Open discussion on using TC-W3 oil as an additive

[oil pan 4]

I did probably did one of the the longest most frequently alternating A-B-A tests in ecomodder history with 2 stroke oil and it was a 100% blind test, meaning I wasn't driving the car and the person who was didn't know if it had 2 stroke in it or not.
It did give a possible positive result, but didn't come close to even paying for the additional cost of the 2 stroke oil.

[Prophecy99]

been using it since 2012, im at 238700 miles right now.

car drives superb and is quiet as hell and throttle idle is smooth.

[DGXR]

Originally Posted by hat_man

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?

Non-ethanol "straight gas" (aka E0) has a higher energy content by volume (energy density) than E10. So the same engine will get better fuel economy running E0 than running E10.

Here is the rub: ethanol, by volume, has a higher octane rating than straight gasoline. But somehow ethanol has a lower specific energy than gasoline...? I never understood how this is possible, but this my understanding.

Finally, in E10, ethanol is blended with lower octane fuel to achieve the desired octane. In other words, even though ethanol has higher octane than gasoline, regular grade E10 has the same octane as regular grade straight gas.

[Miller88]

I posted this on another forum - but I'll put it here too. And I'll add in some more recently collected data. My truck is a 2001 Ford F-350 with (what I believe to be) a tired old 1997 F150 5.4L engine with 230K on it.


TOWING gas mileage has gone from 8 to 10 up to 10-13
TOWING oil consumption has gone from 1 qt/100 miles to 1 quart / 1500 miles

I just got back towing 500 miles through the hills of PA. This trip I have done a few times with this engine and it always ends up needing 5 quarts of makeup oil. This time I had to add 24oz of oil. There was one hill climb where I was running the engine between 3500 and 4500 for a few minutes. I thought for sure it would have used a ton of oil. I have switched on and off (taking a month to get all of the TCW3 gas out of the gas tank) and 1200 miles ago I towed a vehicle back and it was using 1 quart every 100 miles.

Towing MPG is the only real way I can compare gas mileage in a consistent manner.

In its normal usage, I do dump runs or lowes runs with the occasional highway driving. It varies too much to get any sort of consistent readings.

Oil consumption not towing is always 1 quart / 1500-2000 miles. This hasn't changed much since adding tcw3 at 1oz/5 gallons to the tank.

Since posting that, I've started driving it frequently again. I usually won't drive this in the winter months because it's so rusty and there isn't much left to rust away. However, in the summer, I'll take it on the 140 mile round trip to my parents every few weeks just to keep everything working. If this truck sits, the brake calipers end up seized up.

I was able to get 15.6 / 15.2 MPG on two trips going to my parents and back. Usually it's a solid 13.

I believe the increases I'm seeing in this are more of a restoration effect than a fuel additive helping or doing something magical. The biggest surprise for me is the reduction in oil consumption. I tow with this truck quite frequently. If have repeated it a few times now , getting rid of the oil out of the gas and towing - and the consumption comes right back when towing. Then when I start adding it back in, consumption goes down.

I suspect the rings on this engine are quite warn. Same with the valve seals; these 2v modulars are known for having oil consumption caused by the valve seals wearing out. Since this engine did sit in a junkyard before we threw it in the truck, I have no doubt that there was some degradation caused by it sitting. And we all know that as an engine ages, the valves potentially carbon up, the seats catch crap on them and lower compression and rings wear out also causing a loss in compression.

Using it while not towing in this truck, I'm not sure there's enough of a mileage increase or oil consumption decrease to justify it.

However, it definitely pays for itself with the lowered oil consumption I see while towing with it. And the slight fuel economy increase helps as well.


I've started adding it to my Forester (not enough data yet) as well as my Jeep Cherokee to see if there are any affects on those vehicles.

[DGXR]

^ With increased MPG and reduced oil consumption, it sounds like the ring pack is being cleaned out, providing better compression and better oil control. Just a speculation... thanks for posting your results and experience with the additive

[Prophecy99]

great to hear dude ! i haven't noticed so much on the MPG effects, (just a sedan with normal driving and long highway commutes)

but thanks for posting ! i have been using tc-w3 for almost 7 years now on the same car, it drives great and I am at 255k miles.

cars before ethanol was introduced could no way be designed for it, i feel this additive helps combat the bad side effects of ethanol.

look at it this way ! if ethanol wasn't that bad why don't they add more in our fuel ! its all about money, and that was the reasoning behind adding it to our fuels, think of it as watered down fuel. luckyily after 10% cars fought back and started failing. its just that 10% is just just just a tiny bit enough to not do too much harm and still save money or help them make more money depending whos buying/selling.

[Miller88]

In the case of my truck, I think the oil that is going through the fuel is acting the same as the oil that was coming in through the worn rings and valve seals. Kind of like dumping in a bit of oil in a really old engine to bring back some of the compression.

I imagine it does end up working it's way up the valve stem and helping seal the valve seals. Same for the rings; it works it's way down and eventually helps seal the tired old rings.

[Prophecy99]

small update, I continue to use TC-W3, i moved on to my next car (2019 Infiniti Q50 VR30DDTT)
i have to say hard to notice but i can hope it is making the engine quieter and idle extra smooth and keeping internals clean from ethanol garbage. we will see as time goes on


i used TC-W3 on my maxima (VQ35DE) for 11 years

further more I luckily i live close to a county that has ethanol free gas that I religiously use for all my mowers and small engines. ethanol destroys small engines.