Product Review: Slick 50 Engine Additive And Transmission Additive
84Before Slick 50
Back in the day, circa 1967, Slick 50 had yet to hit the market in the field of engine oil and automatic transmission fluid additives. The only thing around and well enough known to be much discussed was STP, and STP has a lot of enemies. Stir a coffee break among auto mechanics and you'd find an STP hater or three. Clogs up the engines, they'd say, and that was the complimentary version.
Having been raised on a ranch where you learn to handle your own automotive maintenance from financial necessity, followed by two years of majoring in Auto Mechanics at Northern Montana College (since renamed Montana State University, Northern)...hey, I'd heard it all. Still, when my 1960 Chevrolet Biscayne sedan began burning oil at the rate of a quart every 400 miles, I had to do something. Clearly, either the used car salesman who'd sold me the vehicle had lied, impossible as that might be to believe, or the engine rebuild supposedly done a few months earlier had been botched.
Facing nothing but ugly options, I tried adding STP to the engine oil. Lo and behold, the engine quit burning oil, or nearly so. By the time the Chevy was down a quart, 2,000 miles had come and gone and it was time for an oil change, anyway. (Back then 2,000 miles was the recommended oil change interval, not 3,000.)
That experience left me open to the idea of engine additives in general. Decades passed without the use of any such thing after the Chevy was traded in some 56,000 miles later (and still burning no more oil than one quart for every 2,000 miles). Even so, when our 1991 Mercury Cougar began dangerously overheating on mountain passes in Montana in 1997, I was ready to listen to my wife. Pam had a deep and abiding belief in the benefits of Slick 50, that particular additive and that one only. Her ex-husband had for many years worked as a highly skilled technician specializing in imported engines. One day when a Slick 50 demonstration was in progress using a running engine with transparent block walls, she'd had the opportunity to join her (ex) husband at the shop to view the demo. She'd been mightily impressed.
I had a bottle of Slick 50 engine oil additive included in an oil change for the Cougar in Missoula. Thankfully, the Coug came with a full set of gauges, which meant we could monitor coolant temperature from moment to moment. After roughly 150 miles of travel following the oil change, the temperature suddenly dropped swiftly from "almost too hot to keep going" to "midrange normal running temperature". That car was eventually repossessed, but not until a lot of ground had been covered. The car never threatened to overheat again. I was convinced.
The Starting Point
The Newer Additive
If It Had An Engine, An Additive Helped
There Are Plenty Who Disagree
There are hundreds if not thousands of folks out there who rant against any and all automotive additives with vigor and venom. They all seem to have just one key point: Additives are BAD-BAD-AND-MORE-BAD. To underscore that point, no matter which product they're slamming, quite a few of them state as gospel that nobody has ever come forth to tout the benefits of Product X who didn't have financial gain in mind.
Oh? I'll admit I have avoiding financial loss firmly in my thoughts, but gain? I buy the stuff, which costs money. Nobody is paying me big endorsement cash as if I were a sports celebrity or even ten bucks up front to write this article.
I'm the first to admit my personal experience is anecdotal, not a controlled scientific experiment. But Pam and I couldn't care less who writes nasty stuff about a product we treasure. What we care about is surviving in a tough economy, and Slick 50 helps to do that every day. Sure, it costs. Because of that, a bottle of transmission additive I'd purchased at Wal-Mart (which usually has the best prices for such) was still riding around in our Subaru when we started driving out of Colorado toward Utah and then Arizona.
The stuff wasn't meant for the Outback but for the 1996 GMC pickup with over 160,000 miles on it. We were less than a hundred miles from our starting point when that vehicle's tranny had to have help. It was losing transmission fluid rapidly and had already lost second gear. We still had more than 700 miles to go. Oh, did I mention that the truck also had to tow our cargo trailer filled to the gills with "stuff"?
Finally adding the Slick 50 to the truck's automatic transmission allowed it to make it the rest of the way. That truck needed help and still does. We don't have the money to have the thing rebuilt, and yes, it still leaks. But the leak slowed enough to get all the way to our Arizona property without breaking down and without having to add anything further. Now it's out front, sitting there, staining the bunchgrass with transmission fluid and occcasionally hauling our larger generator 1/4 mile over to the well to pump a batch of water. But it's here, and without Slick 50, it wouldn't have been. It would have broken down along the road somewhere, towed by a wrecker to some repair shop's storage yard, and likely have ended up being confiscated by the towing company as nothing but salvage.
Dang. This reads like a low budget infomercial! It's not, believe me. No, I do not have stock in the company!! Don't take my word for it--if you do try the product in your own engine or "whatever", draw your own conclusions.
The Generator Story
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Think Outside The Box
We live off grid in an area permeated with horrendous desert heat. Our only electrical power comes from a pair of portable generators. The larger unit gets fired up only for appliances that draw a lot of wattage such as the coffee maker, microwave, and deep well water pump. The rest of the time--as much as 16 hours per day--we use one of the smallest generators on the market: A Yamaha inverter model that weighs only 27 pounds and has an automatic idle feature which drops the rpm's down when they're not needed. Matter of fact, that unit is powering this computer as I write, not to mention our 20 inch TV.
These generators are not made to be used the way we use them. We've loved these little Yamahas ever since using a somewhat similar model (though not an inverter type) for three full years while living off grid in Montana (1999-2002). Thing is, with less than three months of use we've already far exceeded its expected lifetime as claimed by Yahama. A label right on the machine says it's good for up to 300 hours. Folks, we run it roughly 420 hours in a single month. And yes, we expect it to last for at least two and possibly three years of use.
No, we did not use Slick 50 in the Montana generator. The additive is not cheap. We quite frankly never thought to use it, not even once, despite using it in our motor vehicles nonstop. Within three weeks of opening the box from the manufacturer on this one, however, we could see--actually, we could hear--that our baby would be soon dead if it didn't get help. It's the heat, y' see. Hardcore. The little beastie was already sounding "tinny". We figured running long hours in high ambient heat had to be causing the damage.
So we threw the warranty in the trash and changed out the oil. Instead of sticking with the recommended 30 weight, the new mix consisted of half 40 weight (Pennzoil) and half Slick 50. From that time forward, the Yamaha has purred away happily from startup to shutdown, which often means from around 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. or even later.
Which brings this Review to the REVIEW SUMMARY BASED ON PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:
1. Adding the product to an overheating engine (which was NOT having coolant problems) reduced the coolant operating temperature to "normal".
2. Adding the product to engines in seven distinct and separate motor vehicles has never resulted in an engine problem that traced to the additive.
3. Adding the product to a 50cc Yamaha engine saved the engine from seizing up in desert heat without question despite going against Yamaha recommendations to use 30 weight motor oil only.
4. Altlhough our personal experience has been overwhelmingly favorable, there are innumerable critics of the product whose writings are available online. To help you make up your own mind, a few of these negative reports are included in the Links Capsule below.
Thanks for reading,
Ghost32
Some Writers Who Hate Slick 50
- Ethos additive? - GreenHybrid - Hybrid Cars
Anyone use this stuff, or just another scam? http://www.savegastoday.net/ - Writer states the Teflon in Slick 50 Will Clog Oil Filter.
Forum discussion which is the best oil to use. - Question on best oil to use.
Answer including statement that all additives are scams. - Slick 50 - Harley Davidson Community
has anyone ever used slick 50 or motorcoat in there bike? has it helped, hurt, or just do nothing?
CommentsLoading...
Harper, thanks for the comment. We do have an update on the little Yamaha generator: It choked down and died on us about a month after writing this Hub. Figured for a long time that my mismanagement had simply abused the thing. Or maybe a touch TOO MUCH Slick 50?
Ummm..turned out it was neither. We're using a slightly larger but otherwise identical version now, and it tried dying on us after less than 2 months. But the symptoms were identical between the two generators, and that made us extremely suspicious.
Discovery? Simple, actually. There's a fine-mesh wire screen cone inside the muffler. Designed as a spark arrestor. Functions as a quick-carbonizing exhaust clogger. Ripped the thing out with a snagged drill bit and a pair of needle nosed pliers...and the generator's run like a champ ever since.
Sounds a lot happier, too.
Anyway, the point is: Additives are one thing...a "potato up the exhaust" quite another.
I had a similar experience with slick 50.
I used to tow a 17 foot runabout boat with a '84 Mustang. I know it was a stupid thing to do but I was young and low on options. The problem was that the Mustang (5.0) would always overheat going uphill in the foothills. I decided to try slick 50 and it totally eliminated the overheating.
Thanks for the comment, Dave. It's not really a Slick 50 story, but I do have one slick ROAD story involving towing a boat of similar size. Not with a Mustang, but with a Mazda Navajo (Ford Explorer clone). Blew a tire on the 2 wheel boat trailer in a slushy-icy road in Wyoming, put the Explorer in the ditch, flipped the boat & trailer upside down. My luck was in: Trailer came off the ball hitch, didn't roll the Mazda, and the safety chains held.
Totaled the Bayliner, though.
Slick 50 is snake oil and does nothing to improve the function of an engine. In fact, most of the "mechanic in a can" products you can buy at BigBox-Mart are garbage. Go to a reputable site like bobistheoilguy.com, and read discussions about products like this that have been chemically analyzed and proven to be garbage. This reads like an effin Slick 50 advertisement.
Sorry, not trying to flame you here, but you may as well have dumped a quart of straight 90 weight into the engine to the same effect.
Jake, you have every right to your own opinion, and I'm not that easy to flame. Especially not with a "deny the comment" button ready to hand.
But you're dead wrong about Slick 50. This IS a Slick 50 TESTIMONIAL, if you will--but hardly an AD, since I have no fiduciary relationship whatsoever with the company in question. As to reading material by bobistheoilguy or whoeverfeltliketyping, why would I give somebody's written opinion more weight than my own real world experience? Now, THAT...that WOULD make me an idiot!
Bottom line: I wouldn't care if it WAS snake oil...or road gravel...or seaweed. If it did what it has in pure dee fact done for my engines in various hardcore situations, I'd use it. Lab writeups are one thing, Life Itself quite another.
A very informative hub, really. Keep writing.
Thanks, Aaron. As for the writing part, I'm not sure I could stop if I wanted to.
Excellently written article, very concise and to the point. I would never make the claim (which I know that you aren't either) that additives are a cure-all or a better option than actually fixing the problem. However, I have seen additives do unbelievable things in dyer situations and when you're in a pinch, it's a relatively cheap gamble to dump one in and see what happens. If it's $10-20 in additive versus a $2000 or more repair bill to rebuild or replace and engine or transmission, it's a pretty cheap gamble in my book. Particularly if you aren't planning on sinking that kind of money into the vehicle in question. In any case, I agree with you 100% that lab tests are all fine and dandy, but real world experience speaks for itself.
The Gearhead, I couldn't have said it better myself.
Footnote: The 1996 GMC pickup did finally get its transmission rebuilt--our financial situation suddenly improved, and in February of 2010 (the drive to Colorado took place in April of 2009), we had a local transmission shop do the work. After this hub was initially written, the truck had run to Sierra Vista (50 miles or more round trip) on a number of errands and never did quit on us--although by the time we got it to the shop, the brakes needed help, too.
No, we did NOT use any Slick 50 on the brakes!
I bought a car 3 months ago and it started giving me transmission problems and after reading this article and your experience plus having a friend recommend it, I decided to try it but unfortunately for me it didn't work for me nor did it really help. what sucks is that the car has less than 88000 miles on it and the extended warranty on the transmisson already expired! Well, I was really hoping it would work until I found a job but I guess that's my misfortune for purchasing this car from a private dealer. Lesson learned and I hope others have a better experience with the product than I did!
Kerry, I'm sorry to hear about your car's transmission problems. It does sound like your bad experience wasn't really with Slick 50, though--but with a problem vehicle. Slick 50 can extend the life of either a transmission or an engine when parts start wearing out from normal wear and tear, but when a transmission gives up the ghost at 88,000 miles, something else is going on. A few possibilities:
1. The car might have more mileage than shown by the odometer. Phony mileage readings are trickier to produce than when I was starting out in the 1950s, for sure, but such frauds do still occur.
2. Most of the time, a transmission that fails in that mileage range (assuming the 88,000 miles is accurate) has been seriously abused by an incompetent--or at least uncaring--driver. If it was defective when it left the factory, it usually fails early on. If it has been driven with skill and maintained properly, it usually hangs in there for quite a few more miles.
Slick 50 is definitely a remarkable product, but it can't check the transmission fluid level for you or teach driving skills to human beings.
knowledge and knowledge
Every little bit helps! :)
Irina, your comment was deleted due to its directly commercial nature with a link to the home page for the product's sales website. As it states below, "Comments are not for promoting...other sites."
If you would like to redo the comment by stating what you know to be good about the product in question but NOT including the link, I'd probably approve it. You'd need to include specifics, however--not simply "very good result".
I purchased a used 1994 Siverado in December, 1995 with 39,000 miles. I used it for work in Houston, Texas until it had 85,000. I then went on the road for work and started using Slick 50 every third or fourth oil change. Right now I am at 500,644.7 miles. I've never touched the engine for ANY kind of repair!!! Will I continue to use it? Hell yea!!! 10 years of no truck payment.........awesome! Still looks good and everything still works.......except maybe the driver!
Thanks for the comment, duzzen. You give me great hopes for our 1996 GMC Sierra. After all, it's still a spring chicken--just a bit over 160,000 miles.
Know what you mean about the driver, though....
Glad I'm not in the boat alone!!!!!!
Additives have worked for me. I only use them when the vehicle is in dire straits and repairs are too costly. I have a 95 Dodge Dakota with over 190,000 miles on it, and a transmission shouldn't be working at all. When it started having problems, it took forever to get out of first gear into drive, and then wouldn't go into higher gears at highway speeds. I put in Lucas transmission additive, and it works fine for a few weeks or so, until it needs another quart of additive. It has a leak, so the additive doesn't overfill the case. I can't afford $2000 for a new transmission, but at $11 a bottle, the additive won't cost me near as much even if I use it for years.
Thanks for the comment, chrondoodle. "User tales" providing examples like these are, in my opinion, of much greater worth than any direct company information--be the additive Slick 50, Lucas, or something else.
trans.auto, I denied/deleted your two (duplicate) comments because of their overtly promotional nature. As you can see from the guidelines listed below, "Comments are not for promoting your hubs or other sites".
Ghost32, I've read your comments and it's some good stuff. I have a 2000 Impala with 155K on it. It's been a good car and I have toyed with getting some Slick 50 for the transmission. My question to you or anyone who can answer this is would I have to have the tranny flushed and refilled first, then add Slick 50 or can I add it at anytime? Thanks!
Teacher, you can do it either way. If you can afford the flush, that would be the best route to take for sure. But if the tranny's about to fall on the ground and $20 is all you've got to work with, adding the Slick 50 without the flush is definitely better than nothing. Our truck's failing tranny never would have made it from CO to AZ in '09 without the Slick 50, and a flush might have stopped it cold on the spot.
Ghost32,
I've been using Slick 50 since I discovered it back in the early 70's in every vehicle I've owned. It was at a demonstration similar to the one your wife experienced. I've never had an oil related failure in any car or truck that I've used it in, and there have been many cars and trucks. I can't say it's because of the Slick 50, but I have to think it helped.
There were instances that I know it had to be doing something when on two different occasions in two different cars, my oil level dropped so low that the lifters started clicking. It took 4 qts of oil to get it to show up on the dipstick. Neither car overheated or displayed any other running problem. One went on to 175,000 miles before I sold it and the other I still have with 203,000 miles. It doesn't smoke or burn any oil and runs like the day I bought it. By the way, it had 88,000 miles on it then.
I've read the comments from the "experts" that say it clogs oil passages and such, but if it does, it hasn't caused me any problems.
I'll continue to use it until something bad happens, but someone will have to prove to me that Slick 50 was the cause.
Thanks, ellro. Your experience sounds right in line with what we've seen Slick 50 do.
Right now, I'm adding a small amount of Slick 50 with every oil change in our small Yamaha generator--which happens to be (for at least another 6 to 8 months) our primary source of home electricity. We haven't usually done that for these small engines, but I accidentally abused the dickens out of this one--TWICE. That is, forgot to switch one heavy duty extension cord over to the bigger generator when we ran a load of clothes in the washing machine.
Which WAY overloaded the little gennie. My strong suspicion is that it came close to blowing the rings completely. And ever since, the oil consumption has been more than twice what it was before.
So far, the Slick 50 hasn't reversed that--helped a little, but not all that much. HOWEVER, the engine sounds like it's running just fine, so we'll see.
If it hangs in there without breaking down until our finances improve enough to do something about it (June 2011, we hope), that will definitely count as another Slick 50 miracle.
I just had head gaskets replaced on my 1999 deville N* by a shop after 4 trys with the engine removed. Have lifter noise and thinking of slick50 next oil change. The noise doesn't bother me but I like to have a good running old car. Read about MMO & Sea Foam that others used & that stuff seemed to work for others. I am a S50 backer for all the other old cars I used it in to extend their life & run better.
1978 Caprice 302 with 180k started running bad, much better with S50, lasted till I retired at 225k & sold it to a fellow worker.
I know S50 sells tranny treatment but that is not the same as engine treatment with ptfe.
We've used both (engine and tranny) Slick 50 products with good results. Without the tranny version, it's doubtful our 1996 GMC pickup would have made it the 800 miles from Parachute, Colorado to Palominas, Arizona, in one piece.
The transmission has since been rebuilt, but during that entire move, 2nd gear (auto tranny) was gone. By the time it got help, there were metal filings in the fluid.
i have a 97 ford taurus with 192,000 and has the stock AX4N transmission.. when it shifts from 1st to 2nd (under hard acceleration) it SLAMS! it literally throws your head back, and a 150 hp isnt supposed to do that. and reverse "works", but takes a second and feels weak. i changed the transmission fluid 6 months ago and it helped, but im looking to make that 1st to 2nd shift SMOOOOOTH like my brother's 2003 taurus with 113k. will slick 50 make a hard shift, smooth again like my brother's 03?
Sounds like that transmission has some pretty serious issues. Slick 50 might not be able to help...but it certainly won't hurt, and it's a cheap "fix" to try, for sure.
well yeah, taurus' are known for having bad transmissions to begin with.. but thanks, i'll probably try it just to see.
Good luck.
I have a 1992 Chevy pick with a V6 with stck 5 speed tranny. Bought damaged and redone it like new. Had 24,000 and now it has 520,000 miles. Neither motor or tranny has beem touched in fact tranny oil has nver been changed. I have used slick 50 in engine and tranny. I can go 6 to 7,000 before it's a quart low and thats when I change the oil and filter plus add Slick 50 every otherf oil change I use Slick 50 grease on all front end parts and they are all still orginal as well as wheels and rear end. Don'' let those ass holes other, If you check them out they have an axe to grind. I'm going to drive it to find out how long it will last. At the this time as good as when I bought it I also have a 1979 Thunderbrid with every thing orginal with 120,000 miles.
Ghost32,
In 1992 I was driving a one ton custom built 1983 Ford pickup with a 460 cubic inch engine, towing a 40 foot fifth wheel travel trailer from Texas to Iowa. I always checked my oil every morning before leaving the overnight campground. The truck had a problem with the oil pressure gauge which worked sporadically. We had left that morning from a camp at U S 65 and I 70 in MO. and had gone maybe seventy five miles when the gauge quit working all together. I stopped at a Ford garage, but they couldn't get to me for three days, so knowing I had oil I continued to a park just north of Des Moines Iowa another 129 miles, dropped the trailer and drove back into Des Moines to an all night Ford truck shop where I had to wait about an hour for the service man to get to me and he told me I had no oil in the engine, I knew this couldn't be because this engine used no oil between changes. Well he put it up on the rack and lo and behold the filter had a big hole in it and I had no oil, probably from the time the oil gauge quit in MO. Yes this engine had Slick 50 and had one quart added every other oil change since I owned the vehicle. My total weight with the trailer was 23600 pounds and I had driven close to 150 miles by the time I got to the shop with no oil in the engine. I put a new filter on added another quart of slick 50 with the oil change and put another 100,000 miles on that 1983 ford 460 engine even towing for hire, until my driver put it in the ditch and wrapped it around a light pole in El Paso TX. to keep from hitting a V W with a bunch of little kids in the back seat that pulled in front of her and then almost came to a stop
I have never and will never be without Slick 50 in any engine that I own or take care of and drive.
I realize that this is an extreme case, But I will testify to it's truth in any court in the land
Brandyboy,that's one helluva testimonial--and I have no trouble at all believing every word of it. Thanks for commenting.
Big Ed, I'd never thought to use the Slick 50 grease. Gonna have to check into that--thanks.
Big Ed
With that same truck mentioned above your comment,I repacked the front wheels with slick 50 grease. As I do my own work some times it takes a day or two to complete a job. So I repacked the right front wheel bearing and didn't get to the left one for about a week. in that week I started noticing that it kept pulling to the left and thought I had a real problem, then when I repacked the left wheel bearing everything evened out, no more pulling to the left. Slick 50 grease works
Now, THAT'S a TESTIMONIAL! Thanks for commenting!
for bikes an gennys slik 50 does for sure improve life power an economy. on my bigger engines it is not so noticable but i am convinced. the cost of fuel here in uk helps my conviction.. a 5% improvement puts over a hundred pounds a year back in the tank. i find oversize fuel filters help too for the larger diesel engine; the fuel price is so high it really helps to replace oil and filters as often as you can afford it cause it makes for free oil changes once you cost the efficiency savings. have used slik 50 since 85 not lost a lump with t in yet.
Thanks for commenting, Pete. I've never actually measured fuel usage improvements when using Slick 50 but have zero doubt they exist.
Come to think of it, our small generator does seem to be running longer between tank fills than it did before I started using the product.
I too have read many comments stating "no way any additive (oil, transmission, fuel, etc.) can ever help anything, and most of them cause damage too." I suspect some of these comments come from some real world experiences, but too broadly applied. What accounts for the differences in people's experiences with additives, is obviously variable conditions, different engines and transmissions, etc--in other words, flat statements like "all additives are good" or "all additives are bad", whether based on experience or lab tests or both, is pretty unscientific. It's likely that some of the problems some people have had, after using additives, was due to some other problem, but either looked like or was just attributed to the additive.
My experience with additives is limited, but I've had positive results so far. I have a 1994 Ford Taurus with a 3.8 engine and an AX4S automatic transmission, both with about 147,000 miles. Since 2007, the transmission has been clunking (sometimes very hard) when I shift from Neutral to Overdrive, and about a year ago, it also began clunking when I pull away from a stop. Both clunks were greatly reduced, but not eliminated, by changing the transmission fluid with a good synthetic (Mobil 1, I believe). What finally eliminated the remaining clunking, for about a year, was adding a bottle of Lubegard red to the new transmission fluid. The clunking has returned lately, but instead of pouring in another bottle of Lubegard yet, I found a bottle of Slick 50 transmission treatment in my Dad's garage (it must have been there for a while, since my Dad passed away five years ago), and since I've always been curious about its effectiveness, I'm trying that instead, for now at least. So far, it's reduced the clunking a little, but I'm going to give it about a month or two, since it took a couple months for the Lubegard to eliminate the earlier clunking. I know the best solution is to get the transmission fixed, but I can't afford the $900 that would cost.
I do have concerns about putting additives containing certain substances, like Teflon (PTFE) into the gas and the oil, since there are so many real-world experiences reported in which it clogged up filters and caused other problems. I don't know what accounts for other people's experiences in which it didn't, or didn't seem to, but a more scientific examination of the variables would be required to answer that question.
Thanks for commenting, John. Any time you can postpone expensive repairs for a year (or more), it's a good thing--in ANY economy!
I've not ever done much in the way with gasoline additives, but your thoughts on the topic make sense to me.
Hi again, I never used any additives other than Moyslip. That's the same type of lube they put on camshafts and gears to break em in and it works for me.Three years ago my engine ceased up in my boat that I had just bought. This turned out to be an LT-1 350 Chev Corvette engine so I gave it the works. Edlebrock Aluminum heads,Forged pistons,Comp Cams Extreme Marine Cam and lifters etc. Got it all done by a machine shop here and before firing it up we painted most metal to metal surfaces with molylube $12.00 /can . Ran it for about 1 hour and put it in the boat the next day. I also changed the oil 4 times that day ( cheap oil )then I put it in the chuck .I opened up the filters to see what if anything was in them and the first was dirty but the forth was real kleen. I then changed the oil to Poly-alpha-olephen ,more commonly known as Real Pure Synthetic lubricant..and 1 can of Molyslip and never changed it since and only the filter once a year and top the oil up.. It runs at 5500 RPM all day! I put it in every car we own also my pressure sprayer,generator and lawnmower motors. I put it in the Merc leg on my boat and diferentials in the cars as well( Cherokee's) ! Time will tell but so far so good ?
Didn't know a thing about Molyslip; had to Google it. Looks like it's plenty well known in Canada (where you are) and the UK. The packaging looks familiar, though--most likely I've just been oblivious for decades, eh?
It's been around here since I can remember and got a real great reputation,,in fact the oil companies add it to most of their top line of oils and synthetic's to add extra protection.
I did my own little test of some oils a few tears ago. Not too proper but I got a piece of 1/2 inch steel and put it in the drillpress at work with a 7/16 bit. I put one drop of oil on a seperate spot and tried to drill throught it. The oils were good brands and I didn't mix them up.They were all 10-30 w and one Racing Oil. I drilled trough every spot of oil with no trouble at all. Then I put some Molyslip mixed with a cheap oil on the last spot. You guessed it,,I tried to drill that spot for 1/2 an hour and there was no way it would even start to drill and not much smoke either ! That was in the mid 70's. Everone that watched me do that has used it ever since including me.
On their website they say Walmart sells it. By the way don't get the stuff on your hands cause it dosn't wash off too good like weeks later things will slip out of your grip.
Interesting experiment; I never would have thought to try that.
Weeks later? Huh. Now, if some of that got somewhere else when a guy was using the restroom....
Definitely another hub entirely!
it's not tooooo good on motorcycle tires. I just know you will buy a can now.
Yeah, I can just imagine the result on motorcycle tires.
Won't be trying a can any time soon, though. Checked at OUR Wal-Mart. None there. Not so sure it's sold in the U.S...?
So here is my question. I drive an Accord 135 miles (both ways), 5 days a week to work. I use Mobile Clean 5000 every 5000 to 6000 miles. How often should I use Slick 50? As much as the engine is in use, I don't want it to build up in the engine? So, every oil change? Every oil change?
Thanks,
The company recommendation (at least the last time I actually read the label, which was years back) is not for every oil change, but that's the way I use it. Our Subaru Outback has almost 160,000 miles on it so far, has had Slick 50 added to every oil change from the time I bought it with 14,000 miles showing, and the engine still works perfectly.
It's had to have a new battery and alternator, plus two essential changes of timing belts, but that's all. Everything else (except hoses, which have been updated) is original equipment.
Just tried the Tranny add. I must say I am impressed, we just bought a 2000 infiniti junker with about 150k miles on it, changed all the fluids and poured some of this in. The trans was solid before and shifted good but now it seems to shift like a new car. Im not the one to use addictives but for our purposes this car needs to last him about a year or so Im just trying to squeeze every mile out of that car...
Sounds like you've done it right.
i have heard all the junk to even in the UK.
I tried Slick 50 in a BMW 2000 years ago, i ran it at 70 on a flat piece of local road to check the mpg reading - 26. went home bunged it in and ran round for 5 or so miles and then ran the same piece of road as before = 32 mpg.
Later i put it in a 10,000 mile old Vauxhall with Mobil 1 oil and mini cabed round london for 160,000 more miles without an oil change. the Vauxhall 2000 omega i have now has a slick 50 sticker on it and has done 200,000 and still getting 25 mpg.
if it doesn't work, i'm not prepared to find out.
That's an excellent way to put it!
Thank-You SLICK 50 for such a great product. My husband was coming home from Bullhead Az., and if he had not put Slick 50 in his Ford Explorer, his engine would have blown. He lost 4 spark plugs,all at once, due to the heat, and the engine did not fail. He got home safely.
Wow, not just for the Slick 50 but for losing 4 plugs all at once. Never had that happen! (So far anyway.)
Wow Thisthyme, that is probably the best recommendation for using this product.
I can't imagine that it would not be for diesel engines, but I haven't heard many diesel users talk about using this product. Any comments about using in diesel engines? Just curious and looking for more ways to save fuel. thanks
mary-lambert, Slick 50 has a product (titled "Slick 50 Diesel Engine Treatment" that's specifically designed for [duh!] diesel engines. I've not used it, but only because I've never owned a diesel.
You might have a bit of difficulty finding that product on local store shelves, though. I don't believe I've EVER seen it on display (and I think I would have noticed). Might have to special order it.
WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THE SLICK 50 TRANSMISSON TREATMENT FOR A 2004 MERCURY SABLE WITH 50,000 MILES?
I live in northern Alaska. At -50f the winters are death on machines. My friend called me on my cell. He was in the middle of nowhere. He said he was driving 90 mph and nhit a frost heave. He bottomed out his 1994 Accord (which he had treated with Slick 50 a few months before) and the impact took everything off one the side of the engine. He lost his alternator, waterpump and all the oil. He was talking to me on the phone after having done this. I told him to head for Cantwell, another 60 miles north of where he was and I would head down from fairbanks to pick him and his car up with my F350 and tilt deck trailer. It was -40f and he said it was a really cold drive with no heat, but he made it to Cantwell with no oil, coolant or electricity. I told him not to shut it off because I was sure it would seize up once it cooled. Of course, he shut it off. So I planned to use the hoist to get the poor Accord aboard the tilt deck. When I got there, he was in the station staying warm and I pulled up in front of the car. I dropped the deck and pulled the hoist out. He came out and gave me the keys with a sheepish look on his face. I tried starting it and I could not believe that car started. It sounded just fine. So I drove it up on the deck and we headed for Fairbanks. We bought all the parts and fixed the car added oil, more slick 50 and coolant. He drove the hell out of that car until he wrecked it about 60,000 miles later. I still can't believe it. I have dozens of engines in equipment and trucks and I am using Slick 50. Really helps starting a cold soaked engine at -50f. I've always wondered about the tranny treatment for a standard tranny?? I have a Suzuki that compains alot at -25f and below in fourth and fifth gears.
Lumberjak: That's one helluva testimonial, though I can't say I'm all that surprised. Thanks for posting it.
On your standard tranny, I'd sure as heck get some Slick 50 in there ASAP. I hadn't started using it for transmissions till everything I had was automatic (not by choice, just what they had when I bought). We've had extremely good luck in the automatic transmissions, though, and I can't imagine you'd do worse in the standard.
Great comments on "older" vehicles, what about using Slick 50 in a new car?
If I were to buy a BRAND NEW vehicle, I wouldn't add any Slick 50 to that very first batch of oil that comes with the vehicle right from the showroom floor...but with the first oil change, I'd use it, yes.
We bought our 2001 Subaru Outback as a "very slightly used" vehicle IN 2001. At the time, it had just over 14,000 miles on the odometer. We had Slick 50 added at the next oil change. It's now got 170,000 plus miles and has yet to use a drop of oil between changes--unless I go too long, which has happened a few times.
I don't usually do my own oil changes these days, and there was one time I had to snarl mightily at a Jiffy Lube tech (or wherever) who didn't want to add the bottle of Slick 50 I handed him, but that's been the ONLY problem.
I remember seeing the Slick 50 demo the first time at an Auto show. The demo was ONLY for a gear box and not an engine. The demo proved how the Slick 50 made the gears turn easier. So, what is wrong with using the Slick 50 Manual Transmission additive?
Probably nothing is wrong with it. It just happens that I haven't owned a vehicle with a manual transmission since 1981, and I only started using Slick 50 regularly in 1997. So, no personal experience to relate.
A short review of a very informative style hub, this is a bomb to hubpages world.
Johan: A "bomb"? Presume that means something good in context. :)
We have a BIG Dodge Ram that we were having problems with It was mostly the mpg (I'm talking "12 mpg") My husband felt abused by all the tune ups he had to get for his beloved truck. What with gas prices being so high, he started using an additive. The fuel additive worked pretty good too. It gave him an added 12% increase in his mpg. In case someone wants to increase their mileage rate, we get ours from www.clfuelsaverplus.com, but now comes the big question. Do you think his truck would still run as well and get the added mpg if he went ahead and added Slick 50 also. I know that one is for the gas tank, and one is for the transmission, but I'd be less than a good wife if I went ahead and got some for him instead of his usual STP,and then it ruins his truck. Any thoughts? Before I sign off, I want to tell you that, as a writer, you are very interesting and fun to read. Thanks and I look forward to hearing from anyone about my dilema.
Hm. IF I understand this correctly, he's using STP additive for the gas tank and one for the transmission? I would NOT mix-and-match, ever. I've used STP, but that was decades ago--actually before Slick 50 existed--and I have NO experience with the fuel additive version.
In other words, we've had really good luck with Slick 50 in the crankcase and in aging automatic transmissions, but that's it. And even there, if I had STP in the crankcase (for example), I'd want to make sure it was "all gone" (as in, one oil change without) before going to Slick 50.
Just my preference.
But more than anything, I would NOT "surprise" your husband with a container of Slick 50. If he thinks anything like I do, one of his theories is, "If it works, don't fix it."
If he's NOT using STP in the CRANKCASE, he might want to look over the user experiences on this page. But, my recommendation, don't YOU get it FOR him. Gotta be his call! :)
I get your point! A man and his truck is a personal thing! So, instead of a surprise that might "backfire" accidental humor here, I'll just print out your article and hand it to him with his next issue of HOT ROD!
Sounds like a plan--and I'm honored!
Interesting hub, back in the early 90's I had an olds cutlass with a 455 cubic inch engine, the engine was rebuilt with a mild cam and had about 15,000 miles since the rebuild. because I'd heard good things about slick 50 I decided to try it out. at oil change time i put in one quart of slick 50 and 4 quarts of oil then took it out for a long drive, when I arrived home I had to turn down the idle speed, and the next morning when starting it cold, it cranked over like it had a stronger battery in it. It did seem to smoke a little for a couple of days but that cleared up. I didn't notice any improvement in mpg's but I did have a heavy foot. I had no long term negative effects. Never used it in anything else but who knows?
I've never documented much in the way of mpg increases, but longevity? Definitely. We're currently using Slick 50 in every combustion crankase we've got--i.e. GMC pickup, Subaru Outback, and several gas-powered portable generators.
HarperSmith 2 years ago
Most engine oil, with the exception of non-detregent oil, has additives in it. Additives may or may not live up to their claims. I've used some that have worked wonders and others that didn't. thanks