# LUCAS oil stabilizer



## dieselwagen (Jun 7, 2008)

is this product "snake oil" or does it actually work?
anyone actually used this product care to share personal opinion.
good or bad, don't be ashamed


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## nukewolf (Jun 8, 2004)

*Re: LUCAS oil stabilizer (dieselwagen)*

dependes on what you are looking for. I used it on a 89 GLi with 232k miles and smoking and it helped the oil burning for the first 1.5k miles of use. It changes the viscosity (thicker oil) and I think it made my oil temps higher.


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## shipo (Jan 3, 2006)

*Re: LUCAS oil stabilizer (dieselwagen)*

I call snake oil.


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## chettync85 (Aug 3, 2008)

*Re: LUCAS oil stabilizer (shipo)*

I am new to the VW world, so I cant say for sure if Lucas is snake oil when dealing with VWs... but when I was a FORMER crown vic enthusiast, it did wonders for my 5.0L engine. 280,000 miles.... new owner says she runs great still. always add 1 bottle every oil change.
VW tho... i'm thinking she may help in certain cases, but what kind of cases... any input neone?


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## shipo (Jan 3, 2006)

*Re: LUCAS oil stabilizer (chettync85)*

Sorry, not buying. Assuming decent oil is used along with proper oil change intervals for the type of oil, 300,000 miles is a no brainer for pretty much any engine out there today. You're making it sound like if you hadn't used that stuff in your car you would have been in search of a new engine long ago, and that simply isn't the case.
Long story short, using Lucas Oil Stabilizer in a modern engine lubricated with modern engine oil won't yield even a single mile of extra engine life. As such, I maintain that Lucas Oil Stabilizer = Snake oil.


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## saaber2 (Jul 15, 2008)

*Re: LUCAS oil stabilizer (shipo)*


_Quote, originally posted by *shipo* »_...I maintain that Lucas Oil Stabilizer = Snake oil.

I agree, look at these photos of lucas oil stabilizer and see what you think:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/...s.htm


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## wright.784 (Dec 6, 2006)

*Re: LUCAS oil stabilizer (dieselwagen)*

I use Lucas oil in my motor oil for 1990 VW 1.6L Jetta diesel. I use Shell Rotella T 15W-40. I started using Lucas Oil because a relative of mine has been driving a large semi for almost 30 years, and he, like many in the trucking industry, swear by Lucas Oil. However, my truck driver relative has never backed up his claims with a bona fide oil analysis. And I think an oil analysis is the only sure fire way of knowing which oil or additive works best.
I have been using 1 cup of Lucas Oil in my motor oil. My 1.6 L Jetta takes 4 quarts of oil, maximum. Another drip and it will blow the valve cover gasket, ask me how I know. Anyways, I recently had my motor oil analyzed at Blackstone labs in Ft. Wayne, IN. (www.blackstone-labs.com - they will send you a plastic container and you mail your 2 oz. oil sample back to them and they analyze it with a spectrometer. They compare your oil, and the present metals in parts per million, compared to a universal averages column of motor oil from your type of engine.) 
Judging by the parts per million of metal present in my motor oil, my motor oil with 1 cup of Lucas Oil, was wearing pretty well. My oil had 7,500 miles on it and their universal averages column was oil with 4,000 miles on it. The 1 cup of Lucas Oil did make my motor oil comparable to a 50 weight oil according to 2 different viscosity tests.
I have put 2 cups of Lucas Oil in my current oil in my car. I'll send it in for an oil analysis when I have 7500 miles on it and see it the extra viscosity and weight of Lucas Oil is better than 1 cup / gallon of motor oil or will see if it makes the engine wear faster. Then I'll try plain 15w-40 Shell motor oil after that and compare all 3 oil analyses to see which concoction gives me engine the least amount of wear.
I'll try to remember to post my future oil analysis results on this thread when I receive the results in the coming months/years.
Some things I did learn: Sodium is an additive of your engine coolant and should not be present in large amounts in your motor oil, obviously. I say this b/c I had my wife's Toyota Corolla Amsoil synthetic 0w-30 oil analyzed and it had 59 ppm when 13 ppm are acceptable. So, I'm wondering if a the 0 weight is too light b/c the owner's manual says 5w-30 oil is supposed to be run in that car.
- molybdenum, silicon, and I think boron are additives to oil and oil additives like Lucas Oil. I'm guessing you don't need to worry about those elements as much as lead,tin,nickel,aluminum,chromium & copper, which are the metals that your engine is made. 
- MOST INTERESTING **** - I emailed Blackstone asking if I should switch to synthetic oil b/c I want my engine to last as long as possible. A Ms. Kristina Huff said she DOES NOT advise switching to synthetic oil, NO MATTER HOW MANY MILES ARE ON A DIESEL ENGINE. She said that she OFTEN sees results of diesel engines using synthetic oil that have unacceptable amounts of metal in the oil, meaning diesel engines are not wearing well with synthetic oil. That was quite a shock to me b/c my truck driver relative is oh so proud to use synthetic oil. I use synthetic gl-4 RedLine in my transmission and it shifts very smoothly ever since I drained the original tranny fluid, which came out like muddy water. Not changing tranny fluid, for my type of car anyways, is another bogus no-no/myth. My tranny made a loud slap sound every time I put it into reverse. I changed it to synthetic RedLine and no sounds since.

_Modified by wright.784 at 6:22 PM 8-16-2008_
Email me if you want me to email you my oil analysis results so you can see for yourself what it looks like.


_Modified by wright.784 at 6:29 PM 8-16-2008_


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## wright.784 (Dec 6, 2006)

*Re: LUCAS oil stabilizer (saaber2)*

However, BobIsTheOilGuy did not say in what ratio he mixed the Lucas Oil with motor oil. His pics looks like he made a high ratio of Lucas to motor oil, judging by the color of the oil. The Lucas bottle says the highest % for motor oil to use is 20%, use more at your own discretion if your engine is about to explode and is blowing smoke darker than a witches heart.


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## shipo (Jan 3, 2006)

*Re: LUCAS oil stabilizer (wright.784)*

Oh geez, where to start,
1) I've talked with plenty of long haul truckers and most use additive free oil designed and marketed expressly for diesel engines, that and they typically get a million miles or more out of their engines. Just because you know someone who uses Lucas and hasn't had a problem with it, doesn't even remotely mean that the additive has done anything positive for the engine.
2) "...another drip and it will blow the valve cover gasket..." Sorry, even if you used 100% of that stuff in your engine, it will not "blow the valve cover gasket". FWIW, valve cover gaskets are typically subject to extremely low pressures due to the operation of the PCV system, and if you blew a gasket due to pressure, you have a problem far larger than contaminating your oil with additives.
3) Just because your engine is "wearing pretty well" with Lucas in no way means that it wouldn't be wearing just as well (or better) without Lucas.
4) If you want to run a xW-50 oil in your engine, why don't you just buy an xW-50 oil and use that, it's probably far cheaper and will probably yield superior results.
5) Comparing three different oil analysis reports from three different witch brews in your crank case will not present you with any meaningful information. The fact is that even if you used the exact same oil three times in a row and sent each of them out for analysis; it's a virtual certainty that you'd get back three rather different result sets.
6) Changing your oil will have zero effect on a coolant leak. If your UOAs are coming back with Sodium in the oil, you have a coolant leak plain and simple.
7) Saying that 0W-30 is too light because of the "0" component in the grade specification is incorrect. The fact is that all xW-30 oils test out to a 100C viscosity in the 30 range regardless of what the first number is. The only difference is that the lower the first number, the quicker oil starts circulating through your engine following a cold start, especially when it's "cold" outside. Said another way, even 0W-30 is still WAAAAY too thick following a cold start to allow for high power operations.
8) Your quote from Blackstone regarding switching to synthetic is bizarre at best. The fact is that some of the absolute best diesel oils are synthetic, that said, just because an oil is synthetic, that doesn't mean it should be used in a diesel engine.


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## saaber2 (Jul 15, 2008)

*Re: LUCAS oil stabilizer (wright.784)*

The only thing I can add to what shipo said is that blackstone comments are pretty much discredited and disregarded by the knowledgable folks on the Bob is the oil guy forum. It doesn't mean their testing is bad (I use them for analysis), it is just that their comments are pretty off the wall many times and aren't trusted by most people who are knowledgable about oil.


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## wright.784 (Dec 6, 2006)

*Re: LUCAS oil stabilizer (shipo)*

Well...looks like I have a lot to learn about oil.
"The fact is that some of the absolute best diesel oils are synthetic,"
- Which brands do you think are the best synthetics? regular petroleum brands?

"5) Comparing three different oil analysis reports from three different witch brews in your crank case will not present you with any meaningful information. The fact is that even if you used the exact same oil three times in a row and sent each of them out for analysis; it's a virtual certainty that you'd get back three rather different result sets."
- Should I expect large fluctuations in several test results with the same oil?
"3) Just because your engine is "wearing pretty well" with Lucas in no way means that it wouldn't be wearing just as well (or better) without Lucas."
- Very true, I will only be able to tell with a future oil analysis using just petro oil with no additives.
"1) I've talked with plenty of long haul truckers and most use additive free oil designed and marketed expressly for diesel engines, that and they typically get a million miles or more out of their engines. Just because you know someone who uses Lucas and hasn't had a problem with it, doesn't even remotely mean that the additive has done anything positive for the engine"
- Good point. I am humbled.
Do you think Lucas Oil helps prevent cold start wear?


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## shipo (Jan 3, 2006)

*Re: LUCAS oil stabilizer (wright.784)*


_Quote, originally posted by *wright.784* »_Which brands do you think are the best synthetics? regular petroleum brands?

A lot depends upon the engine itself. For instance, the older VW TDIs have a different oil requirement than the PD version of the TDI, and the oil specs for those two engines are _very_ different than say the Cummins turbo-diesel in a Dodge pickup truck.

_Quote, originally posted by *wright.784* »_Should I expect large fluctuations in several test results with the same oil?

Yes, large fluctuations can be seen from test to test, even if the oil remained the same. Why? Many reasons including (but not limited to), the number of cold starts, the amount of idling either in traffic or just waiting around, the average speed, the temperature and humidity of the outside air, the number of full throttle acceleration events.

_Quote, originally posted by *wright.784* »_Do you think Lucas Oil helps prevent cold start wear?

As I understand it (and as you've suggested it), the Lucas additive increases oil viscosity, and that's a _bad_ thing for cold starts.


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## chettync85 (Aug 3, 2008)

*Re: LUCAS oil stabilizer (shipo)*


_Quote, originally posted by *shipo* »_Sorry, not buying. Assuming decent oil is used along with proper oil change intervals for the type of oil, 300,000 miles is a no brainer for pretty much any engine out there today. You're making it sound like if you hadn't used that stuff in your car you would have been in search of a new engine long ago, and that simply isn't the case.
Long story short, using Lucas Oil Stabilizer in a modern engine lubricated with modern engine oil won't yield even a single mile of extra engine life. As such, I maintain that Lucas Oil Stabilizer = Snake oil.


sorry i didnt mention i was 16 when i first got that crownvic and it was a nonrunner.... and i blew the head gasket by the time i was 17 on a trip from NC to NY.... i suppose that would be good info no? but yeah, that was like a tank, not a very subtle intriquite engine. the stuff poured out like honey more than oild


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## chettync85 (Aug 3, 2008)

and that the topic was dead.... 
i'll learn i promise!


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