Add-on product to extend life of engine

Marvel Mystery Oil is now owned by Turtlewax.

http://www.marvelmysteryoil.com/media/1256/marvel-mystery-oil.pdf
From the MSDS, MMO is ~75% naphthenic hydrocarbons, ~25% mineral spirits (Stoddard solvent, i.e., paint thinner), with a splash of wintergreen scent.

Naphthenic hydrocarbons are a low melting point wax.

Stoddard Solvent and naphthenic hydrocarbons are used in paint thinners and other solvents. The solvent may be there to dissolve the wax. The wintergreen is simply a pleasant scent, and the red coloring has obvious magical properties.

MMO was invented in 1923 by Mr. Marvel who also invented the Marvel carburetor. MMO was marketed to prevent clogging of the Marvel carb's jets. Back in the 1920's with gasoline, oil, standards, specifications, handling, and technology as it was, perhaps MMO had a place in the gas tank, or perhaps Mr. Marvel was simply a marketing genius. I lean toward both.

If put into engine oil the mineral spirits evaporate when the engine warms leaving behind the wax, red dye, and perhaps wintergreen scent - innocuous, though pointless.

If put into the fuel tank everything burns in the cylinder. This seems innocuous and pointless as well. If you have trouble or fear clogged jets and/or injectors there are better products on the market for these purposes. They are just as legal to use as is MMO.

They do have a very spiffy website.
http://www.marvelmysteryoil.com/
 
In my experience, not babying NA Lycomings has given me a good outcome on longevity. **

**This advice not valid on continental cylinders or any turbo installations. Void where prohibited. Worth what you paid for it, only one per customer, and Bob's your Uncle. :D
 
Bell206 said:
Changing the oil/filter regularly, not abusing the the engine in flight via lean mixtures settings or super-cooling the cylinders in decent, following the OEM recommended preventative/servicing procedures, pre-heating on cold days, breaking a new engine in per the OEM recommendations, etc. However, never seen any "TBO extender" in a can that worked better than the previous list and common sense.
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I'm with you most of the way... Flying regularly is key. And while I don't believe shock cooling is really a thing (the cylinders cool quite quickly after shutdown, after all), I see no disadvantage to pretending it is and reducing my power slowly on descent.

But lean mixtures? C'mon, this isn't the 1970s. Lean of peak is the preferred way to run most engines in cruise. Yes, there are flight regimes where LOP is undesirable, but it's not going to kill your engine as long as you keep the engine running at the right temperatures.
 
Domenick said:
Marvel Mystery Oil is now owned by Turtlewax.

http://www.marvelmysteryoil.com/media/1256/marvel-mystery-oil.pdf
From the MSDS, MMO is ~75% naphthenic hydrocarbons, ~25% mineral spirits (Stoddard solvent, i.e., paint thinner), with a splash of wintergreen scent.

Naphthenic hydrocarbons are a low melting point wax.

Stoddard Solvent and naphthenic hydrocarbons are used in paint thinners and other solvents. The solvent may be there to dissolve the wax. The wintergreen is simply a pleasant scent, and the red coloring has obvious magical properties.

MMO was invented in 1923 by Mr. Marvel who also invented the Marvel carburetor. MMO was marketed to prevent clogging of the Marvel carb's jets. Back in the 1920's with gasoline, oil, standards, specifications, handling, and technology as it was, perhaps MMO had a place in the gas tank, or perhaps Mr. Marvel was simply a marketing genius. I lean toward both.

If put into engine oil the mineral spirits evaporate when the engine warms leaving behind the wax, red dye, and perhaps wintergreen scent - innocuous, though pointless.

If put into the fuel tank everything burns in the cylinder. This seems innocuous and pointless as well. If you have trouble or fear clogged jets and/or injectors there are better products on the market for these purposes. They are just as legal to use as is MMO.

They do have a very spiffy website.
http://www.marvelmysteryoil.com/
Click to expand...

Best MMO post ever. On any forum. Well done.
 
I believe CamGuard is a legitimately helpful product. The formulator of the product posted in an old thread on the AOPA Red Board describing the history and benefits of CamGuard. You can read it here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1airconxhv9gz83/CamGuard.Ed.Kollin.txt?dl=1

My first engine (Lycoming O-320-D3G) in a 1979 Piper Warrior II (PA-28-161) was a factory reman from 1992. It went 3000 hours until it was replaced in 2012. We ran AeroShell 15W50 exclusively. Even with two owners, every year the plane can sit for up to two months, particularly in the winter. Despite that inactivity and sitting only 7NM from salt water Puget Sound, the old engine was accepted as a valid core by the very well known shop who built our new engine.

With the new engine, we switched to Phillips XC 20W50 plus CamGuard. Plane is in the same place, flown by the same two owners in the same way. Why switch given the success we had with AeroShell. After seeing Ed Kollin's willingness to discuss his product, and see some independent verification of Ed's claims, we decided we wanted to use CamGuard, and it seemed using it with AeroShell was somewhat redundant. Here is AeroShell's blurb on its additive package:
The advanced additive package in AeroShell W 15 W 50 provides excellent protection to engines operating at extreme ambient temperatures. The ashless anti-wear additive package provides exceptional wear protection for camshafts and lifters and other wearing surfaces.
Click to expand...
Ed Kollin made a strong case CamGuard was vastly superior to AeroShell 15W50 additive package. Although cost was not a consideration, with Phillips XC 20W50 plus CamGuard we are paying about the same as running straight AeroShell 15W50.

The official recommendation is for 1.6 ounce/quart (47.4ml/quart) Camguard.

When we get a new case or two of Phillips X/C 20W50 oil, I pretreat each quart with CamGuard. Use a needle-less 50 ml syringe to squirt the CamGuard into the bottle neck, reseal, and mark each treated bottle with a black felt-pen 'C'. That way I never need to think about it and the few quarts of oil I carry in the plane are ready to drink. And it's not rocket science, 45-50ml is fine, and it fits into the empty headspace in each bottle.
 
The very best treatment for an aircraft engine is .. .. .. (wait for it) .. .. .. Fly it at least once a week.
Corrosion and dry starts kill more engines before their time than running them ever will.
 
At OSH 2 years ago I spoke with the aviation oil formulation head at Shell. He did extensive testing with the same additive that’s in CamGuard. They tested oils with various percentages of the additive to come up with the proper mix. Too little and the effectiveness is reduced, too much and the wear actually increased. He said their 15W50 contains just that right amount. So don’t add CamGuard to any AeroShell Plus or 15W50 oils.

I think there are benefits to synthetic oils like AeroShell’s 15W50, but that’s an opinion and opens up a whole ‘nuther can of dispute...
 
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