Slick 50?

[John]

There used to be (maybe still is) an engine oil additive called Slick 50. I'm sure some will be familiar with it. It and some other similar products kept the engine oil "sticking" to the gears of the engine rather than letting it all drip down to the oil pan after the engine was turned off. The idea was that a lot of the wear and tear on an engine came if the first few seconds or minute before the oil had fully circulated and when the gears were turning on each other without lubrication.

I used to use it on my car, but I'm wondering what people think of using it on a sailboat engine, especially a diesel.

Thoughts?

 

[kendall]

For the most part slick 50 is useless in an engine.

 

[Maine Sail]

John,

Some good reading....


Snake Oil - Is That Additive Really A Negative?

Federal Trade Commission / Slick 50 Is Misleading

Slick 50 Settles With The FTC For $10,000,000


Just stick with a good diesel rated oil such as Shell Rotella or Chevron Delo and you'll be fine. Truck fleets rely on these oils to push 1,000,000 miles or more out of big truck engines. The oil is the least of our worries as sailors. It is how we use, or don't use the engines, that can cause issues.

 

[John]

Thanks - one less thing to be concerned with.

It was a good theory anyway, though.

 

[Benny17441]

I have used STP oil aditives on old tired engines with some degree of success. It adds viscocity to the oil, reduces smoking, quiets the valve train and raises compression. Would not recommend it for colder climates.

 

[Sail123]

Polytetrafloraethelyne. PTFE for short Pretty sure I misspelled it but I am close. Patent name is Teflon.

I was a slick 50 retailer in the early 80's.

My opinion, some of these products do help. I also think the gov does not like it when we change the rules. They make the rules and when we push for something better we get told no or it does not work or we get fined big bucks.

All truth goes through three stages

1 truth is ridiculed.
2 truth is violently opposed.
3 truth is finally accepted as being self evident.

I currently use X-1R. You tube it.

 

[zeehag]

polytetrafluoroethylene.
CAN be good

OR

CAN make bad inside engine.


i have heard both results. i wouldnt use it. not as slick 50 inside my engine.

i like ptfe grease for goosenecks and other grease needed places on board

 

[Eddie7045]

John, the best thing that you can do for your engine

is change the oil regularly. It's a messy chore, not glamorous but it works. Modern oils have a precise additive package and introducing another additive can spoil the balance. I also agree with Benny. In a tired, worn out engine, STP can milk some extra life out of an engine on it's last leg, which is the only exception to the rule. Be sure to use a crankcase oil that is rated for diesels and not just for gasoline engines if you have a diesel engine.

 

[kpgraci]

It adds viscocity to the oil, reduces smoking, quiets the valve train and raises compression.

Which is most useful when you're trying to sell that old clunker...

 

[Eddie7045]

kpgraci, yes, that too. A person buying a boat or a

car might check the oil and see if it is thicker than it should be. STP is definetly a last ditch effort. It's not bad for getting a few more miles out of a tired engine but that is what it is good for. It's too thick for an engine that is in decent shape.

 

[Sail123]

X-1R is used by NASA to lubricate the 12 million pound space shuttle mover. It has also won some award (big deal) by the Govt rather than being fined by the govt



http://www.x1r.com/videoclips_all.htm

I use it in my:
Diesel Motor Home
F-550 Diesel Ford Pick Up
V8 Motorcycle
2 Seville's
Glock 20, 10mm

 

[Maine Sail]

X-1R is used by NASA to lubricate the 12 million pound space shuttle mover. It has also won some award (big deal) by the Govt rather than being fined by the govt



http://www.x1r.com/videoclips_all.htm

I use it in my:
Diesel Motor Home
F-550 Diesel Ford Pick Up
V8 Motorcycle
2 Seville's
Glock 20, 10mm

When most people rarely keep a car beyond 150k I find it interesting that people will spend sooo much money on products that are really not necessary? I buy cars with a MINIMUM of 100k on the odometer, unless it was a company car, and let others take the value hit. Never once re-built an engine or transmission or had one "use oil" other than an M3 which used "synthetic Mobil 1" and was considered normal for that engine. We've had cars with over 200k on the ODO with zero engine or transmission issues.

There's a guy in town named Joe, an insurance adjuster, who drove his 1990 Honda Accord to 1,000,000 miles documenting it every step of the way once beyond 300k. He even bought it used when purchasing it in 1996. During the trek to 7 figures he changed the oil every 5k, at the dealer, used only Honda filters and used 10W-30 summers and 5W-30 winters. This was all done with regular CONVENTIONAL motor oil, not synthetic or semi-synthetic, no additives, snake oils or magic potions were used to get to ONE MILLION MILES!!!!! Transmission fluid was also changed using basic Honda transmission fluids.. The engine and transmission were ORIGINAL and never re-built when Honda and the dealer gave Joe a new 2012 Accord FREE when his ODO when back to 000000!

This is a real testament to not just Honda, but today's CONVENTIONAL lubrication oils...

I am sitting at the dealer right now, that's what made me think of this thread and Joe. I'm getting an oil change on my wife's 2005 Pilot and at 4780 miles it had not used a single drop of oil and it still looked very clean, really too clean to change it but for the $17.99 with factory Honda filter, and a once over, why not.... The car has 145k on it and has only ever used conventional oils and standard filters, according to dealer records..


So, if a four banger Honda Accord can go 1,000,000 miles, following Honda's maintenance schedules, using CONVENTIONAL oils & stock Honda filters, why would anyone spend $20.00+ per quart on magic potions to drive a car less than 200k...???

There are a LOT more stories like Joe''s out there and plenty with 400k - 600k also using regular old conventional oils.


BTW this was the top end of our boats Westerbeke 44B four diesel at 2878 engine hours. It has only ever used Rotella 15W-40..

For the average sailor doing 100 engine hours per year that is nearly 29 years worth of engine use... Today's oils are quite good....

 

[joes new addiction]

In the 80's there was a product sold by B.G., an oil additive.
They come in feed you, we all sit @ and they go through the speel, fill a engine they brought on a trailer with our oil, 1 small can of B.G. fire it up, show you the oil PSI.
Then drop the pan and RUN the motor for 5 min.
Put the pan back up, add the same oil, poof! same oil PSI, no noise!!
The stuff would soak inbto the bearings, and "sweat out" when it got real hot.
I used it this stuff on a VW motor that POURED oil out that I had, (never bought oil, used oil from cars as my oil), (you know the story- shoe makers kids runnin' @ with holes in thier shoes, hell why fix the leaking seal, just add oil EVERY day, park it in the grass to keep the oil from staining the drive way)!
It never blew or when I finally tore it down to redo, looked good inside. There was many a day I do the last 5-6 miles with 0 oil psi. Get to work, go to the used oil can get 4 qts, a can of B.G. and fill it for the trip home.
That was the only stuff that ever worked.
They also had a "high pressure additve" we used in diff. I've had noisey bearing on diff. (Chrysler 8" rears were known for that), on used cars, dropped a tube of this stuff, poof! away it went!
I'm a BIG believer in synth. oil the last few years.
Made to reduce friction.
Some even clean a motor out of all the gunk.
The down side, you do get some gasket seepage.
Amsoil seems to work well in my Harley and Royal Enfield MC, (they are designed to run on die-sel oils.
Joe
Just an old mechanic's thoughts, should be taken with a can er 2 of beer!

 

[Sail123]

After cars were invented lots of folks kept a horse in the barn just cause. Likewise with the lightbulb, candle makers still found clients.

I run Rotela T in everything I own except I run purple racing oil in my V8 motorcycle. They all get a bottle of the additive I mentioned. My motorcycle hits daytona speeds if I get crazy and my motor home sits for long periods of time. Both extremes are hard on engines. I have enough pocket change to dig a little deeper for a little extra protection.

I had a neighbor years ago that worked for the railroad. He had a gizmo that tested grease on bearing surfaces. He tested the Slick 50 lube grease thinking it was going to fail. It did as good as some $50 a tube special lube the railroad used. He purchased a tube from me, quite to my surprise. It also took direct heat better without catching fire or melting away. Not all products in the marketplace are equal. I would still use that Slick 50 grease if I could find it.

It is my opinion, that the original Slick 50 engine oil that was sold direct market like AmsOil is different than the later stuff sold in discount stores like Walmart. The company sold out at least once and new brooms sweep floors differently often times. Walmart also dictates price points and forces manufactures to cheapen products to meet walmarts demands if they want to sell at that retailer. Then they also have to meet that price at all the other discount houses. The retailer wins, and the buying public gets an inferior product.

Additives do often times make seals quit sealing. If you want a dry garage floor, forget the synthetics and forget the additives. Stick with good old fashioned out of the ground oil, that does not tend to bypass seals. Liberace the piano player loved to entertain in his garage that he had fixed up better than his neighbors houses. He had all the gas and oil removed from the vehicles to reduce the smells are eliminate the possibility of oil dripping on his wildly tiled floors.

 

[monkeybars]

a good salesman can sell the public anything,and make them happy to turn over their hard earned cash for a worthless product,i guess that next to inheritence sales is that best route to wealth moral issues aside.

 

[Sail123]

How does one trick the scientific community at NASA? That would be a good trick. Someone is not doing their homework assignments again. Lol

Watch the videos before you scoff, or just forget it. You missing out does the rest of us little harm.

Agreed, there are snake oil sales people in the world today. Because some dogs bite, does not mean all dogs bite. Do a little looking into it. If you care to be illuminated about what you are so dead sure against. If not, no big deal.

a good salesman can sell the public anything,and make them happy to turn over their hard earned cash for a worthless product,i guess that next to inheritence sales is that best route to wealth moral issues aside.

 

[Sail123]

On the subject of additives. How many of us have diesel engines from before they changed the diesel fuel? I know I do. If you run straight pump diesel fuel in those older engines, you are starving your engine of several lubricants your engine needs to survive. Look into it. You can help the new fuel along by putting an additive in it from your local parts store, or check with your dealer.

Also, the new diesel fuel can get a fungus growing in it, that is not easy to get rid of. The old fuel did not have that problem. The additives can stop this fungus from growing in your fuel tank. The old generation of diesel fuels had a long shelf life, years and beyond. The new diesel fuel goes south like old gasoline if left to sit. Stable makes a product for the new diesel fuels if you are storing diesel fuels for an extended time.

 

[monkeybars]

i do love ptfe coatings in my frying pans, that was a truely great application of technology, you gotta love how those eggs slide right outta that pan.PTFE in my engine by way of adding suspended particles in an oil base,beleiving they are somehow going to coat all my engine parts. only an idiot would buy into that scam

 

[Sail123]

i do love ptfe coatings in my frying pans, that was a truely great application of technology, you gotta love how those eggs slide right outta that pan.PTFE in my engine by way of adding suspended particles in an oil base,beleiving they are somehow going to coat all my engine parts. only an idiot would buy into that scam

Only an idiot would would use the word idiot to describe another forum member. Lol

Ask to see the list of ingredients in a chicken mac nugget next time your kids beg to go to Macdonalds. There is stuff in there that does not belong in people food. Purchase a happy meal and let the burger and fries sit on a book shelf. It will sit for years and not mold. It will not change color. It just dries up, gets hard and bacteria will not bother it. Just turns to some kind of plastic. Now tell me, you eat that stuff, you feed that stuff to your kids? Really? And you call people idiots for putting proven products in their cars to increase engine life and reduce fuel consumption.

OK, I am the idiot. Lol. Eat your burger.

Also, on the PTFE cookware. Not a healthy way to eat food. Sticking is still present in the process, but in this case a very thin layer, almost un-measurable amount of the coating is stuck to the food, and not the other way around. Also PTFE gives off fumes if the cooking temp reaches a certain point. This effect is measurable and is not healthy for pets, humans or plants. This effect will drop dead any birds that are subjected to it. Bird owners are warned to never cook with Teflon cookware. The reason it kills birds and not humans is birds breathe differently than humans. They process air more fully, and get more of a charge out of each breath. That is why they used to take a caged bird down into mine shafts when going under ground. If the bird died, the miners were warned it was time to get out.

 

[Sail123]

I remember years ago in walmart in the auto section, looking at oil, and I spotted a Slick 50 drip protector to be placed under your car. Sold to protect your garage floor against oil stains. I almost laughed out loud. Here was a company that was cashing in an a problem they were contributing to. However, on the Slick 50 product it never warned people it may make oil seals fail. I see the oil seal problem as being the biggest issue with synthetic oils and additives. It is a pain in the a@@ to see an engine start peeing on the garage floor. My V8 always has a problem with that. Errrrr