Plugs and lucas oil stabalizer

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(johnnychimpo @ Sep 13 2007, 03:43 PM) [snapback]512066[/snapback]</div>

John,

I assume that you bought your 2004 Prius used. First, the iridium plugs are good for 100,000 miles and you won't improve engine performance with other plugs. Second, if you want better protection from the engine oil, just use synthetic oil (such as Mobil 1 which I use in mine). Don't use miscellaneous oil additives.

You should consider replacing the ATF (Transmission fluid) if your Prius is at or over 60,000 miles. Your Prius uses ONLY Toyota type WS (4 qts) ATF.

JeffD

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(johnnychimpo @ Sep 13 2007, 03:43 PM) [snapback]512066[/snapback]</div>

John,

I assume that you bought your 2004 Prius used. First, the iridium plugs are good for 100,000 miles and you won't improve engine performance with other plugs. Second, if you want better protection from the engine oil, just use synthetic oil (such as Mobil 1 which I use in mine). Don't use miscellaneous oil additives.

You should consider replacing the ATF (Transmission fluid) if your Prius is at or over 60,000 miles. Your Prius uses ONLY Toyota type WS (4 qts) ATF.

JeffD

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(johnnychimpo @ Sep 14 2007, 12:26 AM) [snapback]512329[/snapback]</div>

You can't without removing some ATF and looking (new is bright red), smelling (no paraffin smell), and/or lab testing. Toyota just says to check it so it is probably original ATF. Just change it now and send a sample in for testing (I use PdMA labs - http://www.pdma.com). The results of the test will tell you information on the condition of the transaxe (it's probably fine). A Toyota dealer should do the change out for less than $100.

JeffD

 

I agree with above replies...don't use any additive just use Mobil One and remember since the motor does not run all the time your oil interval is really long with Mobil One. Like 7500 miles no problem unless you wail on the car all the time.
I've had other cars with that same type plug and its an excellent plug. But I've never gotten 100K out of that plug before they started looking a little worn out at about 60k. But never seen one fouled or blown tip. Again with 100K showing on the odometer its really like maybe 80K on the motor. But still just pull them out every 25k or so and take a look at them and clean them up a little and put fresh anti seize on the threads. Put some silicone on the coil plug end that plugs onto the top of the plug. You don't want to have to wrench out any plug thats been in a motor 100k miles. With normal driving thats like 7 years. Thats a long time. Good luck.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Drifty'sDad @ Sep 19 2007, 11:09 PM) [snapback]515092[/snapback]</div>

For my first oil change at 5k mi i went to the dealership and they put in their additive. They said that it was because Toyota cars are not made to take gas with 10% ethanol so their additive makes up for this. Was I just plain lied to?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SureValla @ Sep 25 2007, 09:41 PM) [snapback]517699[/snapback]</div>

Yes the dealer lied to your face, I hope that you did not have to pay for the additive. Read your owners manual and it will tell you that your Prius runs on 10% ethanol without a problem. Ask to see the "official Toyota service document" that requires an additive to be added to the oil, for the Prius to run on 10% ethanol gasoline.

 

I use Lucas products in my 93 Camry. My opinion is Lucas is the only additive that works. Lucas makes a synthetic version of their oil stabilizer, so you could stay all synthetic (Autozone sells it near me). I use Mobil 1 in both cars. In the Camry I am using the Lucas synthetic oil stabilizer in the engine, transmission fix in the transmission and the power streering fluid. The Lucas products quieted the engine (seems like less vavletrain noise), smoothed out a hard and delayed first to second shift in the trans and the steering is like butter with no squeel at full turn (avoid full turns!). The Camry has 155K miles. I'll wait till the Prius gets over 100K before I do any Lucas in that, the Trans fix will not go in the Prius. If you choose not to use Mobil 1 I would definetly use Lucas. I tried the Lucas top cylinder additive ( the fuel injector cleaner that goes in the gas) and did not get consistent results, I don't use it or anything else in the gas tank.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(etyler88 @ Oct 24 2007, 08:27 AM) [snapback]529700[/snapback]</div>

I'm a bit late to this thread but can you explain "works" in your post. We've tested Lucas gas and oil additives, done uoa's and can not prove that it does anything useful, ever. We have done blind tests and a placebo does just as well as Lucas. This is not a shot at just Lucas but there is no additive that has done anything useful in fleet service for engine oil. We wanted at least one of them to work, to save us some operating expenses. Using a gasoline additive because it adds lubricity and helps to keep the fuel system clean is worth while but it won't improve your fuel mileage beyond improvements based on cleaning up a fouled fuel system and keeping the performance on line in the future. Our biggest problem with the Prius is fuel dilution and the solution we found is expensive. There are two. Change the oil more frequently and one bio-based engine oil appears to be immune to chemical shearing and aromatic damage to the oil. Fuel dilution is just recently being identified as a serious problem in some engines, especially engines with DI. Mobil 1 is a good average performing motor oil and does not need any help from products like Lucas oil stabilizer.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LongRun @ Nov 3 2007, 01:07 AM) [snapback]534236[/snapback]</div>

Ditto. That also applies to large industrial motors, such as the Waukesha V16's. The best long-term solution to having "clean" oil is to install a bypass oil filter, particularly a centrifuge-style "spinner" bypass filter. The snake oil belongs on the shelf

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jayman @ Nov 3 2007, 11:53 AM) [snapback]534356[/snapback]</div>

Tell me about your centrifuge-style bypass filter. Do you have one on your Prius?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LongRun @ Nov 3 2007, 02:54 PM) [snapback]534370[/snapback]</div>

No, I'm talking about the ones installed on those huge industrial Waukesha V-16's. They're almost as big as an oil drum. Plant air is used to spin the centrifuge inside, forcing all the soot and insolubles against the outer wall.

Every month or so, the system has to be shut down so workers can pull the black sludge off the collection system. Since the V-16's hold several hundred gallons of lube oil, anything to extend the life of the oil really pays off in downtime and maintenance costs.

Though now that you have me thinking about it, I suppose if I could rig up a compressed air supply, I could mount one in the hatch area. The extra 40-50 gallons of oil are sure to extend the motor life! You doing anything tomorrow, want to pop in and help?

:blink:

Just kidding. You can buy much smaller cartridge style spin on bypass filters. I'm not sure if there would be enough room in the Prius engine bay to mount one. The spin on bypass filters work almost as well as the centrifuge style, but are much smaller and cheaper to purchase.

 

While bypass filters work well, they are not really needed for gas engines. You will easily get over 150k miles on a Prius engine with 5k oil changes and the cheapest name brand oil you can buy.

Split fire plugs are not better than Iridium plugs. Use OEM Iridium plugs and be happy. No plug will improve everyday performance over the Iridium plugs.

Today's motor oils are formulated work well out of the bottle. If there was something that could be added to make them perform "better" in all conditions it would be in the bottle. All oil formulas are created with minor trade-offs, but they cannot be fixed with any over the counter additive. Dont waste your money. You engine will out live your car.

Change the tranny fluid. The dealer does not recommend changes so, it was probably never changed.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Winston @ Nov 5 2007, 12:22 PM) [snapback]535003[/snapback]</div>

In average climates and average conditions, that may be true, especially at the very short oil change interval the North American Prius has in contrast to the EU market Prius

Keep in mind the latest API ILSAC GF-4 / SM spec still allows volitility of 15%, end test viscosity thickening of 150%. The test sequence ignores cold stuck rings - a big problem in my climate. Consider, way back in 1993, the oil ring clogging requirement of Sequence VE was suspended indefinitely.

Oil gelation is of high concern to me, given the climate I live in. A slow-cooling event can cause the motor oil to turn into a jelly-like substance that cavitates the oil pump. This isn't an extreme cold snap, but a slow cool in winter. The test is run from -5 C to -40 C, and most oils "gel out" at an area of -15 C to -25 C

Under ASTM D5133 an oil is rated to an "index" value. An index value under 6 indicates very low probability of an oil gelling. An index rating of 12 raises the alarm for an engine maker. An index value of 15 will result in engine failure. The current wonderful GF-4 oil earns a "pass" with an index value of 12

Let's not forget that GF-4 minimum spec oils also earn a "pass" if they allow piston crown land and ring land deposits. The oil is allowed to react with moisture in the crankcase - very common in -40 operating conditions - and cause 50% reduction in oil filterability.

You can find the above facts on page 96-128 of the API ILSAC manual, which I have posted to this forum in an earlier thread.

I don't believe in snake oil formulations to "cure" a minimum spec crap North American oil. I would much rather use a higher rated ACEA spec motor oil, or a heavy duty diesel motor oil like Esso XD-3 and not have to worry about gel and sludge issues. Unlike the garbage API gas motor specs, the HDEO specs have pretty strict limits on cold sludge and gel.

I am a bit disappointed that the API marketing is alive and well, if they have average consumers believing all motor oils are the same. The bare minimum spec oils really don't do your motor any favors, as witness the Toyota V6 motors that sludged up in the late 1990's. The Toyota decision to lower oil change intervals from 7,500 miles to 5,000 miles was one result of that debacle.

Some EU market cars - running advanced ACEA spec oils - have 24 month or 30,000 mile oil change intervals. These oils have been out for over 10 years, so by now we would have heard reports of sludged motors.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LongRun @ Nov 3 2007, 01:07 AM) [snapback]534236[/snapback]</div>

From my earlier post:
Lucas products quieted the engine (seems like less vavletrain noise), smoothed out a hard and delayed first to second shift in the trans and the steering is like butter with no squeel at full turn (avoid full turns!).

So not a scientifiic evaluation, but the car sounds and feels better. And what about the gear wheels in the counter display, how do explain that? Pretty convincing to me.


Also I tried a bypass filter using all Amsoil products following all directions and schedule on a 84 Oldsmobile Iron Duke 4 banger that had about 130,000 miles on it and was running excellent. Less than a year later the engine died from oil blowby according to the mechanic.

 

I just rolled over 160,000 miles on my Honda Insight last week that has had oil changes at 30-36000 miles. I would change the filter at 12,000 and 24,000 according to Amsoil's schedule. I changed the oil last week and switched to Amsoil's EA oil filter and new 0-20w with a 24,000 mile service interval for the oil and filter. I was using their series 2000 0-30w. The Insight still does not use any oil between changes.

I use Amsoil's synthetic gear lube in the manual trans as well. The Insight's syncros are finicky and will grind with most fluids. Amsoil works well in it as well.


We only have 1000 miles on the Prius. Amsoil will be going in it as well when I change it.

With the electric motor bathing in the trans fluid, I will only use the Toyota trans fluid for it.