Lucas oil additive

[deuce10x10]

I wonder how it will affect a transmission when below freezing? I'll try it and report back.

 

[digitaldust]

ya I have used it in my M109 makes for a quiet running motor. I wonder what happens with below 0 temps ?

 

[Flyingvan911]

When I change me deuce's motor oil I am going to put in some Lucas. I would figure if you put in 15W40 that the Lucas will be diluted enough not to cause much of a difference in vescocity. That's assuming you put on 20%.

 

[digitaldust]

I just used a standard size bottle like the round gear oil comes with I plan to try a lot more in a deuce that has really low oil pressure.

 

[Ord22]

using lucas is a lazy way of not wanting to perform maintenance. i work at a truck shop (detroit diesels and mercedes benz engines). lucas is very messy to work with. lucas gets into the pores of your skin. detroit and mercedes tells us not to use it in the engines at all, because it will clog up the passages in the engines.

 

[paulfarber]

using lucas is a lazy way of not wanting to perform maintenance. i work at a truck shop (detroit diesels and mercedes benz engines). lucas is very messy to work with. lucas gets into the pores of your skin. detroit and mercedes tells us not to use it in the engines at all, because it will clog up the passages in the engines.

Do you have a bulletin or something?

No manufacturer recommends ANY additives.... only spec'd API oils.

 

[renovate7]

Just a note about what Stumps said early in this thread about Slick 50. I worked in the retail automotive parts business when these TEFLON slick'em up products were hitting the market. We found out the hard way they were NOT good for high mileage engines. The problem for these engines was not too much friction. We had more than one customer tell us there engine wasn't using any oil until they added these products, then they started using a lot of oil...My thoughts on oil additives is that if they were good the manufacturer would be using/recommending them. This isn't true for the additives designed for engines/transmissions that have problems you are trying to solve (Transmedic, Motor Honey etc.). I can, however, see using something like Lucas in a Deuce engine that has no oil/ oil pressure at start up... We had a big auto auction down the street and every auction day we sold a lot of these "new engine/transmission in a can" products, as well as 30 lbs cylinders of Freon.

 

[paulfarber]

Teflon will not stick to anything unless its 1. glued on or 2. melted on. There are obvious issues with #1, and #2 requires 700+F temps to melt. Any motor goo is at best going to simply add to the normal additives already in the engines.

Unless LUCAS is going to publish what they are using (they don't) or publish their oils when tested against API specified testing (they don't) then all the 'I worked at a truck stop/parts counter/internet scientists can only keep posting these really off the wall empirical stories of 30%+ gas mileage increases and temp drops.

The complete lack of ANY formal testing should be a HUGE RED FLAG. But somehow educated men go ga-ga over these 'runs quieter, better mileage, blah blah blah' claims like a child wanting a new toy.

If you TRULY believe that anything you pour into your gas tank, oil sump, tranny, transfer diffs other than a quality, API rated lube is a good thing, then please continue to do so.... but please stop with these inane posts of nothing more than 'it's quieter, its cooler, I get better mileage' unless you have something to back it up with.

You do know that by simply switching from 140wt to 90wt oil you can drop the temps 20F... thicker oils get hotter.

 

[roscoe]

ya I have used it in my M109 makes for a quiet running motor. I wonder what happens with below 0 temps ?

Banana peels also work to quiet an engine. An old, used car salesmans trick is to dump in a heavy oil to make the engine sound smooth.(probably used the banana peels if it was lunch time).

 

[Tinwoodsman]

Two questions. Do people put this is their deuce tranny and is it yellow metal safe?

 

[two.fiveM35]

Tinwoodsman, I called Lucas and they said it has no sulpher in it and so it is yellow metal safe. I tried to put it in my transmission but that stuff is so thick and sticky. Gave up and went with straight GL-1. Glad i did.

 

[Tinwoodsman]

Straight GL1 is what I have in mine now. I have a quart of Lucas additive in my engine but I plan to stay with the spec'd fluids in everything else.

 

[MASIC]

All I use is an electric pump that is good for 19gpm @ 80PSI that I plumbed in between the oil pump and its discharge cavity. I turn that on until I see my oil pressure gauge rise then crank the engine. I guess that you can call this system an additive. lol

 

[paulfarber]

Tinwoodsman, I called Lucas and they said it has no sulpher in it and so it is yellow metal safe. I tried to put it in my transmission but that stuff is so thick and sticky. Gave up and went with straight GL-1. Glad i did.

Unless temps get above 200F+ the sulpher is inert and will not get acidic (you also need water in the oil) in a transmission. This is pretty much a known fact.

There are really only three additives that reduce metal on metal wear that are added to oil. Zinc, Sulfur and Phosphorus. These additives have slowly been removed from modern blends because they will clog up a catalytic converter.

Esters are another additive that break down and get 'used up'.

As mentioned in previous posts, you guys really, TRULY HAVE NO IDEA what you are pouring in your oil. And none of you are doing ANY oil analysis to weigh the benefits of using the mystery goo.

But let some guy off the net say it ran quieter, got better mileage etc and you are happy to dump it in every rotating component you own.

Want a REALLY GOOD LAUGH. Read the 'testimonials' on the lucas web site. They have NOTHING to do with the oils properties... just that they are happy, good customer service. Another HUGE RED FLAG.

 

[Ord22]

i agree with paul. detriot diesel amd mercedes benz engines will not warranty your engine if lucas is being used. i've seen customers come out of pocket to repair their engines because lucas was used. we as techs have to report this. being steady on your oil/ coolant intervals and changing you fuel filters, your engines will last for a long time.

 

[paulfarber]

Biggest red flag? The Military FORBIDS the use of any additive. None, zero, zippo. I would think that the owner of the largest fleet of vehicles in the US (In 2009 the largest civvy truck fleet is AT&T that lists 77,480 Class 1-4 trucks,vans and SUVs).

There are 160,000+ HUMMVs, and 80,000+ FMTVs alone.

Not one drop of mystery goo in any of them.

I'm Sure AT&T, UPS, Comcast and Verizon (the top 4 civvy fleets) are also not dumping the 'goo of the month' into engines or the goo company would have it all over their web site.

 

[sandcobra164]

The military also has the most blown up engine's of any industry. Not so much talking about stuff blown up in combat. They have to stick to a budget which is coming ever so much under scrutiny. They also have to deal with 18 year old operators who don't have any concept of dry starts and over revving so that should be taken into account as well. I've seen plenty of 6.5's in a can for sale lately and I've spoken to people who have purchased them. Most of the trouble is just lack of oil and bearing issues (yes I'm aware that most all DRMO engine's are drained of fluids.) It might be a logistical nightmare to include an additive. The military is trying hard to get down to 3 lubes, 15W40, GO 80/90, and GAA for all components on their vehicles to ease the logistics burden. If I had that many vehicles that I had to keep operational within a budget, I'd pass on $8 a quart additive. The stuff might be a miracle in a bottle, it might be snake oil. I'd like to see some more conclusive tests myself.

 

[paulfarber]

" I'd like to see some more conclusive tests myself."

Yeah, you think the manufacturer would supply an endless stream of peer reviewed studies to back their claims.

I completely agree that synthetic oil is better than dino oil. I do question all the 'testimonials' of 30%+ MPG gains and all the other quotes.

There are engines getting 300k+ miles on dino oil.. so it can't be the holy grail people are making it out to be.

 

[mcmullag]

I can write my name.

Beat me up all ya want but here it goes, anecdotal evidence heaven from a trade school trained mechanic ,graduated in 1981 (Ranken Tech, you St. Louis area fellas may know it), .....
- about 12 pages back somebody mentions that a crankshaft slops through the oil in the sump. Nope, not so. For example, in high reving racing engines a windage tray is used so just merely the high speed spinning of the crankshaft near the oil sitting in the sump will not cause oil foamation (anything less than solid oil , no air bubbles in it, being supplied to the engine is a killer of bearings)
I use Lucas in my engine, trans, transfer case, and axles and Diesel Kleen in the fuel on my deuces.
- In the 1980's, I was running a low mileage original Buick Special as my daily driver with a 225 V-6 in it using a can of STP as an engine oil additive, never had any problems with it. Ran like a sewing machine ( that means good)
-In the early 2000's, I ran a 1998 Chevy Trailblazer with the 4.3 litre V-6, I was dumbfounded by the difference in performance when I started using Z-Max in the fuel, engine oil, and transmission. The change was really noticeable on the hills of Interstate 44 just west of Six Flags (west of St.Louis) as I headed out to weekend property. Before Z-Max, the vehicle would downshift at 65 or 70 mph to make it up the hills. After Z-Max, the vehicle held itself in top gear and climbed the hills no problem.
Addiitives are expensive, I think that is why many fleets do not use them.

side note, I think it would be really fun to sit around a campfire and have this discussion with you guys. I think folks have behaved rather well on this thread topic.

 

[steelandcanvas]

Hey Glen, is that my truck's Brother? If so, you need to come to Strasburg and show me how to paint. Lookin' good Bud!

Sorry Guys, didn't mean to jack the thread.