Additives question!

[ifly]

Who if anyone uses any additives for oil in the engine, transmission fluid, injector or fuel system cleaner and what do you use and why??

I used slick 50 in an Allegro 20 odd years ago and regretted it ever since but have heard that the new additives do not cause the same problems, especially products by PolyDyn. No experience with PolyDyn and don't represent them but would like to get feedback on what folks use, what type of engine and why they use a particular product, noticeable benefits etc.

[esprit350]

Dermot may be the best person to answer this one..

[Bibs]

He has in the past and I believe the results are on his website. Bob, so you know, Dermot is a Chemistry Professor (a Don I believe) at the world renown Oxford University and he's tested some recent additives. Without looking due to this hideous excuse for a web connection I'm on, I think that all bar the expensive, motorsport only additives were wholly useless.

[ifly]

Thanks for the fast replies guys. I spent the last 3 days going through all 50 odd pages of the V8 technical section and only found some random posts with a mention of the PolyDyn products but no specific usage examples. As mentioned after my Slick 50 problems years ago I am reticent to even try any of these but fuel injector cleaners as well as fuel system cleaners may be of interest as I have had to start using them on my X5 religiously since it went over 50K miles. More feedback can't hurt I guess and products change over time.

Any chance of a link for Dermot's website??

Edited March 11, 2009 by Hunt

[Bibs]

http://www.lotusesprit.org/

I don't know the situation in the USA but decent, premium branded fuel in the UK contains detergents to cover the role of what you're using so we don't need to use them if we use decent petrol!

[Dermot]

I agree with Bibs. Use the correct oil for the application (engine and gearbox) and decent fuel and you will have no problems. Fuel additives are a total rip-off

[Kimbers]

At all the dealerships I've ever worked I've never seen a product that does the job as good as a premium quality fuel.

I don't believe that any really work that well, though putting a cleaner into the oil prior to draining was always recommended by the mechanics.

[ifly]

Cheers guys! The fuels around here can be questionable sometimes. The car gets 91 as 93 or higher is harder to find and 91 should be close the the UK 96/97 Octane.

So stay away from all those silly coloured bottles for transmission/engine/petrol, etc......