Marvel Mystery Oil

Unknown

I have a 1935 Hudson 6, model GH sedan that was purchased new by my grandfather that year. It was handed down to my dad who recently passed away, so now I am working on getting all the technical detail down to keep it maintained and start taking it to meets again, like the National meet coming up in July.



Had a question on Marvel Mystery Oil - is this a good additive for the engine, or is it best to just steer clear of these products?



Want to make sure if I should include this in my regular maintenance program. The car has around 85,000 original miles on it.

oldhudsons

Marvel Mystery Oil has been a "tried & true" additive for a long time. I've used a mix of it, with WD-40, as a "rust buster" & lubricant.

It might be a good thing to add some of it to the gas tank to "tone down" the very high octane gas sold now for which that engine was not designed. By adding it to the gas it will also provide upper cylinder lubrication which L head engines usually can use.

Unknown

Thanks - I'll be sure to add it to my supply list.

Unknown

oldhudsons wrote:

Marvel Mystery Oil has been a "tried & true" additive for a long time. I've used a mix of it, with WD-40, as a "rust buster" & lubricant.

It might be a good thing to add some of it to the gas tank to "tone down" the very high octane gas sold now for which that engine was not designed. By adding it to the gas it will also provide upper cylinder lubrication which L head engines usually can use.

I know some guys will use 2 cycle engine oil ( an oz. or two ) added to their fuel for the same purpose. Seems to act a bit like a fuel preservative as well.

LanceB

What about zinc additives?

Jon B

Yup, it's good stuff, not "snake oil". I always add a few ounces to every tankful in my '37 to help lubricate the valves, which can tend to hang up otherwise if the car sits for long periods of time. You can even buy an automatic oiler that dispenses a pre-set amount right into the intake manifold, if you wish to.

Unknown

you know this gets me thinking...I started up my car the other day and the rear carb flooded and had a stuck float. I had to tap on the bowl to free it up. I wonder if this would add a little lube to help the floats work a little free-er. The carbs empty out over the winter. i should probably start the car more often.

[Deleted User]

When I was about 13 a cousin introduced me to Marvel Mystery Oil on his ~61 Chrysler Windsor. He poured part of the can in the gas tank, part in the crankcase, part in the automatic transmission, cranked the engine and dumped some straight down the carb! I think it'll pretty much cure anything except maybe a rod sticking through the side of the block.

[Deleted User]

MMO is a solvent, made up mostly of benzene and mineral spirits. Probably great for preventing sticky floats and valves, but I wouldn't count on it to lubricate for any amount of time.

[Deleted User]

Marvel Mystery Oil is great stuff, however, I now use a product called Sea Foam (in a white and red can). You can use it the same way but I have found that it cleans better than Marvel Mystery Oil. I used it on my Mercedes Unimog. It cleaned and lubricated so well that I can actually drive up my hill and stay in third gear longer before I have to down shift. For really dirty engines, you can pour it slowly down the carb while the engine is idleing and then shut it off for five minutes. I swear by this stuff. You can get at Pep Boys, Kragen Auto parts, etc. I have attached a link to their website. It also acts as a fuel stabilizer so you can use it instead of sta-bil. This stuff does it all! http://www.seafoamsales.com/



P.S. And no I don't work for them... I just swear by it.

Unknown

I use the Sea Foam Deep Creep and it is the best penetrating oil i've ever used, haven't tried any of their other products though.

Unknown

Three years ago i bought a 51 Kaiser that had not run in over 5 years. I removed the plugs and poured Marvel Mystery Oil in each cylinder. Put new plugs in and points. Tryed to start in a week and no go so I repeated the oil in each cylinder. Tryed a couple of days later and car started and within 5 minutes smooth right out. Great stuff.

tigermoth

in response to lanceb's question about zinc in this thread i would recommend you read the Skinned Knuckles articles on zinc additives. the article was well sourced and referenced. if you don't have it or want the short version..skip the zinc additives. most of the fuss was caused by a letter from an employee at the now defunct Crane Cams blaming the reformulation of modern oils for the failure of their cams. regards, tom

[Deleted User]

Jon B wrote:

Yup, it's good stuff, not "snake oil". I always add a few ounces to every tankful in my '37 to help lubricate the valves, which can tend to hang up otherwise if the car sits for long periods of time. You can even buy an automatic oiler that dispenses a pre-set amount right into the intake manifold, if you wish to.

I agree with Jon that MMO is not "snake oil", but something that has valid uses when employed correctly. When I worked for a former Hudson dealer back in the 1950's, we used Mystery Oil in the crankcase of many cars with never any ill effects. This dealer, Clarence Howard, was an excellent mechanic who knew engines as well as anyone I had ever known. He designed oilers that he fed MMO into the intake manifold of some of the old splasher engines, and he firmly believed that this prolonged valve life of thos e engines. One of the things he told me about Marvel Mystery Oil back then was that one of the chief components of the stuff was Oildag, Acheson's colloidal graphite in oil suspension. Now, it is possible that the modern version of MMO may not use this type of colloid now. If you research the components of Marvel Mystery Oil, you hit a brick wall, for ingredients seem to be a true "mystery" indeed. You can easily research Oildag, however, by typing in "Oildag" or "Acheson's colloids" or "Acheson's colloidal graphite in oil suspension" in your browser. Acheson's other well-known colloid is Aquadag (or Waterdag), similar to Oildag, but suspended in water. Dr. Acheson was a fascinating guy, and you may find some of his ideas stimulating. On a personal note, I might add that my 1951 Hudson 8 coupe has run Marvel Mystery Oil in its engine since new. At 30,000 miles there was no sludge in the valve chamber or pan when the engine was inspected a few months ago. Dee K.