🚀 go-pugleaf

["I'm gonna mix it up right here in the sink."]

> PetroLon advertises SLICK 50, a polytetraflouroethylene (TPE) additive that
> *permanently* bonds to your engine, providing extra lubrication for longer
> life, better mileage and performance, and all that good stuff.
>
> "This slippery chemical" is purportedly certified by "Consumers Digest"
> magazine (who?), the Space Shuttle Columbia, the 1981 Guiness book of World
> Records (slipperiest substance known to man), and the F.A.A.  It's suspended
> in motor oil, so therefore doesn't violate warranties (I'm just citing the
> ad), and costs $44 for your once-in-a-lifetime application.
>
> Dan Scherlis

This magic glop (PTFE) is more often known as TEFLON (TM Dupont).  All the
claims listed are probably true for the generic substance, but you feed it
into you engine at you own risk.

While the Teflon particles may lodge in useful places and provide increased
lubrication when your oil pressure is not what it should be, like when starting
your engine, or when you neglect to put any in, it is also possible that the
particles may clog your oil filter or accumulate in internal passages and cause
more problems than they solve.

Much they same is true for Arco Graphite.  The people who designed the motors
in the first place designed for oil and take a dim view of the these products.

I have read in Aviation magazines that the FAA stance on these products is
that they are not proven to cause harm to certificated engines in tests of 150
hour duration.  The engine manufactureres do not recommend use of the products
and using them may be grounds for voiding the warranty.

I'm sure there are some applications where this sort of lubricant is ideal,
perhaps on the Columbia, but the products were probably carefully evaluated
for the task, and not just poured in by some technician.
--
George Robbins - now working with,      uucp: {ihnp4|seismo|caip}!cbm!grr
but no way officially representing      arpa: cbm!grr@seismo.css.GOV
Commodore, Engineering Department       fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)