Charon wrote on 05/11/10 at 06:37:41:Just to stir the pot - I keep seeing (from Bill) references to a "zero wear" oil. But I don't see any references to testing, such as under what conditions the test of "zero wear" was made. I don't see any references to whether any other oil was tested at the same time and under the same conditions for reference. I must assume the reference to "zero wear" came from the manufacturer's literature, which makes it suspect at best. After all, one doesn't have to look very far to find similar claims from Amsoil synthetic oil.
I have been to a number of fairs and expos, and there is usually someone selling some sort of super oil. They usually have some sort of test rig, where one can see for oneself how vastly superior the product is to any other oil. But I am left to wonder - if the product is so superior, why isn't it available from other sources? Why isn't it outselling all the other clearly inferior products? What isn't the salesman telling us?
There was a program on PBS some years ago explaining the scam behind the miracle oil additives. They showed one of the commercials where a sleeve bearing was placed on a machine that had a dulled, tool steel bit attached to a lever. The tool steel bit could be forced against the rotating bearing by a man pulling down the lever, similar to a lathe using a bit to cut metal.
First they poured motor oil on the rotating sleeve bearing, and engaged the bit against it. The bit began scoring the sleeve, with smoke dramatically coming off the bearing. Then they put another sleeve bearing on the machine, and poured the miracle additive on it. They repeated the demonstration, and this time, the bearing did not smoke and was barely scratched. This was supposed to be visual proof that this additive would also protect your engine in the same way. What the liars didn't tell you was that the miracle additive was concentrated with chlorinated parafins, which will eat away at metal surfaces with long time exposure. Machine shops use oils like this all the time for cutting purposes, but they clean the finished part when they are done. Letting this type oil sit in your engine sump allows it to eat away at some metals inside the engine.
Another class of miracle oil additves contain Teflon and or Molybdenum. They claim that the Teflon adheres to internal engine surfaces and thus make them slipperier. DuPont, the inventor of Teflon, went to court to try to stop these small companies from making that claim. DuPont said that getting Teflon to adhere to metal surfaces was very difficult, and required the metal surface to be absolutely clean, and then required exacting temperature processes to get it to adhere. They said under no circumstances would Teflon adhere to anything inside an engine. They also said they would be concerned that the Teflon would clog the oil filter, since it would adhere to nothing in the engine.
As for Molybdenum, the same thing applies and it has an even better chance of clogging an oil filter.
The conclusion was that the oil you buy in the store is a careful blend of many additives, created by multi-million dollar labs by engineers who have been doing this for almost a century. PBS said that oil has achieved state of the art development, meaning that there is no longer any mystery as to how to make it. They said as long as you buy their top of the line product, there is little difference from one major oil brand to the next, assuming you are comparing the same types to each other....meaning gasoline car engine oil to gasoline car engine oil, motorcycle oil to motorcycle oil, and diesel engine oil to diesel engine oil.
As for zero wear, when Mobil One was first offered years ago to the general public, a magazine called "Road Test" commissioned a lab to test it. They did this because the general public knew little about synthetic oil, even though the military and Aviation had been using it. Until Mobil one was marketed, you didn't even see synthetics on the shelves of major auto supply stores.
The lab took 2 new V8 engines and disassembled them, measuring the internal parts with a micrometer. The engines were reassembled, and one was filled with a top of the line conventional oil, and the other with Mobil One. Both were run for 100,000 bench test miles. The engine with the conventional oil had its oil and filter changed according to manufacturer's specs. The Mobil One engine had no oil or filter change. After 100 thou. bench miles, the engines were dismantled and the micrometer used again. The conventional oil engine showed wear and dirt normal for a 100 thou mile engine. The Mobil One engine parts measured within manufacturer's specs for a new engine, and showed very little dirt.
This is not to say that Mobil One is best. At the time of the test, there were few if any other synthetics offered for sale, and none in any of the major auto parts stores. Stores like WalMant were unheard of.
As PBS concluded, oil manufacture is now state of the art. Any top of the line synthetic should offer the same performance as did Mobil One.
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