What is the consensus on the use of teflon/PTFE oil additives in 5 cyl. turbosiesel engines? Will they cause any harm to the motor or plug the filter?

I believe Dupont the maker of teflon originally refused to sell the raw material to the additive makers as they believed it to not be beneficial in any way in that application. The additive makers only and miniscule amounts of teflon to the product. Teflon particles increase in size dramatically when heated, which makes them just get caught by the filter. I wouldn't do it, it's a waste of time/money. RT

Teflonized oil is great stuff in other applications (instruments, clocks, cameras), but there are two drawbacks:

It's expensive -- hard to make in the first place, and must be VERY finely dispersed. I heard it costs about $2 per quart to add enough to actually do anything, and since most people won't even pay for synthetic, adding that much to the price of a quart of oil results in no sales, however good it may be.

It stays in the oil, and must be added each oil change.

I've heard mixed reports of effectiveness -- theoretically it should reduce friction and increase oil film stability, but I've not seen any scientific evidence of either, so have no opinion there. Synthetic is known to be better than dino oil, so that is what I use in everything.

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

Do a search for PTFE and you'll find a bunch of posts! In general, Ptfe won't bind to the metal at the "low" temperatures of your engine, therefore, of no use. It might clump and narrow some passageways. The Federal Trade Commission successfully required them the change their ads. Your search will find many opinions and nearly all are negative. LOL, Roger

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Roger
1983 300CD 246k sold
1998 C230 52k
1980 450SL 75k needs AC
1999 Subaru Outback Ltd 43k

There is a new scam very minute these days -- something about "the great communicator's" administration/congress that didn't like truth in advertizing law --- my brother and I howl at the ads on TV where they "drain the oil" on a running engine and the one with whatever mystery oil or additive runs and runs and runs while the one with normal motor oil overheats and stops. Pure garbage, but completely legal.

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!