khannie112

Has anyone ever used Marvel Mystery oil? If so, does this really work and should I use it in a relatively new car? And what the heck does it really do?

PixelHarmony

I'd assume it's nothing more than an additive which will do nothing it really says. Just another way to waste your money. I'd be sure if there was a way to make Mobile 1 synthetic oil any better they would have thought of it now or released the "mystery oil" themselves.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Wow...where do people come up with these great ideas...

khannie112

Wells, Marvel Mystery oil has been around since 1940, so it has to do something. I am just afraid of how it will affect today's car.

PixelHarmony

http://www.pipercubforum.com/marvel.htm
Marvel & other solutions to the lead problem
For all practical purposes, 80 octane aviation gasoline is no longer available, forcing the Cub driver to choose between 100LL avgas and 87 octane automotive gasoline (assuming that he has the necessary STC and that "mogas" is sold at the airport). Each fuel has its own problem. Despite the low-lead designation, 100LL contains too much lead for the older, low-compression engines. Mogas, on the other hand, doesn't have enough: some lead is needed to lubricate the valves.

Robert Parker uses Marvel Mystery Oil to reduce the buildup of lead from 100LL. He explained why in a post on the Cub Builders mailing list, which I have adapted here with his permission. Bob's article is followed by an email I received from Terry Lutz, expanding on Marvel and the alternative TCP. -- Dan Ford

That Marvel-ous Mystery Oil


by Robert Parker

Back in the late 1940s and early 1950s, at military air bases there were 55-gallon barrels labeled MMO (Marvel Mystery Oil). I forget the MIL spec number.... We had charts that told us how many gallons of MMO to put in per tank of fuel.

72 octane is the highest grade of gasoline that can be manufactured without [additives].

80/87 has 0.50 ml TEL [tetra-ethyl lead] per gallon and is dyed RED

91/96 2.00 ml TEL per gallon BLUE

100LL 2.00 ml TEL per gallon BLUE

100/130 3.00 ml TEL per gallon GREEN

115/145 4.60 ml TEL per gallon PURPLE

The amount of TEL in the higher grade fuels has increased the lead build up and fouling of spark plugs, along with valve erosion incidents, reported on some lower compression engines.

You know when you pull a magneto check at the runup area after a considerable taxi to get there, and you are running straight 100LL. You have a RPM drop that is excessive, and run the engine up to a higher RPM for a few seconds and then recheck gives a normal drop.

Why does this happen? There is a bromide chemical in 100LL that is supposed to keep the TEL vaporized and the excess pushed out the exhaust, and this bromide has to be at a certain temperature to work correctly. This temperature can only be achieved in our small engines at 1100 to 1200 RPM. How many of us taxi at this RPM? (If you answered, I do, how often do you have to change your brake pads?)

The automotive gasoline option. There there are two STCs on the market for mo-gas, EAA and Petersen. (I use Petersen's. If you have a question and call, Petersen has an answer for you. EAA has an answer, after 5 different people and the fifth one says let me check and I will get back with you. Sometime they do, and other times that's the last you hear.) Petersen's STC allows for mixing of av-gas and mo-gas. You can put mo-gas in the tank 75% (TEL 0.002 ml) and 25% av-gas (100LL at 2.00 ml TEL) and you have the same 0.50 ml TEL that 80/87 had.

Another way is to run about three tanks of mo-gas and the fourth is a tank of av-gas (100LL) Either of these work OK. That fourth tank however, you will still have the spark plug fouling syndrome.

The TCP/Marvel Mystery Oil option: These are most likely about the same thing, with small changes in the recipe, so as not to infringe on another's copyright. Both are high in detergents to do the cleaning job. Neither should be used for the first time on a high time engine; about half TBO or less should be the cut-off time, for first use.

IN OIL SYSTEM

Use one pint Marvel Mystery Oil about 5 hours before oil change. If screen type system, be sure to clean screen. Then, in the new oil, install one-half pint MMO. This cleans the carbon and sludge collected in the engine passages and crevices and hydraulic lifters, and stores it in the bottom of the oil kidney. Some will make it to the screen, but either place it will be removed at oil change.

IN THE FUEL SYSTEM

Use the directions on the back for amount to put in the fuel per gallon of fuel (4 to 6 oz. per 10 gallons of fuel). MMO goes through the carburetor as a droplet, broken up like the fuel. When it enters the combustion chamber and the gasoline ignites, it is vaporized and soaks into the carbon buildup on cumbustion chamber walls, valve guides, around the valve stem, and on the spark plug. It soaks into the carbon and eventually loosens it up and it goes out the exhaust system.

Now you know how it works, I will neither recommend or not recommend the procedure. Like Fox News says,"I report and you decide". I do know it will help when lifters start to be lazy and not do their job. When valves are beginning to stick, it will free then up. Some people swear by it, some people swear at it, but results is what really tells the tale.

Marvel Mystery Oil and TCP

by Terry Lutz

Since 80-octane fuel has disappeared from Michigan, there has been a lot of talk about what to do so that lead fouling can be avoided in the smaller and older engines. The leading theory is to use Marvel Mystery Oil. This is generally regarded as good stuff, and a lot of people are using it. Mystery Oil is a top cylinder lubricant, so when it vaporizes during combustion, oil droplets are spread around the valves, guides, and rings to keep things moving. It works, and has for a long time. The old timers would use it to free up stuck rings and valves by giving the engine a "Mystery Oil Enema". The trick on a 65 hp Continental is to take the primer line off the carburetor, hook up a tube, and run Mystery Oil through directly through the carburetor while the engine is running. This creates great clouds of smoke, and extends engine a life for a few more hours. You can also just pour the stuff into the cylinders and run the engine.

Then there is ALCOR TCP. This is a fuel additive specifically designed to scavenge the lead from the fuel to keep lead from ever forming on vital engine parts. But how does it work? Inquiring minds want to know, so I called the 800 number on the side of the can. A nice fellow named Rick told me that TCP stands for Tri-Cresyl-Phosphate. It was created during WWII because the cooler cylinders on the multi-row radial engines would lead foul, creating lots of engine problems. Remember too, that lead is added to aviation fuel to boost octane rating, and with the high manifold pressures the wartime engines were operating at, Tetra Ethyl Lead (TEL) was a necessity.

When piston engines passed by the wayside in the military, Shell Oil bought the formula for TCP and used it for years in car gas, which was also blended with TEL. Of course, when unleaded fuel came out, there was no further need for TCP. But aviation fuel continued to contain lead, so the formula was purchased by ALCOR. 100LL fuel still contains 4 times the lead that our friendly 80 octane had. So, "How do it woik?" At the instant of combustion, there is a chemical reaction between TCP and the lead in the fuel to form lead phosphate, which comes out of the exhaust stack as a grey powder. The lead does not remain in the engine, and can't build up on valves and guides to mess up your engine. It only takes a few ounces of TCP to treat 10 gallons of gas. However, the carrier is toluene, and there's some xylene in there, too. You don't spill this stuff on your paint job, and is difficult to carry it with you in the airplane. The container says not to do it. Be careful and informed out there!!

bigwilliestyle

PixelHarmony

Last I checked we use Unleaded fuel? Maybe that's why it was used back in the 40's now it has no use cept cleaning residues most likely not left by today's engines. You know with Shell V-Power gas and all (the only thing I put in my car).

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Based on Pixel's thread, it sounds more like an airplane engine additive...

khannie112

They sell it by the gallon at Pep boys!

TypeTSX

I don't think it's practical to use in newer cars. I used it in my 93 300zx, and it made the rough idle disappear mysteriously.

RMATIC09

, seawater and black ink

slo007

I used it for maintenance on my RC plane (.61 cc). It worked great in keeping the aluminum block from eating itself at 30,000+ RPM.

slo007

We used MILK as a lubricant in the lathe machines in school. The milk came from the College of Agriculture, was old, smelled bad, but worked great. Very bubbly.

sauceman

Last I heard, TSX doesn't have an airplane engine from the 40's in it, so... I guess it must be misadapted.

G36

MMO is excellent! I use it in my 04 Cummins Turbo Diesel, compression is around 18:1. I mix it with Cetane boost to help clean injectors too! Your engine will run smoother and quiet, don't be to surprised to see a mileage increase, that's right, a mileage increase! It is very safe to run in newer autos and trucks. My truck has a High Pressure Common rail injection system that operates at 28000 PSI! The MMO is designed to mix with all fuels to aid in lubrication of injector pumps, injectors, fuel pumps etc. and other moving parts. I have even run 2-Stroke outboard oil mixed with gas or diesel, after all, they are intended to mix with fuels to aid in lubrication. Think about it! It works. I've been running Diesels and outboards to long NOT to know this little trick. Hope this has been of some help!

RMATIC09

khannie112

Thanks for that info G36. I am just hesitant to put it in a new car, so maybe I will put it in my dad's 92 Integra and see how it runs first, then put it in my car.

One co-worker of mine said if you put that in 100 miles before an oil change, when the oil comes out, it is really really black from all the crud that the Marvel Mystery Oil washes away. I'll have to see.

G36

Don't be hesitent, it only helps it! I put additives in my truck the day I picked it up and tanked her up! The truck cost 40K! I wasn't hesitant at all!

G36

One step better than MMO in the crank case before an oil change, add a quart of tranny fluid if you really want a clean motor internal. When was the last time anyone saw a dirty tranny even after a 100K mi.?

mg7726

so you'd just dump a pint of this MMO into the engine ~100miles before slated oil change; or pint into gas tank after a fill up??

DEI99662

I wouldnt use it in a new engine.

JTso

iTrader: (2)

Adding tranmission fuild to the crankcase prior to oil change was a common practice way back when. However, it's not necessary anymore with today's oil, especially with synthetic oil. If you use synthetic oil when the engine is new, the internal will always stay clean and look new.
The main reason tranmission fuild stays clean is due to the lack of blowby gases that exists inside an engine.

G36

Tranny fluid is highly detergent, this is why it cleans so well. It works better and is cheaper than MMO.


MG7726

pour in the MMO BEFORE the fill up, it will mix better.

G36

Remember, you shouldn't use a syn till the engine is broke in!