My previous employer tried to introduce a PTFE treatment aimed at the heavy
truck industry (with no prior market research by the way ). We could not
give the stuff away.
It took me about two days to find out why. All of the major engine
manufacturers for those trucks give a warranty of between 600,000 and
800,000 miles. And so most truck lines run their trucks untill the warranty
expires and then trade them off. In every case, the warranty for the engine
clearly stated that it was void if anything other than a specified group of
oil viscosities and brands were used in the engine. At between $35,000 and
$50,000 per rebuild, that's not chump change. So the product died.
They also tried to pre-mix PTFE with a motor oil that had previously been
granted an API donut. When the treated oil was submitted to the API, it was
promptly tossed out on the grounds that it was now "adulterated". Didn't
sell any of that stuff either.
Expensive learning experience and bruised egos for the uppity ups.
Larry Steckel
>From: jac73@daimlerchrysler.com
>Reply-To: jac73@daimlerchrysler.com
>To: autox@autox.team.net
>Subject: Re: Oil (and PTFE)
>Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 14:03:01 -0400
>
>Late, because I was off-line for a bit while visiting the desert southwest
>and testing secret stuff...
>
>In short, Teflon/PTFE in oil additives and filters and the like is a
>complete waste of money. The very BEST you can hope for from such a thing
>is no effect. I've personally rebuilt (customer) engines that were "Slick
>50'd" into oblivion due to the PTFE gunk clogging up the filter, pickup
>screen, and an oil gallery or two. It doesn't stick to other things (low
>adhesion) but it does stick to itself quite well (high cohesion).
>
>Think about this: the people who sell this stuff will, in the same breath,
>tell you that PTFE is the slickest stuff around, but that it will
>*selectively* bond with certain bits inside your engine *but* *not*
>*others* if you just pour it in with its carrier oil. If you knew that
>PTFE-coated cookie sheets, for example, are coated by taking the stamped
>sheet, running it through a solvent bath to remove any oils, then putting
>it into a controlled atmosphere (usually argon) at an elevated temperature
>(350 or so degrees F) where the PTFE coating is sprayed on, you'd see that
>the PTFE engine additive marketers are grasping at some seriously thin
>logic straws here.
>
>In 1997, Petrolon, the marketers of Slick 50, were slapped by the Federal
>Trade Comission for deceptive ad practices -- they had no tests to back up
>their claims of 'most engine wear occurs at startup' and that Slick 50
>would reduce emissions, increase fuel economy, and reduce engine wear, and
>had to remove those claims from their packaging and advertising. They
>still have no tests to back any of those claims up. Nor does anyone else
>marketing a PTFE additive.
>
>Other oil/engine "treatments" aren't any better. DuraLube is chemically
>almost identical to 1920s-vintage Conoco "Germ Treated" Motor Oil. The
>various additives with moly disulfide as an active ingredient have their
>own problems. Moly disulfide is a great dry-film lube (Ford, BMW, and
>others are coating piston skirts with it now) which is present in small
>amounts in just about any API-certified oil. Working on the priciple that
>"if some is good, more is better", the moly additive makers put a BUNCH in
>there, which is usually enough to displace some of the other additives in
>the solution, so some of the anti-oxidants, anti-foaming agents,
>detergents, etc. fall out and aren't there to do their jobs.
>
>I could go on in much more detail on this (I've done a fair bit of research
>on the subject), but you get the basic idea.
>
>Jim Crider
>
>DCX doesn't approve an oil additive or "engine treatment", either.
>
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