Mmo

[badbobby]

What is MMO soak--I have 170,000 and thinking of doing the soak-engine runs fine-but mabe with a soak it will run better? Were do you buy MMO and what do you ask for?

[PlasticCarsRock]

Originally Posted by badbobby

What is MMO soak--I have 170,000 and thinking of doing the soak-engine runs fine-but mabe with a soak it will run better? Were do you buy MMO and what do you ask for?

Auto stores sell it, but it's much cheaper in wallmart (and probably online). The idea of the MMO soak is to reduce oil consumption; it won't make the car run "better" (although I suppose less oil consumption is better...).

Search--this has been discussed to death.

[westwind999]

MMO = Marvel Mystery Oil

A bit of a suspect name I'd say.

[badbobby]

Originally Posted by westwind999

MMO = Marvel Mystery Oil

A bit of a suspect name I'd say.

Thank you. In the far distant past I heard that marvel mystery oil was recycled trans fluid--have you heard this also???

[badbobby]

Originally Posted by PlasticCarsRock

Auto stores sell it, but it's much cheaper in wallmart (and probably online). The idea of the MMO soak is to reduce oil consumption; it won't make the car run "better" (although I suppose less oil consumption is better...).

Search--this has been discussed to death.

Thank you for your reply.

[saturnsctwo]

Originally Posted by badbobby

What is MMO soak--I have 170,000 and thinking of doing the soak-engine runs fine-but mabe with a soak it will run better? Were do you buy MMO and what do you ask for?

the soak is to clean & free up the oil control rings so the engine ceases to burn oil. the results vary. i use synthetic oil in my car because it contains better additives to keep engine components clean to avoid this problem in the first place.

[cheapybob]

Question... If "soaking" the cylinders with MMO to get the gunk off and free the rings works, then wouldn't using something like Berryman's, which has more solvent and less oil in it, and is designed to clean parts do a better job?

I also notice the MMO site does not recommend "soaking" the pistons. It says to add it to the oil. Since the oil lubricates the rings and pistons as they go up and down, that makes sense to me.

Don't mind me, I am no expert, just questioning this soaking thing, since it seems very few have success doing it anyway...

PS: I tried using a bunch of oil additives (berryman's is not an oil additive, so i didn't try it) to remove sludge from a badly sludged timing cover and the best oil additives doing it cold were Rislone Engine treatment and MMO followed by seaFoam. The others (CD2, Dexron III ATF) did nothing to remove the sludge.

[PlasticCarsRock]

Originally Posted by cheapybob

Question... If "soaking" the cylinders with MMO to get the gunk off and free the rings works, then wouldn't using something like Berryman's, which has more solvent and less oil in it, and is designed to clean parts do a better job?

Yes, but ultimately, most of the solvent gets past the rings. You don't want that much of a non-lubricating solvent in your oil, for one thing. More importantly, however, the solvent will wash all of the oil off the cylinder walls, so you will be starting it with no lubrication (which is obviously very bad).

Originally Posted by cheapybob

I also notice the MMO site does not recommend "soaking" the pistons. It says to add it to the oil. Since the oil lubricates the rings and pistons as they go up and down, that makes sense to me.

Piston soaks are not the "approved" use of MMO, but full strength MMO is far more powerful than diluted MMO, and prolonged direct contact is what is necessary to free the rings (if you have that much oil past the rings, normally, you'd be burning tons of oil). Freeing stuck piston rings in not really what MMO is designed for--that's a problem that is mostly unique to saturn (because of the design flaw).

Originally Posted by cheapybob

Don't mind me, I am no expert, just questioning this soaking thing, since it seems very few have success doing it anyway...

Many people report that it works miracles, and logically, it seems like it has a decent shot of working. It doesn't work for everyone, but most people who drive s-series do not have the skills and/or cannot afford a rebuild, so it's really their only option to reduce oil consumption. Some of the people claiming it works may be experiencing a placebo effect, but there are plenty of people who have claimed significant reduction in oil consumption after one or several consecutive MMO soaks.

[saturnsctwo]

simply switching to synthetic oil might do the trick also since that oil cleans better & doesn't break down & lubs better at low temps...

i seen a pic of an engine that was run with synthetic oil all it's life & you can eat off the parts inside...

[DIYguy]

You can also try running diesel oil for a couple of changes. It has high levels of detergent and dispersants and if anything will work from the crankcase oil side, that would probably be it. Run MMO in your gas to keep the injectors clean and lubricated. It does seem to help the car run smoother (at least I can tell the difference and so can my usual carpool passenger).

However, if your oil control rings are too far gone with carbon buildup, nothing will prevent needing a ring job.

MMO does have some lubricating properties, but Seafoam is about 1/3 "pale oil" per their published MSDS. If you are going to soak your pistons with anything, do it with Seafoam (any good auto parts store has both MMO and Seafoam, even some WalMarts carry them both). But I don't recommend piston soaks personally.

[badbobby]

Originally Posted by saturnsctwo

simply switching to synthetic oil might do the trick also since that oil cleans better & doesn't break down & lubs better at low temps...

i seen a pic of an engine that was run with synthetic oil all it's life & you can eat off the parts inside...

Yes--but my engine has 170.000--heard it is risky to start synthetic oil on high milers???

[badbobby]

Originally Posted by saturnsctwo

the soak is to clean & free up the oil control rings so the engine ceases to burn oil. the results vary. i use synthetic oil in my car because it contains better additives to keep engine components clean to avoid this problem in the first place.

Thank you. In a past post I read not to use synthetic oil on high milers for fear or removing to much sludge that may be helping clog oil potential leak problems. I have 175,000 1997 saturn sl.