Oil Stop Product Notice for Car Owners

Oil leakage problems
It’s a fact of life: Regardless of the make and model of car or truck you own, oil leaks will eventually occur. Rubber seals degrade from a wide range of stressors placed on them in a running engine; and, they will also lose their sealing ability if an engine is left sitting unused for too long.

For most well-maintained vehicles, developing oil leaks are a relatively minor inconvenience whose cost to repair the leak can be prohibitive, depending on the age of the car when the leaks start and the value car resale.

But when the oil leaks are so bad they’re damaging your (or your friends’) driveway, and your engine is at risk of starving due to inadequate oil pressure, it’s time to do some thing about the problem.

A questionable solution
A common solution to the problem is to choose any one of a large number of oil additives that claim to work not just one, but several miracles on a car’s aging, leaking rubber oil seals. But is this a good idea or at least an acceptable solution? I’m going to go out on a limb here, but the short answer is “No, not if you value the car.” The longer answer is a bit more complicated and really depends on what your long or short term plans are for your particular vehicle.

The appeal of a simple mechanic’s solution in a bottle is a slippery slope and usually best avoided when there is a correct repair solution for a problem. In other words, physically repair the leak with a new seal or seals.
That said, and I leave the personal preferences and experiences of others with these types of oil additives their own business and right to choose.

The contribution of the tests
The motivation for this article is a recent one Farm Project YouTube channel episode where the host tests and compares 13 different brands of oil leak prevention products. The bottom line was that one product —AT-205— seems to be the best choice overall. However, at the end, the host indicates that he would not recommend using any of the products in a relatively modern car that you value, but “good enough for government work”, as the saying goes, in an older model that goes to to the scrapyard soon

Problems can be argued because their testing was more of a 1:1 product to oil ratio than the manufacturer’s recommendation of something closer to 1:4. Also, I think there is some question about what it means when some products are oil insoluble and separate from the oil quite quickly and what that means for engine lubrication.

However, I suspect the host chose a 1:1 ratio to give a product a better chance of showing some benefit.

One takeaway that seems to support never using an oil leak stop product in a car you value is that the video indicates that many of these products can accelerate engine wear at the cost of just the to stop some of the leaks.

In short, you’ll be better off doing the right repair rather than resorting to solution-in-a-bottle maintenance or dodgy repair.

The value of this video
The value of this video is that for those new to using oil leak stop products, the video will provide some food for thought as to whether or not you want to try this type of solution.

Another point of value is that it is not unheard of to suspect that instead of performing a seal repair that you were billed for, you were scammed with a temporary mechanical solution in a bottle instead of an actual repair. Caveat emptor and all that.

That said and done, here’s a fun video for you to watch and judge for yourself:

Do Stop Leak products work? Do they damage the engine seals? Will they destroy an engine? Let’s find out

And finally…

For additional articles on related topics, here are some for your consideration:

• Head gasket sealant test results after a two-year test

• Consumer Reports analysts recommend which flat tire sealants really work

• Consumer Reports’ car experts have this to say about whether you should pay more for synthetic oil for your oil change

Timothy Boyer is an automotive reporter for Torque News based in Cincinnati. Experienced with early car restorations, he regularly restores older vehicles with engine modifications to improve performance. Follow Tim on Twitter at @TimBoyerWrites for daily new and used vehicle news.

Image source: Pixabay