MMO Piston Soak

[wolfman]

This DIY proceedure is cheap and may help a Saturn with stuck oil control piston rings to use less oil by freeing them up. You'll need:

1. 12oz or 20oz bottle of "Marvel Mystery Oil" available at Walmart (among other places)
2. A spark plug socket, and old towel and AT LEAST 8 hours where you won't need to drive the car.

Does not ALWAYS work but here goes.
1. Remove spark plugs from "cold" engine
2. Pour 1~2 oz Marvel Mystery Oil into each spark plug hole
3. Allow to remain in overnight (at least 8 hours)
4. In the morning, cover the plug holes loosely with a towel and turn over the engine for 3~ 5 seconds with the plugs OUT to purge any remaining liquid MMO.
5. Replace plugs and drive normally after pouring remaining MMO(if you have any left) into gas tank full of gas

NOTE: The car maybe somewhat difficult to start initially after treatment and will SMOKE like a chimney for the first few minutes or so after it does start. This is normal and will cause no damage. Adding an additional 12oz bottle of MMO to the CRANKCASE (even if you have to slightly overfill it) about 400 miles prior to the next 2 oil changes can be beneficial as well.

[94sc293sl1]

Does it matter if you do this right before or right after an oil change?

[sp33doe]

wolfaman

i cant find marvel mystery oil

is there any substitute for this ?

i live here in canada and the wal mart outlet here is crap
they dont have nothing even ngk plugs

[sp33doe]

oops sorry should be wolfman

sp33doe

[DualCamCoupe]

Originally posted by sp33doe
i cant find marvel mystery oil


http://shop.store.yahoo.com/rodi/chmm012.html

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/rodi/chmm013.html

[amazinghl]

Drive to the states and get some?

[94sc293sl1]

Does it matter if the car is on a flat surface or an incline?

[wolfman]

Level surface for best results....but if you live in San Fransisco (LOL) just INCREASE teh amount of MMO added to the cylinders by about a 1/2 once or so. AND MAKE SURE, to crank the engine with the plugs OUT to purge any remaining liquid!

[amazinghl]

Why? I like the white smoke! :)

I know, I know, it's a bad idea to try to compress liquid...

[Dr. Bob]

Any recommendations for something a bit stronger than MMO to try if MMO doesn't help? I think somebody mentioned GM top engine cleaner, somebody else mentioned Berryman B-something and Seafoam is another possible.

Suppose you substituted one of these more aggressive solvents and squirted some 10 wt oil in the cylinders before cranking with the plugs out to reduce potential wear from washing down the oil film of the cylinders?

[1993SC2]

I put Lucas oil stabilizer stuff in my crankcase, still have some left. Should that work instead of MMO? I don't have alot opf money, so yea... if I can save a buck, I will.

[Dr. Bob]

Well, I have a 95 SL2 with 152K on it, which has has oil consumption problems. I had done a MMO soak 18 months ago, which appeared to offer only minor improvement.

Compression readings were around 156.

Anyway, I figured another piston soak couldn't hurt... so I did the following:

I substituted Seafoam for the MMO. I let it sit overnight. Then before spinning the engine, I squirted a few ounces of 30 wt oil in the cylinder so they wouldn't be dry. Then spun the engine to remove the excess, put in the plugs and started it.

Mild smoke occurred for a short time. Once oil was circulating through the system, I then did a few heavy acceleration from idle to near redline and back down to idle.

Since I've been on vacation (some vacation - doing all sorts of chores) I haven't been commuting to work and haven't been able to measure the oil usage since. I'll report when I know something.

[amazinghl]

Originally posted by 1993SC2
I put Lucas oil stabilizer stuff in my crankcase, still have some left. Should that work instead of MMO? I don't have alot opf money, so yea... if I can save a buck, I will.


Lucas oil is just HEAVY oil, it is NOT high power detergent like MMO is which is require to get rid of the carbon.

MMO can be have for under $4. Just don't eat one meal. :)


http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/images/lucas/lucas.htm
You might think twice before you use the Lucas oil additive, because it increase air bubbles in your oil... which is BAD.

*I know the pictures arn't good, but you can see the oil changed the color because of the air bubbles*

[shift]

I say the 12oz for MMO for 1.99 @ my local AutoZone.

Going to do this Friday night.
Thanks guys

[amazinghl]

I buy a Gal of MMO at a time. :)

[shift]

Hey guys! I just wanted to let you know I did this and I shall say boy was my car spitting white smoke for a while. ALso I noticed when I was purgin it, I did cover the spark plugs holes and I notce the spark plug hole (closets to the air box) had the flid come out of it (red color). But I put the plugs back in after the purge and I did seem to smoke more the Smokey and the Bandit. White color. I thought I was an nuclear war ;)
.

Nah... but I drove it for about 5 miles and no more smoke. As for IF my car is still burning 1 quart every 230 miles?............I dunno yet. I will post back in a week to let you all know if it cured the buring oil problem on my SC2.


-Mike

[amazinghl]

How long did you leave the MMO in there?

[shift]

Originally posted by amazinghl
How long did you leave the MMO in there?

About 10 hours.

:cool:

[amazinghl]

Not long enough. :)
With MMO soaking, the longer the better.

[robh456]

GM recommends a procedure similar to this one on some Cadillacs with the Northstar engine which can experience high oil consumption due to the rings becoming stuck with carbon (in this case, probably due to being driven by slow-driving grampas who never drive it hard enough to burn it off!). They suggest using some stuff which they call Piston and Ring Cleaner and a special kit to induce it into the cylinders. It warns not to leave it in less then 2 hours (or it will be ineffective) or more than 3 hours (the debris may soak back into the rings).

They recommend to change the engine oil after this treatment - likely not so necessary with MMO, but with the stronger stuff like Top Engine Cleaner, you likely don't want to leave it floating around in the oil as it doesn't lubricate..

[shift]

Originally posted by amazinghl
Not long enough. :)
With MMO soaking, the longer the better.

Humm Wolfman with the starting post quotes: AT LEAST 8 hours


:o: :dizzy:

[Applefool]

That GM top engine cleaner is quite strong. I recall it burning my eyes and throat just opening it. I used a different kind of kit to run it through. It was basically just a valve with a tube attached to the manifold in place of the pcv. You slowly open the valve and let it get sucked down into the manifold and cylinder. What I do is let it stall the car out and let it sit in there for a couple hours, then start the car and smoke the bujesus out of the parking lot. Car always runs so much smoother after doing that. I usually couple that with the TB gunk removal.

[Dr. Bob]

I substituted Seafoam for the MMO. I let it sit overnight. Then before spinning the engine, I squirted a few ounces of 30 wt oil in the cylinder so they wouldn't be dry. Then spun the engine to remove the excess, put in the plugs and started it.
Well, I'm still attempting to measure the oil consumption after the Seafoam treatment. Seafoam is more aggressive than the MMO, but is not as aggressive as the GM Top Engine Cleaner.

The reason I'm having problems measuring it, is that I haven't yet noticed any measurable oil consumption since I did the Seafoam soak.

The "before soak" oil consumption was between 400 and 600 miles per quart, so it is clear that oil usage has significantly improved, just don't know how much.

[ttreibel]

Berrymans B-12 is worth a try for the soak But I chickened out and only left it in 6 hours it's way stronger than MMO and the cars harder to start after the soak than the MMO.

I did both and oil consumption seems way down. I was getting about a quart a tank and the car only has 92 K but the previous ownwer was clueless about main. I am crossing my fingers and running mobil 1 0w-40w now

Here is a video of starting after the MMO treatment it's 11+ MB dial-up users

http://homepage.mac.com/ttreibel/iMovieTheater16.html

[John Marshall]

Any updated news on whether this helped your oil consumption? Just curious!

:)

[liquiddog976]

Stupid Question Time:

How do you get the MMO into the spark plug holes? A funnel? Or is it ok to just dump it in there? I may try this on my girlfriends SC2. It was most likely a repo and was not very well maintained by the previous owner.

[eljefino]

I used 1/2 inch pvc (hard plastic) hose and a small funnel at the other end.

[HookedUpSL2]

what is the pint of mmo soaking? is it to hrlp the piston rings?

[amazinghl]

Read.

http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php3?s=&threadid=23676&perpage=20&pagenumber=1

[Kronos70]

Will this MMO soak harm the O2 sensor? I know not that big a deal to replace, but just wanted to know... :)

[robh456]

It should not, at least not permanently - any carbon coating that gets on the sensor should burn off from some highway driving or from running the engine at 3000 or so for a minute or two.

[Kronos70]

Cool.. that's good to know... I stopped by Walmart on my way home from work this evening and got two bottles of MMO. One's going in the next tank, and the other is going towards the MMO soak. :)

[petdmc]

hmm i just did a mmo soak last night, i let it sit about 20hrs and to my surprise when i went to start the car there was no MMO :hmpf:

i poured about a 1/4 inch in each cyclinder and it all disapeared.

should i have poured more in? i really wanted to make a smoke screen lmao :D

[petdmc]

Originally posted by petdmc
hmm i just did a mmo soak last night, i let it sit about 20hrs and to my surprise when i went to start the car there was no MMO :hmpf:

i poured about a 1/4 inch in each cyclinder and it all disapeared.

should i have poured more in? i really wanted to make a smoke screen lmao :D

[GNA Trojans]

Wolfman, a few questions. I am getting ready to do the MMO Soak. But before I do this I would like to know can this do worse to the motor? Any downfalls is what I am asking. My car is burning a quart of oil every 1,000 miles. Second, should I do an oil change after I do this? Third, Should I add the remaining MMO to the fuel, and is it safe for the Electric fuel pump? Thanks for the info you post.

[2ndsout2]

I just did this tonight on my wife's 92 SL1. I let it sit for 8 hours, and since it looked like it was going to rain, I went back out and put the plugs back in, etc.. Smoked for a minute or so, but I took it out on the highway, topped off the gas tank, put the remaining MMO in the tank and added 1/2 a quart of oil. She is due for an oil change in 500 miles, so we will see how well it works. I'll keep everyone posted. The car ran REALLY Smooth, aside from the fact that my driving a stick is not as good as it could be.

[Spazie]

I'm wanting to do this on my boyfriend's car, which is a 97 Hyundai Accent. Good idea or bad?

[robh456]

Is it using oil?

[Spazie]

A little bit yes, he doesn't know exactly how much it burns.

[Spazie]

WOOHOOO!! I took pics of the smoke pouring out my exhaust for all of you to enjoy!

http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/8/web/416000-416999/416287_31.jpg
http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/8/web/416000-416999/416287_32.jpg
http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/8/web/416000-416999/416287_33.jpg

That was fun. I want to do it again. :D

[vtunderground]

Well, I did the MMO soak the other week. Right off, I noticed that my fuel economy was suffering... it was about 10mpg lower than what it should have been. It quickly recovered, but I was really worried for a couple of days.

Anyways, my oil consumption has, if anything, gotten worse. Stupid Saturn, maybe a second MMO soak will do the trick.

Oh what is Seafoam, and where can I get it?

[lhanna]

I completed my first MMO soak yesterday. I let the MMO stay in the cylinders for about 18 hours. It all leaked out of the #1 cylinder after about 4 hours (I refilled it) and #'s 2 ~ 4 sometime after that.

I was due for an oil change so I went ahead and did that and added Techron to the fuel tank.

The engine performance has obviousley improved but I can't judge oil consumption yet.

After reading about the MMO soak, I was expecting the car to be hard to start and to produce a lot of smoke. However the car started instantly & smoothly and produced no smoke at all.

[Spazie]

Originally posted by lhanna
After reading about the MMO soak, I was expecting the car to be hard to start and to produce a lot of smoke. However the car started instantly & smoothly and produced no smoke at all.

Most not have left it in long enough. ;) The smoke is tons of fun!

[lhanna]

I'm afraid I can't do more than 18 hours. I'll try again another day.

[Spazie]

Woohoo!!

29.1 mpg on the last tank. My best ever! Though only by about .6 mpg. However, it was a mostly city, which usually drops my mpg to 26. So maybe when it's mostly highway miles, it'll go up above 30! I don't know if this is a result of the MMO or the new header, but something's working!

[geartooth94]

what hasn't been addressed in this thread yet is what to do in case all the MMO seeps down past the piston rings into the engine.

Refill as soon as you notice and then start the car, or wait for a while?

Anyone have an answer?

[GNA Trojans]

Well I did the MMO soak about 20 days ago. Seems like i am burning more oil. To hard to tell yet. I am goin to do one more soak, and dump the rest of the MMO in with the oil and change out after 200 miles. My gas milage is great, just hate seeing the smoke when you hit the high revs and need to get on it. Maybe there is damage to the motor and the MMO will not help it.

[sierrap615]

Originally posted by 94SL2withphone
what hasn't been addressed in this thread yet is what to do in case all the MMO seeps down past the piston rings into the engine.

Refill as soon as you notice and then start the car, or wait for a while?

Anyone have an answer?

i was wondering that myself, both mmo and seafoam seem a bit thin, would something thicker(which would need to sit longer) work better, or am i trying to reinvent the wheel?

also, i thinking about rebuilding with "total seal" gapless rings will the MMO soak still work? or would it not even get past the first ring?

[freakerz]

Hi,
I just did my compression test on my SL1 1993 with 242 000KM:

Passenger to Driver
160 195 185 195
180

the 180 was after I poured tsp of oil.. so I guess a MMO soak would fix everything up to 195?? or even more >:) (DO I HEAR TURBO!!!!) >;'\\\\

I do 500KM with a full tank of gas.. and I use a full pan of oil.. in about 4-5 tanks of gas.. is that in the norm or best or worst?

[sierrap615]

the MMO may help, but for a turbo on a high mileage motor, you should rebuild first.

4 quarts of oil in 2500KM? ( i think thats about 1200 miles ) thats not very good, 1 quart in 2000 miles (maybe 4500 or 5000 KM?) is normal

[freakerz]

i guess i'll have to check.. but it doesnt use alot of oil..

[David 93 SL2m]

Originally posted by sierrap615
the MMO may help, but for a turbo on a high mileage motor, you should rebuild first.

4 quarts of oil in 2500KM? ( i think thats about 1200 miles ) thats not very good, 1 quart in 2000 miles (maybe 4500 or 5000 KM?) is normal 2,500 kilometers = 1,553.4279806 miles.

Anyway, it sounds like freakerz is burning about 1 quart of oil per tankful of gasoline. That sounds excessive to me.

[GNA Trojans]

Yea try 1 quart every 500 miles. That is what is burning on my 98 sc2. Funny part is i never see any kind of smoke on start up or when i am driving. Where it is going i have no clue.

[David 93 SL2m]

Originally posted by GNA Trojans
Yea try 1 quart every 500 miles. That is what is burning on my 98 sc2. Funny part is i never see any kind of smoke on start up or when i am driving. Where it is going i have no clue. Maybe one or more of the gaskets on the engine (for the oil pan, for the valve cover, etc.) is leaking? If you look at the underside of the engine, do you see things that are covered with dirty oil and/or grime?

My 1993 SL2 was "consuming" about 1.5 quarts of oil per 3,000 miles. Then I changed the valve cover gasket and have since driven 2,000 miles; the oil level is down only 1/4 quart. Yes, I had oil around the spark plug wires on the top of the valve cover and I had oil on the sides of the engine that face the firewall and that face the battery. After I changed the valve cover gasket I cleaned up the engine compartment with Simple Green, a toothbrush, and water trickling out of the garden hose. All of those areas are still clean today. :D

My 1996 SC2 "consumed" oil at a greater rate than my 1993 SL2. On this car the back of the engine, the transmission, and a few other things were always wet with oil. The valve cover gasket was less than 50,000 miles old so it was probably another gasket or two that needed to be replaced. But the clutch was beginning to slip so I wasn't anxious to dump too much money into that car at that point. :dazed:

Neither car has/had visible smoke exiting the tailpipe except when under wide open throttle and shifting at high RPMs. For the most part I shift before 3,000 RPM.

[GNA Trojans]

Valve cover gasket changed, No leaks under car, no puddles. MMO soak was done 1,000 miles ago. It has to be something internal.

[David 93 SL2m]

Mine never had any oil drip marks on the ground either. Probably the oil only leaked out of mine while the engine was running, and I'd guess the higher the RPMs the greater the rate of oil leaking.

[sps SOHC]

My car has some oil around the bottom near the oil pan. I've never seen it dripping or anything but I do park in the dirt. The oil level seems farely consistent right now but I haven't had it for very long.

I do see a little bit of some under WOT though. Maybe the MMO soak will help with that....hopefully. People might laugh at me at the track. :(

[acid-reflex03]

After doing the soak, do I have to change the oil right after, or would it be fine to run the last ~1500 miles on this oilchange? Thanks.

[sierrap615]

depends how bad the rings are, best to do a oil change about 50 or 100 miles after, not much more

[acid-reflex03]

OK. I'll do the oil change in about 100 miles. Should I add the last 12oz of MMO to the crankcase after it starts up?

[sierrap615]

i myself wait a hour and then add more to each cylinder, then what ever is left i split inbetween the crankcase and gas tank

[zippy_LiL_sL1]

Originally posted by ttreibel
Berrymans B-12 is worth a try for the soak But I chickened out and only left it in 6 hours it's way stronger than MMO and the cars harder to start after the soak than the MMO.

I did both and oil consumption seems way down. I was getting about a quart a tank and the car only has 92 K but the previous ownwer was clueless about main. I am crossing my fingers and running mobil 1 0w-40w now

Here is a video of starting after the MMO treatment it's 11+ MB dial-up users

http://homepage.mac.com/ttreibel/iMovieTheater16.html

Hey that blue car sitting there is the exact same car I have.. but mine is modded out a bit. lol

[shortlid]

I added 4 ounces of MMO to each piston on my girls '97 SC1 with 137k on the clock before we left for Thanksgiving. It has not been started for six days now and it did consume some oil before we left. should it be alright to just go ahead and try and start the engine or should I try and force the excess MMO IF THERE IS ANY with the spark plugs out?

[madpogue]

Four ounces is a lot, even if some cylinders "drank" some. You've got the plugs out. It only takes a minute; throw a rag over the holes (granted, not as easy on an SOHC), pull the PCM B fuse and crank the starter to spit out the remainder. Better than throwing it all over the plugs.

[shortlid]

well since I was leaving it for six days I put the plugs back in the car :cry: . Do you think a SOHC engine that consumes about a qt. every 500 miles would allow four ounces of MMO by in six days of siting? I am not concered about the plugs so much they are brand new and one heat range higher cause of teh oil consuption. I just don't want to compress fluids in the engine!! :blockhead

[sierrap615]

even if the cylinders looked dry i would still keep the plugs out, the point of the MMO soak is to prevent a engine overhaul not cause one.

[emptypockets]

...the point of the MMO soak is to prevent a engine overhaul not cause one.

haha. That made my day. Yeah, try not to compress those fluids. Sure "hydrolock" sounds like a really cool word, but it's not. Do the old rag in the holes trick. With mine, I pulled the fuel injection and fuel pump fuses. I didn't have any plugs in the holes. I didn't have anything covering them either. I cranked it over by turning the key and man did it sound cool. It sounded better than a turbo but then I looked up and saw liquid running down the side of our garage. I was outside in the driveway and about a quart of MMO nailed the garage about 6 inches below the roof and splashed back everywhere. It started running down and started dripping on my car and all over the driveway... Lesson learned... :rolleyes:

[shortlid]

Well I took my chances, casue I had to use the car. And it started and ran with no problem blew smoke for the first 3 miles though. I don't know if it effected oil consumption yet. :hmm:

[V_Roze]

I called Saturn before finding this site and they had another suggestion to help with the oil consumption problem. I tried it and it worked great. I also improvised a bit with some tips from the MMO cure. The dealer suggested letting them clean the engine with Mac's. They would do it for $90. I found the Mac's engine cleaner at NAPA and followed the directions on the bottle.

You run this stuff in your oil for a few minutes (read the instructions on the bottle), change your oil and filter, and it cleans the engine.

I added a couple of extra steps. I added about half a quart of MMO to the fresh oil I put in after the Mac's treatment. I also added a couple of ounces to the fuel tank. There was the signature white smoke as this stuff went to work. I changed the oil and filter again after 100mi.

It has been two months and I have not lost any oil! :) I was losing a quart every three months before.

I didn't pull any plugs or open anything up. It did cost me an extra oil change, though.

//Garage Mech//V_Roze

[sc2dave]

what results would you have,if you used seafoam instead of mmo for the soak? :hmpf:

[sierrap615]

not much difference, simular products, different brands, but most people perfer MMO.

[emptypockets]

I mixed seafoam and MMO when I did it. I had about a 50/50 mix. I think it helped my oil consumption a little but not enough to consider "worth the effort". Once the summer rolls around I'm gonna try some of the Top Engine Cleaner or the Mac's. Maybe I'll do another Seafoam and/or MMO soak but for a longer period.

[98greenSC2]

I'm due for an oil change soon and I was thinking about trying this. I do 5000 mile intervals with Mobil 1 synthetic and I use a quart about every 2000 miles or so. I assume that's normal but the MMO soak has never been done on this car. Will it help loosen and remove any carbon buildup on the piston tops? Maybe I should do a compression test to see. Anyway, I add 4oz to every tank and fuel economy seems to have improved MAYBE 1 mpg in the city. I also top off the oil with it about 500 miles before an oil change, just to make it REALLY black. :D

[ralheid]

In my youth I used to work at a used car lot getting old cars to run. A (rusted) frozen engine was not uncommon. We would pull the spark plugs and fill the cylinder with kerosene, then let it sit until it drained down. If we could not turn engine with a wrench on the crank bolt we'd fill it again. Once the engine was free, we would then add Marvel and wait overnight. After Marvel drained down , we'd drain oil. We'd add 5w oil (We would never crank engine until this new oil was added) and run engine without putting a lot of load on it. You could drive it around for short periods until engine stopped smoking. Then drain and put 30W in it. :)

[SimPlyxTriPPiN]

my car took 15 mins of idle and about 5 miles for my car to stop smoking. the smoke was really bad when i first start it. it was really smogged in my garage. made it kinda hard to see. that when the garage wat wide open and the exhaust was pointing outward. i had to use a couple of fans to ease it up. i faced one of the fan on the engine bay cause i didn't want the engine to suk in used air.

[Tim T]

I just did the MMO soak. I split a 16oz bottle between the cyclinders. Let it sit overnight (about 11 hours) When I looked down the plug holes with my flashlight I couldn't see any MMO. Also I put a towel over the plug holes and cranked the motor. Nothing poped out. When I fired it up, very little smoke came out maybe 15 seconds worth. Should I be worried about this? Motor runs better now anyways.

[madpogue]

Wow, that's a LOT to pour into the chambers. A capful in each is plenty.

Change your oil ASAP, as you now have that entire 16oz bottle in your crankcase.

[Tim T]

I did the MMO soak as part of my regular tune up oil change routine. I also did the water/steam clean the pistons/combustion chamber routine as discribed else were in this fourum (that worked well)

[madpogue]

Meaning, you did the soak before changing the oil, right? And your better running motor is prob. attributable to the steam-clean. Nice to get that boost, eh?

[Tim T]

Yep. I also ran a can of BG Quick Clean through before I changed the oil. (normal for me) I'm going to add the MMO/steam clean at every oil change now. Better to be safe then sorry I say.

[sierrap615]

Yep. I also ran a can of BG Quick Clean through before I changed the oil. (normal for me) I'm going to add the MMO/steam clean at every oil change now. Better to be safe then sorry I say.

is BG quick clean one of those wanna be engine flushes? if so, some types of "engine flushes in a can" can accuitly damage the internals of a engine. using a little bit of automatic transmission fluid will do the same thing but is safer and many times cheaper.

doing a MMO soak and steam clean every oil change is also overkill. for one, after the MMO soak the rings need a little time to reseat, soaking the ring every 3000 mile will make it very hard for the rings to seat. steam cleaning, well, you shouldn't build up that much carbon in 3000 miles. i personially steam clean maybe once a year at most. now if you want to do MMO soak and steam clean something like once a year, every 15K miles, every 30K miles, or every time you do a tune up, it would work a little better.

[Tim T]

After thinking about it. It does seem like a little over kill for a MMO/steam clean every 3K maybe 15-30K. But I'll keep an eye on it. IMHO all BG products work amazingly well. Especialy their 44K fuel additive. www.bgprod.com When I bought the car (used) the previous owner didn't take care of it. I had a noise in the top end. I used the quick clean and changed the oil, noise got quieter 3K later did it again still even quieter.It went away completly after about 4 oil changes/flushes.

[Heartbeat - '95 SL2]

Just did a piston soak, using throttle body cleaner, and now have a hard start problem. I don't recall reading this problem anywhere in the piston soak threads, so figured I'd mention it:

http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62151

[edlee]

The Marvel Mystery Oil bottle that I saw indicates that it contains a carcinogen, a cancer-causing chemical. Can Techron be substituted for Marvel Mystery Oil in this soaking procedure?

[sierrap615]

i do not know the make up of techron, but if you knew everything in your car that has given someone cancer at sometime, you would become amish. the key is to be careful and not drink it :P try looking for seafoam or GM top engine cleaner.

[98greenSC2]

I did it last night and it was... anti-climatic. Three of the four cylinders didn't have any standind MMO but the piston tops in the other three looked moist. It turned over on the first try and there was no smoke. Should I try it again? I also found out I have a leaking cam cover gasket. Oh well.

BTW, use a funnel. I made a mess all over the valve cover.

[alcimedes]

So is there a final say as to whether or not this works? I just picked up a used SW1 after selling a old SC1, both of which have the exact same problem with burning oil. As this is going to be my winter beater, I suppose I shouldn't care too much, but it's a bad habit of mine to make my cars run as well as I can.

[David 93 SL2m]

If the MMO piston soak procedure is carried out following Wolfman's directions then it may or may not help with the infamous oil consumption issue, but it certainly will not make anything worse. Most people notice an improvement after doing this; however it would be rare for this to completely make the oil consumption issue go away altogether.

I can't remember if this has been mentioned beforehand in this thread. Both are discussed fairly often at SaturnFans and relate to the oil consumption issue: A GM cleaner for the "top end" area of the inside of the engine. A compression test for each of the cylinders and interpretions of their results.

[alcimedes]

Well, started the MMO soak tonight, won't need the car for at least a day or so. I'll post the results on oil consumption once I have a few tanks under my belt. Right now it's about 1qt every 350 miles or so.

[kuznetzvov]

Hey, I just did the MMO soak on my 98 sc2. I added about 3 ounces to each cylinder, 4 to a full tank of gas, and 8 to the crankcase. I let it rest overnight for about 9-10 hours. After turning the engine, replacing the plugs, and putting back the fuelpump, injection, and pcm a/b fuses, I didn't notice a large, white cloud of smoke. However, the engine now idles much quieter, about 200 rpm's lower, and is more smooth. I seem to get more power with less gas, but I won't know about oil consumption for a week or two. It was full before the treatment and is currently. I plan to change it in a few days, no more than a week.
After that, I'm looking at changing my pcv and possibly the valve cover gasket. There's quite a bit of oil and dirt around the edge of the gasket and pcv valve, so I think that it would be a good idea to replace it within a few weeks. I have the hose going from the center-right of the black dohc cover which was leaking and contained oil that I patched using electrical tape in superglue. Whenever I get aruond to it, I'll probably grab a new oem hose. Cheers.
~Van

[kuznetzvov]

Ah ya, I forgot to mention that upon adding the MMO, I noticed that there was a very thick black residue on top of the metal down in the spark plug holes. This residue is also inside my crankcase and on the oil fill cap. Methinks it needs a further cleaning ;)
~Van

[alcimedes]

Well, since doing the MMO soak I'm at zero measurable oil consumption. I know the oil pan leaks, so there's a few drops here and there, but I'm no longer burning massive amounts of oil. I also replaced the pcv valve which was pretty beat up looking. So far so good.