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Maintenance & Repair Fuel and Oil Additives
1246 messages, Last post on Sep 28, 2009 at 7:37 AM
You are in the Maintenance & Repair Forum. Your Host is mr_shiftright
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Replying to: basspro (Jan 11, 2009 4:34 pm) Nik Williams |
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Replying to: niknmax (Mar 21, 2009 5:32 pm)
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Replying to: niknmax (Mar 21, 2009 5:32 pm) As for how to get folks to consider the products that you're selling, I'm thinking "good luck". Why? By simply using decent oil and regular maintenance, engines these days should easily last for hundreds of thousands of miles. With that said, I would quite honestly NEVER even consider any of these magic elixir products without a HUGE body of scientific evidence that proves their efficacy, and in more areas than just engine longevity too (i.e. measurably enhanced fuel economy, hugely increased oil change intervals, etc...). Best regards, Shipo
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Mar 21, 2009 5:40 pm) Nik |
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Replying to: shipo (Mar 21, 2009 5:47 pm) Nik
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Replying to: shipo (Mar 21, 2009 5:47 pm) As for "reversing wear", that is scientifically impossible in an engine IMO. You can gum it up for a while and boost compression a bit but other than that, there's nothing in a can that replaces metal that I've aware of. Really all this is, is rather vague anecdotal evidence, which may have been sincerely passed onto you, but which is characteristically very unreliable and which proves....well....nothing at all. It's just a "story". Unless this product can be tested with a blind group (non-additive engines, run under same conditions) and verified by an agency outside of the people who make the product, then it is not above suspicion. I'm not surprised you're finding a challenge recruiting believers. There's no good evidence to support the claims being presented to us. But if you have independent scientifically rigorous testing results, fire away, I'll read 'em over. |
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Replying to: niknmax (Mar 21, 2009 5:57 pm) So, as Mr. Shiftright kind of suggested, please provide us with some scientific back-up to your anecdotal claims. Best regards, Shipo |
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Replying to: shipo (Mar 21, 2009 6:28 pm) One reason the synthetics didn't produce more dramatic results was that the conditions were not the type where synthetic excels, that is extreme of climate and extremes of engine "work". Taxicabs pretty much putt around all day and bang into things at 40 mph or under. This isn't the Indy 500 or pipeline work in Alaska or the Mexican Carrera. Results? 1. Changing oil at 3,000 miles isn't necessary 2. Slick 50, STP Engine Treatment produced no discernible benefits. http://www.moneybluebook.com/articles/consumerreports.oilchange.php
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Mar 21, 2009 6:47 pm) Additves are good or not? When should one change their oil, according to the dealer package specifications or the manual? Or even at 5,000 miles of city driving or 6 months, whichever occurs first? I recall that my dealer and different car dealers over the years does add a can of fuel additive to the tank at every one or two year service interval. This is standard and if you go "by the book", the manual typically says not to add any fuel or oil additives. When asked why they do it, the consensus always has been that the quality of fuel varies among gas stations, although the "baseline" is the same. I've tried the cheap Techron fuel additive and I haven't noticed an improvement but people swear on the effacy of the concentrated more expensive version. Racing enthusiasts and their mechanics only fill up with top tier fuel. Like someone mentioned a few posts back, there may be a benefit from adding fuel additives (finding which ones that actually work and won't gunk things up is the hard part) may help if you're using them on an ongoing basis. In any case, I think objective third party studies need to be done on fuel additives for vehicles. BTW, I didnt click on the link by Mr. Shiftright, in the event some of my questions were answered. 
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Replying to: ex_tdier (Mar 21, 2009 7:21 pm) Most of the posts seem to gather around three points: 1. Total skepticism -- or, "under normal conditions with good fuel---NEVER NEEDED." 2. The "placebo effect" --- or the anecdotal and subjective statement --"it feels better after I added it" 3. confusion over causation vs. correlation ---- I added it and THEN my car ran better (question being---did it just clear itself up, or ???) |
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Maintenance & Repair Fuel and Oil Additives
