Everyone wants their car engines working at peak performance. Using an oil additive will help your regular motor oil function properly and introduce protective features that will shield the parts of your engine.
Not only will your engine run better and smoother, but you will also have less noise and pollution. It can be challenging to find the right oil additive so make sure you do your homework before you start shopping. Here are a few tips on what to look for in the best oil additive and a few reviews to help you start shopping.
Best Oil Additives of 2020
| Product | Type | Quantity | Engine types | Size, fl oz | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archoil AR9100 Friction Modifier (Editor's Choice) |  | Oil additive for all engines type | 1 | Gasoline, diesel | 16 | Check Price |
| BestLine Premium Synthetic Engine Treatment |  | Gasoline engine treatment oil additive | 1 | Gasoline | 16 | Check Price |
| AI Innovations Lucas Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer |  | Diesel oil stabilizer additive | 1 or 4 | Diesel | 128 | Check Price |
| XL Nanolube XL-007 Engine Optimizer |  | Oil additive to stop smoke | 1 | Gasoline, diesel | 8 | Check Price |
| Lucas Oil 10063 |  | Zinc oil additive | 1 or 6 | Gasoline, diesel | 16 | Check Price |
| XADO 1 Stage Atomic Metal Conditioner Revitalizant |  | Oil additive for high mileage engines | 1 | Gasoline, natural-gas, diesel | 7.5 - 32 | Check Price |
| Liqui Moly Anti-Friction Oil Treatment |  | Oil additive for noisy engines | 4 | Gasoline, diesel, LP gas | 10 | Check Price |
1. Archoil AR9100 Friction Modifier – Top Rated Additive for Diesel Engines with Noisy Lifters
Suitable for both gasoline and diesel engines, Archoil’s AR9100 Oil Additive features forms a lubricating film that creates a solid boundary helping to lessen friction heat, vibration, and engine noise. It improves the performance of the engine and helps to protect hydraulic systems, gearboxes, and engines. The AR9100 gets rid of issues that develop from cold and hard starts caused by HEUI injector misfires in 6.0L & 7.3L Power Strokes.
Extreme Pressure Additive
The AR9100 features an extreme pressure additive that forms a solid film boundary that lubricates friction surfaces, giving you a great load carrying ability no matter how harsh the operating conditions. The extreme pressure additive also guarantees the protection of all your engine components. The film that forms lessens friction by developing less heat allowing your engine to run more quietly and smoothly while improving power and efficiency.
Reduces Deposits
With a reduction in deposits, the AR9100 removes and disperses carbon deposits, varnish, and sludge built up in your engine. If you continually use AR9100, it will help to keep your engine clean while reducing wear and extending the engine component’s life. It will also extend the intervals between oil drains and prevent it from becoming acidic.
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2. BestLine Premium Synthetic Engine Treatment – Excellent Anti Friction Additive to Clean Engine
Bestline Premium Synthetic Engine Treatment helps to prolong the life of your engine. This is achieved by reducing friction, which limits how much energy you need to run the engine. Plus, it lessens how much heat you need to generate to operate the engine.
Compression
In the engine’s cylinder, a compression process takes place where an air-fuel mixture is pressed together under increased pressure into a small volume. This will produce the power necessary to operate your vehicle with Bestline Premium Synthetic Engine Treatment guaranteeing the engine ring grooves are clean, so they are allowed to move without any problem giving you the amount of power needed to operate efficiently. While it reduces dangerous emissions and smoke, it helps to protect the atmosphere and is registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Efficiency
Bestline Premium Synthetic Engine Treatment also guarantees that the engine works efficiently, giving you a lot of value for their money by reducing the maintenance cost of your vehicle. This is an affordable treatment that is popular among car owners who want to save money while also lessening corrosion and resisting wear and friction on their engine.
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3. AI Innovations Lucas Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer – Great Treatment to Stop Oil Leaks
An additive that works well with both transmission oil and engine oil, the Al Innovations Lucas Oil Stabilizer is a great choice for tractors, trucks, and cars. Available in large one-gallon containers, Lucas Oil Stabilizer is very affordable and large enough for multiple uses. Mainly an oil stabilizer, it can help to extend your engine or transmission oil by up to fifty percent.
Dry Starts
Great for dry starts, Lucas Oil Stabilizer also helps engine overheating and engines with blow-by issues. If you have an engine that sputters with regular oil, this additive can solve the problem, and it helps engines with oil loss. Perfect for older engines to continue running smoothly, it can also help to prolong the engine’s life.
Increased Gas Mileage
By reducing the level of oil consumption by your engine, you can increase fuel economy and gas mileage while eliminating dry starts from older engines and reduces noise. This is a sticky and gooey product when it is cold, but it will make your engine quieter and running smoother.
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4. XL Nanolube XL-007 Engine Optimizer – Great Option to Stop Smoke and Oil Burning
Optimizing both gasoline and diesel engines, XL Nanolube Engine Oil Additive & Nano Treatment helps to detox your vehicle, giving you results almost instantly. This is a handy product that saves you money while also cleaning the environment and giving you more power from your vehicle. By creating a Nano-film over all the metal parts, this product is great for handling the heat, eliminating dry start damage.
Detox Process
XL Nanolube will not burn the engine’s inside once it is mixed with oil and keeps the engine from burning oil from continual exposure to heat inside the engine. XL also helps to make engines new again with its detox process, plus it helps to prevent rusting. It also helps you save your money on maintenance and increase torque and horsepower.
By reducing oil breakdown, XL Nanolube also prevents contamination between the combustion chamber and the piston chamber and stabilizes the engine temperature to reduce emissions. It also removes old engine build-up, including varnish, sludge, and gum. This is a great product for cars over six years old or that have over 75,000 miles.
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5. Lucas Oil 10063 – Excellent Zinc Additive for Engine Break-In
Protecting both the valve train and camshaft lifters during the break-in period of your motor, Lucas Oil Engine Break-In Oil Additive is a great choice for race cars but is not intended for passenger car use.
This is an additive that can be used with any motor oil to stop premature wear or for flat tappet camshafts during break-in.
Break-In Feature
Lucas Oil Engine Break-In features an exclusive blend of extreme pressure additives and adding one bottle with each oil change will increase the zinc content of your vehicle’s motor oil. This is perfect for applications that require extreme pressure additives like racing where dyno testing shows that you get a more efficient break-in when used, providing you with less engine run time prior to race day.
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6. XADO 1 Stage Atomic Metal Conditioner Revitalizant – Top Additive for Older Engines with High Mileage
Created for diesel engines on heavy-duty vehicles, XADO 1 Metal Conditioner Revitalizant is great for vehicles with an oil capacity system of up to 30 to 45 quarts. Reducing friction, XADO 1 helps to rebuild the worn metal in engine parts while creating a protective coating to prevent future wear. This is a tool-free product that aids restoration while giving you anti-wear protection.
Compatibility
Prolonging your engine’s life, XADO 1 helps save you money from preventing expensive future repairs. Only one treatment is needed to protect your engine for 60,000 miles. This product is compatible with any type of motor oil with revitalization taking place between 600 and 900 miles. Compression levels are increased in the cylinders while creating an active protection system that stops overheating and overloading.
Restores Worn Parts
Restoring the surface of worn parts, XADO 1 helps to compensate current wear while increasing your engine power and acceleration capability. It also reduces your fuel consumption while enhancing your engine’s service life. Plus, it reduces vibrations and engine noise while increasing your oil system pressure up to the correct level.
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7. Liqui Moly Anti-Friction Oil Treatment – Excellent Additive to Stop Noisy Engines Knocking
Forming a high load-bearing film on all your engine’s worn parts, Liqui-Moly MOS2 Anti-Friction Engine Treatment helps to significantly reduce wear, heat, and friction in your engine. Known for its ability to cling onto surfaces and a really low coefficient of friction, Liqui-Moly MOS2 works on LP gas, diesel, and petrol engines. Plus, it is effective and safe for both supercharged and turbocharged engines.
Extends the Life of Your Engine
Liqui-Moly MOS2 can also be used in a brand-new car right at the first oil change giving you an effective treatment for the entire life of the engine. By reducing the wear on your engine, this product will extend the life of your engine by reducing fuel consumption, less heat, and smoother operation. This is a great product for high load applications like full throttle driving condition and extended towing.
Compatibility
This product can mix with any commercial motor oil and is a great choice for those users that live in extreme climates or love to travel. It is also well matched with every filter system reducing carbon deposits. If you are interested in increasing your engine’s performance, Liqui-Moly MOS2 contains HBN and MOS2 chemicals that can stabilize your engine’s temperature lower, preventing it from overheating.
Increase Gas Mileage
Containing small ceramic particles, Liqui-Moly MOS2 will also increase your mileage while healing scratches inside your engine. It is designed to start working after about seven to ten days.
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Buyer’s Guide
If you are interested in improving your car’s fuel economy or reducing the noises coming out of your engine, consider using an oil additive. Oil additives can be a controversial topic among car owners with some loving them and others against them. Either way you fall, here are a few things to think about before making your decision.
Types of Oil Additives
As with almost any car product, you will find different types of oil additives. Here a quick breakdown of the main types of engine oil treatment.
Complete Engine Treatment
Preventing friction, this type of oil additive creates a protective barrier around the parts of the engine to get rid of excess heat.
Engine Break-In Oil Additive
Mostly used with engine oil, this oil additive helps to protect the camshaft lifters in your vehicle as well as lubricate the valve train.
Engine Oil Stop Leak
This oil additive is mainly used to stop leaks in the engine by sealing the part that is causing the leak.
Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer
Used to reduce friction, this type of oil additive makes your engine run smoother by lubricating the inside of your engine.
High Mileage Oil Stabilizer
As your car inches higher in mileage, this oil stabilizer protects your engine from wear and tear.
Chemicals in Oil Additives
When thinking about using an oil additive, it can be helpful to learn a little bit about compounds that are used in the additive.
- Zinc. Used as a performance booster, zinc is mostly beneficial to older engines.
- Phosphorous. Prolonging the life of your engine, phosphorous limits the metal-to-metal friction that happens in an engine.
Other Considerations
EPA Certification
When you reduce harmful emission, you are also improving your fuel economy. Known to reduce harmful emissions, oil additives that have EPA certification also indicate that they don’t contain any harmful substances. Another eco-friendly alternative is the PEA certification, but the smarter environmentally-friendly purchase will have the EPA certification.
Engine Model
Normally, you will find a label on an oil additive to indicate which engine type to use it with, so it is important to understand the oil additives compatibility with engines. Some oil additives will only work with a synthetic oil engine, while others will only work with smaller engines. Make sure to check your vehicles’ user’s manual to make sure you know what type of engine you have and base your oil additive on choice that.
Compatibility
Often only suitable for gas engines, oil additives are sometimes not suited for certain vehicles at all. Don’t rely on what the additive manufacturer say, but make sure to check the vehicle’s user’s manual. Not only will the user’s manual tell you what type of oil additives you should purchase but also what chemicals you should avoid in oil additives.
Climate
Certain oil additives are not good to use in harsh winter conditions, although almost all can withstand high temperatures. Make sure the oil additive you choose works with the environment that you drive your vehicle in as well as the seasons.
Features to Consider in Good Oil Additives
Reduce Friction
To function, the engine of a car moves metal against metal, creating friction that is necessary for the car but can cause problems for the engine. If you have too much friction, metal parts will start to chip away and become damaged, which is exactly what happens to our lifter.
When you lubricate the metals parts of the lifter, you reduce the friction, so you just need a little care along with the right amount of the oil to get the frictions to come down. Look for products that create a guard around the lifter’s metallic parts. With the advanced technology on the market, you can find some products that will actually stick to the lifters to protect the parts, causing any knocking noise.
Increase Miles per Gallon
In trying to improve gas mileage, some people will use a new type of oil while other will try an additive. What they really need to consider is what is going to optimize the performance of their engine. To get the best output from your engine, look for the best product that will lubricate your engine’s joints and parts properly while reducing friction.
But you also want it to give you an increase in miles per gallon. Even just a small percentage increase will tell you that your engine is performing better than it was, so remember that if you get frustrated.
Prevent Rust
Preventing rust accumulation on the in and outside of the lifters should happen no matter what additive or oil you choose. Rust makes it more difficult for the lifters to function and its parts to move. You will often hear noises while you are driving as a result of rust that starts out faintly and increases over time.
Look for a product that will clean oil passages as the product moves through them. As it passes through, it should help to clean sludge and dissolve rust in the oil. You will find a few high-end products that will even adapt to increasing temperatures while keeping chemical vapors from forming sludge and rust.
Thickness
Thicker options are often the most popular choice when choosing an oil additive. However, it really is relative as to whether a thicker product will work for your engine. You need to determine how broad or narrow the oil passages are or if the lifter is small with small opening and valves. Depending on these answers, you may need a thin or thick product with narrower engines requiring a thin liquid and engines with wide openings requiring a thicker liquid to flow through them.
Oil Additive FAQs
What are Oil Additives?
Oil additives have two primary functions – to prevent rust or corrosion from damaging your engine, and to make sure your engine operates efficiently. It will blend into your motor oil, providing protection for metal surfaces, reducing friction, and lubricating all the parts of your engine.
Enhancing up to five percent of your motor oils total volume, an oil additive basically will improve the existing motor oil. And remember, a little oil additive goes a long way.
How do Oil Additives Work?
Your motor oil’s performance is measured by viscosity, meaning that it will gunk up your engine if it is too viscous. However, it runs like water and is too flowy, it won’t cover the areas it needs to. The viscosity of your oil is altered by oil additives making it function better for your engine. Temperature also affects your oil’s viscosity both externally and internally.
Running at peak performance is essential for your car to operate. Older cars can have their lives extended by using the right oil additive by optimizing their use. Using a fluid on all moving parts and regulating temperature is essential to your engine’s performance.
Are Fuel Additives the Same as Oil Additives?
No, they are different. Since oil is working all throughout your engine, allowing your engine to run, it uses fuel to move the car. You can only alter the fuel in a car so much to improve the vehicle’s performance. Used to alter octane rating, fuel additives also contain corrosion inhibitors for parts that are used by your fuel. You can sometimes increase your miles per gallon if you can find a fuel additive that supports proper lubrication.
How Often do I Need to Change my Oil Additives?
When you change the oil, you need new additives. Since oil additives meld into your existing oil, they go hand in hand.
Conclusion
Now that you know all about oil additives and how they can improve your vehicle’s performance, you are ready to hit the auto store to find the right brand to use for your car. The right oil additive can help you increase gas mileage, get rid of the noise, and some even help with leaks, so don’t worry, the right brand is out there for you. Remember to check your owner’s manual and familiarize yourself with your vehicle’s requirements.