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

[Michael Smith]

Ok, i am drawing near my first oil change in my shiny new 03 Forester.
I am wondering peoples thoughts on the oil additive, slick 50. I
have used it in every car i have ever owned. including my first new
car, a 96 Sunfire GT. I put it in at the first oil change, and
again at 50,000 miles. I sold it with 75,000 miles and never had a
problem. i of course, can not say that slick 50 is the reason,
but.... it was a Pontiac after all.

Anyway, with the modern advances in engines, should i? or shouldn't i?

thanks,

Mike

 

[Tony Hwang]

Hi,
If you want to throw away money.
More bluntly, I question your intelligence.
Tony

 

[Don Nickell]

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.

 

[Howard R. Silverstein]

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

 

[Don Nickell]

Well, even though I'm a sucker for "mechanic in a can" claims, and do
use a few additives on a regular basis, let's look at Slick 50: it
contains Teflon, and DuPont, who makes Teflon, repeatedly warns the
stuff's NOT for use in engines. I understand there have been many
lawsuits (I'm sure Google can enlighten you), but DuPont hasn't been
able to stop the "improper" use of its product, so Slick 50's still
going, Fram still puts Teflon in one of their oil filter lines, etc.

Personally, I think it's a waste of money. With today's engines, even
those wonders of longevity from GM, 75k is not much of a test of oil or
additives assuming regular changes IMO. But it's your money...

Rick
--

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.

 

[Edward Hayes]

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
+ oil in a filter. eddie

 

[Theo McCormick]

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

 

[Jim Stewart]

Ok, i am drawing near my first oil change in my shiny new 03 Forester.
I am wondering peoples thoughts on the oil additive, slick 50. I
have used it in every car i have ever owned. including my first new
car, a 96 Sunfire GT. I put it in at the first oil change, and
again at 50,000 miles. I sold it with 75,000 miles and never had a
problem. i of course, can not say that slick 50 is the reason,
but.... it was a Pontiac after all.

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.

 

[EQ Shaman]

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)

 

[Theo McCormick]

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

 

[Don Nickell]

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.

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.

 

[UserEddie214]

Ed Hayes:

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
+ oil in a filter. eddie

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.

 

[EQ Shaman]

I don't get it, Tony. I fail to find any humor in your reply, much less
any logic.

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

 

[Jim Stewart]

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?

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.

http://www.busybeaks.com/QA teflon.pdf

 

[UserEddie214]

Jim:

I'm not really sure why you've turned this into a
generallized rant about teflon.

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

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.

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

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

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.

 

[TG]

I get it!

 

[TG]

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

 

[Don Nickell]

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.

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
500 degrees greater than needed to produce florine gas from the
teflon.

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

 

[D.K.]

I'm not really sure why you've turned this into a
generallized rant about teflon. ...
If your engine oil approaches 500 F you have more serious
problems than the breakdown of teflon.

LOL. Very true.

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

DK

 

[Don Nickell]

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