500k

[Ford Man]

I haven't got any pictures of the the car and the odometer tops out at 99,999.9 so i've just had to keep up the the number of times it has rolled back to all 0's.

Finally hit 513K, it took a while because I moved from NC to KY to be nearer my mom and help her out more since my dad passed away in June of this year so this car sat in NC for several weeks after we moved before I got the chance to go back to NC and pick it up. I drove it from NC to our new home in KY which is about a 500 mile trip with no issues although I didn't push it too hard only driving about 60-65mph on the highway.

[shatto]

IMPRESSIVE MILES!


Slick 50
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1997/07/slick.shtm

Seems to me that, when engineers design an engine and specify exactly what their lubrication requirements are, and oil manufacturers make products to 'meet or exceed' those standards.....additives are unnecessary.

[Ford Man]

Originally Posted by shatto

IMPRESSIVE MILES!


Slick 50
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1997/07/slick.shtm

Seems to me that, when engineers design an engine and specify exactly what their lubrication requirements are, and oil manufacturers make products to 'meet or exceed' those standards.....additives are unnecessary.

Whether it's helped any or not it certainly hasn't hurt anything. I've been using it in all my cars for nearly 20 years and my dad used it in his for about the same length of time prior to his death ealier this year and neither of us ever had any negative effects from it's use. I don't always use Slick 50 brand, but actually most of the time use a similar product of a different brand that's much less expensive. Engineers also said use 5w30 in this engine when it was built then a few years later Ford made a revsion that it was OK to use 5w20, but I've used 10w40 just like I have in all my other cars and will continue to for many more years since I have about 15-20 cases of it on hand that I bought before oil prices went through the roof. They also say change the oil every 6 months regardless of miles on the oil. My '97 Escort was bought new and now has about 29K miles on it and has had 9 oil changes in 13 years, every 3,000 miles regardless of whether the oil has been in the crankcase 6 months or 5 years. I've read that 15w40 is actully the best weight oil for lubrication and fuel economy.

[Jay2TheRescue]

When I was a poor college student my sister cooked the motor in my Buick, and afterwords, the oil pressure light came on anytime you were under 30 MPH. I dumped a bottle of Slick 50 in, and drove it with the oil pressure light on for 2 years.

[theholycow]

What is the cheaper alternative?

[trollbait]

Look on the shelf in any store and you'll find there are various brands of engine treatments that claim the same thing as Slick 50.

I personally wouldn't use them for several reasons, which happen to also be why I wouldn't use Syn-lube. First, you usually don't know what the carrier oil is in terms of viscosity or standard additives. The old formula of Slick 50 didn't contain any of the SAE additives, so using it in a fill would dilute out the required additives. Secondly, teflon is a solid. If it does bond to cylinder walls and bearings, it's going to have and easier time bonding to areas under less force and stress. It might block up tiny leaks, or clog oil channels. It just settle out in the pan or get filtered out.

Basicly, it's just not knowing what's in them is reason enough to stay away from them. Motor oil has to comply to recognized standards and be tested. These don't.

I am intrigued by the LC-20. Sounds like it is mostly an replenishment package of acid neutralizers and other standard additives. You probably don't need to add it has often as dictated, but it is in ounces instead of a quart. The only cautionary note is that some oil additives may require to be in the correct ratios with others to work effectively, and this might throw them off.

The other one mentioned by Ford Man, Xado, sounds like a molybdenum additive. It can be found in the better motor oils already, and may fill in cracks and pits in the metal. Moly's main reason for being there is as a lubricant and anti-wear agent. A 5w20 oil may have more of it than the higher viscosity for that reason.

[Ford Man]

Originally Posted by trollbait

Secondly, teflon is a solid. If it does bond to cylinder walls and bearings, it's going to have and easier time bonding to areas under less force and stress. It might block up tiny leaks, or clog oil channels. It just settle out in the pan or get filtered out.

I had the oil pan off of the Escort probably about 5 years ago to replace the oil pan gasket at somewhere around the 400K-450K mile mark for the first time since the car was new and the only thing in the oil pan was a small amount of sludge that had bonded to one corner of the oil pan, but it appeared to be more like where dust and dirt had got down in the engine probably from driving it on dusty construction sites for the first 12 years of it's life. I cleaned the oil pan put in a new gasket on and continued to drive it. Everything else visible from the bottom side such as the crank and cylinder walls were clean. As I've said befoe I don't know whether it helps prevent wear or not, but I put some in a moped a few years back and it's fuel mileage went from about 100 mpg up to about 105-110mpg. I don't remember what the oil capacity of the moped was but I added 4 oz to the oil. The best I remember I figured and 4 oz was about 20% of the sump capacity which is the recommended dose.

[trollbait]

Last time I picked up a bottle of Slick 50 in the past year, it did note it was new formula. May not even have teflon anymore. I like I said, not knowing what exactly is in the bottle is reason enough to not use it for me.

[shatto]

Viscosity
More is better. Right?
No.
Modern engines have itty-bitty holes and channels and very tight tolerances and heavier than specified oil actually doesn't lubricate properly.

[Ford Man]

10w40 has been good to me in a car that the recommended viscosity was 5w30 at the manufacture date and was later revised by Ford to 5w20. Even Ford can't decide what's best for their own cars.