Oil and fuel additives

[guest2861]

I have recently brought a Honda Jazz, 1.4 SE manual,  8 valve, i DSI, L13A1,  year 2005,  54000 miles.

Would it be safe for me to add 'Slick 50 synthetic'  to the oil?  I have done this to my last two higher mileage cars - which had little in the way of electronic control - which made a considerable improvement to their performance.

As the car was standing for nine months in dealers yards I would also like to add Redex to the fuel to help the engine rewear itself in again - with an upper cylinder lubricant, and to clean out the fuel line and injectors.  Would this be a safe thing to do on a modern relatively highly tuned engine?

I'd appreciate any sensible advice or suggestions.

[guest2853]

My advice is to avoid any oil or fuel additives.

Change the oil and add new fuel and simply enjoy the car.

These additives are not good investments and may be harmful for you car.

[guest2865]

My advice is to avoid any oil or fuel additives.

Change the oil and add new fuel and simply enjoy the car.

These additives are not good investments and may be harmful for you car.

Good advice Charly - additives are great according to their makers but in a modern car simply add to the already high running  costs.

[guest2162]

Redex is an expensive thin red 'oil'. If you need upper cylinder lubrication, two stroke oil is the way to go as it is decent oil, doesn't cost too much and is readily soluble.

But, both of these are not good news to a catalyst which all Jazzes have.

Just drive gently, ie not full load and slowly increase the revs you reach. No need for a big process, a hundred or so miles should be enough.

[DV]

My advice is to avoid any oil or fuel additives.

Change the oil and add new fuel and simply enjoy the car.

These additives are not good investments and may be harmful for you car.

I strongly agree.

[guest1844]

I agree as well. You can't beat regular oil changes.
These days cars rarely die because the engine's worn out. It's usually something else that sees them off to the big car park in the sky.

[guest2765]

I have recently brought a Honda Jazz, 1.4 SE manual,  8 valve, i DSI, L13A1,  year 2005,  54000 miles.

just gotta ask..sure its a 1.4....the L13A1 8 valve is the engine listed for the 1.2i (car ive got)... the 1.4 uses a 16valve

for the rest of what you have asked..id say regular oil changes..instead of using additives if you want to do something to make the car run buy a K&N filter... ive just fitted one, has raised my mpg on my daily 60mile drive to and from work (30 miles each way) from about 44mpg to 46mpg (ok 2mpg..big wow but better than a kick in the teeth)

http://www.knfilters.co.uk/search/product.aspx?Prod=33-2917

worth getting

[guest2861]

Thank chaps for your replies.

I have been driving very gently to wear it back in and changed the oil.  The dealer did an oil change just before I got it (but left the old filter!) so it has had a good flush out.  It is running very smoothly and quietly.

I'll not use the Redex regularly, just for a couple of tankfuls to clear the injectors.

As I've had such good results on higher milage engines in the past with Slick 50 I might give it a try after a couple of thousand miles, but will minimize the amount I use.

[guest2853]

Injectors are cleaned with ultrasounds at very high mileages.

Additives in a 40 liters tank will be useless.

[guest2861]

Hi Lunacide

Yes, it is rated as a 1.4 although the engine is actually 1.3 litres plus a little bit, and it has only eight valves.

I'll see if I can get a K&N filter and give it a try.  Thanks for the tip.  Here's one in return.  I've just cleaned the carburettor butterfly valve edges and the carburettor air ducts.  They were coated in a black residue, easily removed with white spirit.  This has not effected the idle speed but has very considerably improved the low revs performance.

[guest1583]

Hi lunacide,
   
     Theres nothing wrong with using engine additive if you can do afford it.  However, try a bit of research if you want to use certain product into your jazz.
In reality though nothing can substitute regular service (oil,filter changes) that if you know what you doing.  The best thing is that if you can service your car yourself changing oil and air filter and spark plugs are very easy to do, there are loads of youtube clips online you can browse to help you through.  Having you able to do this simple service could save you extras for you to invest in quality oils and or additive you want.

     Dont believe in this people who thought that fuel additive are all evil, the fact is they themselves have not do any reasearch on this product furthermore tested this on their own car. Car and engine technology have gone the long way already and study and research have produced these products on the market only waiting to be used by car enthusiasts.  Engine oil compare to those old days are now far more different and variety of it has more additive and detergent, this is not all bad but delivers to the needs of the present standards.

  Try to research this product ZX1 extralube, it is not fuel additive but friction eliminator on your car engine and can really boost your car performance and economy.

[guest2865]

Hi lunacide,
   
     Theres nothing wrong with using engine additive if you can do afford it.  However, try a bit of research if you want to use certain product into your jazz.
In reality though nothing can substitute regular service (oil,filter changes) that if you know what you doing.  The best thing is that if you can service your car yourself changing oil and air filter and spark plugs are very easy to do, there are loads of youtube clips online you can browse to help you through.  Having you able to do this simple service could save you extras for you to invest in quality oils and or additive you want.

     Dont believe in this people who thought that fuel additive are all evil, the fact is they themselves have not do any reasearch on this product furthermore tested this on their own car. Car and engine technology have gone the long way already and study and research have produced these products on the market only waiting to be used by car enthusiasts.  Engine oil compare to those old days are now far more different and variety of it has more additive and detergent, this is not all bad but delivers to the needs of the present standards.

  Try to research this product ZX1 extralube, it is not fuel additive but friction eliminator on your car engine and can really boost your car performance and economy.

Brilliant bit of free marketing here - what do you think about Britain's membership of the EU?

[guest1583]

oil and fuel additive is the topic here sorry...
(take a closer look at your avatar to where the finger points)

[Pine]

Texaco used to be renowned for the quality of the additives used in their petrol and always charged a few pence more for their fuels.  In recent years their parent company Chevron has developed a new additive called Techron which it has started to use worldwide and for which it makes great claims (see it on the internet). It was introduced to UK in the Cardiff area with the intention of rolling it out nationally. However Texaco UK has recently been sold by Chevron to a Texan oil company called Valero who now have the right to use the Texaco name in the UK . I presume they now use a standard fuel additive as the price of their fuels in my area is the now same as the other fuel companies. Apparently they do intend to use an additive called Lubrizol in their Supreme grade of fuel, which claims similar properties to Techron.
 
I must add that I have no connection to any oil company or the petrol industry; I was told this by someone who works in a fuel distribution centre and thought I would pass it on as there seems to be an interest in fuel additives and quality.
 
When I get low on petrol I fill up at the first fuel station I come to, I do not stick to one company. I have tried them all however there are no Shell stations in my area. I have noticed that my 1.4 DSi CVT seems to be sensitive to different brands of fuel, something I have not noticed on any other car I have owned.  Some give a noticeably smoother tickover. I have also tried the super unleadeds. Whilst they do give a smoother drive and a feeling of more power I did not see a noticeable improvement in fuel consumption. However if I wanted to clean my fuel injectors I would rather use a super fuel for a couple of thousand miles than pour a bottle of additive into the tank. Not only would it be cheaper but I am sure the major fuel companies have the best facilities to conduct extensive testing to verify their claims.

[guest1583]

  HI

    Yes the every question in this thread is that how will you know if the fuel that you pour into your tank really clean your fuel injector.  Does having a expensive petrol wigh high octane rating does the job? In this case how will you you know as you do claim. Either of these fuel company doesnt really says it cleans injector actually. Putting a tank of fuel wether high octane or does not actually claim that all they say is for us to spend a lot of fuel and does they profit on it.
Thanks...