What about those aftermarket oil additives like Slick 50, Prolong and others?

They are unnecessary and can potentially be detrimental to the chemistry of your motor oil. The Federal Trade Commission has issued charges of false and deceptive advertising that these and many other additive manufacturers have misled consumers into believing that their products offer increased engine protection and performance when added to motor oil.

Read about the latest FTC charges against ZMax in the article at the bottom of this page. ZMax is the latest company to be charged in a long list of companies. The FTC has successfully halted false and deceptive advertising by the marketers of Dura Lube, Motor Up, Prolong, Valvoline, Slick 50. STP and other major brands of engine treatment systems. As a result of the charges, some are now out of business while others are required to revise their advertising claims.

Without going into extensive detail here's what you need to know about aftermarket oil additives: There are basically two types of additives used, either Teflon based with PTFE or Chlorinated based with some type of carrier, usually a paraffin based carrier or other mineral oil. Some have extremely large amounts of moly, zinc or phosphorus, all extreme pressure agents which can be detrimental to a motor oils proper function in the amount that they use.

Teflon does absolutely nothing inside your engine. Teflon must be heated up to about 800 deg. F to get it to stick to anything for friction reducing purposes, just like the Teflon on a frying pan, yet in an engine suspended microscopic colloidal Teflon particles can potentially gradually attach to the oil pick-up screen and reduce oil flow to critical components as well as reducing the oil flow in other critical internal engine passages by attaching themselves to the passageway walls. In addition, as the oil filter filters out some of the Teflon particles, the filter flow rate can potentially be reduced which in turn may eventually become restricted and default to the by-pass mode of operation, which means unfiltered oil will then flow through the engine.

If you ever get bleach on your fingers you will notice how slippery it is. Add enough Chlorinated components to a mineral based carrier and mix it with some type of teflon, moly, zinc or phosphorus and you can reduce friction, except for one concern: chlorinated additives mixed with oil and subjected to heat forms hydrochloric acid. Hydrochloric acid is detrimental to internal engine components.

The bottom line is: When using a properly formulated motor oil you do not need any aftermarket additives whatsoever, and additionally the additives you may put in can potentially be incompatible with the additives the oil company carefully blended in. The major oil and additive companies are some of the richest and most powerful companies in the world, and they certainly can afford to hire the top chemists that know how to properly formulate a motor oil (this is not to say they make a premium quality motor oil; just that they know how to properly formulate one to perform the functions it was designed to do and meet the required specifications).

Many aftermarket additive companies claim to perform miracles with their outrageously priced products. Do yourself a favor and stay away from aftermarket oil additives, regardless of how appealing the claims they make in their advertising are.

At a recent trade show we were at one of these aftermarket oil additive companies was there with a machine that demonstrated how their additive reduced friction. It was a motor with rotating solid steel disc secured to the motor shaft and a torque meter with a flat piece of steel mounted on the torque arm. They put every type of oil on the market, one by one, on the machine & pressed hard on the torque meter and at about 20-40 lb-ft torque the torque arm would stall the motor....that is until they cleaned it off and tried their (chlorinated) aftermarket oil additive on the bearing & ran the test.

People were amazed as the meter peaked out at 140 lb-ft. torque and still didn't stall the motor. We knew what was happening but many unsuspecting consumers were eating it up and standing in line to buy the additive. The next day we showed up with some Head & Shoulders Shampoo disguised in an oil bottle & had the aftermarket oil additive people try it on their test machine. The operator was amazed as the motor just barely stalled at 140 lb-ft. The operator says that's pretty good stuff, what is it? We said Head & Shoulders Shampoo. He was quite embarrassed to say the least. Head & Shoulders has high levels of high potency ZINC in it that attaches itself to ferrous metals. Coke soft drink will do exactly the same thing. ZINC reduces friction and provides anti-wear protection and is present in most motor oils at a much reduced level. Now, would you put Head & Shoulders in your engine?

Additionally, the test machine was measuring EXTREME PRESSURE. Motor oils do not have extreme pressure additives blended in like gear lubes do nor do they need extreme pressure additives. Their is absolutely no need for EP additives in a motor oil. A gear lube would not stall the motor as easily because gear lubes have high levels of Extreme Pressure additives blended in, but do you think they would test their aftermarket oil additive against gear lubes? Instead, they use motor oil and are comparing apples to oranges and tricking people into buying their additive. Same theory holds true for many other oil additives. Please DON'T be fooled by aftermarket oil additives. They simply are not needed and can potentially be detrimental to the chemistry and proper function of a motor oil.

The performance benefits of aftermarket additives are mostly unsubstantiated. AMSOIL has long discouraged motorists from using any kind of aftermarket lubricant additive. After all, AMSOIL synthetic lubricants use the finest quality synthetic basestocks and additive systems. AMSOIL's response to the question "Should aftermarket additives or aftermarket products be added to AMSOIL motor oils?" is " No, you don't need them". AMSOIL motor oils are formulated under the strictest quality control standards to provide superior lubrication performance. Additives cost money and only detract from the quality of AMSOIL motor oils." Additionally, not only do they detract from the quality of the motor oil, but they can also be damaging to your engine. A perfect example of why AMSOIL discourages use of aftermarket additives is the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) recent lawsuit against ZMax auto additives, seeking to halt false and misleading advertising and gain refunds for customers who purchased the products. According to the FTC, the enhanced performance benefits ZMax claims its products provide are totally unsubstantiated, and in the same tests cited to support performance claims, motor oil treated with ZMax actually produced more than twice as much bearing corrosion than motor oil by itself. They further allege that the three different ZMax products- an engine additive, a fuel line additive and a transmission additive- are nothing more than tinted mineral oil. The complaint states that since at least May of 1999, ZMax has aired infomercials promoting its "Power System", a $39 package of three additives to be used in the engine, fuel line and transmission of automobiles. The infomercials are quite convincing, even going as far as featuring testimonials from various consumers and race car drivers making such claims as, "I was averaging about 22 miles to the gallon on the highway. I installed the ZMax and so I jumped right up to about 28 miles per gallon" and "ZMax guarantees a minimum of 10% gas mileage increase." Other advertising claims "ZMax with LinKite has the scientific, CRC L38 proof it takes you car to the Max!" and 'Why ZMax Works- Cuts carbon build-up on valve stems 66%; Lowers wear on valve stems 66%; Lowers wear on piston skirts 60%; Reduces blow-by leakage 17.7%; Increases combustion efficiency 9.25%; Lowers fuel consumption 8.5%- results of an independent CRC L38 test." The CRC L38 test is a standard auto industry test which measures the bearing corrosion protection properties of motor oils. According to the complaint, in early 1997 an independent testing facility performed two CRC L38 tests of the ZMaz products. The results showed motor oil treated with ZMax additives produced more than double the bearing corrosion as motor oil alone. According to the FTC, the defendants eliminated the bearing corrosion results, as well as all other negative results, to produce one "report" from the two sets of tests, using this "report" in its infomercials and on its website.

 

• increases gas mileage
• reduces engine wear
• extends engine life
• lowers fuel consumption by 8.5%
• lowers wear on valve stems by 66%
• lowers wear on piston skirts by 60%
• cuts carbon build-up on valve stems by 66%

Here is the professional opinion of Dave Mann, my AMSOIL Direct Jobber. Dave is a Lubrication Specialist and Truck/Automotive Engineer with over 20 years of experience in the industry, (not only is it his opinion but it is his opinion backed by proven scientific research and testing by some of the worlds best chemists and engineers):

You simply do not need them and you surely don't need the problems they may cause with your engine. If your still not convinced then think about this statement:

The major oil companies, including AMSOIL, are staffed with, bar none, some of the best chemists, scientists and engineers the world has to offer. Now, don't you think if they determined their motor oil was lacking an additive they would blend it in their additive package? They obviously have the technology and resources and the financial backing to do it. Then why don't they? The answer is simple: They are not needed!