My Experience With adding Boric Acid in Engine oil

Joe-Ker · 19th November 2014, 16:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by alpha1

Boric acid has 171 deg C melting point.
In case of petrol engine I believe the max temperature achieved by oil is about 150 deg C.

So we can safely conclude that boric acid remains solid.
Wont this solid powder suspended in oil act like an abrasive and wear off the metal parts??

Quite possibly. what i did was added the boric acid, drove for a few thousand Km, changed the oil and oil filter to new oil.

This is what i think goes on in the engine: The boric acid acts as abrasive, removes the carbon and sludge and then forms boride layer reacting with the freshly exposed metal thus forming a hard layer which i attribute all the advantages gained . Pure guess though

Add the powder a few thousand km before service due and change the oil and filter at service..the benefit stays even after oil change.

ArizonaJim · 6th June 2015, 10:03

Some think I am overly skeptical and prehaps they are right but I don't plan on dumping any amount of Boric Acid into any of my vehicles oil or petrol.

All of the large major oil companies employ thousands of people who make it their job to discover improvements that can be made to their products.
If Boric Acid was even 1/10 as good as some people think it is I am sure a major oil company would be dumping it into their oil and proclaiming their oil contains the answer to all mankind's motor vehicle lubrication problems.

Truth be known, all of the better motor oils already contain various Boron compounds but the difference here is these compounds have been tested, evaluated and the best types and the correct amount was determined before the oil went on the market. (These are not common Boric Acid by the way.)

That's a far cry from someone arbitrarily dumping in a few random spoonfuls of Boric Acid into their engines oil.

Assuming for a moment that some of the claims about adding Boric Acid to the oil will decrease friction is correct (and I don't know that it is) there are several areas that "too slippery" will totally destroy the unit.
Automatic transmissions, limited slip differentials, wet plate motorcycle clutches, variable speed drives, manual transmission synchronizer rings, to name a few will not work unless there is the correct amount of friction present.

Arbitrary adding something like Boric Acid may also plug up oil filters and the small holes that carry oil to various critical engine parts.

Oh. About Patents: Any U.S. citizen with an idea and the money and time to devote to it can obtain a U.S. Patent unless someone else has already Patented the idea in the U.S.A.

That does not mean the Patented idea actually works. It does not make the idea useful. Any cockamamie idea can be Patented, including something that can cause damage.

The only thing a Patent does is to insure the person who Patented an idea has a legal claim of ownership to the idea so he/she/they can charge a royalty for the use if it.

Captain Slow · 6th June 2015, 14:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArizonaJim

Some think I am overly skeptical and prehaps they are right but I don't plan on dumping any amount of Boric Acid into any of my vehicles oil or petrol.

Jim, You are one smart bloke! And please don't stop being skeptical!
I was stupid enough to fall for this.

Me and a friend destroyed half the engine of an old Yamaha YBX by adding Boric acid to the oil.

Yes we still keep thinking why/what made us do something like this?

The Bike had done about 40,000 KM.
Added about 30-40 Grams of pure boric acid into the engine along with fresh oil and started the bike. Everything seemed normal but after 3-5 KMS the engine started smoking heavily. Pure white Smoke.
The Entire engine had to be rebuild! Total Expense a little over- Rs 8,000. (head block, piston, valve seals etc) this was the damage to a simple 4 stroke 1 cylinder engine.
After this failed and very expensive experiment we decided not to play around with boric acid or any kind of additives.

This is my personal experience with adding boric acid to the engine, I don't know if this will happen to everyone but please-please be careful and think before adding anything into the engine, may it be boric acid or any other additives.
Luckily for us this was an old bike. Had this been a new age car the repair bill could have gone much higher.

Please Stick to regular oil changes, And if you can use premium Synthetic oils. This will help protect your engine and keep it running well.

rakesh_r · 7th June 2015, 07:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

Added about 30-40 Grams of pure boric acid into the engine along with fresh oil and started the bike.

Out of curiosity,did you mix the powder with engine oil or simply put the powder without mixing? One of my friend had done the same treatment on his Pulsar 220 and ended up with some positive results.The engine got smoother.
I do agree with Arizona Jim.I wouldn't risk it on my turbo diesel car.Mite end up with a busted turbo

even if the engine survives.

Captain Slow · 8th June 2015, 17:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

Out of curiosity,did you mix the powder with engine oil or simply put the powder without mixing? One of my friend had done the same treatment on his Pulsar 220 and ended up with some positive results.The engine got smoother.
I do agree with Arizona Jim.I wouldn't risk it on my turbo diesel car.Mite end up with a busted turbo

even if the engine survives.

It was mixed well with fresh oil to avoid any lumps.

Maybe you got lucky. How old is your bike and how many Kms has it done?

Rahul Bhalgat · 19th November 2015, 13:33

Hello finetuning,
I have been reading this thread over a period of time.

The thread (and your experiments of adding the boric acid to the engine oil) started way back in 2006. You and many others got encouraging results with this.

My query: Though you got good results in short term (2000 km), did you experience any probelms due to this in long term? How are those cars, which underwent this treatment 5-6 years back, doing now?

Joe-Ker · 19th November 2015, 20:35

I have tried it in my m800 engine in end of 2010. When it had run some 70k kms if I remember right. 5years and three states later my 17yr and 1.1lakh km old 800 still going strong. So well that I cannot find a reason to sell it. I had used in both engine and gearbox. The smoothness is still there. But I am thinking of doing it once more. Way I see it pretty much nothing to loose for me. I would think twice about using it on a new vehicle though because of the unknowns.

View Poll Results: I have TRIED IT and have found that ...
It works wonders for my car/bike. I highly recommend it.	23	34.85%
Slight improvement, but I recommend it.	12	18.18%
No difference at all. Don't bother trying this non-sense stuff.	17	25.76%
It screwed my car!!! Stay away from all boron compounds!!!	14	21.21%
Voters: 66. You may not vote on this poll

6th June 2015, 10:03	#422
ArizonaJim Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Phoenix, Ariz. Posts: 1,200 Thanked: 2,837 Times	Re: My Experience With adding Boric Acid in Engine oil Some think I am overly skeptical and prehaps they are right but I don't plan on dumping any amount of Boric Acid into any of my vehicles oil or petrol. All of the large major oil companies employ thousands of people who make it their job to discover improvements that can be made to their products. If Boric Acid was even 1/10 as good as some people think it is I am sure a major oil company would be dumping it into their oil and proclaiming their oil contains the answer to all mankind's motor vehicle lubrication problems. Truth be known, all of the better motor oils already contain various Boron compounds but the difference here is these compounds have been tested, evaluated and the best types and the correct amount was determined before the oil went on the market. (These are not common Boric Acid by the way.) That's a far cry from someone arbitrarily dumping in a few random spoonfuls of Boric Acid into their engines oil. Assuming for a moment that some of the claims about adding Boric Acid to the oil will decrease friction is correct (and I don't know that it is) there are several areas that "too slippery" will totally destroy the unit. Automatic transmissions, limited slip differentials, wet plate motorcycle clutches, variable speed drives, manual transmission synchronizer rings, to name a few will not work unless there is the correct amount of friction present. Arbitrary adding something like Boric Acid may also plug up oil filters and the small holes that carry oil to various critical engine parts. Oh. About Patents: Any U.S. citizen with an idea and the money and time to devote to it can obtain a U.S. Patent unless someone else has already Patented the idea in the U.S.A. That does not mean the Patented idea actually works. It does not make the idea useful. Any cockamamie idea can be Patented, including something that can cause damage. The only thing a Patent does is to insure the person who Patented an idea has a legal claim of ownership to the idea so he/she/they can charge a royalty for the use if it.
	(7) Thanks

19th November 2015, 13:33	#426
Rahul Bhalgat Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Pune Posts: 1,155 Thanked: 1,956 Times	Re: My Experience With adding Boric Acid in Engine oil Hello finetuning, I have been reading this thread over a period of time. The thread (and your experiments of adding the boric acid to the engine oil) started way back in 2006. You and many others got encouraging results with this. My query: Though you got good results in short term (2000 km), did you experience any probelms due to this in long term? How are those cars, which underwent this treatment 5-6 years back, doing now?
	() Thanks

19th November 2015, 20:35	#427
Joe-Ker BHPian Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: KL41-MH14-TN14 Posts: 98 Thanked: 49 Times	Re: My Experience With adding Boric Acid in Engine oil I have tried it in my m800 engine in end of 2010. When it had run some 70k kms if I remember right. 5years and three states later my 17yr and 1.1lakh km old 800 still going strong. So well that I cannot find a reason to sell it. I had used in both engine and gearbox. The smoothness is still there. But I am thinking of doing it once more. Way I see it pretty much nothing to loose for me. I would think twice about using it on a new vehicle though because of the unknowns.
	(2) Thanks