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About Oil Treatment

Maybe the oil pump is getting weak, so the oil pressure is down no matter what you have in there. If so it would tend to come on when you're at idle since the engine is running slower. That's just a guess, I'd be interested to hear what others have to say.

Last weekend I visited the inlaws and learned my nephew (in college) drove his car for two weeks with a temp sensor light on. :yikes: It was low on coolant, they filled it and the light was still on. Turned out to be a bad water pump. I don't know but I think when I had my first car, if a warning light came on, I would have looked into it... :no:
 
Rodzilla said:
STP has been around a long,long time,so assuming they're still selling the same time tested product..it predates any modern additives and comes from a different era of auto technology...my guess is that it simply thickens the oil up some,this might be useful in older engines with looser tolerances and lots of wear,it might slightly boost oil pressure and help seal any small defects...however if that's the idea,then just switching to a thicker oil would be a more practical way to do the same thing
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Not an expert, but agree. I ran STP in my '52 and '62 Chevys. They burned a quart between oil changes and the thicker the oil, the longer it lasted. Modern cars run on much thinner, more modern oil.

No way would I put STP in my Honda's, but they never burn oil, even at 200k miles.

On the other hand, Seafoam gas additive is great, use it once in fall and spring. Smooths out my cars, lawn mower and motor cycle in the spring.

Only used Seafoam oil additive once, and can't comment on the effects.
 
Any of these additives are a Hail Mary at best. STP has been around since the 1950s and has been sued several times for false advertising. Like many additives, it's basically a marketing ploy.

- Pete
 
STP is an oil thickener with very minimal additives. It does more to dilute additives than help. You are much better off just running a thicker oil. Usually there is no magic cure, if the car is burning to much oil it needs some kind of repair to fix.
 
Stick with the 10w30 and forget the STP . Waste of money . It sounds like your car is running on low oil pressure and that is what is causing the light to come on . Oil does not wear out but the additive package does . I would add Straight 30w before I would add STP .
 
zebra03 said:
Stick with the 10w30 and forget the STP . Waste of money . It sounds like your car is running on low oil pressure and that is what is causing the light to come on . Oil does not wear out but the additive package does . I would add Straight 30w before I would add STP .
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I would too.

LBPete said:
Any of these additives are a Hail Mary at best. STP has been around since the 1950s and has been sued several times for false advertising. Like many additives, it's basically a marketing ploy.

- Pete
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From Wikipedia:

In 1976, STP faced a consumer protection order that required it to have scientific backing for certain statements and prohibited making false claims. In 1978, it paid a $500,000 civil penalty over claims....
In 1995, STP paid $888,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges of false advertising.
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I am sure there must be some AK members from the Kidney Stone Belt states reading this thread who can chime in, but all the folks I know in Florida who know much about cars (professional mechanics included) simply run Castrol oil; frequently 20W-50. Of course that's on "old school" cars; I would think a different weight oil would be called for in modern engines..
 
I've used regular Valvoline 10W-30 or 10W-40 in all my cars since my first car in 1976. Never a problem and never bothered with oil additives. 20W-50 is overkill and just wastes fuel efficiency unless you're in very hot (desert-like) temps or high engine stress conditions most of the time.

However, since it became available the past several years I've used the Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic Blend or MaxLife Synthetic 5W-30 and it's been great.
 
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I agree with the consensus to stay away from oil additives. The only additive I would use is ZDDP if i needed flat tappet protection. I bet you are on the right track checking the oil pressure with a gauge. My Grand Am hates mobile 1 the pressure drops at high temps. Castrol edge/syntec works fine. I use mobile 1 in my blazer with no issues.
 
I heard there was concern that oil thickening agents could cause needle roller bearings to stick and thus have flats worn on the needles.

I know someone who added an oil friction reducing additive to a 1938 4 cyl (3 bearing crankshaft) car - he took it for a run, and it promptly broke the crankshaft !
 
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My first car was a '78 Toyota and I thought there were two kinds of oil, 10W30 for winter and 10W40 for summer. Now I have a '93 whose manual says 10W30 summer and 5W30 winter, and an '02 Honda that wants 5W20 all the time. The '93 has a lot of miles on it, and my mechanic said it would be OK to use the 30 all the time. I add enough oil between changes on the '93 nowadays that the viscosity gets renewed regularly, so I don't plan to buy oil treatment. The original post was all about what to do with a bottle of it I happened to have, and I ended up diluting that into some regular oil and adding it half a quart at a time between changes. Seems to work fine.

I was looking at the Marvel Mystery Oil at the store yesterday and it's a lot thinner than I thought. Looks like diesel. I don't know how that would NOT screw up your viscosity.
 
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tox, I'd suggest what Valvoline recommends in the link I posted above, which is to follow your vehicle mfg's recommendations for oil weights & viscosity. In that link are FAQ's that should answer just about all of your questions about passenger car motor oil, additives, etc.

For example, in the "Racing Oil" section, Valvoline gives info about the ZDDP additive, and so on. If you want ZDDP in your oil instead of adding it separately, their Synpower oil has it.
 
I'd second the Sea Foam recommendation.

Question to the OP, when is the car smoking? Under acceleration, or deceleration/idling?

If it's smoking while idling, that's usually valve guides. If it's smoking under acceleration, that's usually rings. If it's the rings, then something like Sea Foam might help. After it's been in there for a bit, try some heavy acceleration, if you can get the rings to free up and reseat then it should help.

If it's the valve guides, then the STP might help, as might higher viscosity oil. I'd be tempted to shift to a higher viscosity oil than add STP.

Let us know what you end up doing, and whether it works or not.

bs
 
A good shot of Break Free (gun cleaning lube) in the spark plug holes will free top rings quick. Crank it over a few times with the coil wire out to spread it around and leave it sit. It'll free that top rings :)

Oil control rings and the second ring are done from below. SeaFoam is OK for that.

STP is basically Poly-Iso-Butalene, a lubricating compound with an inverse temp/viscosity curve (up to a point...). It's the same stuff that has made 10-40 act that way for decades, just in concentrated form.

You can buy it much cheaper at truck stops in gallon jugs as P-I-B :D
 
Geez, STP worked great in a '53 DeSoto hemi. Quit smoking and quieted right down. (This was a friends $50 beater/first car in the '60s)

DO NOT use it in a motorcycle with an integral wet clutch. (Ashamed to admit this was a my bad in the '70s)
 
I have a 2004 Pontiac Vibe [Toyota Matrix] 250,000 + miles. Use high mileage Mobil 5W30 year round. Doesn't burn a drop.
Years ago, 1960's, my uncle would use STP in his Plymouth. He had the occasion to remove the oil pan and found STP "globs" in the bottom of the pan. Lot of good it was doing there. I never used the stuff since despite what Andy Granatelli said about it.
 
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