JimC
Well-Known Member
Does anyone use this in a marine diesel? A mechanic friend speaks highly of its effectiveness in road vehicles' engines.
STP oil additive
- Thread starter JimC
- Start date
tim_ber
Well-Known Member
Don't know about that one.
But I know Forte additives have an excellent reputation - only available to purchase from your local mechanic (because for professional use only).
It FIXED my car. AA could not fix it. One local garage had no idea. Taking the head off etc, did NOT FIX it. £15 bottle used sooner rather than later could have saved me five days of knuckle bleeding and working in wet weather.
Various bottles for various jobs. Check their website.
I don't endorse many products, but when I do, it is because they have worked for me big time and / or been recommended to me by someone I trust (local mechanic who really knows his trade)
(By the way - an additive from Halfords supposed to do the same thing was useless - I think it was STP for petrol engine - injector cleaner etc, but can't swear to it - threw empty bottle away long time ago.
But I know Forte additives have an excellent reputation - only available to purchase from your local mechanic (because for professional use only).
It FIXED my car. AA could not fix it. One local garage had no idea. Taking the head off etc, did NOT FIX it. £15 bottle used sooner rather than later could have saved me five days of knuckle bleeding and working in wet weather.
Various bottles for various jobs. Check their website.
I don't endorse many products, but when I do, it is because they have worked for me big time and / or been recommended to me by someone I trust (local mechanic who really knows his trade)
(By the way - an additive from Halfords supposed to do the same thing was useless - I think it was STP for petrol engine - injector cleaner etc, but can't swear to it - threw empty bottle away long time ago.
Bassplayer
Well-Known Member
As a regular user of Forte products I can vouch for their effectiveness. STP is just a thickener. You are better off using a high quality oil come oil change time. SHPD is the spec to look for.
saxonpirate
Well-Known Member
Jim.... if you use a good quality oil in your engine with the correct viscosity, change it regularly along with the filter there should be no reason for oil additives.
The additive market is a multi-million pound one and a lot of the advertising is incredibly seductive. Designed specifically to ease some cash from your wallet. There are those who've been converted, others that haven't.
I've used STP myself in knackered old petrol car engines to quieten them down a bit, but did it prolong their life and add to performance? Your guess is as good as mine.
PetiteFleur
Well-Known Member
Didn't Briggs & Stratton do tests on 'Additives' - taking two identical petrol engines from the production line, running one with oil + 'additive' and the other one with recommended oil. Ran both for a certain time, then drained both engines and ran them until they failed - the one with 'additive' failed before the other with standard oil.
No idea which 'additive'.
No idea which 'additive'.
tim_ber
Well-Known Member
this is good advice and Forte is only used to FIX things, not as an additive for the sake of it.
oil is cheap, engine parts are not, so regular changes are key.
Latestarter1
Well-Known Member
Not a single engine manufacturer endorses the use of oil additives, does that not convey the message.
In USA EPA is attempting to ban the use of such products for both lubes as well as fuels.
ytd
Well-Known Member
it's quite good at cutting oil burn and reducing bearing knock in old engines. Does a better job than just using heavy weight oil. AFAIK it is a molyibdenium? disulphide based additive. Some engine builders use it to assemble engines. Supposed to reduce friction.
vyv_cox
Well-Known Member
In the good old days when there was sufficient money around for such things an ex-colleague used to test every such product on the market. The justification was the many claims from manufacturers and users of the products that the oil companies were suppressing their information, ignoring it or even buying up the companies to prevent the impact on profits of these wonder materials. He never found a single one that made any improvement.
I recall one that was endorsed by a bus company in Lancashire somewhere. They had carried out their own trials, which 'proved' that they were making 10% savings in fuel consumption. When the trals were re-run under scientific supervision there was no saving whatsoever.
The only product he ever found that cam close to working was those metal gauze discs that could be inserted between the carburettor and manifold. They did improve consumption but cut down power and top speed.
I recall one that was endorsed by a bus company in Lancashire somewhere. They had carried out their own trials, which 'proved' that they were making 10% savings in fuel consumption. When the trals were re-run under scientific supervision there was no saving whatsoever.
The only product he ever found that cam close to working was those metal gauze discs that could be inserted between the carburettor and manifold. They did improve consumption but cut down power and top speed.
Monique
Well-Known Member
Additives are not the solution; there is something wrong with your engine. Fix it first... IMO.
However, I have a Volvo TMD 22... old Perking design possibly dating back to the 60's.. With the low sulfur diesel, I use a liter of 2 stroke oil in 200 liters of fuel. Smokes a bit on start but helps minimize the effects of reduced lubrication from the reduced sulfur... (at least I believe in it.) Always prepared to be educated.
GL
However, I have a Volvo TMD 22... old Perking design possibly dating back to the 60's.. With the low sulfur diesel, I use a liter of 2 stroke oil in 200 liters of fuel. Smokes a bit on start but helps minimize the effects of reduced lubrication from the reduced sulfur... (at least I believe in it.) Always prepared to be educated.
GL
Alfie168
Well-Known Member
Lets try some history. STP was developed by the Germans in WW2 to enable them to stretch the oil change intervals on their aero engines.....as they were running out of oil. It was lifted by the Yanks and somehow the rights to the product fell into the hands of Andy Granatelli and Vince Granatelli who made the STP brand famous. A triumph of marketing over substance I suspect.
Like other say, if you put the right oil in and change it when you are supposed to there is no need for STP or any other additive. You can in fact gum up oilways with it, so beware.
Tim
Like other say, if you put the right oil in and change it when you are supposed to there is no need for STP or any other additive. You can in fact gum up oilways with it, so beware.
Tim
Latestarter1
Well-Known Member
When an engine is worn out, unlikely in anything but a commercial vessels makes no sense to continue to run them, engines die of marine aging of the external parts. Sorry to be pedantic but in my book, worn out, unreliable engines have no place in a boat.
Modern lube oils of the correct spec have carefully blended additive pack to give all the protection you require. Tribologist from Lubrizol may tell you that additives may destabilise the additive pack. Carefully formulated assembly lube is used in engine production as motor comes off the line straight to hot test pulling %age of maximum rated load/speed on a total test cycle lasting just minutes. Using a compound such as Lubriplate when re-building engines is in just about every shop manual.
Once attended a meeting with a lubricant manufacturer, as well as chief engineer of the engine. After the lube guys gave their presentation on this % saving and that % saving, no manufacturer will ever reveal engines friction horsepower, it is the Crown Jewells. I can say it is way way low, down in single digits. The chief designer just said thank you for your presentation you have made my day, from your data you have confirmed that I have developed a frictionless engine.
Additives are a high return multi $$ business with big very persuasive marketing budgets. There are concerns over the potential to cause serious and costly aftertreatment damage in low emission automotive engines.
tim_ber
Well-Known Member
I can only state the facts as I find them.
Forte Fixed my engine.
By the way, it was a fuel additive, not an oil additive.
I suspect by clearing an injector. A different bottle from Halfords (to clear injectors ) did not work though. Taking the injectors out and having their spray pattern etc checked would have been more work and more expensive than £15 bottle
However, it works from petrol tank, through to pump and all fuel lines too etc - so it could have fixed any of those items. Imperative to change fuel filter after using the stuff.
I know a few guys that work on prototype engines and actually develop engines - they back up what I have said about Forte and of course they also state that proper maintenance is key.
They had a car that ran from Scotland to England and back non-stop for 1 million miles (or some stupid figure). Non-stop (except for oil changes etc) and then took engine to bits and found all was great. Better to buy a car that has done long runs than short granny hops.
I'm not bothered that engine manufactuers don't endorse it. I don't buy Bold or Daz and I'm sure Indesit endorse one of them (probably)
dmayes
Well-Known Member
Penetrating oil
If anyone does use STP (probably only for worn engines), don't throw the tin away. Dissolve what is left in neat petrol, it makes a really good penetrating oil. The petrol will soak into any crevice then evaporate leaving a thin film of STP behind.
If anyone does use STP (probably only for worn engines), don't throw the tin away. Dissolve what is left in neat petrol, it makes a really good penetrating oil. The petrol will soak into any crevice then evaporate leaving a thin film of STP behind.
mattnj
Well-Known Member
fuel additive...
we tried this a few years back....
Had a Honda GX160 engine on a genny, it started and ran but was running badly and would not run at much over idle, and wouldnt run with any load....
We took the carb apart an the main jet hole was badly blocked with what looked like limescale type deposits up the inside of the hole....we could have poked it out in 5 seconds and fixed the problem, but as we had seen this problem before and were curious, we tried some fuel cleaner, injector clean, wonder juice type stuff, and ran it for about a tank on light load, and it did make a significant difference...
We ended up cleaning it out manually anyway, to get it completely clean, but it did fix the immediate problem.
I have some pictures of before an after somewhere they are old school ones on paper, will see if i can find them.
So...I never use additives and dont like them, but have done a real world test on a fuel one a while back and it did work, for sure.
we tried this a few years back....
Had a Honda GX160 engine on a genny, it started and ran but was running badly and would not run at much over idle, and wouldnt run with any load....
We took the carb apart an the main jet hole was badly blocked with what looked like limescale type deposits up the inside of the hole....we could have poked it out in 5 seconds and fixed the problem, but as we had seen this problem before and were curious, we tried some fuel cleaner, injector clean, wonder juice type stuff, and ran it for about a tank on light load, and it did make a significant difference...
We ended up cleaning it out manually anyway, to get it completely clean, but it did fix the immediate problem.
I have some pictures of before an after somewhere they are old school ones on paper, will see if i can find them.
So...I never use additives and dont like them, but have done a real world test on a fuel one a while back and it did work, for sure.
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vyv_cox
Well-Known Member
In the 1960s Jim Clark won the Indianapolis 500 in a 'STP Special'. At the time it was unprecedented for anyone from the Grand Prix field to do well in USA circuit racing, never mind to win the most famous of them all. During the race he suffered a horrendous spin when doing nearly 200 MPH, recovered without damaging his or anyone else's car, and went on to win. This was also most unusual at the time.
At that time (and maybe now?) nobody knew what the letters STP stood for and it was something of a constant topic in the motoring press. At the press conference after the event a journalist asked Jim Clark 'Can you tell us what STP stands for?' To which he replied 'Spinning Takes Practice'.
At that time (and maybe now?) nobody knew what the letters STP stood for and it was something of a constant topic in the motoring press. At the press conference after the event a journalist asked Jim Clark 'Can you tell us what STP stands for?' To which he replied 'Spinning Takes Practice'.
Alfie168
Well-Known Member
I always thought STP stood for no more than Specially Treated Petroleum....but then i'm a simple soul
tim
tim