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Prolong Oil Treatment


iluvcarina
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I am thinking of trying a new oil treatment which i have seen advertised called prolong,has anyone already tried it ? and if so whats your opinion ?

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I have not tried it, or even heard of it...

in my eyes the best oil treatment is an old one called "regular oil Change"

I do mine pretty much ever 1000 miles... - but I'm fussy :)

I use Shell helix plus :)

used to use Castrol GTX magnitec...

but all the pros said it was rubbish.... :lol:

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As far as I know, Prolong is BS. ;)

Just change your oil regularly...

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I am thinking of trying a new oil treatment which i have seen advertised called prolong,has anyone already tried it ? and if so whats your opinion ?

All it is, is a viscosity thickener so supposedly sticks to engine parts longer, like Magnatec is supposed to do and i been told to avoid, and just service the car regular.

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All it is, is a viscosity thickener so supposedly sticks to engine parts longer, like Magnatec is supposed to do and i been told to avoid, and just service the car regular.

viscosity thickeners are NOT good. when you have a cold start, the oil is thicker anyway, especially on these winter days... all it does is makes the opil harder to pump... and one startup means in the first few seconds the car has no oil preasure in/to vital places!!! ASk anyone with a mazda V6 about cold morbing start up.. anothing over then 5w-30 priucuces a "clunk clunk clunk" for bout 3-10 seconds while the oil preasure builds up!!!! Tell me how THAT increases engne life!!!!!

admitedly those engines are particualrly RUBBISH (I know I have just transplanted one into my probe) but the same rules apply.

can't beat a regular oil change... -ESPECIALLY if you have a turbo car!!!

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If your car runs like a dream then why bother.

However, I tried it on our primera a couple of years back. Engine was noisy until it warmed - I postulated an oil feed problem/noisy timing chain.

It really made an embarassing racket - anyway, the prolong made it as smooth as anything and improved mpg.

Also I did not re-treat it as recommended and about 2 yrs on its fine.

Its supposed to bind to metal but is apparently gradually washed out with each oil change. I've read its categorised as an 'exteme pressure lubricant' and the chemistry is nothing new - apparently its chemical equivilants are used on things like escalators etc.

I did try the 'duralube' on the hiace diesel and it quietened that down also. Duralube and Prolong are similar products but the prolong is supposed to contain corrosion inhibitors.

I think there is also a link also with hydrochloric acid! (alledgedly an excellent lube) - anyway, there is a lot of info on 'alta vista' server which should help you make a decision.

Out of all their products I would only use the engine and gearbox treatments - and only on mechanicals which are technically past their best

Chris

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  • 10 months later...

Prolong is not a viscosity thickener, nor is it and oil treatment, nor is it just one product. Prolong produce full motor oils, cutting fluids, biodegradable oils aswell as the treatments you guys are talking about. Prolong treatments do not mix or change the composition of the oil it is put with. All the oil does is carry it around the engine. Imagine if there was an oil that instead of migrating away from heat, went towards it. The reason that syntheric oil is capable of withstanding greater temperatures and is more resistant to oxidation than mimeral oil is because of its molecular structure. Mineral is short chain, synthetic is long chain (in summary). Now imagine if the very same oil that migrates towards heat is a pure petroleum product but with long chain and double bonded molecular structure, capable of withstanding much greater temperatures and pressures than conventional flowing lubricants without breaking down and actually impregnates the metal surfaces at friction points. This is what Prolong technology is. It is a manufacturing process involving molecular engineering that produces lubricants accepted as superior to any other (as discovered by the Federal Trade Commission after an 18 month investigation into their claims). Whoever told you that Prolong is a viscisty thickener doesnt know what Prolong is and probably is presuming its an 'additive' like Slick or something.

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i love prolong and think its the dogs danglys just about to do a full fluid cahnge on the gelica and will use prolong wherever possible heard great things and experianced great things with prolong. my mates 500+bhp wiv 150bhp of nitrous uses prolong whereever poss he loves the stuff and he know engines. malthus u might know him woody from evolution performance in essex

ed

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Yeah, the Evolution boys at Thames Estuary, good bunch of lads. Its great to have some guys that know Prolong and what it does, the difference in attitude between people that know and use Prolong and the guys that think they know Prolong (and presume its something its not) is huge. I have been on the Sera club forum (as I own a Sera) and the guys on that site refuse to even try the stuff! They think its 'voodoo' and an 'additive' and all that hoohaa. I gave up when one chap starting making out MIRA were manipulating test results to make Prolong look good (?!), sigh.

As far as 'if your car runs great why bother' all I can say is put some Prolong oils into it and then ask yourself why bother. The whole point of using superior lubricants is to save time & money and to keep your unit in great condition for longer, and thats what superior lubricants do. For example, flowing lubricants migrate away from heat. Does that not sound a little silly?

Have a look at toyotasera.co.uk and tell me what you think of logic and the lack-of Lord Ed. :thumbsup:

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i used to own a sera dude

http://omicron.uk.com/gallery/view_album.p...Name=sera_uk_ed

woody hated the car in the end J rubbed his hands together whenever i walked into the shop the basis to the car was beacause i can. next time ur up there say Ed says that u will love to work on my sera to woody and see how he reacts. and have u seen his cossie yet dude

when are evo goin to have the oil in stock dude

cheers

ed

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I remain to be convinced. Tell me how to test it, and how I can proove beyond reasonable doubt that the results are of a direct consequence of Prolong and not due to other factors.

The thread in question is http://www.omicron.uk.com/sera/forum/index...owtopic=94&st=0

I *own* Lord_Eds old Sera, been waiting a while for some of the bits (gentle reminder here)

Andrew

www.toyotasera.co.uk

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I *own* Lord_Eds old Sera, been waiting a while for some of the bits (gentle reminder here)

i keep asking for the m when i go up there and keep forgetting them dude but they are always the first thing i mention when i go up there

they will be done dude

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Dont waste your money with these addatives.

You are better off buying a better oil. If you want the best look for an Ester/PAO based oil. Esters assist the additive pack in a motor oil formulation because they are surface-active (electrostatically attracted to metal surfaces), so they help to reduce wear and friction.

They are fluid at very low temperatures and at high temperatures they are very chemically stable and have low volatility (don’t evaporate away).

They also help to prevent hardening and cracking of oil seals at high temperatures.

This is what the like of these addatives and magnatec claim to mimic, but these boys have it all in the building blocks (base stock) so no need for an addative, its cheaper then using an addative too.

Cheers

Guy.

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So what you are saying is these oils are better than Prolong? And you know about Prolong? Or are you making a general statement about 'additives'?

Here are some specs, let me know what you think.

Prolong Motor Oil (Mineral Oil- 10w40) :

Specific Gravity @60degF/15.6C : 0.94

Viscosity c ST@100degC : 645.00

Copper Corrosion Strip D-130 : 1a

Flash Point PMCC F D-93 : 500degF

Pour Point F D97 : -24degF

High Peak Operating Temp : 450degF

You seem to know what you are talking about so Id be interested if you would let me know what you think and if there is anything other information you would need that I can get you etc :thumbsup:

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if this stuff is so good,

then why hasn't one of the worlds major oil companies made you an offer you couldn't possibly refuse - millions, billions of dollars/pounds,:D :D to secure the prolong secret recipe for their

own range of oil?

Wouldn't this be a massive marketing coup for Mobil (or Shell/Castrol etc) and give them a huge market lead? <_<

Tim

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Ironside Lubricants of Stockport (who produce 25% of the grease in home market) had a meeting with Prolong Technical to discuss licensing the Prolong patent (a manufacturing process not a recipe), after talks they decided not to. The reason being that as it stands they sell 30 different kinds of grease. If they used the patent this would wipe out all of these and leave only one. Not only that but they would sell a hell of a lot less of it as you only need about a tenth of the amount and it lasts a hell of a lot longer.

Manufacturers like to stay competitive, but its all about profit and risk assessment. Iam sure somewhere down the line they decided that even if a company has the best technology/ product available, it takes a little bit more than that to become a threat to their market share. When it does become a threat, who knows what will happen? You will find that the better known oil companies feel they have a monopoly on technological advancements and are very arrogant and dismissive of anything they have not thought of themselves. Meanwhile, this technology is available to everyone, and yet I would lay odds you have never even considered using it. This is a good example of the risk assessment the better known oil companies have considered.

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And how much comission are you on exactly???????

I have heard it all before..... I work with an Ex prolong sales person......

Show me a prolonged 150,000 miler RX-7 thats never had a an engine rebuild and I'll buy it :lol:

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So what you are saying is these oils are better than Prolong? And you know about Prolong? Or are you making a general statement about 'additives'?

Here are some specs, let me know what you think.

Prolong Motor Oil (Mineral Oil- 10w40) :

Specific Gravity @60degF/15.6C : 0.94

Viscosity c ST@100degC : 645.00

Copper Corrosion Strip D-130 : 1a

Flash Point PMCC F D-93 : 500degF

Pour Point F D97 : -24degF

High Peak Operating Temp : 450degF

You seem to know what you are talking about so Id be interested if you would let me know what you think and if there is anything other information you would need that I can get you etc :thumbsup:

The oil is ok, but it is only a mineral oil and there will be gains from using a true synthetic or even a semi.

I feel a big post comming on, brace yourselves.

Cheers

Guy.

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SYNTHETICS vs MINERALS

Oil is the lifeblood of your vehicle's engine. For decades conventional petroleum

oils have been providing adequate protection for all of our vehicles.

The key word here is adequate. Petroleum oils, for the most part, have done an adequate job of protecting our engines from break down. If you change it often enough, you can be relatively sure that your car will last 100,000 to 150,000 miles without a serious engine problem - maybe even longer.

The real question is, why settle for adequate when something better has been available for about 30 years?

Today's engines are built for better performance, and, although petroleum oils are designed for better protection and performance today than they were 10 or 20 years ago, there is only so much that can be done. Today's engines need high performance lubricants, and the only true ones available are synthetics.

Conventional petroleum oils are insufficient for use in today's vehicles primarily because they are manufactured from a refined substance, contain paraffins (wax), sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, water, salts and certain metals. All of these contaminants must be refined out of the basestock in order for it to be useful for use within a lubricant.

Unfortunately, no refining process is perfect. Impurities will always remain when any refining process is done. It simply isn't economical to continue to refine the oil again and again to remove more impurities. If this was done, petroleum oils would cost as much as synthetic oils do.

There are many components of petroleum oil basestocks which are completely unnecessary for protecting your engine. They do absolutely nothing to enhance the lubrication properties of the oil. In fact, most of these contaminants are actually harmful to your oil and your engine.

Some of the chemicals in conventional petroleum lubricants break down at temperatures well within the normal operating temperature range of your engine. Others are prone to break down in these relatively mild temperatures only if oxygen is present. But, this is invariably the case anyway, especially since oxygen is one of the contaminants within petroleum basestocks.

These thermally and oxidatively unstable contaminants do absolutely nothing to aid in the lubrication process. They are only present in conventional petroleum oils because removing them would be impossible or excessively expensive.

When thermal or oxidative break down of petroleum oil occurs, it leaves engine components coated with varnish, deposits and sludge. In addition, the lubricant which is left is thick, hard to pump and maintains little heat transfer ability.

In addition, petroleum oils contain paraffins which cause dramatic oil thickening in cold temperatures. Even with the addition of pour point depressant additives, most petroleum oils will begin to thicken at temperatures 10 to 40 degrees warmer than synthetic oils.

As a result, petroleum lubricants will not readily circulate through your engine's oil system during cold weather. This may leave engine parts unprotected for minutes after startup. Obviously, significant wear can occur during this time frame.

Even when all conditions are perfect for conventional oils to do their job, they fall far short of synthetic oils. Part of the problem is that (because of their refined nature) petroleum oils are composed of molecules which vary greatly in size. As the oil flows through your vehicle's lubrication system, the small, light molecules tend to flow in the center of the oil stream while the large, heavy ones adhere to metal surfaces where they create a barrier against heat movement from the component to the oil stream. In effect, the large, heavy molecules work like a blanket around hot components.

There is also another effect of the non-uniformity of petroleum oil molecules which reduces their effectiveness. Uniformly smooth molecules slip over one another with relative ease. This is not the case with molecules of differing size.

Theoretically, it might be somewhat similar to putting one layer of marbles on top of another (if this could easily be done). If the marbles were all of the same size, they would move over one another fairly easily. However, if they were all of differing sizes, the result would be much less efficient.

In the case of petroleum oils this inefficiency leads, ironically, to added friction in the system (the very thing that lubricants are supposed to reduce). Hence, petroleum oils are only marginally capable of controlling heat in your engine. Considering that motor oil does nearly 50% of the cooling of your engine, that's not a good thing. But,

This being said, petroleum oils are “adequate” for the purpose of protecting your engine, if you don't mind a shorter vehicle lifespan, inconvenient oil changes, or decreased engine

performance. Under normal circumstances, most vehicles lubricated with petroleum oil should run satisfactorily for 100,000 to 150,000 miles without serious incidence.

If you like the hassle of changing your oil regularly, and you are only looking for marginal

performance for the next 100,000 miles or so, petroleum oils are definitely the way to go.

Assuming that you don't relish the idea of changing your oil every 2,000 miles or and are looking to keep your “pride and joy” in tip-top condition then these are the main areas where synthetic oils surpass their petroleum counterparts.

Oil drains can be extended

Vehicle life can be extended

Costly repairs can be reduced

Fuel mileage can be improved

Performance can be improved

Synthetic basestock molecules are pure and of uniform size. This is because synthetic basestocks are designed from the ground up with the sole purpose of protecting your engine. Nothing is added if it does not significantly contribute to the lubricating ability of the oil.

In addition, in top-quality synthetics, no component is added which might be contaminated with any substance that might lessen the lubricating qualities of the oil. In other words, manufacturers of these premium synthetics implement very strict quality control measures to insure no contamination.

Not only that, synthetic basestocks are designed so that the molecules are of uniform size and weight. In addition, synthetic basestock molecules are short-chain molecules which are much more stable than the long-chain molecules that petroleum basestocks are made of. This significantly adds to the lubricating qualities and stability of the oil.

EXTENDED OIL DRAINS

Stable Basestocks

Synthetic oils are designed from pure, uniform synthetic basestocks, they contain no contaminants or unstable molecules which are prone to thermal and oxidative break down.

Moreover, because of their uniform molecular structure, synthetic lubricants operate with less internal and external friction than petroleum oils which have the non-uniform molecular structure. The result is better heat control, and less heat means less stress to the lubricant.

Higher Percentage of Basestock

Synthetic oils contain a higher percentage of lubricant basestock than petroleum oils do.

This is because multi-viscosity oils need a great deal of pour point depressant and viscosity modifying additives in order to be sold as multi-viscosity oils.

Synthetic oils, require very little in the way of pour point depressants and viscosity

modifiers. Therefore, synthetic oils can contain a higher percentage of basestock, which actually does most of the lubricating anyway. More basestock leads to longer motor oil life.

Additives Used Up More Slowly

Petroleum basestocks are much more prone to oxidation than synthetic oils, oxidation inhibitors are needed in greater supply and are used up very quickly. Synthetic oils do oxidize, but at a much slower rate therefore, oxidation inhibiting additives are used up much more slowly.

Synthetic oils provide for better ring seal than petroleum oils do. This minimizes blow-by and reduces contamination by combustion by-products. As a result, corrosion inhibiting additives have less work to do and will last much longer than within a petroleum oil.

Excellent Heat Tolerance

Synthetics are simply more tolerant to extreme heat than petroleum oils are. When heat builds up within an engine, petroleum oils quickly begin to burn off. They volatize. In other words, the lighter molecules within petroleum oils turn to gas and what's left are the large petroleum oil molecules that are harder to pump.

Synthetics are resistant to this burn-off. They will tolerate much higher engine temperatures.

EXTENDED VEHICLE LIFE WITH FEWER REPAIRS

Heat Reduction

More often than not, vehicle life is determined by engine life. One of the major factors affecting engine life is component wear and/or failure, which is often the result of high temperature operation. The uniformly smooth molecular structure of synthetic oils gives them a much lower coefficient of friction (they slip more easily over one another causing less friction) than petroleum oils.

Less friction, of course, means less heat in the system. And, since heat is a major contributor to engine component wear and failure, synthetic oils significantly reduce these two detrimental effects.

In addition, because of their uniform molecular structure, synthetic oils do not cause the "blanket effect" which was mentioned earlier. Since each molecule in a synthetic oil is of uniform size, each is equally likely to touch a component surface at any given time, thus moving a certain amount of heat into the oil stream and away from the component. This makes synthetic oils far superior heat transfer agents than conventional petroleum oils.

Greater Film Strength

Petroleum motor oils have very low film strength in comparison to synthetics. The film strength of a lubricant refers to it's ability to maintain a film of lubricant between two objects when extreme pressure and heat are applied.

Synthetic oils will typically have a film strength of 500% to 1000% higher than petroleum oils of comparable viscosity. In fact, believe it or not, even though heavier weight oils typically have higher film strength than lighter weight oils, a 0w30 or 5w-40 weight synthetic oil will likely have higher film strength than a 15w40 or 20w50 petroleum oil.

Thus, even with a lighter weight oil, you can still maintain proper lubricity and reduce the chance of metal to metal contact when using a synthetic oil. Of course, that means that you can use oils that provide far better fuel efficiency and cold weather protection without sacrificing engine protection under high temperature, high load conditions. Obviously, this is a big plus, because you can greatly reduce both cold temperature start-up wear and high temperature/high load engine wear using the same low viscosity oil.

Engine Deposit Reduction

In discussing some of the pitfalls of petroleum oil use, engine cleanliness is certainly an issue. Petroleum oils tend to leave sludge, varnish and deposits behind after thermal and oxidative break down. They're better than they used to be, but it still occurs.

Deposit build-up leads to a significant reduction in engine performance and engine life as well as increasing the number of costly repairs that are necessary. Since synthetic oils have far superior thermal and oxidative stability than petroleum oils, they leave engines virtually varnish, deposit and sludge-free.

Better Cold Temperature Fluidity

Synthetic oils and other lubricants do not contain paraffins or other waxes which dramatically thicken petroleum oils during cold weather. As a result, they tend to flow much better during cold temperature starts and begin lubricating an engine almost immediately. This leads to significant engine wear reduction, and, therefore, longer engine life and fewer costly repairs.

IMPROVED FUEL MILEAGE AND PERFORMANCE

As indicated earlier, synthetic oils, because of their uniform molecular structure, are tremendous friction reducers. Less friction leads to increased fuel economy and improved engine performance.

Any energy released from the combustion process that would normally be lost to friction can now be transferred directly to the wheels, providing movement.

Vehicle acceleration becomes swifter and more powerful while using less fuel in the process.

The uniform molecular structure of synthetic oils has another performance enhancing benefit as well. In a petroleum oil, lighter molecules tend to boil off easily, leaving behind much heavier molecules which are difficult to pump. Certainly, the engine loses more energy pumping these heavy molecules than if it were pumping lighter ones.

Since synthetic oils have more uniform molecules, fewer of these molecules tend to boil off.

More importantly, when they do, the molecules which are left are of the same size and pumpability is not affected.

Cheers

Guy. :thumbsup:

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All of the arguments for using syntheric over mineral are very well and good, I wouldnt say that there is actually much of a huge difference between film strengths though - around 4,000 (mineral)-5,000psi (synthetic). Not if you consider Prolongs film strength is over 200,000psi. The arguments in this article are actually not applicable to Prolong, however. To say Prolong is a mineral oil and therefore suffers any of the disadvantages associated with mineral oil is inaccurate. Prolong is pure petroleum and yet 27 long chain molecule structure and double bonded at both ends, in summary it is the world's most powerful oil. The main advantages in synthetic are the temperature tolerance (handy if you have turbo etc) and resistance to oxidation. One of the things that is not mentioned in the article (which leads me to believe this was written by someone closely affiliated with Amsoil or another synthetics company) is that mineral oils are more compatible with components and other fluids such as water.

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If it is really THAT amazing, why are manufacturers not selling it as a standard factory feature???

Same with all these thngs that "increase performance, engine life and fuel economy" if there was sucha thing, think how much money the huge auto indusrty firms could save in research :ffs:

you could sell it ina multipack with turbozets and ecotek valves :thumbsup:

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I have already mentoned this earlier (above), another example-

Catepillar is a customer of Prolong technology, yet they do not use it in their service department. The reason being that they make more money on selling spare parts than they actually do selling the units. They want to stay competitive but not lose money.

The same principle can be applied to companies that sell bearings. If they were to cycle their bearings in a bath of Prolong the life of these bearings would double, if not triple. This would mean they would sell less bearings. To get their bearings established would take time, during which the competitors would still be making profits in line with shorter life bearings, putting them in a very precarious market position. Its all very well and good saying that they are better bearings but this would have to be acknowledged and accepted by consumers that do not look into the technicalities of products and generally go for the cheapest option. So why rock the boat?

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