Hi All,

Has anybody or does anybody use this product in their 4th Gen? If so, curious what has been your observations. I recently added 100ml to mine. The common cold start "clatter" or "rattle" has greatly diminished and the perceived vibration at warm idle has lessened.

 

Few topics are as controversial as engine oil additives! Proponents, opponents, lots of anecdotal evidence and opinions. Now, I am not a subject matter expert in the field of tribology but as a mechanical engineer I was exposed to a certain degree of education and experience in the matter, so here’s my humble take: Up until the 1950s, engine oil was pretty low-tech. You put it in, lost a bunch of it through leaks and combustion, and then changed it regularly. So back then, some additives may have offered improvements in certain areas of performance; however, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Improving one parameter by merely pouring in a can of stuff usually degrades another area of performance, but that may or may not have been an issue back when STP was advertised on TV. Since the 1960s however folks have spent a whole lot of effort into improving engine oil and today it’s quite advanced in specific formulation. So my opinion, FWIW: I am not going to go pouring a can of something into my oil but instead will buy high-quality oil and change the oil and filter myself on a regular basis.

 

I appreciate the reply. I don't want to turn this into a back and forth about the use of additives or their value (or lack thereof).

I do agree that it all begins with regular, consistent maintenance using quality components. I already use quality oil and filtration on regular intervals (purposely not disclosing that information as to avoid the "you have to use this product at this OCI" discussion). After doing some research, I opted to try MOS2 (molybdenum disulfide), which led me to Liqui Moly's additive. I initially added it to a Mopar product at the rate of 300ml to 5.2qt of oil. The audible difference was immediately noticed. The engine runs quieter at cold start and idles quieter at warm idle. The idle has a discernibly smoother feel.

I will continue to monitor the performance throughout this OCI and see if it degrades with miles or maintains.

 

Perhaps this additive makes oil thicker/heavier, thus engine runs a bit quieter. But, your vehicle engine is designed to use specific oil weight. Consistent using heavier oil will affect engine longevity and vehicle mpg will drop.

 

Thanks for the reply. Do you have any experience with the use of MOS2?

 

Sounds to me like he doesn't use any oil additives. I've never used any of them either and have never had engine issues. Perhaps your car had engine problems which were helped by the additive?

 

For what is it worth, I have used Liqui Moly products in my 15 IS350 to clean the carbon deposits stuck on the piston rings (oil consumption) and it did help cant undo the damage that is already done - in my case scored cylinder walls from stuck piston rings. I have done 5k OCI at Lexus from when I bought it at 30k till 165k when I used the product.

One thing to note in my experience, if you use a good quality oil with 5k OCI such as Pennzoil Ultra Platinum, Mobil 1 EP you wont need to add any additives. When I switched to Pennzoil Ultra Platinum, I immediately noticed quieter idle and reduced oil consumption. Went from burning 1-2 quarts every 5k, to now maybe 1/2 quart every 5k.

I will be using Pennzoil Ultra Platinum on my RX350 as well. Great high performance oil with cleaning additives.

 

I'm not using the additive to address a "problem". The previously mentioned Mopar product that was my "test case" are known for noisy valvetrain at startup and sometimes at warm idle. It's a design flaw, IMO. They rapidly drain oil back to the oil pan when the engine shuts off. There are a few seconds at cold start where the oil is having to find it's way back out of the pan while the cam/lash adjusters are sitting there with only whatever remnant oil film was left behind prior to shutdown. The MOS2 is in place to leave a better lubricating presence during this time.

As for using it in the Lexus, again, not addressing a "problem". It's preventative in my usage. Most Toyota/Lexus folks are familiar with the 1GR-FE and 2GR-FE noises during cold starts. The source varies, but can be timing chains or valvetrain. If they have improved lubricity in place, perhaps the wear rate will be decreased, extending life.

I've driven +/- 2M miles in my life between work and personal adventures. I've never had a lubrication related failure during all of those miles. I've never used an oil additive until just recently. Everything has been standard (conventional or synthetic) oil and filters. I just decided to try MOS2 based on information that was available and the product's history. My inquiry here was to see what other people's experience has been with the specific chemical compound, if any.

 

Thanks for the insight. It's my understanding that Penn uses zinc and moly in their Ultra Platinum formula, so that would lend credence to the results (quieter, less oil consumption).

 

That’s not because of the product. Use a heavier oil like 5w-30 and you get the same result.

 

Increasing oil viscosity will not yield the same results.

 

If your car is out of manufacture warranty or with high miles I understand trying this out. I've never used oil additives in any of my vehicles. I have a 2002 v8 chevy pickup with over 300k and still runs like a champ changing oil every 7500 miles.
The only additive I use is Techron fuel system on every oil change. Been doing that for years.

 

…double post…

 

There is nothing broken to be fixed. You might have a dud and just masking the problem - like what people typically pour into their 30+ year old clunkers.

Probably doing more harm than good.

look at the last bullet point:

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@703 As I've already stated, I'm not here to debate the use of additives. My post was for the purposes of gathering people's experience with MOS2, and specifically in 4th Gen 3.5 liter Toyota engines.