The warranty coverage can be denied only if the aftermarket part caused the malfunction or damage for which warranty coverage is sought. Disputes in this area usually boil down to arguments over facts and technical opinions, rather than arguments over interpretations of the law.

The Law Protects Consumers

The law was written to protect consumers from manufacturers that sell products that become defective. In addition, they also protect consumers from manufacturers who may require you to buy a “their” part for replacement. Prior to the Magnuson-Moss Act manufacturers would require you to buy a certain part at an extremely high price to the consumer.

The Magnuson-Moss Act states that if a manufacturer requires you to use a certain part, then they must supply it free of charge until it’s off of warranty. Manufacturers don’t like this part of the law so they create a specification for a part so that you can purchase it from other suppliers.

When someone says that your cars’ warranty is voided if you use an oil additive automatically this is a false statement. As long as an oil additive does not compromise the specification for motor oil, it cannot void the warranty. And if there is question that it might compromise the specification to the point it could cause damage, then the manufacturer must prove it to actually void a warranty.

Oil and Fuel Additives Don’t Automatically Void Warranties

Presently, the sequence tests for gasoline engine warranty cost in excess of $500,000 and for diesel engines it’s more than $1,500,000. Thus, if a manufacturer is going to claim that an oil additive will void their warranty, they must run these series of sequence tests. This would be very rare if such an occurrence happened, but protects the manufacturer just in case. But for a manufacturer to make a blanket statement that the use of an oil additive automatically voids the cars warranty, is strictly false.

Many oil additive companies, such as SFR have run some of the sequence tests to prove they are effective and will not void the cars warranty. So next time someone says your cars warranty will be voided if you put in an oil additive tell them that the Magnuson-Moss Act protects me. And if a manufacturer tries to make you buy their part only when its under warranty, tell them they cannot force you as you can buy any part that meets the specification.

Today’s special gun lubricants are a waste of money and are sold at ridiculous prices.

Gun cleaners for cleaning out the bores are fine, however lubricants possess premium prices and they only consist of a light lubricating oil, like hydraulic oil, with a carrier.
Because they are wet they work okay initially but do not last under metal-to-metal contact.

How important are gun lubricants to performance? Let’s put it this way, has this ever happened to you?

• Safety doesn’t work easily and you cannot get a shot off while in the field.
• Slide action in pump shotgun doesn’t shuck easily and you short shuck it.
• Your clip doesn’t slide in easily and you struggle.
• Your semi-automatic pistol jams and you have to clear it.
• Your over an under shotgun is newer and tight to open.
• The bolt in your rifle doesn’t move like silk when you’re racking in a shell.
• Works okay as long as you oil it all the time but who has time for that?
• Doesn’t open or function properly in bad weather—especially cold.

What is needed for a superior gun lube that will make my gun perform optimally?

There are many applications in guns where friction occurs. This requires a boundary lubricant, which means a strong film to keep two moving pieces of metal from rubbing against each other. The best boundary lubricant contains Extreme Pressure Additives.

Extreme Pressure Additives will get into the pores of the metal and work without having to re-lube all the time. On a standardized test called a 4 Ball Extreme Pressure Test ASTM (American Society of Testing Materials) D-2783, most all leading gun oils will go the same as dry. SFR’s ProTecta Precision Oiler, which allows precision one drop application, will run 420 kilograms or 924 lbs. of friction pressure before failing.
Over oiling can be a problem with coming in contact with gun-powder residue, but SFR’s ProTecta only requires one drop to reduce friction.

I have included some pictures to point out the many uses of SFR’s ProTecta Precision Oiler on your guns.

ProTecta Precision Oiler protects against wear like no other gun oil you have ever used.

• Protects against corrosion a guns worst enemy.
• Gun will perform even better than when it was new out of the box.
• Actions, safeties, bolts, revolving chambers, slides, hinges will work like never before.
• And it is inexpensive costing a fraction of regular gun oils.

If you would like a gun oil tested that you have used regarding friction send a sample to:

Robert H. Sanborn
SFR Corporation
P.O. Box 457
Whitehall, MT 59759.

We will video tape testing results on a friction testing machine and send you a copy.

Comments are welcome.

Oil Companies Sell Additives

Most of the major oil companies are selling aftermarket additives on the consumer market today. One only has to think about this for a brief time and ask oneself, would a major oil company sell such products if they didn’t work? This is especially true when makes up such a small part of their overall business, which is that of selling fuel and motor oils. Would a major oil company risk such liability if they didn’t work and could cause damage to a vehicle. I do not think so. Since the aftermarket additives are some of the same additives used in their motor oils and fuels, but at a higher use, I do not think so. Its pretty easy to figure out that the aftermarket additives do provide a benefit to motorists or they wouldn’t bother.

If you didn’t know what companies and products are being sold on the market here is some important information for you. Pennzoil/Quaker State market Slick 50, the Teflon additive system; Valvoline the motor oil that “mechanics trust most”, at least that is their marketing unique selling proposition, (USP) markets a whole line of products under the Pyroil name. This includes engine treatments, fuel system treatments, diesel injector cleaners etc. They even sell under their own name Valvoline Synpower! Then there is Shell Oil Company that sells Gumout, and Chevron sells Techron as well as some others. Marathon oil uses STP in all of their fuel! Even the anti-freeze guys Prestone get into the act of selling aftermarket additives. Now the major oil companies are even making High-Mileage Motor oil with special additives to condition seals and prevent blow-by. As I researched the countless oil companies making aftermarket additives, I requested information on benefits such as mileage improvement claims etc. To my delight, I received ASTM and validated testing that cost literally hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars of testing on their products.

Conclusion

So, in conclusion, if you are still deciding if aftermarket additives actually work visit the links that I have included on all of the different aftermarket additive products sold by the major oil companies. There is something to additives as it’s the additives that do the work, not the base oil or carrier oil in the formulation. Whenever a new warranty specification is made for motor oil it always calls for more additives. Pour a bottle in today and see what so many have discovered for themselves and that is additives do work and benefit your vehicle.

In 2006 when a new motor oil warranty category for gasoline engines was developed GF-4, problems started occurring with older cars. When a new warranty specification is put on the market and licensed by the American Petroleum Institute (API) it makes all other previous specifications obsolete. All cars are supposed to be able to run on the new oil, however this is not the case with GF-4.

Zinc and the New Catalytic Converters

For many years major oil companies have used ZDDP (zinc dithiophosphate) in their motor oil formulations. The reason for this is ZDDP acts as a good anti-wear agent, and until metals of all kinds have escalated wildly in price, it was relatively cheap. Furthermore due to the skyrocketing price of platinum and palladium, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) decided to change the composition of your vehicles catalytic converter. With the new catalytic converter material, the new GF-4 specification is fine for new vehicles, however cars with flat tappet engines are not so lucky. Due to the pressure on flat tappets the new additives in the GF-4 are not working and customers are reporting early failure in droves! This is not an isolated problem, and the oil companies were aware of this problem. What has happened is that the EPA has mandated that sulfur, phosphorus and zinc (sulfated ash) were to be removed from the oil as it destroys the catalytic converter over a long period of time.

Older cars have run into a myriad of problems with flat tappet camshafts. Premature failure seems to be the rule rather than the exception. Car owners are mad and want answers fast. The fact is that older cars with their different catalytic converters need a product like zinc to protect its critical parts.

SFR 100 manufactured by SFR Corporation, SFR 100 with remarkable results published on the website. If you need ZDDP look for SFR’s SFR 100.

A mixure of oil and air is not a good lubricant, cannot support bearing loads, and does not provide good cooling. Because it contains air, oil foam is compressible. This impairs its ability to prevent wear, and the result can be the collapse of hydraulic valve lifters and subsequent poor engine operation.

High-quality motor oils contain foam inhibitor additives that weaken the tiny air bubbles and cause them to collapse almost as soon as they are formed in the oil. These chemical compounds, composed principally of hydrogen and silicon, are called silicones. Only a few parts per million are required to make most oil adequately foam-resistant.

The Motor Oil Guide, The American Petroleum Institute.

Motor Oil Guide, American Petroleum Institute

Antiwear/Extreme Pressure Agents: These agents bond to metal surfaces to create a strong lubricant film between moving metal parts. This film can withstand extreme heat and mechanical pressure to keep metal parts separated, protecting them from scoring and seizing.

So Are Additives that Reduce Extreme Pressure Really Necessary?

According to the American Petroleum Institute (API) or the major oil companies spokesman, which is published in their Motor Oil Guide, they claim the following: “Extreme pressure conditions can develop between heavily loaded parts from lack of lubrication, inadequate clearance, extreme heat, and sometimes as a result of using the wrong type or grade of lubricant for the operating conditions of the engine. In modern engines the valve train with its cams, valve lifters, push rods, valve stem tips, and parts of the rocker arms operate under extreme pressure because they carry heavy loads on very small contact areas. Unit loading, which may be as high as 200,000 pounds per square inch, is many times greater than the loads on the connecting rod bearings or on the piston pins.” Because of higher unit loading, higher engine speeds, and the smaller size of certain parts, modern engines have many components that operate under boundary or extreme pressure conditions much of the time”.

Do Motor Oils Contain Extreme Pressure Additives?

Research has shown that NO motor oils contain extreme pressure additives presently. This includes major motor oil company’s petroleum and synthetic products as well as specialty synthetic motor oil producers such as Amsoil® , Redline®, and Royal Purple®.

If you find an oil you think contains extreme pressure agents let us know, we will be happy to look into it and test for its ability to handle extreme pressure using a similar method in the official ASTM test.

Which oil additives contain extreme pressure agents? How well do they work?

What does all this mean?

Load-wear Index: (or the load-carrying property of a lubricating fluid)– an index of the ability of a lubricant to minimize wear at applied loads. Under the conditions of this test, specific loading in kilogram having intervals of approximately 0.1 logarithmic units, are applied to the three stationary balls for ten runs prior to welding. Corrected load, kgf = LDh/X Where L = applied load multipled by the lever arm ratio. Dh = Hertz scar diameter, mm and X = average scar diameter. This equation reflects the ability of a lubricant both to carry a high load without welding and to allow only realtively small wear scars at loads below the weld point. In other words the higher the wear index the more pressure the lubricant can withstand before the metal bearings weld together. It should be noted that Protecta Engine Treatment® never reached seizure because the load required to cause seizure was above and beyond the machine’s highest parameters. It literally beat the machine.

Weld point: under the conditions of this test, the lowest applied load in kilograms at which the rotating ball welds to the three stationary balls, indicating the extreme-pressure level of the lubricating fluid has been exceeded. The only additive that did not reach a weld point in this test was Protecta Engine Treatment®.

All products, except Motorkote™, were tested without dilution at 100% concentration by Petro-Lubricant Test Labs, Inc. in New Jersey. Motorkote™ values were taken from their website thus we are unable to vouch for accuracy. It should be noted that we make no claims of any products tested except to provide the values through conducting the American Society of Testing Materials standardized test D-2783 as performed by the independent laboratory.

For the official ASTM certified test visit ASTM-D-2783

In response to this article today’s blog post is devoted to showing you independent research laboratory results of SFR’s oil additive. I am going to show you the American Society for Testing and Materials ASTM KA24E Nissan Valve Train Wear Test with Pennzoil 10W30 and 5% SFR100. This test today costs roughly $100,000 dollars. This is THE test all oil companies use to determine engine wear. This test shows that Pennzoil 10W30 has 17% more wear in an engine than 5% SFR with Pennzoil.

But I thought oil additives don’t work? I thought the article said that independent research laboratories found oil additives ineffective.

The article had little to no testing data or sources to back up their claim. They certainly were not going to do a $100,000 test on a random sample of oil additives. Maybe someone did a test on a particular oil additive and found that additive ineffective and the author used that as evedince that ALL oil additives are snake oil.

If NASA says oil additives don’t work then I am convinced! After all, they know alot about science and technology.

Well I am not really sure if NASA has done testing and found them ineffective or not. But I am sure they would not endorse an oil additive if they didn’t find benefits in additives. X-1R’s oil additive is in The Space Technology Hall of Fame in cooperation with NASA! SFR has also sold product many times to NASA.

Ok, how about state universites? They claim they don’t work.

The article had only this to say, “North Dakota State University conducted tests on oil additives and said in their report, “The theory sounds good — the only problem is that the products simply don’t work.” After doing a search in google scholar, I could not find any information offered by North Dakota State University. If someone could find the document and testing methods please send them to me.

Ok, how about the engine manufacturers?

I’ve heard of briggs and stratton running some sort of test in their own facilities with their own engineers. This test is NOT certified nor used by any major oil companies to determine engine wear. In addition the test was conducted many years ago and the brand of the oil additive that was tested was not disclosed.

Ok, how do I know this test is from a certified source and where can I find out who did the test?

Since this lab is used to test billion dollar corporate motor oils and is used by government agencies they want to remain completely independent. We are “contractually bound” by the laboratories to not reveal their identities. However, the way the contract reads the test can be distributed if the test is given in its entirety. This includes: the name of the test, the company it was tested for, the independent research lab that conducted the test, and the signature of the research engineer. For a complete copy of this test please write to SFR Corporation. The fee to obtain the test is $5.00 to cover printing and shipping costs. To see the online version for free click on the link below.

ASTM KA24E VALVE TRAIN WEAR TEST