Lucas Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer

Lots of people say additives are a waste of money or worse. I dissagree. GOOD additives have their place, and I rate the Lucas products as pretty durn good. I use oil stabilizer after any time I flush an engine - which I do it there is an oil consumption problem, or valve noise, as well as some other issues. I have also used it just as a preventative on older engines. It works. And the nice thing is, it is a pure petroleum product.

Their PS conditioner and AT conditioner also seem to be pretty good stuff.

Have not tried the fuel additive, so can't comment on that.

"Someone", in my opinion, was WRONG

I have used both Lucas AT and PS products with GREAT results .. but i used them to fix a problem, not for prevention.

Until you have a PROBLEM, I dont recommned using them... because of the way they work.

Evidently that explorer isnt driven much, or you just got it. If the latter is the case, ESPECIALLY dont use additives until you find out what your car's little problems are.

The only additive I would use in your case would be Redline's water wetter... after you have a chance to eval the cooling system performance

When I was much younger and earning less than ideal wages, I tried many different additives in many different places.... I was always sorely disappointed. In the 30+ years I have plied my trade, I have (at times) sold oil additives.... for no other reason than people asked for them.

Customers would picjk up a can, perue the side and ask the usual questions... "Will this fix???????". The only ting I could offer was to quote the producers money back gaurranty.

I often see "XXXX additive "fixed" my problem...." with absolutely nothing in the way of info.

Is there a reason we feel we need to add something? Is there a tangeable benefit?

It's your wallet and your car.... For my part, if I feel I need an additive, I will look for a better lubricant.... If I need a repair, I wont look on the "additives" shelf... If "mechanic in a can" worked, I'd be on welfare....

What about their comment, "Eliminates dry starts and resist thermal breakdown for total protection in new engines.", "Stops smoking, knocking, and oil consumption in worn engines", "Will not void new car warranties.","Raises oil pressure and adds lubricity for more M.P.G." These claims made on their information flyers, are they like the notice you see on a pack of cigarettes?

Those mean they also have a marketing dept.

Take them at face value... if you want to add those products, fine. But take "resists thermal breakdown", for example: Mobil 1 truly does that and the effects are more far-reaching than you'd think.

Again... I've found that the products are an alternative to mechanical repair at the end of a systems's life. And they actually work.

But so do various medicines taken by geriatrics to resolve human aging symptoms. That doesnt mean a healthy person should take them.

See:

by the way its texas .... its not cold there why are you using 5w-30... i dont care what the book says i would use something a bit better like

No such thing as mechanic in a can - but SOMETIMES oil consumption is caused buy stuck rings - and valve noise by sticky/dirty lifters. SOMETIMES a good flush frees up the rings, or the lifters, solving the immediate problem. An additive like Lucas CAN, in these instances, help get the engine back to "normal", counteracting, to some extent, the harshness of the flushing agent and helping prevent some of the sometimes less-than-ideal side effects of the flush.

Another additive I have used, with excellent results, is BG 44k and BG Supercharge, usually as a fuel additive for injector glitches and combustion cleaner deposit problems, where the alternative is a very pricy and time intensive dissassembly and mechanical/manual decoking.

Often it works. Sometimes it doesn't, but I've found it is almost always worth a try.

Unless your "beloved" Explorer has oil consumption problems or low oil pressure, stay away from the stuff. I would never put it in an engine I actually cared about. I've used Lucas Oil Stabilizer in cars that were on their last legs and not worth putting much money into and the stuff definitely buys time. But, I must say if you put a whole quart in, the next time you change oil be ready to go to lunch while the crankcase drains. Lucas really thickens up the oil. If you are concerned about dry starts, switch to a good synthetic. I do use the Lucas power steering additive for rack and pinion steering and it seems to work well to quiet older racks and, so far, doesn't seem to have a downside.

mike

What I like about the oil stabilizer is it cleans up and conditions the lips of oil seals, and tends to extend the life of things like valve seals - particularly after a flush. As for thickening the oil, I ALWAYS drain my oil at operating temperature - and it drains very well that way. Dry starts are also not dry when lubrication clings to the surface.And although it is "thicker" it also seems to creep fairly well.

If the Explorer had 69669.7 miles, I would definitely drop a quart of snake oil in it. Perhaps even install a pair of those magnetic polyolefin-molecular-chain- twisters that improve fuel consumption by 25%. But at just 69669.0? No way!

Heck, it's a dreary Sunday here. Thanks for the opportunity for a chuckle!