The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Had more than one mechanic tell Me.......

to add engine oil in the gas which will keep the
top end lubricated...has anyone heard of this, or
do this, or is it just a myth ? In Our Family there
has been several stovebolts, and I don't re-call the
need to add oil to the gasoline...curious.
Bill B.

myth

Bill

I know one mechanic who always added a quart of ATF to his Dodge at every fill-up---the engine didn't last any longer than any other engine. Brian

Were these 2-cycle mechanics? Never heard of this for a good 'ol American-built Stovebolt engine!

Bill_B,

Years ago, Chevrolet contracted with Yamaha to develope a 2 cycle engine for these old trucks. Being two cycle, oil must be added to the gas. Maybe you have one of these rigs.

Stuart

Boy the tree huggers sure wouldn't like that. With todays lead free fuel a little 2 cycle oil surely wouldn't hert but I dout that you would gain any good from it either.

"Back in the day" I had a foot pump windshield washer reservoir full of "upper lube" that was plumbed into my breather. As I was motoring along the highway, the theory was, that I could add extra lube to the valve stems and keep everything running quietly. A couple pumps with the foot would squirt in sufficient light oil to create a "battleship" sized white smoke screen.

My valve train was still noisy but the visual effect was "priceless". Thankfully, there was no EPA or I would still be doing hard time!!! Hey, is there a "statue of Limitations" on having fun???

Yes,I have heard of it and even sold it in the early 60's. Not for just Stovebolts, but for any engine to lube the valves.Socony/Mobil (Standard Oil Company Of New York) had a product that they pushed at every fill up called Upper Lube.It looked like a can of 5W oil and the boss would get a kick back for every case of it he sold.When a car came in and said "fill er up and check the oil" I would say "upper lube sir". Now,go down and ask for that at your local gas station.Let me know how you make out.

Another snake oil treatment. Just like fuel injector cleaner.

I've heard of adding ATF or Marvel Mystery Oil to the gas on engines not modified (bronze guides and hardened valve seats)for unleaded gasoline. Haven't heard of adding motor oil though.

My father in law has been dumping Marvel Mystery Oil in with a full tank of gas in his Farmall tractors for 40+ years now.

Must be something to it.. those tractors run great.. and the only thing he's done to 'em short of changing the oil now and then is to replace the plugs and wires every decade or so.

Marvel Mysery Oil had an "Inverse Oiler" much like Fla54chevy3100 posted except it was not controled by a foot pump.Engine vacuum sucked it into the engine from a jar on the firewall.It didn't smoke much because the orifice was real small.

gtow69, Normal gas stations are not around
anymore...I hate it when I have to stand in line
while Osami Muhabbi collects for the groceries He
sells...Bill B

I remember selling Upper Lube. It came in a small (5oz?) can. We had a fancy looking device that held the can and had hoses to hook in to the manifold vacuum to introduce the product to the valves and rings. It made some of those old 30 &40's engines run better for a while.

My pickup has gotten a shot of saw gas every now and then. but thats cuse it's the only gas I have at the time

My rotary Mazda has an oil injection pump to keep the apex seals lubed, but that's a horse of a differant color.

If you look at the geometry of a cylinder head you will see where oil injection isn't such a good idea- you don't really want oil on the valve seats because they will ash and not seal well. A properly designed valve stem seal leaks just enough to lube the guide. Exhaust valve guides tend to wear due to ash on the stems- and oil consumption causes ash.


When was the last time you had valve guides fail before something else was worn out on an engine?

Have all you guys forgot about Bardahl Top Oil, upper cylinder lubricant. Ol' Blackie Carbon was their salesaman. Remember him? He was a little cartoon character that wore a trenchcoat sort of like Chester Morris, aka, Boston Blackie.

And why do I know this stuff but can't remember my phone number half the time?

I've heard of Marvel Mystery Oil for this
or ''Top Cylinder Lubricant'' from Indian,
for my Indians
i still use that!!

I usta have a set up on my old 283 where I could pull a knob and suck ATF from a container into the maniford. It would put the pretties white smoke out the pipes and would stop any one from tailgating instantly. However it was dangerous. I found that the same effect is obtained when a valve drops in a 350 chevy motor going down the highway, but only out of 1 bank. I prefer the ATF over the droped valve. Not as costley.

Didn't someone check what the makeup of Marvel Mystery oil was? I thought that it was mainly a very light oil with a solvent mixed in it.

It's a mystery....ha, ha, ha, ha.

I don't know what's in it, but I know it works. A guy i used to hang out with when I was younger had bought a '52 Chevy, 235 /'Glide. It had several stuck lifters from sitting for about 16 years before he had got it. We got it running (sorta) took off the rocker and lifter covers, and poured about 2/3s of a quart of Marvel on the rockers and lifters anf=d the rest in the tank. Well, I'll tell you what, after about 5-10 minuits all the lifters had freed up and it was running fairly well. I will admit, we took care of all the mosquitoes for at least the whole block with the smoke.

I have a real problem with sending a fluid down a running engine. Besides, these old engines burned enough oil to keep the hole truck lubricated.

Zipper said:
"Another snake oil treatment. Just like fuel injector cleaner."

This is true with the FLAPS brands of cleaner that gets poured into the tank. Not true for the "shop" injector cleaners. I've brought a lot of plugged injectors back from the dead with ours,
Scott

This topic reminds that we use to pour (very slowly) STP directly into the carb while at a fast idle. I can't remember if was to free sticky valves or burn the carbon out. Did it 2 or 3 times in the early sixties, don't remember if it worked or not.

Larry

Shop I worked at sold Wynn's upper cylinder lube. I can't call it snake oil, there was some validity to their claims. It was added to the fuel.

HA,,,dont forget to change your taillight gaskets when you add your oil to your tank too.

A lot of old time remedies for engines.I knew a guy who would add a little brake fluid to his oil,every time he changed oil.It was supposed to keep the valve seals from drying out and cracking.He also would add a little motor oil in with his gasoline.He just thought it was a good idea.He was happy doing this and I guess he never hurt anything by doing it.One I did for years on a 53 Olds,was to add a quart of kerosene to the oil before I changed it,Then start it up and let it idle for about 15 min.Naturally smoke up the whole neighborhood,but it cleaned the engine out really good.Add new oil and filter and it was quiet as a mouse.

Fred T,Was it Wynns that had the token in the bottom of the can ? You would save the tokens for prizes or money ? Any old timers remember ?

I used to work in a service station years ago and if we ever got a car in that was running any oil like Havoline that would cause alot of sludge buildup in the engine he would drain the oil and refill with 4 quarts kerosene and 1 quart oil and let it idle for 30 minutes and then drain and refill with fresh oil and change the filter. Seemed to work really good.

In these tiny amounts you can add all kinds of liquids to fuel or engine oil without too much harm over the short term.
A fact that many companies take advantage of, selling fuel and oil additives made from cheap mineral oils and solvents.

I don't believe the oil and fuel producers are selling a product that needs improving. It doesn't seem like it, but there is competition as in any industry.

Some people pour acetone/2cycle oil/xylene/etc. mixtures into their gas tank and swear it gives them better milage.

I prefer filtered air and clean fuel down my intake and nothing else. Can't go wrong there.

Besides: If you got a PCV hooked to your manifold - you get plenty of lube to your top.
Just don't pull the head to scrape off the crusty deposits...Yikes!

Wynn's Friction Proofing....pushed many a tall skinny can of that "Snake Oil". Always kept a pocket full of their tokens. Even carried a church key and kept a real can opener in the back room to get to the token! Had a real pretty can and it was a quick sale. Mind you, our Amoco Premium oil was $.65. a quart and the 30HD was $.45. Amoco white gas was $.37/gallon and you could shoe up your ride with 4 Premium Atlas Plycron white walls for $88.00 mounted and balanced. Every fillup came with a spotless windshield wash, front and back. If you were really lucky, she was wearing a short skirt, and you got it REALLY clean!!! An oil level check, battery water from that black filler bottle with the check valve that you pushed down. You could top off the windshield wiper fluid bag from the same container. A tire gauge was standard issue and you'd better make sure the metal valve caps were put back on tight! Tire repair was $1.25 for a patch on the inside. Did many an oil change with filter and a complete grease job for less than $6.00. Usually took less than an hour because there were 15 fittings and the transmission and diff to top off.

A good tip was $.25 cents and a better tip was to stay in school!!! I can still hear the "BING, BING" that started our love affair with the automobile!!! PRICELESS!

Anyone who has ever been around a producing natural gas field has seen the old hands pull up to the tank battery and fill up their field trucks with "drip gas"...or more correctly natural gas condensate...Mother Nature's own gasoline. If you didn't add marvel mystery oil to this stuff it would ruin the engine in pretty short order, but add a little of the magic elixir and you could use this stuff daily...and it was free!

I worked at a station before they put tokens in Wynn's,ours had real quarters,if you sold the can you got to keep the quarter.
I remember running out of gas one time and all I had was a cutting torch,ran the hose under the hood ane stuck the torch in the carb.and turned the acetylene on,drove three miles to the nearest station,same principle as running on propane.
Floyd

Back in my teenage years I poured many a can of Casite down the carburetor of my dad's '65 Ford. I enjoyed the challenge of pouring with one hand and keeping it running using the other hand on the carb linkage. It was fun making all that grey smoke, and I liked the unique smell.
By the time I got my first car, luckily I had realized I was just pouring cash down the carb for no benefit. Did use STP in the oil for a coupla'three years more until I wised up and concluded additives were nothing more than "voodoo mechanics".

OK, guys, like Paul Harvey says, here's the "rest of the story", at least as I remember it! During the Korean war, (Remember that one, the first war we lost!) most of the high-quality gasoline we were producing was going into aircraft fuel. The stuff available on the domestic market was causing engines to carbon up the valve stems, especially the newly-introduced Olds and Cadillac overhead valve V-8's. Aviex, Casite, Wynn's, and a few other additive makers developed an "upper cylinder lube", basically a lightweight solvent/oil mix that was metered into the intake through a piece of 1/16" diameter copper tubing with a needle valve like an idle mixture screw to regulate the flow. It supposedly prevented the carbon from sticking to the valve stems. My father's shop sold those kits, and the oil to refill them. The reservoir was a glass jar with about a 1/2 gallon capacity, and it needed to be refilled about once every couple of months. The most effective of the brands was Aviex, IMHO.
Jerry

I have heard the Marvel Mystery Oil stories about freeing up stuck valves. I use it for freeing rusty bolts, and it doesn't stink as bad as some of those other rust blasters. It smells like root beer or sasaphras to me. Haven't tasted it yet.

What about those info-mercials that sold those oil additives where they would put the additive in the engine, drain the oil out and then run it around a track in the middle of the dessert with no oil? I can't remember who it was, but they had a retired Indy 500 driver promoting it. Mighty snakey looking, but how did they do it?

Super;

Wasn't that PTFE they were hawking?

One time I got lost in the bush with my old '53, Epic #1. I eventually found a main logging road, and knew I wasn't going to make it to a filling station with the fuel what I had, so I liberated about 5 gallons of diesel from a loader I found. Not only did it, diluted with about the same amount of gasoline, get me to a pump, but for a while afterwards the 235 in there ran a little stronger and quieter that it had been running. I don't know why, but I think the reason might be in this thread somewhere.

Was it Slick 50?

That diesel business was well known back in the 50s. I worked at an Esso station while in jr. high and everyone knew if you put a gallon of diesel in a tank full it would make your engine run better.
I never tried it...

Funny you mention that. My shop techer told us in deisel class about doing the opposite-putting a gallon of gasoline in a deisel tank- though for a different reason. Seems that back before they had anti-gelling agents in the fuel, truckers in cold climates would add a gallon of gasoline to their tanks to keep the fuel from gelling in the winter.