Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Hi folks,

In my efforts to find out exactly what Marvels Mystery Oil, and the like, actually do, and what the benefits or pitfalls may be, I came across an article from back in 1992.  It is a great deal of reading, but I found it difficult to pull myself away from it.  It primarily discusses all those oil additives boasting Polytetrafloeraethylene (Teflon) and exactly what goes on inside your automotive or OPE engine if used.  These are products such as Slick-50 and the like.  It even discusses a test that Briggs & Stratton did themselves on several OPE engines, reproducing the one on that commercial, running them without oil.  The results are very interesting to say the least. 

If you've got some time on your hands, grab a cup of your favorite drink and go to the link below.  I really would like to know what some of you think of all of this.  Again, I realize this article was written in 1992, but if you come up with something more current, I'd certainly like to read it.  I myself don't go for power of suggestion, and why I like to research things before I use them in my vehicle or OPE equipment.  Thanks in advance for your input.

http://www.vtr.org/maintain/oil-additives.html

Road Rider magazine, now known as Motorcycle Consumer News, August 1992

Richie - Looks like an interesting article, I printed it out & will comment tomorrow, after I read it at work, during my spare time.

I always figured oil additives and fishing lures were more designed to "catch" a consumer than actually do what they claim. Thanks for the informative post.

I love the reference to the Brigg's Test where the "snake oil" additized engine, run without oil, actually had more damage than a standard engine run without oil.

This is similar to the Consumer Reports test run on the Pro-Long additive.

Pro-Long claimed that a car could run 4 hours after having the oil drained.  Two Chevy cars were tested, one with Pro-Long & one with out.  After a 100 mile warmup, the oil was drained from both cars.  13 minutes and 5 miles later, both engines failed at the same point on the highway.

http://www.superslipperystuff.com/Press_Statements.pdf#search='ftc%20prolong'

Marvel Mystery Oil is a solvent based engine treatment.  In the old days, it probably helped clean lead deposits from valves, along with sludges from the typical solvent refined motor oils of that time.

Per the MSDS sheet, Marvel Mystery Oil contains:

Naptha                       70-80%

Mineral Spirits          20-30%

Di-Chlorobenzene          1%

As a crankcase oil add, it will dissolve some sludge & varnish accumulations.  Note that any solvent added to crankcase oil is similar to fuel dilution and reduces the ability of the oil to lubricate.