How does the Wynns oil treatment or those other lifter noise additives work exactly?

Also read this article, apparently using them (or at least the Lucas brand) is quite bad:
http://web.archive.org/web/20100926133335/http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/images/lucas/lucas.htm

I'm sure the website of the additive maker will tell you exactly how they are supposed to work.
The oil makers on the other hand tell you not to use them.

Very interesting test. I'd like to see a few different brands of popular additives compared.

We have been using Wynns for over 20 years and have only had good results with the product this why I still use it to this day. Have had a couple of instances where customers ran out of oil for various reasons and while there was still engine damage, the amount of damage was almost nothing compared to an untreated motor in the same situation. 2 of the customers simply repaired the issue, refilled the oil and drove the car for a couple of years more until the cars were eventually sold

There are those who say it is great, those who say it is not. I am one of the former and will continue to use the products

That's called "in-field testing" Mal, something the makers of oil additives don't seem to do, or at least don't report on.

If you have used this product for such a long time and only have good things to say about it, then that should be good enough for all of us on this forum.

(I remember long ago, some additive company said their product was so good, that a car could run for ages without any oil in the sump. Don't remember if that was a Teflon or Moly additive, but it seems to have disappeared off the market. I wonder why? lol)

Madmagna, do you know how it actually works? ie, changes viscosity?

I've done google searches and I've read a lot of comments in the realm of:
"Leading oil companies do extensive testing to create a good oil, and some third party additive cannot better the blend"
Which sounds at the very least to me quite logical.

I mean, if it were all true a $40 bottle of oil + $10 bottle of oil treatment will offer better and longer protection than an $80 bottle of oil?

I will still give it a go next oil change, but would like to have a more sound understanding of it all

I have read a lot of the testing, all of which can be made available from Wynns

THing with Wynns and Nulon is they do NOT add teflon, they have been around for many many years and while back when they first were used oil was very basic and now is very advanced. For the $15 for a bottle I still use the product.

Wynns back in the 80's did drive a Commodore I think it was from Alice Springs to Darwin with the sump removed, I did link to this on this forum a few years ago on one of the other numerous times this same topic has come up

Another example was recently one of the Wynns Reps son's racing car had issues on the last few laps at Sandown He was cooking the motor big time and decided that has a few laps to go and will get in as many as he can given the motor was now cooked anyway He completed the race, was competitive and to the shock of many of the other drivers on the day who race the same class there was very minimal engine damage when pulled down. Given the temps he was reaching he should have seized that motor several laps before the finish where as he finished and drove into the pits with the motor still running.

As I have said in the past, what one person thinks of a product another will think differently. Of course oil companies will give the "we spend $$ on our product so how can you improve it" but then again companies like Wynns who have been around for nearly as long as these oil companies have also spent many $$ on research as well??

Madmagna, Nulon additives very commonly have PTFE, for example:
http://www.nulon.com.au/products/Engine_Treatments/Worn_Engine_Treatment/#.Uk4hBlNZ43w

And PTFE is Teflon, according to Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptfe

Or is this something different?

Teflon is the brand name. Whats the issue with ptfe in the oil?

I have read a lot of the testing, all of which can be made available from Wynns

THing with Wynns and Nulon is they do NOT add teflon, they have been around for many many years and while back when they first were used oil was very basic and now is very advanced. For the $15 for a bottle I still use the product.

Wynns back in the 80's did drive a Commodore I think it was from Alice Springs to Darwin with the sump removed, I did link to this on this forum a few years ago on one of the other numerous times this same topic has come up

Another example was recently one of the Wynns Reps son's racing car had issues on the last few laps at Sandown He was cooking the motor big time and decided that has a few laps to go and will get in as many as he can given the motor was now cooked anyway He completed the race, was competitive and to the shock of many of the other drivers on the day who race the same class there was very minimal engine damage when pulled down. Given the temps he was reaching he should have seized that motor several laps before the finish where as he finished and drove into the pits with the motor still running.

As I have said in the past, what one person thinks of a product another will think differently. Of course oil companies will give the "we spend $$ on our product so how can you improve it" but then again companies like Wynns who have been around for nearly as long as these oil companies have also spent many $$ on research as well??

Actually Darwin to Alice and the sump wasn't removed, Two of my former Trade school College lecturers in Darwin were the drivers, David Reader and another fellow I cannot remember his name did a wynns treatment on a Commodore that only modification was to put in Solid lifters no oil and the Hydraulic lifters don't work drove it for 1000 kilometres then dumped the oil and had the filler cap and dip stick holes sealed under CAMS supervision, and drove the Commodore to Alice Springs at normal highway speeds well normal for down south at the time, the NT had Open speed limits back then. I remember that they were discussing this in 1977 and 1978 because they discussed it with the Automotive Apprentices of the day. I had however finished my apprenticeship as a diesel mechanic before they actually got around to doing it!

The other fellows name was Alex Monahan I think!

Well either way that is pretty decent effort in proving something works, even cooler you know the guys who did this as well :)

PTFE has been banned in many sectors including Aviation as it can cause serious issues such as oil passage blockages etc under extreme heat and pressure. Nulon did remove this for several years and I was not aware that they were using it again

I think only their additives have it and their oil is safe to use. Can anyone confirm this?

Just found the link, has the history of the product, hell even NASA have used the products so that for me is enough :)