Quote:
Originally Posted by tmontague
I think certain aftermarket additives have their place. But a water wetter that improves cooling likely is not needed on a DD Yaris. There's YW members who track and autox their Yari's and have never had overheating issues.
I personally do add an oil additive (can't remember the name but it's identical to the Lucas Oil version) to my Echo as the rings are starting to wear and it is burning about a quart of oil every 1000-1500km or so.
It does noticeably slow down the oil loss. That being said it could just be a thick synthetic oil that does nothing but adds viscosity to the oil therefore reducing the blow by causing the burnt oil. I could likely run a thicker oil but I feel better using the 5w30 recommended oil w/ an additive so that there is no issue of too thick oil not going through the oil passages.
In the end the vast majority are likely not needed and are just lining the pockets of the manufacturer. However, I think that there is a time and a place where they can be beneficial.
I used Seafoam (plus my ultragauge) to get my Echo to pass an etest last year. It helped with a clogged cat code that was due to the PCV valve being stuck a couple years ago and causing excessive oil consumption dirtying the cat.
The Seafoam never cleared the code but it allowed for a gap between the time of having all but one ECU ready notification and the last one triggering the CEL. I popped into a place to do the test right as I noticed that and passed (allowed to have one notifier showing not ready but you cannot have a CEL).
In the end if it gives you a piece of mind then go for it, but yes, you're likely wasting some cash in most cases.
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Youre right an oil thickening agent like STP does materially help in old engines that leak and burn oil. Also I have seen Stop Leak work on cooling systems although that would only be a temporary repair.
But as for adding something to the oil in a new or near new car...every oil change...no a thousand times no!
12-05-2015, 02:57 PM
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