Slick 50?

[len]

I've been using Slick 50 every year or two in my conventional vehicles and changing the oil at the manufacturer-recommended intervals. We have 200,000 miles plus on two of them by using this approach. This would accomplish *some* of the advantages of synthetic oil without the ongoing expenses. Has anyone tried this? Are there reasons not to?

I realize that PTFE additives are controversial in any vehicle. I'm most interested in hearing from people who have used it before and have ideas concerning why or why not to use it in the 2004 Prius.

(I'd also like to hear any informed opinion, of course, I just don't want it to degenerate into a "Bash Slick 50" discussion.)

[prius04]

I don't know anything about it so I did a google search.

These people make a good point.

http://skepdic.com/slick50.html

If PTFE, which is just Teflon, coats the moving parts, then they must also coat the walls of the holes that oil needs to flow through, ie the non moving parts.

Thus they MUST interfere with the flow of oil. The site then goes on to say that if it does what they say it does then it's a bad thing. So you are better off if it doesn't work. At least then it won't interfere with the flow of oil.

In addition, Dupont, the company that makes Teflon, is cited by this web site as saying it doesn't work.


On the other hand, Click and Clack, the tappet brothers claim that SAE, the people who give us the oil SAE ratings, studied it and said it does in fact stick to engine parts. However, as cited above, this may not be a good thing. I tried to find out from the SAE web site, but it's not free.

In any case, the one way I would NOT decide on what additive to use is individual stories. I work in health care and I know that anecdotes can be dangerous.

And right now I am so enamored by the scientists at Toyota, simply because of how much I am enamored by this car, that I'd be disinclined to use any additive without their advise or without significant research behind it.

And from what I've found on a short google search, slick 50 does not have the research.

This intrigues me though so if others find the research I'd be interested to check it out. I figure this car just might last me 250,000 miles, A half million would be great.

[paprius4030]

I too posted an inquiry about slick 50 on some prius yahoo groups before i found this(much better) site. I also had great luck using slick 50 in my other cars. The longest lasting one was a 1990 Grand Caravan that had 285,000 mi. on it before the 5th transmission bit the dust and then hauled it away to the bone yard. But the engine was never touched and only used 1 qt. between oil changes(5,000 mi). So I was surprised at all the negative things people had to say about slick 50, especially new owners, not the same original formulation ect. So now i wounder if the old Caravan and other cars i had just have good engines. So i decieded against using slick 50 in my new prius and hope that regular oil changes will make it last as good as my other cars....We'll see....

[TCD]

Hi Folks,

I just put Mobil One in at my 5k service. Purchased 4 quarts of Mobil One at Wal-Mart for less than twenty bucks and I have 1/2 quart left. I really don't see this as a major expense to incur every 5k, which for me is about everything six months.

Antidotally, my mileage is up a mile or two per gallon....

[bruceha_2000]

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But the engine was never touched and only used 1 qt. between oil changes(5,000 mi). [/b]

Is it normal for an engine to use oil? My '95 Odyssey wants a quart between changes and I figured that mean the rings were wearing, a ring job would be needed in the future and I would have to figure out how much to drop the sale price because of that.

New Prius coming in about a week. Lots to do!

[paprius4030]

Sure most engines use a little oil. I think if something changes as the car ages that means something is up...not how much it uses unless it's excessive. One qt. usage between oil changes is pretty normal, I think. My old Caravan always used 1 qt. since it was fairly new, now if it all of a sudden stated using 2 or 3 then I think that means problems on the horizon.

[Wolfman]

My Dad and I both used the stuff in our Hyndai Excels. The stuff actually did do damage to the engine on his car, and I expect that I would have seen the same results had my car not gotten totalled in a wreck. The jet valves (an emissions control item on those old Mitsubishi engines), siezed up due to oil starvation. This broke two of the rocker arms on the camshaft on the valves that jammed shut. The other two stuck open, causing a severe misfire due to zero compression in the affected cylinders.

It is based on personal experience, that I will warn anyone away from using the stuff in any vehicle.

[len]

Thanks, everyone. The skeptic.com article was especially good. I was never sure that it coated engine parts, but my mechanic had done some tests on his own and found increases in horsepower and decreases in friction. I hadn't thought of the fact that it might block the flow of oil.

I'm still undecided on using symthetics, but I'm only on my first tank of gas - so I have a little while to decide. It really is an amazing car!