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TECHNICAL MOTOBRICK WRENCHING In Remembrance of Inge K. => The Motobrick Workshop => Topic started by: stevemac on September 25, 2012, 09:29:10 PM
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Does anyone here use Marvel Mystery Oil as a gasoline additive or stabilizer?
Steve
1990 K75RT
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Kinda depends on what you're wanting the additive to do I suppose. For winter storage, I think Stabil has the corner on the market. As just an additive, I use Seafoam on an irregular basis just to help keep the injectors spraying clean. Lately I've been using a product to help combat presumed (either imagined or real) effects of ethanol. I can't report any real advantage to the Seafoam or ethanol stuff but I can report that my bike is still running. :yes
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I picked up some MMO at a yard sale this summer. Someone working for one of the magazines
recommended using it during the winter down time so I'm going to try it. It has mineral oil
for top end lube and mineral spirits for cleaning. He claims certain (older) bikes had problems
with valves sticking and MMO cured that. Can't hurt.
I got 2 large containers of stabil many years ago and now some claim it doesn't work on ethanol
gas (you have to get the special blue stuff). Well I'm still using the old stuff. My theory is that it
covers the surface of the fuel and stops evaporation. I store mine in the cellar with 1/2 tank of
gas and fill it just before restarting in the spring. That seams to work!
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Marvel Mystery Oil? That stuff is still on the market? The mystery could well be ... why?
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That stuff is still on the market?
It was from a yard sale. No telling how old the stuff is. Does it ever go bad?
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ABSOLUTLY Marvel Mystery Oil is still on the market. I use it mostly on old farm machinery for valves, carbueators and the like. If I feel like a carb is getting clogged I'll pour a little into the tank and that usually clears it up after a while.
I also use their air tool oil with great success.
I once used it to break free a seized Farmall M engine. Sprayed some of it in the spark plug sockets and let it set for a couple of days and she turned like new.
When my grandfather was drilling for the oil companies in Oklahoma they used to buy it in 55 gallon drums and feed it through oil injectors into their machinery.
I've never known of any to go bad but I imagine it would after a LONG while. Now as a fuel stabilizer I can't really speak to performance over STABIL, I've used both and they both seem to work just fine.
http://www.marvelmysteryoil.com/ (http://www.marvelmysteryoil.com/)
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I brought up the subject because I found an ancient can of MMO in the cellar. No intention of using the old stuff, but it sure brought back memories of my Dad and his unshakeable faith in MMO. He used it in all his vehicles (he never owned a bike), and for all I know poured it in his coffee as well. Dad worked for Sinclair gasoline back in the 60's, and they marketed a blend of gas with a fancy name (Super-Hi, or some such shtick). What this blend was, was regular gasoline to which the station workers poured a specified amount of MMO into from 5 gallon containers. They only sold it for a while, but the motorists who bought it regularly practically cried when Sinclair discontinued it. Dad always told these folks, with a wink, to just pour some MMO in the tank.
I had Stabil on my shopping list but I think I will try some MMO this year to winterize my bikes gasoline.
Check out Wikipedia's stub on the stuff http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Mystery_Oil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Mystery_Oil)
Steve
1990 K75RT
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mmo good additive for oil,good also for freeing up valves in engines and removing carbon from valves ,a little straight in the intake. Also used as tap lube when cutting threads.I would not recommend it for fuel. Used original stabil in my boat ,fuel was 10% ethanol and never had a problem,started first try every year. Use it in all my 4 cycle applications.IMHO the new ethanol stabil is just a marketing strategy.Seafoam is ok in the fuel as a cleaner but it does gel in the midwest cold,would not use it as a stabilizer.
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You will have a hard time finding any pilots that don't add it to their motors. My lycoming holds 12 quarts. I always use a pint when changing oil. In my vehicles I add some to gas just to help lube fuel pumps
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Seriously? Solvent, solvent, mothballs... Would make a good cutting fluid in a machine shop if you didn't have to inhale the fumes. None of this dissolves carbon, none is a lubricant, just the opposite--it would remove lubricant from a surface.
Ingredient # 01
Ingredient Name BENZENE, 1,2-DICHLORO-
CAS Number 95501
Ingredient # 02
Ingredient Name MINERAL SPIRITS
CAS Number 8052413
Ingredient # 03
Ingredient Name NAPTHENIC HYDROCARBONS
CAS Number 64742525
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You guys do realize that this stuff was originally formulated about 90 years ago when engine and lubricant technology were in the dark ages compared to modern times, right? It's probably not a bad idea for older engines (up though the seventies say) but I don't see why anyone would want to thin the oil with this stuff on a more modern engine.
I prefer more modern treatments that have been formulated with improved chemical knowledge and fuel injection in mind, like Techron. Think about it. Techron was developed by Chevron in the mid 90s to keep modern fuel injected engines clean. MMO was formulated in 1923 to keep carburetor jets from clogging.
Also, K bikes burn enough oil as it is. Why add something to your oil that will burn off even faster?
That said, given how bulletproof K bike engines are, it probably won't make your engine 'splode if you do decide to use it.
(By the way, I do have half a bottle of MMO on the shelf for posterity. I last used it in the early 80s on my beater MG Midget.)
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I added a quart of Rislone couple of years ago after reading horror stories on the starter sprague clutch gumming up. That seems to be an issue with bikes that don't get regular oil changes, mine has never gone over 5k without a change and didn't have any problems. After adding the Rislone I still haven't had any problems. Maybe it worked, maybe it was did nothing. Damn stuff cost $8 so I'm going to say it worked wonders. :hehehe
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Best use I've found for it is to repair damage done to motorcycles that have wet "Sprag Clutches" to engage the starter to the flywheel. When running the starter clutch is freewheeling but when the starter is turning the motor the little spring loaded rollers in the sprag clutch wedge in and turn the flywheel. When the motor turns faster that the starter the rollers are pushed back slightly and the sprag clutch freewheels. A problem occurs when a rider uses a super slippery oil, or additive, which can cause the sprag clutch rollers to slip when the starter is engaged. This same problem can occur, using dirty oil which causes a buildup in the clutch rollers. Adding MMO to the oil almost always “cleans out” around the sprag clutch and lets the rollers wedge in and turn the flywheel.
All this is a mute point among our bricks because we don’t have wet starter clutches. MMO isn’t a fuel additive.
Later,, De :bmwsmile