TheSamba.com :: View topic - OK to use Slick 50 or other engine treatment?

Fri May 13, 2005 2:48 pm

As I understand it, this was EVERYthing. Was a real mess in there!

Sat May 14, 2005 2:02 am

Claire-
I do all the repair work to my vehicles, the exceptions being the Transmission, front, and rear end.To this point all I have owned are Chevys.I found in my area that there is only one quality shop tp take a Bug to, but their prices will curl your toes.

As usual I will do the majority of the repair work on my newly purchased 68 Bug as well.
It's always smart to be familiar with the parts and procedures before you start in on fixing something.
After doing much research here on the samba I discoverd that there were three names that kept on being mentioned when it came to repairs.

1. How to keep your Volkswagen alive By John Muir, 19th edition.
This is a good manual in general and it's easy to understand because they describe things in a different way to help you understand.It is long winded because of this.It also covers a wide spectrum of years.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/offer-listing/156...dition=all

2. Official VW Repair manual By Robert Bentley http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/offer-listing/083...dition=all
This is a great book with all the hard facts for your specific year.While not as easy to understand as the Keep your VW alive manual because of a cut and dry approach, it's the wiring diagrams and cold hard facts that make this manual a keeper..

I bought both of these manuals used because they're cheaper and are going to get dirty anyhow :wink:

3. Bug me video's.
These are great videos that cover a wide range of years and are easy to understand.While the video is clear the sound is a touch muffled, but still easy to hear. They show you the parts, how to disconnect them,how to inspect, how to service them, and how to reinstall them.
They also give you some tips that they have learned themselves over the years and even give you some advice about the better parts to purchase.
They sell a set of five in the link I have provided for you.These five cover the bulk of the repairs you can do yourself.
Or if you go to their website they sell them individually.Each one covers a different area of the car.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7974481293&category=34234
If you go the Ebay route give the minimum bid.They will usually end the auction early just to sell you the vid so you save even more money if you don't use the Buy it now option.If the auction is over don't fret...
They list this same five pack all the time so one will be available shortly.

I bought all of the above. The only one I would get rid of is the How to keep your VW alive manual.The only reason for this is that it gives info that is not specific to my year, but it's easy read and understand.

Sat May 14, 2005 1:38 pm

Claire wrote: This has probably been discussed before, but I couldn't locate specific information with a search. So please bear with me being a newbie!

I've always used an engine treatment such as Slick 50 or newer brands in all of my cars. I swear by the stuff and have never had engine problems since using it.

But this is my first Bug. ('67) Is it OK to use an engine treatment on an air-cooled engine?

Thanks.
there has never been any independent certified professional testing to indicate that slick 50 is anything other than a waste of money.

Sun May 15, 2005 10:05 am

Thanks for all the great info!!!!! This is all very helpful.

Tue May 17, 2005 3:51 pm

...how about Lucas-Oil (I've heard good things) ...anyone?

Tue May 17, 2005 4:56 pm

Getting back to the topic....

Dupont is the manufacturer of teflon. According to Dupont, in order to get teflon to stick to a surface, that surface has to be meticulously clean. There's no way teflon will stick to the dirty internals of any engine.

Dupont knows that teflon won't do a damn thing in an engine except plug your filter, so a few years ago they stopped supplying it to Slick 50. Slick 50 sued Dupont, and were able to convince the ignorant judges they were right, so by court order Dupont has to sell teflon to Slick 50.

To me it says a lot when the manufacturer of a product says not to use their product.

Tue May 17, 2005 5:21 pm

OK that got my curiousity going so I looked for more information on the Dupont vs Slick 50 subject. It looks like not only DuPont, but NASA and others had nothing good to say about engine additives. Check this out:

http://xcelplus.com/industry_info/qlube.htm

I'm surprised... I always swore by this stuff!

Tue May 17, 2005 7:12 pm

angelchild wrote: ...how about Lucas-Oil (I've heard good things) ...anyone?

i understand synthetic oil is the best. and the BG products are the best additives

Tue May 17, 2005 9:58 pm

dont even bring synthetic into the butt end of a thread.

Tue May 17, 2005 10:10 pm

tacky wrote: Claire wrote: This has probably been discussed before, but I couldn't locate specific information with a search. So please bear with me being a newbie!

I've always used an engine treatment such as Slick 50 or newer brands in all of my cars. I swear by the stuff and have never had engine problems since using it.

But this is my first Bug. ('67) Is it OK to use an engine treatment on an air-cooled engine?

Thanks.
there has never been any independent certified professional testing to indicate that slick 50 is anything other than a waste of money.

You also seem to be full of shit & you can rarely backup anything you say with more than "this person told me".

Wed May 18, 2005 5:14 am

I used Slick 50 ONCE, on a Toyota p.u. motor some years ago. Soon after, it caused (I believe) front and rear main seals to start leaking. I wouldn't touch it!

Wed May 18, 2005 10:37 am

Quote: Getting back to the topic....

the topic is "OK to use Slick 50 OR OTHER ENGINE TREATMENT?"
So any input on Lucas Oil? ...it's made from the same stuff as 'actual' oil

more on 'the topic' [url]
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=55182&highlight=lucas[/url][/url]

Fri May 20, 2005 8:27 am

the topic is "OK to use Slick 50 OR OTHER ENGINE TREATMENT?"

For what its worth my father worked his entire life for an air cooled engine manufacturer, You may have heard of them if you have any aviation background.. Teledyne Continental Motors, in business since the 30's also making tank,jeep,truck,ground power units and variety of turbine applications for civilian and military use..

As you might imagine they have an active engineering research and development dept to test engines and products, including lubricants.
In the 50's when STP was tested it turned out to be nothing more than gear oil, nothing magical just heavy oil which in a worn engine with excessive clearances will mask problems temporarily..

In the 70's Slick 50 came on and they tested it using two identical engines. One running regular oil , the other using oil and Slick 50.
Both engines were run for an identical number of hours and RPMs to simulate real world use.. Both were torn down and every measurement checked and what was found??? both were same again no magical properties in the additive...

Conclusive evidence and actual non biased information is hard to find, forget all the wild claims by the manufacturer.. You may also check SAE as they test all the products .. Finally if you need conclusive proof you might believe the people that hold the patent on PTFE and you may have heard of them as well, "Dupont" Their own documents state that PTFE should not be used in an internal combustion engine?????? is this enough???

There are no magic elixors/ potions which fix worn engines or take the place of lubricating oils period....Simply look for the starburst symbol on oil containers .. It should say something like" Energy Conserving " and then be followed by a two letter alphabetic like "SG or SH", you may also see European and Japanese certifications as well as a statement such as " Meets or exceeds all new car manufacturer requirements"..

This is all a person needs, anything else means you've fallen for advertiser hype marketing tricks, these same chumps sell diet pills that work while you sleep or pills that make your tool get bigger, OOps I'm getting off topic here but maybe you 'll see the light maybe????

Jim-