Open discussion on using TC-W3 oil as an additive

[darcane]

Originally Posted by Vman455

That's not what I said. First of all, dirty oil is not a bad thing--it gets dirty because it's holding particles, combustion byproducts, and wear material in suspension, which is what it's supposed to do. Second, no--you can't feel a difference between an engine running "dirty" oil and the same engine running "clean" oil.

Agreed. I can feel no difference.

But I still change my oil. I know my engine needs to be properly lubricated and the fresh oil keeps deposits from building up inside the engine. I do this to make sure my engine lasts as long as possible

And that is the reason I add TC-W3 to the fuel...

Originally Posted by Vman455

the same way experienced sommeliers cannot distinguish between red and white wines in blind taste tests.

You may have to explain this one a bit...

I'm no connoisseur, but I enjoy a variety of white wines. I really don't care for any of the reds I've tried, and many are completely undrinkable. I think I would have a real hard time confusing the two

The only study I could find related to this was The Color of Odors
Where 54 undergrad students failed to recognize that they were being actively deceived. They were given two glasses of wine, both the same white wine, one with food coloring, and asked to describe them. None pointed out that the "red" wine was really a white, but they did use some traditional white wine descriptors for the "red". It does mention that people could typically tell if an opaque glass of wine had a red or a white with 70% accuracy from smell alone.

Originally Posted by Vman455

The frictional properties of conventional and synthetic oils of the same weight are so close as to be indistinguishable to a person driving the car around or "feeling" the engine.

Agreed under normal operating conditions. However, at extreme cold temps, the difference in viscosity can get very noticeable, especially in the tranny/rear end.

[RobertISaar]

you can tell when an oil has been run FAR too long if you can detect a difference in engine operation when changing to fresh oil of the proper specifications.

[ecocruze]

Can this thread please come back alive. I know some of you are still using...sound like a drug dealer. Curious if those who are using gas engines have hit any more milestones that are thought to be unachievable with gas engines. 3-4-500,000. I feel like the lubricity will help extend engine life. Seeing here from one of the roughly 5 year old posts that mmo doesn't provide much lubricity but tcw3 does. Curious on the extent of engine life.

[jcp123]

Well, I can't comment on the additive in question, but my Echo died at around 275k miles...not engine related (coolant leak I was entirely optionally unwilling to pursue). And it was treated poorly before me, it probably had a lot of miles left had I corrected the issue. Good oil and additives will add to an engine's life, but won't make a blah engine into a superhero, IMHO.

[Prophecy99]

Originally Posted by 14'ecocruze

Can this thread please come back alive. I know some of you are still using...sound like a drug dealer. Curious if those who are using gas engines have hit any more milestones that are thought to be unachievable with gas engines. 3-4-500,000. I feel like the lubricity will help extend engine life. Seeing here from one of the roughly 5 year old posts that mmo doesn't provide much lubricity but tcw3 does. Curious on the extent of engine life.

been using 5-6 years now , i'm at 234500miles right now

throttle and idle has been very smooth since, haven't looked back. my head tells me it is rough when I don't add it, but its only a tank here and there when travelling etc.

[ksa8907]

Additives (at this very small %) in the fuel are not going to do anything for the longevity of the engine. What is possible is lubricating the fuel system.

I have used several additives: Seafoam, MMO, Techron, TCW3, Lucas Oil. I can't say I prefer one over another, but I have been buying MMO lately.

While i had the car, I noticed a marked improvement in engine crank/start time. Likely due to higher fuel pressure from a lubricated fuel pump and/or cleaner injectors. The car had over 200k miles at the time.

[hat_man]

Not trying to beat a seemingly dead horse here or anything but I have to wonder if people did see a mpg increase, not from the lubricating properties, but from the detergent properties.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the extra lubrication is beneficial (especially to engine longevity) but if adding it to the fuel mix cleans out the injectors, and maybe the spark plugs (and keeps them clean with every application), wouldn't that increase FE a little? I'm not sure how it affects or counters the ethanol in fuel, but we have all read (and I think most agree, but I could be wrong) that non-ethanol "straight gas" gives a bit better FE than ethanol blended fuel. Maybe from the ethanol attracting water and not burning as well?

We always tell the new folks here, when they ask about getting better FE, to check and replace fouled plugs and clean or replace dirty injectors. 9 times out of 10 they all see an improvement, but then the improvement levels out as it should. Plugs can only be so new, and injectors so clean.

I do wonder if the gains seen by some are slightly offset by the lower octane from the mix. If the octane remained the same, would the reported (minimal) gains be minimally larger? I realize we are talking about extremely small differences here, but this was an open discussion, not a hard ABA experiment.

[hat_man]

Someone in one of the earlier posts made the comment about this thread being a bit if a "social" experiment also. The only observation I have in that regard is that sometimes we see a mod done at it gives a .5 mpg increase. If it's a mod we as individuals have contemplated we say "good job". But if it's one that we have dismissed, it goes one of two ways. Either, "Hmm I never thought about it like that. I'll have look into it some more." Or "Unicorn !!!!" Never in between. One camp waits to see what proof is offered. The other demands proof that it works, but rarely offers proof that it doesn't.

In the big picture, every mod doesn't work for every vehicle. Just because you (or I) didn't see any gains doesn't mean it doesn't work for someone else. Unless it's been show to already be Unicorn worthy (perpetual motion, free energy, etc), please try and keep an open mind and the "snake oil" comments to yourselves.

[oil pan 4]

I have a post on here some where.
I tried it and couldn't see any difference that would justify the added cost of the oil.

[gone-ot]

A-B-A testing or it ain't worth reading about.