Additives. Castor oil and super juice

Motorcycling is very hot right now. Reading in the shade is better… It is very important to us to pamper our motorcycles. But of course we also sometimes dream of miracle cures with which we can just bypass a block revision. Or prevent. Then we come upon the shadowy path of the vials, cans and vials of miracle cures. We speak from experience and from what we found in the archives.

You come a long way with it

For example, we once drove a dead tired CB 750 F that in the end only ran on additives. And do you know what happened? The camshaft broke… But that was entirely my own fault.

Experts agree that subsequent additions to engine oil have little added value when an engine block is simply in good condition. They assume that there is little to improve on the oil as offered by the reputable manufacturers. The 'ex works' additions are tailored to use in the power source of the classic. The excellent range of additives that the factory mixed with the oil provides properties per additive or a synergy of properties that reinforce each other's effect. Disrupting the balance between those agents can reduce the properties of the oil. Think basic: a little salt makes the fries tastier. A pound of salt doesn't make them all that much tastier.

The choice is huge!

The approach to load all providers of 'oil improvers' into a shopping cart went wrong. There are too many providers for our budget. There are even different brands that come from the same manufacturer.

That's why we started grouping the case. We looked at oil additives that fell into the same group, had the same basic ingredients and made the same promises.

We came to the following distinction in types:

1. Liquids based on mineral oils (with the associated standard additives plus PTFE). And PTFE is the generic name of the products for which DuPont has registered the brand name 'Teflon'. And PTFE means: polytetrafluoroethylene, PTFE is a 'plastic' with an extremely low coefficient of friction. A solid.
2. Products consisting of the above normal mineral oil with the standard additives plus zinc diakyl dithiophosphate (or zinc diaryl dithiophosphate), known as 'zinc' as an extra additive.
3. Products that – as far as we could determine – have the same additives as standard motor oils. But in different proportions and combinations.
4. Products that mainly consist of solvents and cleaning agents.

PTFE, or if it comes from DuPont 'Teflon'

The most sold oil additives at the moment are those in which PTFE powder is mixed with ordinary, say high-quality, mineral or synthetic motor oil. In this segment, Slick 50 is said to be the largest player. Some of the names we found were: Slick 50, QMI, Lubrilon, Microlon, Petrolon, Matrix (from the same company that also makes Slick 50). A search on the Internet yielded a much larger number of providers. And usually they also want to deliver in the Netherlands. Just by mail.

The PTFE is indicated by these suppliers as the only additional active ingredient.

This range of products has built up a serious reputation within automotive and motorcycling circles. But there have also been people with a more critical stance. For example, the inventor of the product, the American chemical giant DuPont, once emphatically stated that: “Teflon is not a sensible oil additive or lubricant for combustion engines”. The company therefore refused to resell Teflon.

When DuPont stopped supplying PTFE powder to the additive makers, some companies looked elsewhere. They bought their PTFE powder in other countries and disguised that approach by listing the addition under fantasy names on the label. But it was just PTFE. The stories about the larger 'flake size' of non-DuPont PTFE powders also stem from that time. Those larger particles would more easily 'settle' and cause blockages in filters and channels.
After several lawsuits, DuPont had to admit that PTFE also had no apparent disadvantages when used in combustion engines. As a result, the company had to resume supplying PTFE powders to these additional lubricant manufacturers. The makers of the lubricant additives immediately claimed that the judges had proven their approach worked. While the statement was actually only that the harmfulness of PTFE as an additive had not been proven.

When purchasing a PTFE-bearing additive, there is a very easy guideline in that case: if the packaging states that the product must first be shaken, the added PTFE particles apparently tend to sink to the bottom. And if they do that in the bottle, then they will probably do the same in a usually little used classic.

Because PTFE is a solid. The additive makers claim that it is precisely those solid particles that leave the protective layer on the metal treads. A conclusive scientific proof has not yet been given for this. But it seems instinctively that the PTFE that has to be deposited precisely at the places that are the most heavily loaded in the engine, must still easily settle at the quieter places in the block. Like in the oil canals. Even NASA tests pointed in that direction.

That is the claim of some manufacturers. They say that their PTFE is ground so fine that it stays in solution and goes through all oil channels and filters. That sounds good and may be true. But then we have to hope that those manufacturers have taken into account that PTFE expands a lot when heated. Laboratory tests in America have proven that at some suppliers the growth of the PTFE particles is in practice so great that the particles at operating temperature of the engine apparently partially remained in the filters. Only QMI informs that the PTFE particles in their product are so small that they remain in circulation until they settle at their workplace. QMI also had more clearly verifiable references about the use and results of their product.

The newest panacea: zinc

In recent years, there has been a product that aims to rival PTFE: zinc. Well, actually 'zinc dialkyldithiophosphate' or 'zinc diaryldithiophosphate'. The representatives of this trend claim far better results than colleagues from the PTFE corner can deliver. They actually do the opposite.

Zinc has been a component of common motor oils for years. A percentage of 0,1 is customary for standard oils. With oil for higher taxes, this can be as much as 0,2 volume percent. At first, those percentages were higher. But after there were claims of defective catalytic converters, the oil manufacturers lowered the values. But luckily we drive classic.

Organic zinc compounds are used because they provide better protection against wear under high pressure. Think of engines that run very high speeds and turbochargers. That zinc only does its protective work when metallic contact occurs in the engine block. And that should never happen under normal circumstances. But when someone likes to regularly run their tachometer needle in the red area, that's where the zinc can come to the rescue.

Means that are 'zinc-containing' are easy to recognize. There is a warning sticker on it because, for example, the "zinc dialkyldithiophosphate" and "zinc diaryldithiophosphate" can cause eye damage. Always wear safety goggles and gloves when handling liquids that may be harmful to health in any way. Also ensure good ventilation.

Solvents and cleaning agents

We often find these agents in the older generations of oil additives. Block pollution was much more common then. They are usually based on cleaning agents and solvents that remove sludge ('mayonnaise'), varnish and carbon deposits from the block. They actually do the opposite of what the 'new' agents such as PTFE and zinc do. They don't leave a nice layer, they just remove dirt. The famous Wynn's Friction Proofing, for example, consists of 83% kerosene. And kerosene is very close to petroleum in terms of family ties. Other brands consist partly of naphthalene, xylene, acetone or isopropanol. These are aggressive substances with a danger of eye contact and inhalation.

However, if the dosage is too large, they not only remove the dirt, but also the lubricating oil layer. But used on cars from the fifties and sixties, they can be useful as a one-off 'clean up'. On more recent engines, their operation is too gross and potentially ruinous.

A cautious conclusion

The engines of our classics are at least 25 years young. In the meantime, lubrication systems including filtering, materials and tolerances have been improved to such an extent that the comparison between an Opel Rekord 1900 cc pushrod block and a three-cylinder 1000 cc turbo of 220 hp simply cannot be made. But perhaps that is precisely the reason that there are a good number of classic drivers who swear by these types of products from their own experience. And why not? AMK has another addition in mind. A product of which the makers proudly claim that it is based solely on mineral oil and which we were made aware of by a satisfied user. We come back with a story about – among other things – TSL. Initially, we have already seen that it contains a fairly high zinc percentage. And then there was Xado, who came from former Ukrainian army labs. That remedy really promises miracles. But we never got an answer to our letter to them…

Known for the television spots ...

Engine manufacturer Briggs & Stratton unknowingly supplied some of those demo engines from the TV commercials some time ago. Those commercials with an American accent are so often FANTASTIC! and INCREDIBLE!!!! was called. It made them curious and did the same experiment under laboratory conditions. It turned out that the engine treated with the product 'X' did indeed run for a long time without oil. Just like the engine that also ran dry without a miracle cure ever added. Subsequent measurements indicated that both engines had suffered considerably from the experiment.