Anyone using Lucas Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer?
 

I was talking to a local mechanic last week and he mentioned using this oil additive. Said none of the fuel treatment stuff usually does much but this oil additive really helps, especially for older engines.

Helps engine run better plus extends engine life.

I just ordered a gallon from Amazon for my 200K+ miles '02 Silverado.

I have use the product called "Restore" before and wonder if this is a similar type product.

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I'm not using anything like that. I'm curious if there are any independent studies that measure benefits compared to using e.g. synthetic oil. My guess is this stuff should be put in the snake oil listing. However, if it does no harm and makes you feel good - then that's a benefit.

Input from sammy in 3... 2... 1...

LOL, how it is on stains?

I have direct evidence that synthetic reduces oil varnishing on engines. On our big 1.6MW recip engines, we use dino oil and change it about every 700 hours. That is a short change, but the fuel gas has very high H2S. I am working to get the H2S reduced, but it is not cost effective yet.

One of my main responsibilities for many years in the refining biddness was improving the reliability of rotating equipment. Pumps, turbines, compressor, blowers, motors, gearboxes.
We ran shell synthetic oil in almost all of them.

Partly because I didn't care about the cost of the oil.
Partly because most of the equipment with ball bearings was on a mist-only lubrication system.
Partly because the equipment with a sump got oil changes once a year.
Partly because the typical pump ran 24/7 for 6-1/2 years between overhaul on average.
And partly because the average overhaul cost of a pump was $14k. with some costing half a mil.

Synthetic oil is better.
Is it better enough to justify the extra cost in a car engine?
Probably not if I'm changing the oil twice a year it isn't IMO, but it certainly won't hurt anything except maybe your bank account.
But if I changed the oil every 12k miles, then synthetic would make perfect sense.




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Do you guys have to wear personal H2S meters?

Sammy and James know a lot more about oil than me but I'm pretty sure that Lucas products help protect the portfolio of the guy who started that company, better than using regular or synthetic oil. :)

When I purchased my 78 Mini it came with a horrible rod knock. Undisclosed by the seller who was supposed to be a honest standup guy on another forum.

I decided to try the lucas stuff in it, I could not use synthetic in that British cars is it would just run through the engine and onto the floor through the many leaks it had.

Maybe that Lucas stuff is snake oil, I do know I drove that car for 3 years before I decided to stop gambling and get another engine for it.

I honestly felt it helped make that engine last longer than it should have.

I now use it in my E30 and my FJ Cruiser, I sub out 1 quart of oil for a quart of the lucas stuff, they also make a synthetic blend.

Being as those car do not get a lot of miles on them, it is really not costing me that much more.

Part of the reason I love the i3 is no more oil changes. :D

My work truck is a 04 Tacoma, that is the only car I do not run it in and that is the only car I go to the 10 minute Penzoil place for my oil changes. I change out the dino oil on that every 7K miles, if I remember, I sometimes have went 8-9K miles on a oil change. :D

I use it in my a833 manual transmission. It is clingy and my mechanic said it helps a lot with the synchros. I don't know if it really does, but I trust him. He has done a lot of CORR and SCORE vehicles.

Synthetic in the engines.

Thanks for all the input thus far.

FWIW, there's a fair number of 5 star ratings on the Amazon site for this product. I realize that ratings are not exactly scientific, but for me, they do provide some measure of a product's worth.

I won't be using synthetic in my old truck, although I do recognize it's value. I just don't see it as the right product for my application. My engine has never seen synthetic in the past 127K miles for one thing and I'm also concerned about seepage.

Thanks again so far for the comments!

There are fixed H2S sensors in the pressurized areas. Most of the fuel piping is below atmospheric pressure.

Of the two, Restore is probably the better product for a worn engine with reduced compression or consumption issues. I tend to use certain oils in certain cars, but I would only use additives in an engine with specific problems I wanted to band aid over.

I know people who use Lucas, and their power steering additive is top notch. The oil additive isn't something I would use in an engine that had good compression and oil pressure, but I know people who do, and it doesn't seem to hurt anything.

A friend of mine was sponsored by Lucas for many years and is still good friends with Morgan Lucas. I don't believe there is anything wrong with Lucas products. I have not personally tested most of them.

if you did an inventory check of my garage and my shop you might find the odd bottle of techron, but likely wouldn't find anything that said Lucas or royal or purple.

Cool, having the system under a vacuum makes it a lot safer , .......
unless you get air leaks into the fuel gas :eek:
(no such thing as a vacuum Sammy, you know better ;) )

We had to wear personal H2S meters at all times in the plant and they got to be a pain, having to calibrate them every day, batteries wearing out, etc.
But I guess they're better than getting knocked down.

WELL... at least in the autozone store, in the little plastic gear thingee you turn at the checkout counter, the Lucas makes the oil stick to the gears like molasses!:D

Now that's the kind of analytical data I was looking for! SmileWavy

The gas is "pulled" from the landfill. It is usually collected around -10 inH20. At our landfill it is closer to -25-30 inh20. Once it passes the gas blower skid, it is 4.5 psig. So around the gas skid and in the engine compartments, we have fixed sensors.

Your old silverado with its ls engine will probably go 300k on dino oil with regular oil changes,
My 6.0 is at 215,000 on 5w30 store brand oil, at every 3-4k. No smoke, no noise, and zero oil consumption.
I think an ls would probably run fine on wd 40 if you had to They are really durable motors .

I have been "slowly" changing the oil in my lawnmower to Lucas. It is probably 50% lucas now. I have not changed the oil in it since new about 7 years ago.

I am morbidly curious to see if the engine pukes or lasts for 10 more years.

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