To Slick 50, or not to Slick 50? That is the question.

We sold our '97 OB with 60K miles and never had a problem. Avoid additives and stick with Valvoline--5-30 from 0-100F. I take it back, I did have a problem went to a local quick lube once and they put in 20-50 and piston slap started and Subaru eventually gave me a warrantee short block. The manual is there to READ.

As for Slick50, Winn's Friction Proofing, condensed milk, etc. DON'T. The engine will never break in. GM products are broken in at birth and wear out from there.

Michael Smith wrote:

-- ~~~~~ Visit our NICKELL, GAUNCE, MOOTY genealogy Web Page

There is one additive I've used for years; Valvoline Oil Additive. I would never use Slick 50 just because of the Teflon issues.

~Howard

Michael Smith wrote:

In the "Did you know?" department: Did you know that Teflon is even in the new Clorox bathroom cleaner? Make shit slide right out of your toilet bowl to keep it clean. It really works! So if you have shit in your engine then by all means use Slick50 and other products with Teflon in it.

I think Slick-50 is snake oil. Years ago they demonstrated it's worth? by putting it in a lawn mower engine running it and then draining the oil. With no oil they ran the engine for X? hours with no problems. Some outfit (Consumers reports I think) repeated the same test without Slick-50 and there was no difference. From what I have read (not from Advertisements) it appears that Teflon is not a bad thing but, as with most things it must be used in the proper form and suspended in a dispersing medium such as Teflon

Humm,

It may be snake oil but. I have used it in a number of high mileage cars and it seems to work. I have an air cooled VW motor with 175k miles and no problems, not even a valve job. Our 89 Maxima with 260k miles. I sold it to a neibor and he is going for 300k. My old Suzuki samara with 190k miles. Sold it to my father in law and he still drives her hard. All of these cars were treated with Slick 50 and have shown phenomenal wear. My 2002 WRX will receive a treatment when it gets up to 30k miles or so. I would not put Slick 50 in a low mileage engine.

From my experience I would have to say Slick 50 works.

I ran an automobile repair station in the past and have built and repaired many motors. My first experience with Slick 50 was in a friends van. He had treated the van with slick 50 about a month previously. He decided to try to drain the oil and drive the car to see what would happen. I think he was hoping the van would blow so his Dad could buy him a new car. Well we drove the van for close to 90 miles with no failure. It was amazing. We finally went to an auto parts store and bought a new drain plug and oil. He sold the van around a year later.

Theo

A Subaru at 75K is just broken in (:

Don't waste your money. Name brand dino oil is fine, Mobil 1 is better. That's all you need.

Like Everyone else has said, its not worth it, use a high quality synthetic oil for longer life (Amsoil is my favorite, but there are many other good brands out there)

You might want to study your oil a little closer. All major brands of oil have additives in them. Oil additives are not 'BAD' by design. Some of them may not help increase motor life but may keep your engine cleaner or reduce foaming.

My understanding of Sick 50 is that it is an engine treatment not an oil additive. It is not supposed to be run all the time. This treatment seems to reduce wear during start up, nothing more. I have been curious to tear down a motor treated with Slick 50 to check the bearing wear. So far none of the motors I've treated have failed.

I don't sell or represent any automotive products. The fact that the manufacturer was sued has nothing to do with the effectiveness of the product. The fact that the manufacturer made claims that the FTC disagreed with is a marketing blunder not an outright statement that the product is bad.

Theo

Hear here! and possibly vice versa. I put something simliar in the tranny of my "new" '88 Carrera with 50K miles and 6 months later the tranny started leaking. I think it was RedLine or something simliar. I contacted RedLine and they said, "Yup! Don't do that! Use Kendall instead."

FWIW.

Ed Hayes:

This thing can be poisonous, for example to birds. Humans also, but to a lesser degree.

Ask anyone who has an exotic bird, like myself. The first thing you do before even bringing a pet bird home is get rid of all Teflon covered frying pans etc. Anything that can potentially be heated to extreme temperatures and is covered with teflon is a great NO,NO!

Teflon when heated to extreme temperatures, for example as when you carelessly leave your frying pan on the burner for too long, gives off some very nasty fumes.

Anyone with Teflon in his engine is going to be producing and spilling this dangerous junk into the environment. I wonder why they even allow this thing to be put into something like an engine?

s.z.

He was trying to say that Redline didn't want to assume any responsibility and not to try it again....and then vice-versa

I'm not really sure why you've turned this into a generallized rant about teflon. Teflon is absolutely not toxic to birds unless heated to over 500 F. I've hatched and raised several clutches of healthy and happy parakeets in the same kitchen/living room as I've cooked with teflon pans. My lovebird has never had a problem with it either.

If your engine oil approaches 500 F you have more serious problems than the breakdown of teflon.

Generalized? I thought I was talking about Teflon being poisonous when overheated to extreme temps.

This just tells that you've been lucky never to overheat your Teflon covered pan.

Parts of the engine (piston crowns, rings, etc.) can reach extremely high temperatures. These would be covered with Slick50 and Teflon and would produce noxious fumes, deadly to birds and also harmful to man.

Isn't there already enough poison in the air most of us breathe? Why introduce yet another deadly substance?

s.z.

I get it!

I guess it is safe to assume you have never taken an engine apart. TG

Parts of the engine (piston crowns, rings, etc.) can reach extremely high temperatures. These would be covered with Slick50 and Teflon and would produce noxious fumes

Teflon first became popular in the early '50's. I was working at Northup in Inglewood at the time in an R&D group that included machinists as well as electronicers etc. One of the machinists died suddenly and the autopsy came back "poisoned". Turned out that teflon contains a florine compound. Chips from a block he was turning on a lathe got in his cigarettes in his shirt pocket. When a cig burns it can approach 1,000 degrees F. That's about

Other than that there's no problems with teflon.

This true story has been brought to you by and old man that knows all, but can't remember much of what he knew...

Don

..

LOL. Very true.

These days, in every industry, Teflon is as essential as a regular plastic like polyethylene.

DK

Other than the toilet bowl spray w/Teflon (that works well, BTW) there's also a great light lubricant, Tri-Flow, in a black/yellow can, with Teflon. My bicycle mechanic suggested it for general purpose use and it really works well. Many people suggest WD-40, that not all that great as a lubricant (Water Displacement, yes), I find this Tri-Flow and excellent substitute.

Don