Mungler Posted July 1, 2016 Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 Now then, I've got a few bangers and every once in a while I like to street them with some 'voodo in a can'. I know all the brands have massive followings and sponsor a lot of motor racing but does anyone know if these additives / treatments are any good? Do they make any difference or are they the placebo for your car like I think they probably are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesj Posted July 1, 2016 Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 Don't think many really do much, Many years ago one rep came round selling some wonder oil additive " that would protect your engine even if it lost all of its oil" he wasn't so keen to proove it with his own car! Some of the injector cleaners seem to work, Ive used them to get emissions down for mot. Still not 100% sure its not the new oil and filters, the spirited drive to the test station or the cleaner. Keep saying that we will test it one day but never do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvoCars Posted July 1, 2016 Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 Cataclean works very well, got many cars passed the emission tests after failing first time round Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TONY R Posted July 1, 2016 Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 Not used STP and dont even know what 10K boost is, But Redex and Slick 50 i have experience with them. Never put redex in petrol but have used it and still do on Some enginessquirt it straight into the carb. it does acctualy work, i once a long time ago had a DATSUN 620 pick up a 1977, it was early to mid 1980s this truck was bought as a short term knockabout for carying trials bikes about, it blew a head gasket, i got to work in it without frying it, and took the head off in my dinner break, picked up a gasket during the afternoon when out working, and after work just scraped off the block and head banged the new gasket on head was pretty carboned up in 23 and 4 1 was clean as a whistle as thats where the gasket blew but i wanted home so ignored that buuilt it up and got off home things seemed fine. It seemed to be a bit hazey on start up, and noticed the bores were in bril condition barely a light scuf certainly zero lip. so i was guessing sticky rings or valve stem oilseals etc. Out with the redex a oil can full latter up on the moors a cloud of blue smoke and it seemed to be running better but it still was a bit hazey on start up in a morning. I decided to get some valve stem oil seals, and a new gasket strip it one saturday morning. Got it striped was amased how clean all the cylinders were, The redexing had done its job great. Had that old truck another two years never missed a beat or used a spek of oil after that. SO in my opinion redex works. Now Slick 50? Wife had an opel manta or four in her time always the coupes and always the 2 litres cam in head lump. GTEs. One time we had a fault on a 1980 one, it was two years old when we got it, and it got the oil pump impeler wear grooving oil pressure droped and it spun a shell, i striped the motor the crank was a scrapper, could only get a 2.2 carlton crank it fitted the block, but as i was rebuilding it i took it out to 2.4 litre, and had blydenstein do a head job on it took the varijet off and fitted twin webber 45s and an enhem 284 degree cam in it. She ran it in and it got better and bbetter and it was no slouch for back then, XR#s even turbos were not even near that thing, pulped them all. It had about 5k on that engine at the time and when getting bits for a oil change the kid in the discount, was looking at the car asking about it, he had an old square 2.4 1972 skyline very rare here, but he said i should try slick 50 he thought it worked. So i did the slik job and within two days tickover had gone up to 1400 rpm from a limpy 1100rpm pre slick 50 i had to adjust the idle. . So slick 50 works imo . good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted July 1, 2016 Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 hello, well going back many many years much was then old bangers for family cars and we were no different,mid to late 1970s ours was a MAXI and it rattled like marbles in a tin can and the engine pinked if you know what i mean, well this new stuff came out endorsed i think by paddy hopkirk anyway it was liquid PTFE in a can not cheap and we were going on holiday so i put some in the engine and topped up oil, after ten or so miles the engine changed tune and by the time we got to north wales it sounded like a new engine and went on to do many 1,000s of miles more, sorry about the trip down memory lane, as for today i put a can of this type in my sons mariva and thats still going strong at 80 plus thousand, i know but he wanted a mariva Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted July 1, 2016 Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 hello, well going back many many years much was then old bangers for family cars and we were no different,mid to late 1970s ours was a MAXI and it rattled like marbles in a tin can and the engine pinked if you know what i mean, well this new stuff came out endorsed i think by paddy hopkirk anyway it was liquid PTFE in a can not cheap and we were going on holiday so i put some in the engine and topped up oil, after ten or so miles the engine changed tune and by the time we got to north wales it sounded like a new engine and went on to do many 1,000s of miles more, sorry about the trip down memory lane, as for today i put a can of this type in my sons mariva and thats still going strong at 80 plus thousand, i know but he wanted a mariva oh yes they do make a difference oh yes they do make a difference and red X in the petrol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaun4860 Posted July 1, 2016 Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 Slick 50 was liquid PTFE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted July 2, 2016 Report Share Posted July 2, 2016 Slick 50 was liquid PTFE hello, thanks must have been that one, it did the job on the old maxi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord O War Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 Slick50 don't even bother, you will be better off buying better oil and filters in the first place. If they did what they said then all the car manufacturers would be using it to get better MPG but they don't. It has been noted that the PTFE blocks the oil filter and actually caused engine wear. Oh and Dupont, the inventors, say not suitable for IC engines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Kelly Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 I use Redex in my petrol tank for my outboard motor and I'm convinced it not only helps it run better, but I think it probably also stabilises the fuel so it doesn't separate if it's left sitting for a couple of months. It probably helps keep the carbs clean too, though I always make sure to run them out of petrol at the end of the day anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b_wales Posted July 6, 2016 Report Share Posted July 6, 2016 I add a shot of Millers Oils 'Diesel Eco Max to every full tank of Diesel. A bottle (via Ebay) costs approx. £13.00, which will give 10 measured shots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpringDon Posted July 6, 2016 Report Share Posted July 6, 2016 Injector cleaners (some at least) are proven to work. Redex type things are more dubious but there is some evidence. But can there be anyone still using slick 50. It has been proven time and again to be ineffective. DuPont say it doesn't work and refused to sell ptfe to the makers who then had to take DuPont to court to force them to sell it to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leadbreakfast Posted July 6, 2016 Report Share Posted July 6, 2016 I've used duralube in the past and it does make a difference with the oil aditive. would recommend but it's hard to get in the uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a303 Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Millers eco max is bloody good stuff for dervs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortune Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Fuel & oil technologies are changing all of the time and most of those ad ons have been overtaken by the modern oils such as the semi & fully synthetic oils now available. Some of the older oils aren't really compatible with modern ethanol added fuels. As for fuels there is Aspen which is a different beast altogether. pricey but doesn't go off and doesn't erode components. Modern fuel has a short shelf life and can cause all sorts of running problems if left in fuel systems for any length of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rewulf Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Slick50 don't even bother, you will be better off buying better oil and filters in the first place. If they did what they said then all the car manufacturers would be using it to get better MPG but they don't. It has been noted that the PTFE blocks the oil filter and actually caused engine wear. Oh and Dupont, the inventors, say not suitable for IC engines. Castrol magnatec actually contains the same PTFE that is in Slick 50,they do a full range for all oil types. Your comment about all manufacturers using it if it were any good is ,no offence,a little naive. The longer an engine lasts,the longer (generally) the life of the car,not good for new car sales. Years ago ,it was the bodies that rotted before the engine failed,then the bodies got better and the engines went first. These days with good bodies and good engines, it will be your electrics/ECU s that fail ,making the vehicle an uneconomical repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortune Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Castrol magnatec actually contains the same PTFE that is in Slick 50,they do a full range for all oil types. Your comment about all manufacturers using it if it were any good is ,no offence,a little naive. The longer an engine lasts,the longer (generally) the life of the car,not good for new car sales. Years ago ,it was the bodies that rotted before the engine failed,then the bodies got better and the engines went first. These days with good bodies and good engines, it will be your electrics/ECU s that fail ,making the vehicle an uneconomical repair. Yep spot on . That's if the problem can be found. The way things are going there will only be main dealers in a few years time because the small garage is a thing that wont survive. Buy it use it and dump it. that's the future Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted July 11, 2016 Report Share Posted July 11, 2016 (edited) I just use fully synthetic oil and change it regularly. Fuel additives do work and I always put some in when I go on a run to blow away the cobwebs, but their main advantage is lubricating the injectors. Most cars die from lack of proper servicing. For example, how many cars have ever have the automatic transmission fluid changed? Supposed to do it every 30,000 on a Merc but I have never seen one yet that's had it done Edited July 11, 2016 by Vince Green Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason_ox Posted July 11, 2016 Report Share Posted July 11, 2016 I just use fully synthetic oil and change it regularly. Fuel additives do work and I always put some in when I go on a run to blow away the cobwebs, but their main advantage is lubricating the injectors. Most cars die from lack of proper servicing. For example, how many cars have ever have the automatic transmission fluid changed? Supposed to do it every 30,000 on a Merc but I have never seen one yet that's had it done Agree with the tranny fluid changing. On my bmw they say it's sealed for life! Speak to the gearbox manufacturers ZF and they say every 60k. Like these manufacturers are now pushing the extended service intervals on vehicles in some cases not changing engine oil until 30k+ miles. It's a recipe for disaster especially if that engine is cam chain. I always change mine every 8-10k miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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