Marvel Mystery Oil has been around since the 1930's, and its' use is fairly
standard among antique aircraft folks; this is something of an endorsement
when you consider that you can't just "pull over" when something goes wrong
in an aircraft engine!! MMO is not FAA approved, but is widely used just the
same. Most guys I know use it in the gas only, as an upper cylinder lube,
but it can be added to oil as well. I can't swear it's not mostly a
superstition, but the only ill effect I know of is the money I've spent.
I have recently begun using Rislone oil treatment in my car engines at oil
change time to free sticky lifters, etc., and it seems to work for a while,
but after a thousand miles or so tappet noises seem to return.
There's another oil additive product which has received FAA approval recently
(which reflects a substantial body of testing and documentation of its'
safety and efficacy). It was originally developed in the 1930's for
dirt-track cars, then having been called "SPEEDWAY COCKTAIL". This stuff is
supposed to have unusual penetrating qualities, getting into the metal and
then coming out again when the metal is dry to provide a slight bit of
lubrication, similar (though I suspect much less copiously) to the oil which
comes out of oilite bronze bearing material. This oil impregnation is also
supposed to prevent carbon and varnish from adhering to valves and guides,
etc. The latter sounds to my skeptical mind as the most likely benefit from
this stuff, although the FAA-supervised aircraft engine wear test results do
sound impressive. The aircraft-approved product is AVBLEND, and it carries a
relatively astronomical price, but the original automotive product, LENCKITE,
is available from most speed shops at around $10.00 per quart and presumably
is the same thing.
I don't know anyone else who's used this product, but I'm going to try
LENCKITE soon. Anyone else know about any of these products?
-Karl
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