Fuel and oil additives

[Idriveaho]

Im curious as to what brands you guys use. Any evidence that such products worked for you?

I put some Techron in mine last tank to see if it helps with the cold starts. I seem to notice a bit of misfire for about 5 to 10 seconds. Smooths out after. I seen someone on here was using marvel mystery oil, so I bought some for this new tank of fuel.

I also seen something new, Lucas oil low viscosity stabilizer. Says it’s ideal for vvt and dod engines. Curious if any of you use that.

 

[drakon543]

alot of the additives out there are just smoke and mirrors or just a marketing gimmick. marvel mystery oil has been around for a while so it has to atleast be doing something. i do use lucas in my older vehicles on occasion. i did the valve covers on my tahoe again a little while ago when i did the headers and egr pipe. dont remember why i did it but whatever. engine looked about the same as the first time i did it. but regardless lucas seems less aggressive and "magic" than other oil additives and i only use it every couple of oil changes. ive used seafoam in the fuel and directly into the intake via tb or vacuum line. ive used it a number of times with varying results. the big concern with seafoam is when its run through the intake properly and then run out it can create alot of smoke. oils and cleaners from the seafoam being blown through your exhaust which if your catalytic converter is about to clog it will probably be the straw that did it.

 

[swathdiver]

Im curious as to what brands you guys use. Any evidence that such products worked for you?

I put some Techron in mine last tank to see if it helps with the cold starts. I seem to notice a bit of misfire for about 5 to 10 seconds. Smooths out after. I seen someone on here was using marvel mystery oil, so I bought some for this new tank of fuel.

I also seen something new, Lucas oil low viscosity stabilizer. Says it’s ideal for vvt and dod engines. Curious if any of you use that.

Shortly after purchase, I ran some of those bottles of SuperTech fuel system and fuel-injector cleaner through the tank. It increased my gas mileage while it was in there. However, top-tier Mobil and Chevron are my preferred fuels, 93 octane with several months a year spent on various blends of Ethanol which also cleans the injectors.

My motor is cranky when it first starts up after sitting overnight, just for a few seconds, then she settles down and runs just fine. I don't consider this a problem.

 

[Bigkevschopshop]

Mine idles smooth as glass when I run the BG chemtool in the gas tank... Do it about once every oil change... man it runs good with that in there... Rest of the time just normal 93 top tier gas... Dont have a Chevron station near by that I wont get water in my gas so I stick to shell, exxon, or valero...

Most of the cleaners are not really needed for injectors, the solvent of gasoline is actually really well at dissolving bs... But the pump and filters seem to benefit from cleaners the most...

 

[avalonandl]

Techron is great for fuel injector cleaning. Marvel mystery oil is snake oil... but great for freeing up seized bolts etc.

 

[HiHoeSilver]

There are a few of us here that use Kreen from www.kanolabs.com

 

[08HoeCD]

I haven't thought about or experimented much with fuel or oil additives.
But I wonder if there is any scientific evidence that these products do anything at all.

 

[wjburken]

But.....but.....but......I grew up with Richard Petty saying STP would give me the Racer’s Edge!

It couldn’t have all been a lie!

 

[wjburken]

In all seriousness. I do believe that some of the products do offer legitimate benefits when used in conjunction with proper maintenance and quality fluids and fuel.

That being said, I believe that some of the products out there offer a fleeting improvement by temporarily boosting octane or something and the majority work on the placebo effect simply because people want to believe they are going to see an improvement so that is what they perceive is the result.

 

[Derick]

I think we need to classify these additives into different arbitrary groups.

First, the snake oils: This is stuff thats <$5 and available at your local auto zone. One that comes to mind is the GUNK engine cleanse. This is just pure diesel. You can smell it. It's just a pint of diesel to act as a solvent in your motor! So, unfortunately, MMO/marvel mystery old is part of this at $3.99. I use a bottle of it on every oil change, but do I KNOW it does something? No.

Second, the major industrial products: I reference the Kano/Kreen in this group. I ran this stuff as recommended in the oil and in the gas, and I didn't notice much change. Now, this isn't necessarily a problem with the product, I think I had just used enough other stuff prior to it, that it didnt have much to do.

Third, thickeners: Lookin at you lucas. This stuff fills the gaps, increases oil pressure (i guess) and does it really do anything for the longevity of a motor???

Anyhow I made a thread up here and posted what I've done thus far on my noisy burb:
https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/engine-noise-progress-with-videos.110089/

In short, I ran a quart of ATF for a few thousand miles, and it cleared things up quite nicely. I did MMO and the Kreen AFTER that period.......so had I done that FIRST, would my results have varied?? Not sure. I think Kreen is a bonafide product...I wish I had done that first, but I was expecting instant gratification from the ATF (because I'm clueless) and so I ordered the kreen while that was in the crank.