Thread: Nulon in Engine Oil

I’m a great advocate of using ‘quality’ engine oils and changing them and filters regularly.
By ‘quality’ I don’t mean expensive. However, it is difficult to find an oil that is robust but not with an over inflated price.
I have also used the original Slick 50 in many vehicles and attribute it to saving my S3 when it dropped the reverse flush bung out at speed on a highway.
But today’s Slick 50 is not the same as the origina.
So I do not use additives now and would argue that they wouldn’t do too much but waste your money on an older engine anyway.

I'm not particularly very technical I've owned cars & Land Rovers since 1966, my first Landy 1969, I went to a motor show at the old Show Ground Sydney and visited a stand displaying STP motor oil addative. They had two motors on display, they poured a can of STP into one, ran the motors for 10 minutes, dropped both oils out, then started the motors and let them run at idle, after a prescribed time the engine without STP seized to a grinding halt, the STP motor kept going hours after before being turned off without any known problems. Since then I have always added STP or Nulon, I've never had to rebuild an engine, my first '76 Range Rover over 20 years old of tough driving 380,000 miles, still going when I sold it. Other cars not so many Kilometres but my current 97 Defender coming up 300, 000km (not so many kilometres you say those that know me know that this car been to every corner of Australia, ever Island you can drive on,, multiple desert crossings & hard LROC weekends) no known engine problems still purring along, so I can't see where why there is harm in using addatives, even if only a placebo, how many vehicles on here have failed and never had any additives in their oil, begs an answer I think.

I did break a main gearbox shaft in the Defender and I used Nulon addative, but so has many Defender owners had this known problem.

Hi All,

As far as I understand, oils consist of a generic base stock, either mineral or synthetic, to which the various oil companies add additives. Some additives are expensive, others cheaper and that gives the range of oils available at significantly differing prices off the shelf. All oils must work for all consumers out of the container and be just as suitable for a motor that has just been rebuilt as one that has done 200k km.

That's why Nulon etc is NOT put in off the shelf oils. Its friction reducing qualities would prevent a motor from bedding in. This happened to a friend of mine who used Slick 50 on a new motor. He had to strip down the motor, rehone the bores and replace the rings just to get the motor/rings to bed in. He was so happy with what he saw inside the motor that after about 1500 km he put the Slick 50 in. He is still very happy with the results.

Nulon, Slick 50, PTFE are also additives, similar to all the other additives. Regardless of all the reasons espoused as to why they should or should not work, I have never heard of any malfunction occurring from their use. To my way of thinking if it eases your concerns, go for it. It probably wont do any harm and it just might do some good.

After all, it is the contaminants from the motor and the fuels that cause the wear, not the oils. They might lose some additives from heat etc but the bare stock does not wear out. Oil is changed because it becomes contaminated, not for any other significant reason.

Cheers,
techron.

The US FTC(fair trade commission) way back in '97 ordered Slick 50's parent company to stop making unsubstantiated claims:

See here.

Basically ordered them to stop making the claim that:

A. Automobile engines generally have little or no protection from wear at or just after start-up unless they have been treated with such product;

B. Automobile engines commonly experience premature failure caused by wear unless they are treated with such product; or

C. Such product coats engine parts with a layer of PTFE; provided however, that this provision shall not prohibit any claim that relates to chemical or physical reactions between Slick 50 and metal surfaces of engine parts that is substantiated by competent and reliable scientific evidence.

So Slick 50's two options were to either, 1. 'cease and desist' with their claims, or 2. 'get properly independent scrutiny' .. and they chose option 1!

Begs the question, if the product works as promoted, why wouldn't they back it with proper independent analysis?

Originally Posted by Bigbjorn

In sixty years of playing with motor vehicles the only oil additive I ever found to be worth a knob of goatpoo was the original Wynn's Charge which hit the market in the 1960's. I had a used car yard for a while then and Charge was the answer to a bomb dealers dream. Bung in a can or two and old Smoky Joes stopped using oil and fuming for a couple of thousand miles or at least until well after sale. We used it by the carton putting at least one can in every car. Then some time later the formula must have been changed as it no longer had such a brilliant effect. Bugger!

We found mince meat in the gearbox and diff shut up noisy ones very effectively but don't be nearby when the meat and oil sludge was drained months later. 600W steam cylinder oil was also good. Fibrous wheel bearing grease in worn suspensions and steering joints worked for long enough to sell the pile of pus.

so in other words... you were one of the arseholes we were all trying to avoid when buying a new car

Originally Posted by rapserv

so in other words... you were one of the arseholes we were all trying to avoid when buying a new car

I don't think either of us ever did it with new cars - just old dungers we'd got cheap

Different days back then, you did whatever it took to make a quid. Wouldn't get away with it today, although I have thought of getting my dealers license now that I'm getting too old to work for a living!
If I do, let me know if you're in the market for a good used car

Originally Posted by techron

Hi All,
[snip]

After all, it is the contaminants from the motor and the fuels that cause the wear, not the oils. They might lose some additives from heat etc but the bare stock does not wear out. Oil is changed because it becomes contaminated, not for any other significant reason.

Cheers,
techron.

Without getting too technical, base oils oxidize, additives become depleted, viscosity index improvers and lighter base oils shear and eventually oil becomes acidic thanks to moisture reacting with combustion by products, so oil does wear out.

It's not just about contaminants.

Originally Posted by rick130

Without getting too technical, base oils oxidize, additives become depleted, viscosity index improvers and lighter base oils shear and eventually oil becomes acidic thanks to moisture reacting with combustion by products, so oil does wear out.

It's not just about contaminants.

I had four line haul trucks with Detroit 8V92TA engines. I enrolled in the Detroit Diesel oil analysis programme. Considerable savings were made by not changing oil on a distance travelled basis but but by waiting until when Detroit Diesel told me to change the oil.