always lots of talk of engine oil on this site. heres one i dont find.well i always put a can of STP to thicken up the oil in my hi-milage van.my vette has that milage now (100,000+) as i love to drive it.
i use synthentic oil when the change oil lite comes on.
my question. is it OK to put a can of STP in it with the synthetic oil?is it compatible or am i defeating the purpose of synthetic oil.
r/s frank
My gut is to agree with 6 Shooter and not mix. What exactly is STP made of anyhow. Their webiste FAQs doesn't mention the components. Maybe someone here knows what it's made of and will chime in.
What is magic about 100,000 miles. Only that it is a big round number. There are so many other factors (ie. cold starts, RPM vs. O/D, gear changes, type of driving) involved that mileage itself plays a small role in how much actual wear is internal to the engine.
Does the engine use excessive oil. Does the exhaust look like a mosquito treatment? If not, why use STP or any other oil thickener?
With today's metallurgy advancements and all the R&D by the oil companies, a well maintained engine, especially one which has had synthetic oil, should go well beyond 100K before seeing excessive wear IMHO.
Terry
always lots of talk of engine oil on this site. heres one i dont find.well i always put a can of STP to thicken up the oil in my hi-milage van.my vette has that milage now (100,000+) as i love to drive it.
i use synthentic oil when the change oil lite comes on.
my question. is it OK to put a can of STP in it with the synthetic oil?is it compatible or am i defeating the purpose of synthetic oil.
r/s frank
I agree w/others about STP, however, one product that a number of my car club acquaintences and other folks I am in contact with swear by is Lucas' Oil treatment. Lucas is made for both dino and synthetic oils. I use the Lucas dino in my old Mustang ('67, 289/88K) but mainly because the car isn't run often and the product keeps internal "things" lubed. The Lucas synthetic is brand new to the market. My Corvette is low miles (44K), but as it ages I will start using it.
About the 100K mark, yeap, it is just a number, so is 3K and every other reference made about time to an automobile. But 100K can be handled by us as being a waypoint in the life of an automobile as long as we consider there are other parameters to consider.
I have rebuilt a number of engines in which STP was used at each oil change. WHAT A MESS. slime all over the inside of the engine. Even had one that had the oil pickup tube nearly pluged with it. Only 1/4 in opening left.
I wouldn't put it in my worst piece of junk. :nono
Man, I started looking for information to back me up on that statement, but instead found myself getting deeper and deeper into the site where I intially started searching. I'm very easily distracted sometimes. :L
Anyhow, I never did find any corroborating evidence to back my inate feeling that the stuff isn't good for the engine. However, I will turn you on to one of my favorite information gathering sites for oils, lubricants, additives, cleaners, etc.: BOBISTHEOILGUY.
STP made a lot of claims, one of which was to keep the wear down on initial startup. GWinter hit the nail, as the sticky stuff likes to find a place to collect and goo-up.
The track mgr just put lucas oil in his rail , on the 3 pass bang went the engine 7.84 182 mph.
It took over 2 hours to clean up the track.
We checked the bearings no oil the clearence was 3 ths and not enough for the lucas to lubercate the bearings.
I use Justice Brothers Engine Tuneup every oil change on all my cars since 1967 and I have never blown a motor yet.OOps! forgot about the burnt piston in 1970 blown head gasket not an oil problem of course 1/4 mile nova with a small block.
Remember the oil has to be thin enough to get into a 1 1/2 to 2 ths oil clearence on a stock motor.
Back in the 60's and early 70's, I used to add STP to my high-mileage cars. The rationale was that it was thick and would stick to engine parts, especially on cold winter mornings. Did we buy it because the TV commercial showed a Sumo wrestler could not hold a screwdriver whose working end had been dipped into an STP can? Wow, what proof.
Later in the 70's, a report came out that it was a big mistake to add STP to any engine. Yes, it was thick, but as a result , it helped clog up the oil channels. It also contained none of the important qualities (corrosive inhibitors, etc.) that comes in any good grade oil. The report's conclusion was that STP actually shortened engine life. I do believe this happened to my vehicles.
My dad was a lubrication Engineer and did lots of tests on oil additives. The main ingredient in STP is PolyIsoButylene, and is good for lubricating gear boxes and slow moving stuff, and does reduce friction and wear. It binds to the molecules in conventional oil and provides a higher viscosity surface tension on the surfaces.
It is not good for high temperature applications like engines because the shear force is too low and essentially does nothing at high RPM's and will separate and form deposits.
My dad's advice was to use only good grades of oil that contained a high content of Pennsylvania crude oil, such as Quaker State or Pennzoil.
Pa. crude has a higher percentage of parafin which reduces friction and wear and does not burn off.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
4LT GS Roadster
.
