the only REAL difference I have seen personally is with slick 50..it DID reduce the idle temp of an old 350 in my slammer and yes did leave a residue..I pulled it apart a few times!!(damn swap meet parts!!)but other than that yes i agree about the snake oil..a few of my trucks are at or over 1/2 million miles (diesel of course)regular oil service..synthetic proved no gain for the money in the long run in engine but the best for the rear ends..no rear end failures since switching to synthetic..over 3 years now

 

Most of this stuff anymore is not needed. If you maintain the car proplerly and use the correct fluids you will get very long life and wear out of any modern engine.

If you note most of them get pulled from the market like SLick 50 or the goverment makes them stop their wild claims.

One other thing to watch for is the old side show trick with the oil treatment on the metal slug and the grinding wheel. This has been around for years and was used by many a product. It has been debunked buy many too.

Not saying any of these will harm anything but the bottom line they are not needed and just a waste of money.

As for sythetics they are now cheaper and with the longer use and holding up better under high temp or low temp conditions they do work better under the extrems. If not the MFG's would not be moving to them.

As for additives to help damaged engines there are some that work and for older engines

I have to say Marvel Mystery Oil really does help in older cars.

We had a Corvair with 7,000 miles on it that sat for over 30+ years. The valves were sticking and we would bend a push rod almost every time it ran. One can of Marvel Mystery Oil, half in the gas half in the oil and the car ran like a 7,000 mile car again. No stuck valved, no ring blow by or any other issues.

 

MMo was/is a cure all for many a noisy engines...stepdads bronco had a ticker, had it for ever..told him to run MMO and presto chango..quiet again....
Good to use just before an oil change.....

 

From the FTC website:

According to the FTC, the CRC L38 test is a standard auto industry tool to measure the bearing corrosion protection properties of motor oils. In February/March 1997, an independent laboratory performed two CRC L38 tests of zMax for Speedway and Oil Chem. In those tests, motor oil treated with zMax produced more than twice as much bearing corrosion as motor oil alone. The complaint also states that the defendants fabricated one "report" from the two test reports, eliminating the bearing corrosion results and all other negative test results, and then used that report and the "official laboratory results" - similarly edited to remove detrimental data results - as sales tools in the infomercial and on the zMax Web site.

Yup

Snake Oil

 

& yet Caroll Shelby still gets paid for plugging it..

 

Well the poor guy probably isn't making enough on Social security to survive. The guys got to do something for income

 

I used Lucas Oil Stabilizer in a car that had 128000 miles that had ticking lifter noise, 1 quart Lucas Oil Stabilizer and 4 quarts motor oil at oil change. Did the trick. Only Mobil 1 in the SS though.

 

It is similar to MMO.

I think someone said most are based on linseed oil? It cleans up sludge and clogged up thinks in the oiling system like lifters etc.