it, they will not release any info on who
did the testing or what the exact test results were.
Some of these products consist of motor oil to which has been added a
fine-grained teflon powder. Some products cause oil starvation
because the teflon powder clogs the oil filter, the job of which is to
remove particles from the oil. This clogging depends on the particle size.
The article cites a couple of lab tests done at respectable labs
(names forgotten)
Their conclusion is that in essence, the only thing slick about these
products is the producers.
I urge all of you who are considering the purchase of these products to
read the article in Road Rider.
As you can tell, I don't have the article with me, but maybe I'll post
a more detailed summary, with actual citations.
-Peter
Dean Woodward
> In <ASH.92Au...@ulysses.mr.ams.com> a...@ulysses.mr.ams.com (Alan Harder)
>
> >But Slick 50 is a motor TREATMENT. You put in a quart, it coats your
> >engine parts (with silicone?), and then you don't use it again for
> >50,000 miles. It's not an oil additive or an oil in its own right.
> >And it's definitely synthetic!
>
> Slick 50 contains PTFE (teflon) suspended in OIL. It is not synthetic.
Right. So it might be a problem to use it in his pickup, since he'd be mixing
oil types. But, in the boat, might it be OK, since the oil will be long gone
before he puts synthetic oil in...
Now, to give another bone to chew on:
A relative of mine drives for a major trucking concern. (I won't say exactly
which one, but they paint all their trucks & trailers safety orange, and it's
not a moving van company. That should narrow it down a fair amount.)
Anyway, He told me that they use SLICK-50 in their trucks and it adds another
~250k miles before they have to do an overhaul. Normally, the first overhaul
is done at 500k, so this is a 50% increase. Now, I'm going to get ahold of
one of the mechanics and grill him before I take this as gospel, but at this
point we all have something else to argue about... 8-)
--
Dean Woodward | OK. Last time. This is my machine. This is my
de...@fringe.rain.com | Opinion. This is my opinion on my machine.
Any Questions? -me
RFL...@esoc.bitnet
witness, had overheating problems in his 4WD van. He tried Slick 50 and it's
brought the temperature down to normal at the same speed. I made an
exception and bought the stuff: in my Mitsubishi van (the same motor is
found marinised in many boats) I estimate I get about 8% more mileage.
The German TuV - probably the most hard-nosed testing authority in the world -
reported much the same results. (I had a copy of their test but I lost it).
Finally, German boating magazines tested it: the result was it's uneconomical
and only marginally useful in 2 strokes, excellent but expensive for 4 strokes,
and quite cost effective in gearbox lube form.
Buy it and try it and come to your own conclusions !
RaF
Alan Harder
> In <ASH.92Au...@ulysses.mr.ams.com> a...@ulysses.mr.ams.com (Alan Harder)
>
> >But Slick 50 is a motor TREATMENT. You put in a quart, it coats your
> >engine parts (with silicone?), and then you don't use it again for
> >50,000 miles. It's not an oil additive or an oil in its own right.
> >And it's definitely synthetic!
>
> Slick 50 contains PTFE (teflon) suspended in OIL. It is not synthetic.
To pick nits, maybe the OIL in Slick 50 isn't synthetic, but the main
active ingredient (teflon) is. On the other hand, why should I care,
since my sailboat doesn't have a motor anyhow. But maybe I could use
it to lubricate my tiller. ;-)
Andrew Ford @ AGCS, Phoenix, Arizona
Slick 50 is a PTFE resin which coats the metal inside the engine (PTFE
is commonly known as teflon in pots and pans).
If I remember correctly, the Slick 50 instruction say not to add to
synthetic oil (???) [Probably because Slick 50 has a petroleum
oil base.]
Given the choice of using a synthetic oil or regular oil w/ Slick 50,
I took the Slick 50 (for truck and boat) -- in the long run it is
much cheaper and, IMHO, offers similar protection [I couldn't find
any data to compare the two and I assumed that if synthetic oil
manufacturers had data showing why I should spend more, they would
make it available to me.
I'm happy with the Slick 50 so far (36,000 miles on the truck - about
half of it pulling 2,700 to 3,000 lbs - and two years on the boat).
--
"25 States allow anyone to buy a gun, strap it on, and walk down the street with
no permit of any kind: some say it's crazy. However, 4 out of 5 US murders are
committed in the other half of the country: so who is crazy?" - Andrew Ford
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