[panky12345]

Its a very good product. I've used it in this manner:

Flush - Mobil Mineral - STP treatment. Even after the run of 4K, the car still feels smooth.

[inferno]

Hi Guys,

I'm doing a study on Engine Oil and its various options available in the North American geography. I was going through most of the available brands, such as Castrol, Quaker State, Pennzoil, Mobil, and Valvoline. I went through Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) and Product Data Sheet (PDS).

I could understand that there are certain types of engine oils available in the market like conventional engine oils, extra-mileage oils, and fully synthetic engine oil; all available in different viscosity grades (10W30 etc.)

But as I was going through the specifications and other details, I was surprised that none of the manufacturer has disclosed that what kind of additives are being added in the product.

Taking Castrol GTX 5W20 as an example, I could very well read that the base-oil forms about 85-95% of the engine oil, while rest is attributed to different additives. Though there was no mention about any additive, but some of the commonly used additives are dispersant, detergents, friction reducers, antioxidants, etc.

I was left inquisitive regarding the additives being added, as in which dispersant or detergent is going in the engine oil which is being used by the user. But as of now, I've failed to find any information regarding the kind of additive or the actual chemical or their % contribution in the engine oil.

A help from an engine guru on this aspect will be highly useful; or even if you are not a guru then your opinion on this topic will be interesting.

[rockyb]

My car has already run 4,000 odd km after last engine oil change. Next oil change is due after another 11,000 km. In other words Oil change interval is 15,000km.

Am planning for a long drive. Does it make sense to add STP now because it is usually recommended during oil change.

[condor]

Rockyb, on a long drive, the car is less stressed than in city. So you dont really need the additive just because you are going on a long drive.

One good reason to add additives during oil change is to maximse the life/usage of the additive. Reason: at the next oil change, the additive will also be lost.

Else, there should not be any problems

[sgiitk]

@rockyb; If you are using a decent or good oil then additives are money down the drain (or should I say exhaust).

[amitoj]

Oil additives are indeed a waste of money. I must admit i have many times come quite close to trying out some or other additive, lured by its flashy packaging and wild claims on the lable of prolonged engine life, more power and high fuel economy. But those were the times when I listened to the little voice in my head and walked away.

Anyway, the other day i was talking to a friend of mine and he mentioned how these used car dealers put in some "snake oil" in their cars to make them run smooth during the test drive but soon after, its effect starts to diminish and you get to experience the actual true rattly nature of the engine and transmission. Curious to know more about these things, i of course googled. (sometimes I wonder whether some day Google will transform into a Big Brother without us noticing and start to control and monitor the human race, like in Orwell's 1984)

Dark thoughts aside, i came across this article on carbible and it made a lot of sense and explained very nicely that oil additives can actually do more harm than good. These are the key points:
1. Those that contain PTFE (aka Teflon but they can't use that name because it is copyrighted by DuPont) run the risk of clogging up the oil filter because PTFE expands when heated, resulting in lower oil pressure. This surely can't be good for the engine.
2. Those that contain zinc: It comes into play only when you redline the engine and that too at the cost of harming the catalytic converter. But guess what! Most decent, good quality engine oils already have some zinc. So, no harm done but just your money thrown down the tank.
3. Solvents/Detergents/Cleaners like Bardahl etc are supposed to work by removing gunk/sludge from your engine. BUT you dont know how much is enough and if you put in too much, you run the risk of eroding the layer of lubrication provided by the oil. So, this can be good but you just dont know when to stop. And that can be bad.
4. Last but surely not the least, the cocktail of additives in your engine oil is actually a carefully, scientifically well researched blend which is supposed to prolong your engine's life. Throwing in oil additives can upset that blend. This could be bad too.

Those are the main points but if you have the time, feel free to read this article.
http://www.carbibles.com/snakeoil.html

My next question then is, do the additives in various petrol brands add any value? For example, Shell's V-Power which contains "nitrogen enriched" magical stuff that will keep the engine running longer:
http://www.shell.us/products-service...ut-vpower.html

[mandyrana]

I came across one post on facebook about Nano energizer. How good is this? One guy using in 2011 Safari dicor and had good results. For more details visit www.nanoenergizer.in

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by mandyrana

I came across one post on facebook about Nano energizer. How good is this? One guy using in 2011 Safari dicor and had good results. For more details visit www.nanoenergizer.in

That website triggers my "Fake! Fake! Snake Oil!!" alarm. Look at the testimonials on this page - do you really think those car manufacturers have endorsed this product and we've not heard of it until now?

Keywords that trigger warning bells are: "nano", "harmonize", "high electric potential", to name a few.

And that poor Safari DiCOR owner is suffering from the placebo effect.

[csateesh]

Dear BHPians.

I used to feel that all these additives are a farce and a marketing gimmick but a friend of mine proved me wrong.

My friend owns a Old Gen Verna with a diesel heart that has 1.2 lakh kms. Of late he had been complaining of poor mileage in the city and highway even after driving sedately.

He took the plunge and bought a XADO product and has been raving about it ever since. His mileage has improved significantly. I drove it too and felt the engine has indeed become smooth. I am

Planning to try it out on my Accent CRDi which doesn't have any such issue as my buddy's ride but the engine smoothness is something I fell in love with and hence will try. Shall keep you all posted about the testing results

Cheers

[Captain Slow]

Originally Posted by csateesh

Dear BHPians.

I used to feel that all these additives are a farce and a marketing gimmick but a friend of mine proved me wrong.

My friend owns a Old Gen Verna with a diesel heart that has 1.2 lakh kms. Of late he had been complaining of poor mileage in the city and highway even after driving sedately.

He took the plunge and bought a XADO product and has been raving about it ever since. His mileage has improved significantly. I drove it too and felt the engine has indeed become smooth. I am

Planning to try it out on my Accent CRDi which doesn't have any such issue as my buddy's ride but the engine smoothness is something I fell in love with and hence will try. Shall keep you all posted about the testing results

Cheers

Just out of Curiosity. Did you try any of the products ?

Most of XADO's products are overpriced!
A small oil additive costs Rs - 900!
And the So called Xado 1 Stage Engine Revitalizant - A whooping Rs 2,900!

Several local garages and Automobile spare shops keeps pushing for XADO products, XADO oils to fuel Additives.
Must be getting good margins on them.

Has anyone tried the Nano energizer here?

[csateesh]

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

And the So called Xado 1 Stage Engine Revitalizant - A whooping Rs 2,900!
Has anyone tried the Nano energizer here?

@Captain slow - I have added the quoted additive and trust me there is a huge difference in the car - Never expected this kind of improvement

14kmpl has been my mileage in city (Commute - Home Banglore West to work Whitefield and back ~ 52 km a day)

After the recommended 1000 km my mileage in city has gone up to 17 kmpl

So will measure over a few more tank fills and update the thread with my findings. (infact i didn't want to share my findings as it was too good to be true and hence wanted to complete a few more tank fills before sharing the result)

This by the way is in a perfectly healthy CRDi heart in a Accent with 1.05 lakh kms on it

I am very impressed. Will probably add this to my Swift VDi.

In my friends Verna there was blow by visible to naked eye and after this treatment we don't see it any more !!

Hope this helps

[Adi22]

Originally Posted by csateesh

@Captain slow - I have added the quoted additive and trust me there is a huge difference in the car - Never expected this kind of improvement

14kmpl has been my mileage in city (Commute - Home Banglore West to work Whitefield and back ~ 52 km a day)

After the recommended 1000 km my mileage in city has gone up to 17 kmpl

So will measure over a few more tank fills and update the thread with my findings. (infact i didn't want to share my findings as it was too good to be true and hence wanted to complete a few more tank fills before sharing the result)

This by the way is in a perfectly healthy CRDi heart in a Accent with 1.05 lakh kms on it

I am very impressed. Will probably add this to my Swift VDi.

In my friends Verna there was blow by visible to naked eye and after this treatment we don't see it any more !!

Hope this helps

@csateesh - Can you mention what is the full name of this XADO product that you added ? "Xado 1 Stage Engine Revitalizant" ?

[Captain Slow]

Originally Posted by GTO - Touring

Some techies insist that excessive engine oil is almost as bad as running the engine with insufficient oil. In your case, you are max 250 ml over the required limit. Though it wouldn't be that severe a problem, I would still go to a shop and get the level back to optimum.

I am bumping this up -

Lets say i am adding an oil additive into my engine.
My Engine OIL capacity is 3.5L of oil.
The oil Additive is another 500ML.

So shouldn't we remove 500 ML of oil before adding any additive? (3L oil)

In case of service centers the bill mentions the required amount of OIL and then the additive again.
So does this mean the people there aren't careful enough and overfilling the car? OIL + OIL ADDITIVE?

This is what I have noticed in most garages. Company authorized and small private garages too.

Originally Posted by csateesh

@Captain slow - I have added the quoted additive and trust me there is a huge difference in the car - Never expected this kind of improvement


Hope this helps

Which one did you use?
Xado or the Nano? Did you remove any oil before adding this?

The nano is just 30ml so you dont have to remove any oil.

[Jeroen]

I always find it hard to believe that an additive can provide these sort of results. You'd think everybody would be using them. I have seen many independent tests on these products back in Europe and they were all pretty conclusive. Negligible improvements.

I have my own thoughts about why we see these improvements in individual reported cases.

Jeroen

[VeyronSuperSprt]

Back in the day (1993 to be precise) I remember using Nulon oil additive (the rage at that time) along with the oil change in my Gypsy. Just after the change I took the Gypsy for a fast drive up the ghats. Within 30 minutes of starting the drive (halfway up the ghats) the engine bearings went for a toss.

An expensive lesson on the substantially negative benefits of additives.

The amount of money that a Shell, Castrol or a Mobil 1 spend on R&D to improve their products can never be equalled by the Mickey Mouse operators that come out with these so called "additives".