Fuel Additive Question
 

OK - here goes nothing ...

I spotted a thread on another board today, discussing the plus and minus of adding marine 2-cycle oil to your daily driver. Seems a bit of "old school", and something they used to do with Marvel Mystery Oil back in the 50's. Anyhow, the claim is that a mix of 1oz per 5gal of fuel would be highly beneficial both to the engine, and even improve (slightly) mileage.

Here is the link to the thread --> http://www.ls1.com/forums/f48/been-testing-91206/

What are the thoughts of the collective brain trust present here on THIS board ???

Personally, I think it's a load of bulls%&t, but to each his own. Kind of like the myth of adding acetone to improve mileage. Acetone evaporates very quickly.

Back in the day, when compression ratio's were in the area of 4 and 5 to one, you could pretty much run what ever passed for gasoline in the engine, or kerosene or alcohol bottled or brewed. The legendary 200 mpg carburetor actually was in production and in used but only because a "Spray" carburetor had not been invented yet and speed control of the engine was rudimentary at best. Mostly fixed rpm and rarely much more than 600 rpm. If anything. Road speed was controlled by selecting different gears and/or changing the timing so running late timing ran slow and advanced timing ran fast and there was an operator accessible main jet knob so you could change the timing and adjust the mixture. The point?
It was common to add moth balls to the gas tank, a pill that changed water to gas, a toilet paper filter accessory you could de-carbon the combustion chamber by pouring coke through the carburetor and the list goes on. Marvel Mystery oil became legendary by adding to various fluids and you can do it today from a variety of products.
Frankly this rates right in there with flushing brake lines, flushing with other chemistry and a whole bunch of fix it something in a can or bottle.
And on occasion something actually does address some nuance or another that might be going on.
Face it, water injection has been around almost as long as the gasoline engine has. I have seen it on tractors built right around 1910 and they had 3 and 4:1 compression. It was also used on various supercharged or turbocharged applications over the years mixed with alcohol so it does not freeze.
Most of these things are pure hooey!!! Occaisionally there will be circumstance that a temporary benefit will be derived. A top oil may or may not help on odd circumstances but for the most part will never be needed, will never do any good, will have no measurable benefit and there will be a league of people who have done it and swear it is a cure all for something that should be best used as a boat anchor.
And many of them are suggested right here on this forum.
The engine I am using in my Hornet, Mercury Marine motor pulled from a boat was supposedly disassembled because it was underwater and then rebuilt using CRISCO as an assembly lube. Sworn to as the best thing since sliced bread.
Which is probably the primary reason it never sold. Although there were many others suggested. The fact the stuff had turned rancid and froze up the engine before it ever turned a lick may have had a bearing on it too.
The disadvantage? I had had take the engine apart and steam clean it to get the crap out of it! The advantage? A mid 90's 4bolt main one piece rear main seal, Dart II heads and a factory windage tray on a almost zero hour GM 350 cu in engine with either roller or flat tappets that needed no more than a fresh set of gaskets and some single stage acrylic paint to turn it into contemporary Corvette V8. That an a fone call to Iskenderian to send me the cam shaft I wanted to use.
The information on 2 cycle oil is flawed accompanied by a lousy command of the english language and a league of people who believe it.
I would not waste my money on it.