Does synthetic oil really stop smoking???

[Mr. Belvedere]

My 54 Plym smokes like a two stroke! It is a tired out high mileage engine that I am afraid needs a rebuild but until I can get to it, I wonder if this stop gap solution would work? Someone suggested this previously on this site and said that it doesn't burn like conventional oil. Sounds plausible but has anyone actually tried this before I spend $5.00+ a quart to find out? If so, what brand should I use? Thanks. Richard

[PatS....]

Try some "Restore" from the auto parts store. I've used it a couple of times and it worked very well for smoking.

http://www.atvconnection.com/Features/Product_Reviews/Restore-Engine-Restorer.cfm

[Mr. Belvedere]

Thanks for the tip and the link I'll give restore a try.

[steveplym]

My old engine smokes a bit too. I put some "no-smoke" from autozone in it, but didn't do much good. I took a tip from a friend and used some STP oil treatment. Seems to work well. 60 mile trips that used to use a quart of oil now use only 1/2qt or less. Was 2 bucks so if it doesn't work you haven't lost much.

[BobT-47P15]

As I recall, that STP oil treatment stuff is real thick.....takes a while to pour in a can. I think there used to be another similar brand called Motor Honey. Actually there are probably still several products of that type on the shelves.

I don't know if Marvel Mystery Oil would help anything or not.....it should give some lubrication to certain things. You can use it in both gas and oil...not near as thick at STP stuff. It seems Lou Earle has used Seafoam stuff in some of his engines. Lou.....wanta comment???

[builtfercomfort]

STP and Motor Honey and the like are viscosity improvers - they make your oil thicker. You might be able to add 90-weight and get a similar result (probably not if the products have useful additives). They will work for a while but will put more wear on the motor when cold. Thicker oil makes it harder to get past the rings and burn, but it might not lubricate the rest of the motor as well - but with a high mileage motor all tolerances are probably loose. A teflon or moly treatment might be in order to help with start-up wear.

Engines smoke (blue smoke) because oil in the crankcase is getting past the rings into the compression chamber.

White smoke is steam, a bad water passage or cracked block, or in some motors a bad head or head gasket.

Black smoke is carbon, carb running too rich.

Green smoke is a joker who put a smoke flare in your tailpipe.

Rainbow smoke is only seen if YOU are smoking something first :-)

[Brad Lustig]

I've used the STP stuff on other cars with a little success. I then just stepped up to a thicker viscosity oil and it did pretty much the same thing.

[Mr. Belvedere]

Yep, I've tried stp and motor honey before w/no luck. The oil that is in there right now is 50wt (at least according to the shyster I bought this car from) which has the consistency of peanut butter and it still smokes like crazy!

Richard

[JIPJOBXX]

I will put a plug in here for "No Smoke Additive!" I had a 1988 Caravan and it was almost embarrassing to drive it as it smoked so much I felt every driver I passed was saying "get it oft the road!". Well I got a bottle of this stuff at Wal-Mart and changed my oil to 20-50 and guess what? No smoke! I had that old van for many years after that and about every other fill up or so I would add a bottle of this stuff and never ever had that feeling again about my old Caravan smoking to much. Great stuff and I'm sold on it! It a temporary fix but it works and is cheap.

[Mr. Belvedere]

Yes I think I've seen that stuff before, I'll try a bottle of that and the restore and see what happens, a sort of 1-2 punch! Too bad my dad didn't know about that with his caravan. His smoked too I think thats why he traded it in. His had the 3.0v6 that was notorious for smoking after about 60k mi. It was a good motor other than that though. He is currently on his 3rd generation of Chrysler mini van, but says he is done, and is going Japenese next time!

[greg g]

The 3.0 Mitsubishi engine Chrysler used as an early V6 was a stout and reliable unit. 90% of them had smoking caused by bad valve seals and or worn guides. A fairly simple fix that didn't even involve pulling the heads. We had an 89 Acclaim with that engine that went to 170K miles. Had one seal and guide job at about 70K then seals again at 150. Still running strong when we got rear ended.

[PatS....]

Yes I think I've seen that stuff before, I'll try a bottle of that and the restore and see what happens, a sort of 1-2 punch! Too bad my dad didn't know about that with his caravan. His smoked too I think thats why he traded it in. His had the 3.0v6 that was notorious for smoking after about 60k mi. It was a good motor other than that though. He is currently on his 3rd generation of Chrysler mini van, but says he is done, and is going Japenese next time!

He already HAS Japanese engine!!!!

[Normspeed]

If the car isn't a daily driver and maybe only drinks a quart or so a month, the cost for synthetic would be pretty low. I'd be interested to hear how it works out in curing the smoking. Makes sense that it would help. I run Mobil 1 in two of my vehicles. One is a high mileage Bronco that barely passes the CA smog check. Since I started running Mobil 1 in it, the smog readouts got better.

I planned to use Mobil 1 in my P24 but decided to try Rotella T instead. Time will tell.

That was suggested in a recent thread "help me quit smoking".

Also to be noted is that it was stated that the synthetic doesn't smoke when it burns, but it will still burn. Possibly at the same rate, which could add up to a lot of $'s at $5 a pop per qt.

[greg g]

UH!! the new Chryco engines are a joint development of them other Asian folks the Koreans, as in Hyundai. Most I believe will be assembled in the quality control kingdom, Mexico. Whereas most of the Japanese cars sold here are now built in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and other friendly areas.

http://www.canadiandriver.com/news/041217-3.htm

[steveplym]

The 3.0 Mitsubishi engine Chrysler used as an early V6 was a stout and reliable unit. 90% of them had smoking caused by bad valve seals and or worn guides. A fairly simple fix that didn't even involve pulling the heads. We had an 89 Acclaim with that engine that went to 170K miles. Had one seal and guide job at about 70K then seals again at 150. Still running strong when we got rear ended.

That was a good engine. My Dad ran a carpet cleaning business for years and ran those old chrysler vans all over the country. Would put 300k or more without any problems. Just had to change the transmission 3 or more times.

The transmissions they used is those vans were always junk.

[Mr. Belvedere]

There full size van trannies suck too! I maintained a small fleet of dodge vans for a company and everyone of them had to be replaced most more than once! Couple that with peeling paint, blown headgaskets in the neons and you understand why they are where they are and are offering liftime warranties now.