+1 for J and Chris. IMO, other than SeaFoam, additives do little or nothing. More so, you have to question why are you adding another chemical to the mix to begin with? If you buy high grade fluids, either dino or synthetic, why would you need it? Are you looking for a "cure all" for a bigger problem? Most additives are basically snake oil, with better advertising. Save the money you would spend on it and upgrade your fluids. Bottom line, parts break,wear out, that is why its called "preventitive maintence". Even the most regularly serviced vehicle can have part failure.

 

thanks for the info Chris. my pcv valve has the hiss after it has warmed up and if i grab the hose and wiggle it then the pcv will give me the rapid clack clack clack and plug up again for a second then clack clack clack then plug up for a second then clack clack clack......

i never heard it before i replaced my leaky valve cover gaskets.
i replaced my pcv a while before the valve cover gaskets.
when i was putting them on, the pcv came apart when i went to pull it out. so i put another one in there and the current pcv is the one that clacks. so i guess i'll just get another one.

so the general consensus is that lucas products are not worth it, but what about the green lucas grease? that's what i use for my suspension.

 

Like I said before, Lucas is just a name associated with low quality products and, that grease, is most likely made by someone else and they just slap their name on it. But, the only way to really know is by seeing test graphs for their products. Chances are, there's no graphs. When, there's no graphs, that is usually a sign that the product has not been tested by them and it's a standard off-the-shelf low grade grease. The grease I use is also green and was a low-budget grade that I use on lower ball joints. It's most likely the same material with a different label.

The auto world is a small world of suppliers and vendors. From hoses, to hose fittings to fuel injectors to plug wires- they are one in the same in many cases. One company makes all the wire that goes into Taylor and MSD, Accel ingintion wires and countless others. But, it's all the same spiro-wound core wire.

Then, we have Accel injectors which are not made by Accel but by Lucas who, also, sells injectors under the company name as well. Same s-h-i-t different label.

When it comes to fluids, one needs to contact the company directly and ask to speak to a chemical engineer. Then, if and when you actually get to speak to someone, ask them to send you literature and test results on their product. As soon as you find that they don't have their own chemical engineer or that they do not possess such test reports etc, they are nothing but distributors slapping their name on someone's product.

I think it's time I did a little research into who and what Lucas is all about. Time to make some phone calls next week and find out if they actually design and manufacture their own products or not.

Looks like they have a lab for some testing and, they do have their own bottling plant as well. They have a location in Corona Ca which is near me as well as a few over the US. They also have some TDS sheets for their products along with MSDS sheets. However, on the TDS, there's only useless information such as flashpoint, color, density etc. There's no mechanical wear test specs listed. This sets off a red flag here. If you go to Amsoil, Mobile, Castrol and Valvoline, you will find graphs showing results of such mechanical tests such as wear tests.

 

Lucas is 100% petroleum, and that's why it's able to mix/blend with conventional motor oil, synthetic motor oil, tranny fluid etc. I am 44 years old, have 28 years experience with vehicles, (my dad taught me..he is a retired heavy duty class "A" mechanic, who worked for VW-[3-years], and for Great Lakes Woodland Operations for 31 years), and we know our stuff and Lucas DOES work! (i've kept 27 vehicles for myself as daily drivers, out of 132 that I've had).

 

which has best protection...do you know??

 

Amsoil has the best protection. All the rest fall short and, M1, was at the lower end of the graph on 4-ball, standard ball test. Lucas, is not even on the list so, I don't know where they stand but, someone show some evidence or graphs to prove that Lucas works so we all can take a look at the results.

To the poster who claims Lucas works: I am 41 years old and a professional engineer working in Aerospace and Defense. Show me a graph with some real numbers showing results of a four ball wear test that is an industry standard that at least shows what their product is capable of as far as wear protection is concerned.

Over the years, there has been a large number of products that all had that stupid plastic gear in a box, sales and marketing pitch all claiming the same exact thing- better protection. There used to be a product called Slick 50 that had that same S&M BS campaign. Some things never change.

I wish my memory was good enough to list out all the product names of those types of products. I tried Lucas engine stablizer- once. I didn't like it. Due to the viscosity, it did not flow well at cold startups and, due to that, my engine used to clack and tick.

I drained it out and put Amsoil, 100%- full synthetic and she's quieter, and it starts without noise as it pumps the oil up into the top end of the engine a lot faster than when running a quart of Lucas Oil Stabilizer.

I am not a fan of Lucas products and, the motor heads that I talk to out here in So Cal don't like it either. These are guys in there 50s and 60s. But, to each his own. Live and let live.

 

ive searched AZ, advanced, wal-mart, and napa, and no one has amsoil...where do you get it? does it have to be online?

 

Yeah, if you go to their website, you have to sign up for a membership in order to get the oil at a discount. I did, and, someone sponsored my membership for a year. In fact, oh jeesh- I remember now: I clicked at the link on the top of this forum. Just sign up for the preferred customer trial offer listed in the banner add below the Dodge Forum logo.

Once you sign up, they will send you two cards in the mail. Once you receive the cards, go to their site and buy buy buy!

I went in and still am going in with others in order to get a years worth of lubes and grease, tranny fluids and, differential fluids.

You order it, they ship it out. I received my order in one day! I don't know where they shipped it out of but, it was here fast. I also suggest using their oil filters as well.

They have a great site with all the data to back up their products. ALso, they have a wicked chart for a lot of trucks that makes it easy to look up the correct fluids for your vehicle. Nicest people I have dealt with other than the folks over at Pulstar / Sandia National Laboratory.

 

The thing we all need to realize about charts and graphs is that the numbers can and are made up for the most part. Can you honestly tell me that money isn't being passed around for their brand to be better than the other brand. In the end oil is oil. The same oil that is used to make the cheapest stuff you can get at wally world is the same that goes into Amsoil, M1, and others. Oil is no different than buying shoes, you pay for a label.

I'm not old, but I had a 1980 Toyota Corrola that lived to see 600,000+ miles and the only oil ever used was the cheapest oil in the stores with the cheapest filter. BTW it died due to fighting with a tree.

So please stop saying we need to see charts, graphs and test. They are all BS anyways.

 

That is totally false about the charts and graphs being BS. Those charts and graphs can be of real importance when evaluating a product. The only people that say they are worthless and BS are those who either don't know how to interpret them or, those who feel that it's is a fraud.

While to some extent, some companies either provide no data at all (like Lucas) and some may be false or doctored. I agree on that. But, it's S&M that feeds the consumer BS to sell their lousy product.

There's different grades of raw oil and, when we talk about Amsoil- it's not oil- it's 100% man made synthetic. IT is not derived from raw petroleum like your cheap motor oils made from paraffin base.

Anything can be proven and, like I stated earlier, if I had the money, I would personally run a comparison between Lucas and Amsoil, M1, Valvoline and Castrol. We would run tests at a professional lab and then analyze the results of a few top brands of motor oil. By using SEM and measuring the wear for each sample, data would be obtained for each product and then graphed out. The sample group with the least amount of wear would then show to be the best product for protecting your engine.

This is how to apply those charts and graphs. If it's done right, there's no BS. Sometimes, you can actually request to see the test reports. Some are conducted by outside labs to avoid biasing the test results or from being accused of fraud.