Night Wolf said:
Did I say something wrong?
I just don't entirely agree with you, that's all. Sorry if I typed the smart-assed remark instead of giving a better argument...Here goes:
I will agree that Lucas isn't the answer for an engine, but I recall reading the "Bob's the oil guy" article about it, and the test subject was a
gear case that caused the Lucas to froth up when combined. Should the Lucas be put into an engine, it will not even come close to frothing like that because of the lack of gears inside an actual car engine. That doesn't mean that it doesn't froth up, but not like the article suggested. The closest exception to the rule will be the distributor gears on the cam and the distributor, but still, that should not cause frothing like the article suggested...
As for the Gunk engine cleaner, I use that stuff at least once a year to make sure there is no gunky build-up. Notice the term "build-up." Build up occurs where engine oil will be able to stand for a long time. I agree that oil passages can be blocked off, but when used properly, the Gunk will break the standing oil residue into small enough bits, and along with the engine heat, that should be enough to remove the vast majority of the build up. In all honesty though, if the engine is that dirty, the Gunk will not help at all, unless several oil changes are done in a row (like 5 in the same day), as well as using the Gunk each time. So that's a mistake on my behalf.
Now, as I stated before, his oil turned black for many reasons. And when his exhaust turns sooty black like he stated, there might be excessive carbon build-up. When the oil is turning black instantaniously, there might be a carbon intrusion in the valve guide areas or because of older piston rings. With the valve guide issue, I think carbon deposits will intrude and get into the oil track where it will then help to cause the oil to turn black. For the pisiton rings, there might be a mass build-up of carbon on the pistons and some of that is being forced into the crankcase or something like that. Either way, black smoke sounds like carbon to me, and when you combine oil that was darkened very quickly along with the black smoke, that tells me that there is carbon getting into the oil somehow.
All that said, I still use Lucas (I know it's snake oil) and have had zero (0) problems with it frothing up like that. I do notice an occasional bubble from time to time, but not like the aforementioned article. And one thing too, it has yet to turn my oil black right after an oil change. Even after 3 or 4 months, the oil is only dark brown.
