Any truth to PFTE aditives like Slick 50?I seem to recall a commercial where they drained the oil out of a Slick 50 treated airplane engine and still flew it...obvious PFTE additives are not going to replace metal, but do they work? I a m somewhat skeptical

I remember reading an article once about this. Apparently teflon (ptfe) molecules expand rapidly when heated, so large they quickly get caught by the filter and in some cases plug it up! Dupont refused to sell the compound for this application for a few years since they didn't think it was a good idea either. RT

This is one of those tough questions... I know they were sued for making false claims...
But I also know that I used it for years on small engines ( no filters ) and was under the impression it was good stuff...One two cylinder Briggs in that bunch recieved more punishment than any other small engine I have ever seen and was still running great ( except for the carb ) when the rest of it pretty much rusted away ( I gave it away and the guy is using it to this day , he had the same machine but with good carb to slap on it )... that was ten years of mowing about 3 acres weekly 9 or 10 months out of the year...
When I looked at O'Reileys a while back ... all of the greases and lubricants were slick 50 with a mil spec number on them... maybe it works in that form...
I have never had an engine wear out which I was using it in... so at least it does not seem to harm them...

I have never been an additive kind of guy before but I have had an experience that has changed my mind. First let me say that I have over 25 years of mechanic experience on aircraft, automotive, and farm equipment (mostly diesels). Until recently I had a Jeep Cherokee 4.0L straight six with 210K mi with nothing done to the engine. It used only 1/4 quart between 5Kmi oil changes. The only problem that the car had was a valve lifter that made noise intermittently but with increasing regularity from about 180K mi. I tried different viscosity and brands of oil and used a sludge/varnish remover to no avail. I friend told me to use a product called prolong. I was very skeptical but I decided to give it a try. I added 12oz after an oil change and within 50mi the lifter cleared up and never gave any trouble again. I'm still very cautious about oit additives but I can't deny what happened in this case.
Bob

Hey, I think it might work great (ptfe) in a filter-less lubrication system or transmission/rear diff or suspended in grease. My main concern was it clogging filters..... RT

Years ago when I worked at an IH dealer, a salesman came in pitching Slick 50. Sounded good, but Owner said put your money where your mouth is.
They put this stuff in a NEW! 150HP tractor, ran it for 1 hour, drained the oil and ran it for over 2 hours with the drain plug laying on the floor.
Needless to say, we were impressed! But when owner wanted to hook it up to PTO dyno, that was as far as the salesman would go.
We pulled the pan and checked the lower end, couldn't tell it ever ran without oil.
I know that a no load situation is one thing, but 2 hours without oil! I'll use it in most of my vehicles.

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