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Motor Silk? Oil additive

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Bill Merchant, Apr 4, 2008.

  1. Bill Merchant

    Bill Merchant absit invidia

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    Did you happen to see NOVA Car of the Future which aired on PBS on April 22, 2008 (Earthday)? It was an interesting program. Here is a clip of David L. Greene, Corporate Fellow at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Knoxville, TN, who specializes in energy and environmental policy analysis as well as the modeling and simulation of transportation energy markets, discussing energy efficiency in cars. He first mentions friction, then goes on to enumerate other ways of increasing efficiency up to 50%. Later he talks about hybrids and plug-in hybrids.

    NOVA | Car of the Future

    Here's a link to the program web site.
     
  2. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    Bill

    No, didn't get to watch the show. However, as I have previously posted, reducing friction 50% will reduce fuel consumption around 2%

    Ever wonder why those large Wartsila or Waukesha V-16 industrial engines have 35-40% efficiency? That is quite a bit higher than a conventional car or pickup. Well, first of all, those are steady-speed motors, not throttled like a car or pickup

    Those large engines offer *per cylinder* spark and fuel monitoring and control. If you're already paying a million bucks for the motor, it's a no brainer to pay an extra $120,000 for such a feature, as it will rapidly pay for itself

    I really do believe that such features as per cylinder spark and fuel monitoring and control can be done right now, with minimal extra cost. That would mean every cylinder would have its own O2 sensor and knock sensor. Most engines now have individual coil ignition, so that could stay the same

    Move to the next step of per cylinder valve control, and we could dramatically improve fuel economy. A lot of research is now being done on this, and we'll see this technology soon

    However, I still maintain a magic elixir cannot bring us the same improvements. So many snake oils have been pushed over the years with no results to speak of. I'm only surprised that the Federal Trade Commission doesn't clamp down on more of these hucksters
     
  3. alanh

    alanh Active Member

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    I have to chime in too -- I find it really unlikely that a single item could have a major change in efficiency, simply because a single item only has a piece of the car's energy usage.
     
  4. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Let me suggest using a small, standalone generator to measure the effectiveness of any of these products. You'll need the following:
    1. 1 kw or smaller, gas generator
    2. 1 kw space heater
    3. line-driven, AC electric clock
    Starting in the morning with a fixed amount of fuel, start the generator driving the space heater and clock starting a midnight. Let it run until is stops, 4 hours later, and record the exact amount of time. Reset the clock, refuel the generator, and let it cool overnight. In the morning, repeat the test and verify you get a similar amount of time. Repeat the test one more time to make sure you are getting reproducible results. If you have the time, you could always start with a fixed warm-up period, say 15 minutes, and then top off the tank for the measure run.

    Now add the 'test article' to the engine and repeat the test. Again, you want to get at least three runs to average the results. Now compare them against the first sample.

    The last step is to removed the 'test article' and repeat the test. You want to see if the next three runs return the generator back to the original performance.

    A $600 generator is a much easier to replace than the engine in a $26,000 Prius. The results will be more easily quantified because no human intervention is required. If the generator becomes more efficient, hurray! If it doesn't, not much was put at risk.

    Bob Wilson
     
  5. HOVZOOM

    HOVZOOM New Member

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    Agree with most of the posters. These snake oil products have been around for years and will be for many more to come. Spend your time & money elsewhere.
     
  6. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    Bob

    That brings up another point.

    Consider that a lot of industries are being literally killed off by high energy costs and high input costs, combined with dropping demand. As an example, especially here in Canada, the forrestry and pulp/paper industry

    A lot of mills are closing with thousands of jobs being lost. If any way could be found to dramatically reduce energy consumption, say "only" 5%, don't you think these faltering industries would have already explored and applied these methods??

    Let's consider a product tank farm, it could be a slurry or an additive. The tank farm must run agitators to prevent the solids from settling out. The tank farms I'm most familiar with typically hold 50,000-200,000 us gals. You need anywhere from a 20-60 hp 3 phase electric motor to run the agitator gearbox

    If there was a magic elixir one could add to the gearbox to instantly reduce power consumption "only" 5%, if not more, don't you think I would have heard about it by now??

    Typically, most of those heavy duty agitator gearboxes run a special synthetic fluid, with desiccant breathers. This eliminates seasonal fluid changes, prolongs seal and gear life, and is proven to reduce energy consumption 1-2%. Not a magic 5-10%

    Unless some folks want to believe there is a global conspiracy to close mills here in Canada, at a cost of thousands of jobs, anything that could be done to reduce energy consumption would already have been done
     
  7. jcy91403

    jcy91403 Spectra Blue

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    My car is supposed to arrive at the Los Angeles port on July 3, and am preparing for its arrival. My girlfriend just sent me this article regarding Motor Silk. Has anyone used this product, and if so, does it really produce these results?


    Motorsilk, developed by NASA, has been all over the news in Oregon and WA and it’s now available to consumers. Check this out
    https://www.evergreenamerica.com/resources/Prius%20MPG%20Challenge%20Winner%20Press%20Release.doc NW cable news has been testing out fuel additives and everything up until this has been determined to be a waste of money. News and this press release say this really works. https://www.evergreenamerica.com/ProductsMotorSilk.cfm
     
  8. Bill Merchant

    Bill Merchant absit invidia

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    :welcome: Welcome to PriusChat, jcy91403!
    You've asked the question I first posed. Lots of Prius chat, but no first-hand reports...
     
  9. jcy91403

    jcy91403 Spectra Blue

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    Thanks Bill.

    I guess I won't try it until someone posts their experiences re the use of Motor Silk. . . Husband doesn't want me to void the warranty on a brand new car . . .
     
  10. dennish

    dennish New Member

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    Confused - Mileage Improvement

    My first post...

    A company in Ontario distributes several different oil additives and they have many testimonies from diesel truck drivers that are getting an extra 1 mile per gallon. Assuming the normal 5 miles per gallon, that seems to be 20% improvement.

    There must be an error in someones math?
     
  11. rfruth

    rfruth Member

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    don't additives also cure Male Pattern Baldness ;)
     
  12. ctbering

    ctbering Rambling Man

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    The benefits of CLS Bond® products have been documented in test after test. For example, engine friction is reduced by up to 80%, and engine wear by up to 90%.*

    What do they mean compared with regular oil, synthetic oil, vegetable il, no oil?
     
  13. mnky357us

    mnky357us bweverka

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    I bought some Motor Silk and added it to my oil just as I
    was directed about a month ago. I also put in the gas
    treatment. I was told at the distributor in Portland, Oregon
    that I should not use the Transmission additive as it was
    not compatable with the CVG.

    As todate I have not noticed any difference..
    Years ago I used a product called Slick 50 in my
    cars, seemed to be kind of the same thing, and
    never noticed anything then. But I did so in that
    I read all about the products and figured it would
    not hurt...

    Oh Yes the dealer that sold me the Motor Silk told
    me that it would void my warrenty if I used the
    Transmission treatment, but the otheres we all
    ok they even gave me a sheet of paper that states
    these facts.
     
  14. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    Sorry to hear that, but thanks for letting us know
     
  15. paulost

    paulost New Member

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    My name is Paul and I work for Green Lubrication Solutions, a distributor of MotorSilk® products. I am guessing that I am the "tech guy" referred to above. I drive a 2007 HSD Prius Touring Model …and I use MotorSilk Engine Treatment and Gas Additive.

    Just to answer a few of the questions posted above:
    - The technology behind MotorSilk® and LubriSilk® products is called Boron CLS Bond®, developed by Argonne National Labs for the US Department of Energy as an "extreme condition" lubricant for NASA. The technology was patented in 1991 and is now available for personal, business and industrial use.

    - The transmission products are NOT recommended for CVT such as in our Prius’ or in cars with sealed transmissions.

    I installed MotorSilk in my Prius last January and typically get 10-20% better mileage than the previous year, and this is with the E10 in Oregon gasoline all-year-long. I have been able to increase my mileage by 4-6 mpg on average and by even more when I really work at it, especially when the warm weather cooperates.

    For the first year of driving my Prius, I traveled 20 miles to work each direction, driving on a consistent route. The highest mileage I ever got on the best summer day was 52.3 MPG per my consumption meter on the dash. After the MotorSilk treatment bonded to my engine, the first day I drove that same route I got better than my best ever MPG, and this was in winter when the batteries don’t work very efficiently.

    Not long after, I began seeing the yellow bar graph showing 65MPG and higher when I was driving on flat ground at 45 miles per hour – before the treatment, I never saw mileage above 50MPG when the engine was on, unless I was going down a hill. These were a couple of the early clues that something significant had changed with my engine.

    For the record, I participated in a mileage contest sponsored by a local dealer last April, using their protocols where they measured fuel consumption after we drove 122 miles. I got over 70MPG and won the 08 MPG Challenge with my Prius using MotorSilk. While the absolute MPG is questionable given how the sponsoring dealer measured the fuel consumed (Prius’ have a bladder in the gas tank so the capacity changes with temperature), the relative mileage between my Prius and other Prius’ was consistent and I beat the next HSD Prius by almost 10MPG.

    I certainly understand your skepticism, just as I was very skeptical initially. I’ve tried many the other products over the years. I even put cow magnets in my gas tank back in the early ‘70s, as some of you may remember, to align the gas molecules. But after using MotorSilk and seeing the results myself, I believe in it so much I decided to help distribute it, so I am working for Green Lubrication Solutions…and I have a bias for MotorSilk.

    I am a car guy, not a chemist, but I am happy to answer your questions about the product and how it works. You can also check us out at our GreenLS web site for more information and to buy MotorSilk products if you want to try them. If you are local to Portland, please stop by our shop at 6600 SW Macadam in the John’s Landing area and ask for Paul.
     
  16. EZW1

    EZW1 Active Member

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    Probably have minimal effect, if any. In every engine, a very minute amount of oil always gets past the rings and is burned in the combustion cycle. The amount is quite small - it is the oil that remains coated on the cylender wall when the piston goes back down, or is scraped up when the piston comes back up.
     
  17. alevinemi

    alevinemi Junior Member

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    The last post here is about 7 months old, and two posters said they would try it and post back.

    Did you try it? Did you get any results?

    -->Adam
     
  18. darrencarter

    darrencarter New Member

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    Motorsilk works and it works well. I have it in my wife's 2005 Acura, with 90,000+ miles on it. We have seen an increase in MPG by 14% over the last six months. The stuff works. Check out this motorsilk website and you will see that it's legit. Thats all for now.
     
  19. xs650

    xs650 Senior Member

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    +1

    Look at the oil fill cap, if it says "OIL" or "0W-20" or another viscosity oil, put that in the engine.

    OTOH, if it says "Pour any old crap in here", then use whatever snake oil lights your candle.