So, a friend of mine called up telling me about this stuff. I am always super skeptical of additives and feel like just running quality fluids is the right answer.

What do you guys think of this stuff, and this video in particular? I know very, very little about fluids and lubrication and film strength and all that stuff.

I'm thinking about doing another UOA after this oil change, and depending on how it compares with the previous UOA, maybe try this stuff out.

 

please ******* no

 

Snake oil is snake oil.
Doesn't matter what package it comes in, who endorses it, or any of the fancy **** they use to sell it.

 

My 2¢, having no specific knowledge of this particular product:

Greenwashing is a new way to sell old promises.

 

Add it to your oil, drive to the track, drain the oil completely, run a day at the track. If your engine survives, i'll try it in my lawn mower.

 

I think this was a joke/troll thread.

 

Nope, not a troll thread. Probably should be, but I've had a considerable amount of free time at work lately. Just wanted to see what you cynics would think of it.

So how is the trick in the video carried out? If it's a snake oil magic trick, how do they do the trick?

 

Not sold.



I'd have to watch more videos of this machine burning through more oils.

 

pro long is the answer. I would run this in my lawnmower.


Here is a picture of my mower's motor without engine oil:

 

Posit:

Automakers would probably prefer their engines to be durable and long-lived. Sure, you can make an argument that building sunset-dates into things forces obsolescence and drives replacement sales, but when it comes to car engines, people who read Consumer Reports probably base at least a part of their purchasing decision on the reputation of any given platform for longevity and trouble-free operation.

Now, I grant you, engines have improved dramatically over the past several decades. 100,000 miles used to be a miraculous goal to achieve on any engine. Nowadays, hitting 100,000 miles just means that it's time to replace the spark plugs and the timing belt.

If it were possible to add a magical substance to the crankcase which would dramatically improve the durability of the engine (to reduce warranty claims resulting from poor maintenance, to boost their ratings in Consumer Reports, etc.) you can bet that high-end automakers would be doing it. For that matter, so would mainstream manufacturers of engine oil.
Miracle engine additives (for the fuel and the oil in particular) have been around for longer than I've been alive. They're cheap to make, profitable to sell, and require approximately zero actual R&D to design. All you need is a fancy visual display which proves that they do something apparently amazing which may or may not be relevant to the conditions inside a running engine, and people will buy it.

 

/\ That + an incentive for auto parts stores and dealership service department salesemen to push it = moe monay

 

Can you say "Lucas Fuel Injector Cleaner?"

I knew you could.

 

hahaha yup

it takes every bit of self control not to walk up to one of those "conversations" and call the parts store n00b out, but I know he's just trying to make that extra $3.50/month

 

This is the same BS that was used to sell Slick 50. You know you are getting old when you can spot the recycling of marketing schemes. I guess they can claim they are being Green, Xtreme Green.

Good read: The Bullshit Epidemic - Injector Dynamics

 

Thanks Hox, gonna go read that thread.

I remember watching those ProLong videos (sounds like a male enhancement pill) when I was a kid. Same question as for the video I posted:

Is this a magic trick? Or is it a blatant lie? Running a viper without oil, or running that bearing in the first pic... How do they make the product stand up in the demo videos? Or again, is it all just a bullshit lie?

I appreciate Joe's thoughts, and the rest of you too. I'm now just curious about what you think about these convincing promo videos.

I will say, when the video starts out by saying "using XRT (xtreme rock titty) technology, this substance will give you the biggest erections you've ever seen! " er, uh, wait... wrong promo video. But you get the idea.

 

who here remembers mouglie and the headgasket in a bottle into the oil supply thread on here?

worth the read....just sayin

 

LOL oh yes I remember that.

 

That was pretty grisly, but fun. Sorta like the energy drink in the gas tank -

Bike won't start after using NOS fuel additive - Suzuki GSX-R Motorcycle Forums Gixxer.com

 

I honestly don't know.

On the one hand, there's not necessarily any trickery going on. We know from experience that you can run pretty much any automobile engine for a while with no oil. At larger air-cooled VW meets, it's common to end the festivities with an engine-blow, where they take some ratty old Beetle engine, bolt it to a stand, remove the oil and the fan belt, and run it at full-tilt-boogie until it throws a rod, explodes, seizes, or otherwise ceases to function. Some of them run for an amazingly long time.

What would be more interesting would be if they'd finished the video by pulling the engine out of that Viper, doing a compression test on it, and then a teardown so we could see the condition of the bearings, journals and lifters.





On the other hand, there are videos on Youtube and elsewhere which show people operating perpetual-motion machines, and offering to sell you the plans so that you can build one and generate unlimited free electricity by "harnessing the power of magnets" or some other such thing. I'm pretty sure that what you are seeing in these videos does not actually correlate with what is being described.

Example:


The easy way to know that the above is bullshit is to understand how brushless DC motors (as used in PC case fans) work. Unlike conventional (brushed) DC motors, they do not generate electricity when you spin them. Even without the whole "that violates conservation of energy" argument, such an arrangement wouldn't generate electricity if you hooked a drill motor up to that fan, because PC case fans can't be used as electrical generators regardless of what's turning them.

 

ok, I understand that. And you're right about the prolong thing. But this particular video I shared DOES show the metal thing afterwards. There's wear on it, but far less than without the snake oil.

How is that explained?