| At a motor club meeting the other night, we had a demonstration of
a really effective oil additive. I cannot remember the actual name
of it, something about monomolecular micromu, available from a UK
industrial supplier. The stuff was patented by some guy in the US
quite recently and works by bonding to the material surface under
temperature. Due to the chemical action involved, it is only a
single particle surface and does not reduce clearances in any way.
The demo was quite impressive, using an electric motor with a torque
wrench showing force exerted on a metal surface pressing against a
drum (being turned by the motor). The current required to spin the
motor was shown on an ammeter.
First stage was to show the point of failure of bearings using a
standard motor oil (Castrol GTX was used). With a pressure of
25 lb/ft on the torque wrench, the bearing started making bad noises
and the current draw went up appreciably.
When the additive was put into the oil and the test repeated, the
bearing was run at a pressure of 75 lb/ft and only just started
to show signs of failure. The bearing was examined after each of
the tests, first time it was extremely hot to the touch and had a
large groove worn into the surface. The next time, it was only just
warm and had a very minor scuff mark. The same bearing was used,
simply reversed for the second test.
The action of this oil additive is not really in question, it
definitely decreases friction between metal components. It also
works even when the oil is removed, since it is bonded to the
metal surface, as another demonstration was to show. Since it
forms this bond, it doesn't need replacing after an oil change.
It was explained that due to the way in which the chemical bonding
action works, this product will actually 'work its way' through any
surface crap to bond the metal underneath. Due to this fact, it was
recommended not to put it into an engine that is already quite old,
nor to one which has had Slick 50 added. Reason being that the new
product will cause the crap to become detached from the metal.
With old carbon deposits, this will be bad. With Slick, we were told
that it would probably result in the oilways becoming blocked asap.
The guy selling this stuff seemed genuine and did not like Slick at all,
seemingly because he knew more about it - not just because it is in
competition with his product. He said that it generates a thick
surface layer on engine components, which is not good for its longevity.
Since he said that his product should not be put into old engines, he
agreed that may be a good place for Slick, since it would reduce worn
clearances. He did confirm that it does have good friction-reducing
properties, but nowhere near as effective as his own product.
The UK company which distributes this additive do so only in largish
quantities, intended for use in industrial applications. As a result,
they do not sell specifically to the motor market. His solution was
for the club to buy the larger quantity and sell it on to members at
the pro-rata cost (or higher if the club wanted to make some profit
out of the deal).
He did make mention of a competitor which has a similar product, called
PPX I think. This is supposedly streets ahead of Slick and he does not
claim it causes any problems. He claims that his own product is even
better and to back this up he pointed out that it MUST NOT be added to
gearboxes which use synchromesh cones, nor in automatic transmissions,
since the friction would be reduced so that they would no longer work
as intended. The PPX product was actually recommended for use in gearboxes
as well as engines, so it appears that maybe his product is better.
He did also point out that it is possible to use his additive in grease.
This would be of use wherever the lubrication is in an area which may
generate heat, such as wheel bearings, u.joints, what have you.
On adding this product to an engine, you can expect less noise and
better mpg. In some cases, idle speed may increase due to lower
frictional drag to be overcome. If it is added to an older engine,
you could expect it to be quieter and more efficient, but it is
likely to cause the engine to burn more oil since it will lead to
the carbon being worked out from the piston ring seatings.
Since this is from a UK source, there is no point in me finding the
actual name of this additive, but if you see something advertising
similar claims (other than PTFE-based products such as Slick), then
you would to well to look into it. I'm going to get some and use it
in one or two of my vehicles...
J.R.
PS Price worked out about �12 per person, with minimum order being
for enough to do 8 engines. I haven't followed this up yet, but
I have the business card of the guy who did the demo.
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