Lucas heavy duty oil stabilizer in crankcase

[mngreen]

Just wondering if I goofed up? This is the first time I have done this.

Model B block with "old-school" pressurized oil setup, cragar OHV conversion, no oil filter.

After draining the old 20W-50 oil, I put in about half of a 32 fl oz bottle of Lucas heavy duty oil stabilizer then put in 4 qts of new 20W-50 oil. Ran the motor for a few minutes then shut it down for the night.

I am now concerned about putting in the lucas first; perhaps it will turn into a gloppy mess at the bottom of the crankcase? Maybe I should take it on a long run today, or drain it out?

[Tom Wesenberg]

Yes, I would have put in the Lucas after the engine was warmed up and then drive it for at least 5 miles to mix it up. At this point I'd just drive it and not worry.

[Skibb]

You can always drain and refill.

I have little mechanical ability that could be counted here but have had a similar experience with my first A. It had not been driven for several years when my Dad bought)the car for this then eager teen. An old timer told us (in 1956) to drain the oil and add back half oil and half kerosene and run it for ten minutes. We did that three times until the engine stopped smoking bad out the exhaust. Drained and filled with oil and drove the car for several years without problem (w/500 mile oil changes of course).

[Mitch//pa]

I wouldn't have used it at all

[Rock Hornbuckle]

Don't worry too much , it is designed to mix with oil, and osmosis would have begun imediately. You ran the engine for a 'few' minutes. If you're still concerned, go for a drive. I'm curious as to why you feel the need for an oil stabilizer with 20-50 oil? Do you intend to keep the oil in the engine for a long period of time? Is there something I've missed? How does it 'stabilize' and/or what does it 'stabilize', ? Is this peculiar to certain engines? Is this something I should be doing with my A's?

[mngreen]

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Originally Posted by Rock Hornbuckle

I'm curious as to why you feel the need for an oil stabilizer with 20-50 oil?

My thinking was that it might lessen some leak-down of oil from the top of the cragar head into the cylinders due to sloppy valve guides. Right now I have a 40KV coil, a B distributor cam, together with W-18 plugs to help "burnout" that oil at startup.

I 'm not looking for a rebuild just yet.

[Purdy Swoft]

I think that you'll be ok. I once changed the oil and put a whole quart of it plus three quarts of oil in Gus my rusty 29 tudor. Gus had sit up for around 40 years before I got him and smoked through the floorboards when I ran him hard and used oil. The Lucas oil stabilizer didn't hurt but it didn't help either. I used a different additive the next time with good results. I used a product called restore, it comes in small cans and is sold at Walmart. They have a different size for 4,6, and 8 cylinder engines. it is said to coat and fill imperfections in the cylinders and raise compression. It took a little while and must be added with every oil change but it worked for me. Gus didn't leak any oil from day one, but now it doesn't smoke through the floor even if I run it 65 or use any oil between changes. I was just playing around with additives and didn't figure that I had much to lose with a rusty old hull like Gus. I won't make any recommendations because it may not work in all cases but it is working for Gus.

[mngreen]

Thanks Purdy. I have used Restore in my Model T at every oil change and it greatly helps out with the worn rings and blow-by. Didn't think of using it on the cragar though.

I got another reason to take the A out for a long drive today!

[MikeK]

mngreen, you didn't screw anything up. You just wasted some money. The Lucas stabilizer is ~60% to 70% base oil and the 'additive' is the balance. It's already diluted, it will not turn your crankcase oil into jello. It just lightens your wallet.

The 'stabilizer' additive is one of many commercially available olefin copolymers. They are used with base oil to formulate multi-weight oils. That means they resist oil 'shear' which is the name for what happens when a multi-weight oil loses it's ability to maintain the new-out-of-the-can viscosity rating. Adding the Lucas stabilizer may be of some benefit if you run your oil to the limit- maybe 5000+ miles or over 6 months between changes.

It's not exactly snake-oil, it is simply more of something that is already 6%-10% of the multi-weight oil you buy. As with many things, more is not necessarily better. Stabilizer additives become snake-oil when tackifiers are added to promote marketing demonstrations of how the stuff clings better when added to a base oil. Too much tackifier makes rings artificially float rather than follow the cylinder walls and the excess cokes up in the top ring land. Happy Reading LINK

[Rock Hornbuckle]

Originally Posted by MikeK

mngreen, you didn't screw anything up. You just wasted some money. The Lucas stabilizer is ~60% to 70% base oil and the 'additive' is the balance. It's already diluted, it will not turn your crankcase oil into jello. It just lightens your wallet.

The 'stabilizer' additive is one of many commercially available olefin copolymers. They are used with base oil to formulate multi-weight oils. That means they resist oil 'shear' which is the name for what happens when a multi-weight oil loses it's ability to maintain the new-out-of-the-can viscosity rating. Adding the Lucas stabilizer may be of some benefit if you run your oil to the limit- maybe 5000+ miles or over 6 months between changes.

It's not exactly snake-oil, it is simply more of something that is already 6%-10% of the multi-weight oil you buy. As with many things, more is not necessarily better. Stabilizer additives become snake-oil when tackifiers are added to promote marketing demonstrations of how the stuff clings better when added to a base oil. Too much tackifier makes rings artificially float rather than follow the cylinder walls and the excess cokes up in the top ring land. Happy Reading LINK

Thanks for the clarification Mike.

[30Ford]

I run 4 quarts of 30 and top it with Lucas

[Allanw]

Originally Posted by MikeK

It's not exactly snake-oil, it is simply more of something that is already 6%-10% of the multi-weight oil you buy

It also dilutes all the other additives in the existing oil, as it adds to the volume, without adding the other beneficial ingredients of the original oil.