Vice Grip Garage and auto additives

I have been majorly binging Vice Grip Garage.  I have one of you s.o.b.'s to blame for talking about the show.  I'm amazed by the guys ability, but worried I'm going to start calling spark plugs, "sparkalaters"!

The thing is, I am watching him use all types of additives and almost always using Berryman's B12.  I have used stop leak to get home with a leaking radiator.  I was surprised at the napa clerk being so positive that it would work.  Point is:  I was always taught that mechanics in a can didn't work.

Derek obviously knows his stuff.   How many of you use fuel additives as a matter of course and are some of them worth it for higher mileage engines?  

I'm wondering....

In reply to thedoc :

What does he claim they do?

Stop leak is pretty obvious what it does, and is pretty clear if it works or not.  Although the side effects are hidden until the future.

Fuel additives used to be more important, but then the detergent package was more normalized via rules, and you can also find market fuels that have both better detergents and fewer long chain HC's that add to deposits.

Other than cleaning, what else are additives supposed to do?  

I *might* use them to clean my Miata that hasn't run much in the last decade, but once fuel is regularly used, I'll stop.

Everything works if they pay you enough to say so.

Since he is supposed to reviving cars that have been sitting a long time then a fuel system cleaner is a good idea. I haven't used berrymans but I can say that seafoam can work wonders when the conditions are right for it.

I've used Berryman's carb cleaner when rebuilding snowmobile and small engine carbs with good success.

I'm not sure what makes it work so well, but I know it makes my fingers tingle if they get sprayed, which is something the others don't do. 

This show is bringing me back to my youth when I was into austin healeys and mg midgets.  There were guys who swore by marvel mystery oil (which Derek uses on occasion).  Derek seems to use all types of gas and oil additives.  Currently I'm not in the spot where I can place another but he is really making me want to get a real heap.

Not everything is snake oil. I think the problem is too many people expect miracles from the can when what it mostly does is just help things be a bit better.

Scotty Kilmer has recommended the occasional 'mechanic in a can' to stop leaks and clean internals. Scotty takes money from no one. Derek only ever got sponsorship from Peak antifreeze and the Spray Away glass cleaner folks.

The old B12 was really really good. The newer "safer" B12 is decent but not as good.

Previous owner of my Branger had the common intake leak.  Their solution was a can of stop-leak in the radiator so they could kick the can down the road to me.

So, a water pump, radiator, two heater cores, intake gaskets, $500 and a wasted week waiting for parts later, I was able to fix a $50 problem.

[sarcasm] Thanks, stop-leak [/sarcasm]

Many of the fix-in-a-can are just band-aids if used incorrectly.  I've taken a tire to a shop for a plug and they refused because someone put slime in the tire.  Marvel mystery oil is mostly just a very viscous oil that increases the existing oil's viscosity to mask problems and give a dying engine a little peace before it spins a bearing or seizes a pin.  Not unlike giving a dying person some morphine so they're at least not screaming when they die.

Some work great, when used properly.  Too many times I see people (for example) using some oil additive to stop a cam tick and it starved the bearings when all they needed was a valve adjustment, or using stop leak because they saw coolant on their driveway when all it needed was the hose clamp tightened a bit.  You really have to know what the product does instead of just reading the label.  Reading the label, you would think it cures hydrophobia, the vapors, baldness, and restores your engine to better than new. In reality, sometimes it's just copper chewing gum

I will happily admit to have not geeked out too much on fuel additives but all the looking I have done says one of two things:

1) Premium grade fuel is the best (everyday person) fuel additive to put in your tank

2) If you don't add <insert brand here> at least every fill up, you're basically ruining your MPG, top end, down end, left end, contributing to your ED, raising and lowering your blood pressure, and leaving money on the table by not giving it to <insert brand here> (hyperbole because it amuses me)

In reply to ddavidv :

Scotty Kilmer is also batE36 M3 crazy.

I resisted Vice Grip Garage for as long as I could then I watched an episode and now I have to watch all of them, might even buy a hat. Anyways, my brother is a mechanic and swears by Seafoam. Personally, fuel and oil additives are cheap and I'm willing to take the chance that they revive some dried out valve guide seals or whatever. As some of you know, I own a kart track and maintain a whole fleet of Honda engines and proper maintenance is key to long life. In my personal vehicles, I like to throw a litre of ATF in the engine oil about a week before I plan on changing the oil because ATF is heavy on detergents and cleans out sludge. I notice that Derek always goes with diesel oil in those old cars and I suspect that's because diesel oil has more detergents in it than regular oil. And using 2 stroke fuel to start an engine that has been sitting for years is brilliant.

Seafoam has done wonders for my weedwacker and chainsaw. And it's a good penetrating oil too!

Many fuel additives contain "distillates or long chain hydrocarbons".  They really don't do much. They are mostly the same thing as the fuel. 

Look for fuel additive that contain polyetheramine (PEA). The more the better. PEA is a true cleaning agent and will clean lines, carbs and injectors. 

I've been using Techiron (a Chevron product).  It has one of the highest PEA amounts. 

You can ask to look at the chemical safety sheet at the auto parts store to determine the amount of PEA. 

Also, I've seen Lucas oil additive stop engines that smoke at start up. My guess is it softens the valve guides seals and allows them to seal again. But then, who knows....

So some of the engines he's restarting have been sitting for decades.... what does he use in the oil to clean it out?  ATF or something else?  Or is B12 like Seafoam, where it says you can add it to the oil (which seems questionable)?

Quite positive Derek isn't making a dime from additive cans.  He introduces them as a they probably won't work, but what else does he have to lose. 
 

ill be dipped comes into my head far too often. Fuel make it happener. Fire juice.  The man's vocabulary is one of legends. 

The "Tonya Harding 3000" cracks me up!

"I chose this battery for one particular reason..."

One additive I do believe in is Alumaseal, silvery powder that comes in a vial for cooling systems. It won't fix that gaping wound in your radiator but it has quelled the weeping tank seals on modern plastic radiators more than once for me. Unlike Bar's Leak, it doesn't clog your heater core. We tossed a vial of that stuff in Alfa Romeos when I worked at the dealership back in the 1990s as part of the service regimen. 

As for Scotty Kilmer, once you become accustomed to his bizarre delivery and flailing hands he actually knows quite a bit. He has so much money from YouTube he doesn't give a fig what he says, which is kind of refreshing when it comes to talking about modern cars. 

In reply to ddavidv :

I watched and episode labeled Subaru...in which he ranted for 10 minutes about how it's a DODGE Ram, not just Ram.

Not my cup of tea.

There are definitely additives out there that are useful, but typically only for fairly specific purposes.  There's no magic fix-it in a bottle.  But if you know why you're using an additive and what it's intended to do, some of them can help. 

There's definite evidence that a bit of Marvel Mystery Oil added to engine oil can dissolve some varnish, sludge, etc.  It makes good cutting oil too, as it smells nice. 

Techron, Regane, and other fuel system cleaners containing PEA definitely do clean things.  Although if the system isn't dirty, they aren't going to do anything. 

Berryman B12 is at least a pretty decent carb cleaner / solvent.  So it works for cleaning anything that needs one of those. 

Coolant stop leak additives are all pretty much a no-go due to side effects.  But oil stop leaks are different.  I've personally seen AT-205 reseal bring some life back to seals that weren't sealing well due to being old and hard.  It took care of a noticeable trans input shaft or pump seal leak on the Jeep and the leak has never returned.  Nothing you add will fix a worn out seal though.  And effects also depend on the seal material, etc.  AT-205 in the oil does nothing useful to cooked, leaky BMW valve cover gaskets, for example. 

lnlogauge said:

Quite positive Derek isn't making a dime from additive cans.  He introduces them as a they probably won't work, but what else does he have to lose. 

This is how I've always taken it, he's not touting them just saying "what do I have to lose?"

BG 44K seems to be more highly thought of than any other fuel system cleaner. It should be, for what they charge for it. But I've only ever heard good things.

 I've had great  luck with the powder type stop leak fro radiators and heater cores. Helped a freeze plug too. The key seems to be draining the radiator 1/2 way, mixing the powder in a jug then refilling.  K-seal was a favorite among some people I worked with for suspected head gaskets and  casting cracks.

The lawnmower gets a splash of seafoam in the tank each fill up. Thing hasn't had a fuel or carb issue in 10 years and counting.

ddavidv said:

BG 44K seems to be more highly thought of than any other fuel system cleaner. It should be, for what they charge for it. But I've only ever heard good things.

I used the BG40 in my 4.8 Chevy van motor , 

It really cleaned up the idle , and pretty quick , BUT once I put another tank of gas in it without the BG40 it went back to hunting a little at idle , 

I am not sure if it cleaned anything or just added Octane to the gas that was in the tank at when I poured in the BG40

and yes it was $25 on Amazon !