Supplemental Oil Additives: Objective Lab Tests Can Be Revealing
Unfortunately we have found that when tested in an objective lab environment for both antiwear and anticorrosion qualities, most supplemental oil additives typically found on auto parts store shelves in years past did not substantially work as advertised, or at least didn't have sufficient independent lab or objective field tests to support their claims. We feel this has given this type of product a bad name overall-surprise! In fact these type of products as a whole was the subject of a recent FTC Investigation with the result being many products either were pulled from the market entirely, or forced to drastically change their marketing or advertising claims to come into compliance with real-world test results. It is an interesting exercise to check the label of a typical oil additive now and compare it to that from just a few years ago! If you have an old container laying around check it out!

The FTC Declared War On Engine Oil Supplements! A Recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Investigation Has Weeded Out Many...
You may also notice that in years past, large discount stores like Wal-Mart and K Mart used to have nearly a full isle of supplemental oil additive products alone such as Slick 50, DuraLube, MotorUp, STP Oil Additive, etc. and your choices numbered deep into the double digits. Now, the number of such products appearing on their shelves is substantially less-if not nearly a non-item in their automotive section! We think the reason is that during a recent major industry wide investigation, the FTC found most do not work as advertised or at least didn't have adequate testing to prove they did. In fact we have it on good authority that it was a FTC attorney who caught one of the TV infomercials in which the infamous static run old Buick engine was being squirted with a fire hose with both the valve covers and oil pan removed, as the prime spark for this industry-wide FTC investigation. Ask anyone who works in the automotive department at Wal-Mart stocking shelves if the number of such oil additive products has greatly diminished and/or if the labels have changed in the last year or so. Now you know the rest of the story.

If you followed these type of supplemental oil additives in years past, you may have noticed the absence of true independent lab tests in their marketing hype. Many manufacturers of trick oil (or fuel) additives and even the base oils themselves, resulted in obtaining anecdotal "my car runs smoother/faster" user comments and/or celebrity endorsements to fill the credibility gap. Few purveyors of these products offered across the board& independent lab test results of real-world corrosion prevention, antiwear characteristics, deposit resistance, and seal and gasket qualities. The huge difference is that CamGuard was borne out of oil industry R&D and we do have this type of relevant independent test data.

What are the primary problems or demands relative to the internal workings of a piston engine?

Corrosion: Corrosion is the destructive attack of a metal by chemical reaction with its environment. Rusting applies to the corrosion of iron or iron based alloys such as steel.

In engines, corrosion manifests itself by causing material loss, surface property changes (pitting) and dimensional changes, dramatically increasing wear rates on critical steel components such as camshaft lobes, tappet surfaces and cylinder walls. It is this phenomenon recognized by a major engine component reconditioner that led to the development of CamGuard. Corrosion attacks of non-ferrous metals can damage bearings and bushings, degrade the efficiency of oil coolers and weaken structural components.

Wear: Wear is the gradual removal of material from one or both pieces of two materials that are in contact and moving relative to one another.

Engines have many parts found under such conditions including the interfaces of cam lobes and lifters, cylinders and piston rings and gears. Wear rates are determined by load pressures, relative speed, materials, surface properties and the lubricant. The presence of corrosion on the rubbing surfaces dramatically increase wear rates as the corrosion products are easily removed and often abrasive. Deposits that limit or prevent the normal movement of components will also increase wear rates dramatically.

Deposits: Deposits are buildup of carbonaceous materials caused by oxidized fuel and lube products sticking to various engine components.

Reactive deposit precursors attach to metal surfaces and are then baked in place. The oil additives must prevent oxidation and disperse the reactive precursors for the life of the oil. If they don't, deposits can form, for example, on pistons causing rings to stick. Sticking rings rapidly increases wear and may cause the need for a premature top overhaul. Increasing both antioxidancy and dispersancy capabilities of the oil help minimize deposit buildup as well as mitigate existing deposit problems

Engine Internal Seals/Gaskets: Seals are synthetic rubber like materials that allow mechanical motion to occur outside the engine while keeping the oil inside the engine

They seal the crankshaft while allowing it to turn both inside and outside the engine and their use allows access to many parts of the engine including valve covers and push rods. Over time and exposure to hot oil, seals may shrink and harden or they may soften and crumble. Neither is a pleasant prospect. The ability to protect from both scenarios can help minimize messy engine compartments and the need to replace seals before TBO.

Independent Lab Tests
How Accurate And How Relevant To What Is Going In Inside An Engine?
The key to getting relevant meaningful lab tests is to duplicate as close as possible to what is going on inside your engine. This isn't nearly as easy as it sounds as while corrosion testing is far simpler and straightforward to measure in a lab environment vs testing antiwear properties. Common reasoning would dictate that to get true engine results you would have to run a significant number of engines in a test environment for a significant period of time-something which simply isn't economically viable even for a major oil company! So most all such tests are done on a lesser scale in labs using machines to duplicate engine loads and bearing pressures.

In one respect however, testing for anticorrosion properties isn't nearly this complicated due to the copious research the Navy has standardized on keeping rust or corrosion at bay in ferrous metals and even aluminum. The tests for this quality are fairly standard and employ the use of a salt spray rig and/or a lab humidity cabinet. This is good as internal engine corrosion is most inactive GA engines main concern.

When it comes to measuring antiwear however, it is true you can skew most any single lab test or more commonly, only measure or test for a specific level of metal to metal pressure as the typical engine has multiple pressure points of varying amounts of pressure/lube requirements. While typically limited to a gearbox application such as a lower unit on marine I/O drive units, one such pressure point is that known as; EP (extreme pressure) loads. While some engine additive purveyors apparently did, you shouldn't really test an engine oil additive for EP as it might perform well there, but not at the lesser loads typically found in an internal combustion engine. Thus when testing for loads not relevant, the subject additive will show some form of improvement, when they are next to meaningless (if not harmful) for the use intended.

When tested with industry standard tests such as testing for anti-corrosion qualities via a (U.S Navy inspired) salt spray or humid cabinet or when doing wear tests using a Falix V-block test rig so as to closely simulate or duplicate the actual loads typically found in piston engines such as on bearing, cam, and lifter faces, CamGuard test results literally went off the charts!

The CamGuard 11-Point Formula: An Advanced Multi-functional Additive Package Formulated For Maximum Performance, OR Snake Oil, Magic Tefflon Elixir, Good O'l Boy Go-Juice, The Real Stuff?
If you put any stock in a well-researched major series recently published in Aviation Consumer Magazine, and/or check out how this additive package came to be developed in the first place, as well as examine the independent lab tests, we think you won't ever change your (ordinary) oil again without adding CamGuard back in with the fresh oil ever again!