Recommended Engine and Transmission Oil additives

[Jackchessell Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Jackchessell]

I am the current owner of a 2008 Prado equiped with the 3L 1KD
The vehicle is getting up there in mileage have clocked a total of 353880 kms and is due for a basic service I.e fluids flush and refill at 355000 kms
I am considering picking up some additives for the engine and transmission oil
the following are ones I am already looking at having them put in

• Nulon Automatic transmission treatment
  • the reason for this is I have noticed lately that after heavy acceleration the transmission takes a bit longer to shift back up a gear than usual
• Castrol engine shampoo

If anyone has better experience in this area or a better suggestion of what additives I should use I would very much appreciate any advice / suggestions

[Some bloke Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Some bloke]

Highly recommend Cost Effective Maintenance products. They’re aussie made, have a good website and are helpful on the phone. I had a 95 series and currently have a 120, both manual diesels. A friend solved his injector rattle with the product and then recommended them to me. The 90 had over 400k kms and I only sold it because the 120 was a bargain. I use antiwear in diffs, gearbox and engine. Although my prados aren’t common rail I still use their CRD fuel treatment.

[Astol87 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Astol87]

Sounds like snakeoil to me. Be good to understand how it supposedly fixes engine rattle (as my understanding is its to do with valve clearances?)

[Some bloke Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Some bloke]

Injector rattle

[EddieF Member Find all posts View Profile Close EddieF]

I have no technical knowledge, but may be able to provide something to think about.
I believe Nulon products have a good reputationand its possible to contact their technical area for advice on their products. In terms of the Castrol shampoo, as this is an engine flush, I assume you would need to drop the sump pan an clean the oil pickup as well to ensure it doesnt get blocked from the flush process. How often do you do an oil change? I use a high detergent oil and do an oil change every 5,000 kms (i.e. do my own oil change mid between the 10,000 kms oil care services. but my car is petrol, not diesel). The idea to slowly clean the engine over time (although I believe diesel rated oil is already high detergent based?). Hopefully someone else on the site can confirm if more frequent changes will also benefit a diesel motor.
Just some food for thought :-)

[Daniel150 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Daniel150]

At 350000, it’s a waste of time and money. If the engine has sludge or carbon build up, then you have sludge and carbon build up. No chemical is going to wipe it away.
Nearly all additives are a well marketed scam. No one has actual evidence of them working or doing what they claim.
It would be quite easy and relatively inexpensive for a manufacturer to strip down a head or injectors, photograph it, reassemble it, run their additive through it and then show a definite improvement in either injector spray patterns, reduced carbon build up or simply an improvement in how clean it looks. I’ve spent a long time looking but never found a scrap of evidence.

The only one I would consider would be a fuel treatment that kills algae and even this I’m a bit weary of due to how corrosive they can be.

Regular oil changes are far better as a way to prevent sludge build up. Potentially you could use a cheap oil, add an engine oil flush to it (just lots of detergents) and change it straight away. Alternatively just put a good oil in, run it for 500km and change with another good oil and keep to 5000km intervals.

In regards to the transmission, at 350000, it’s in the latter stages of its life. No amount of anti wear additive is going to recondition it. Transmissions are like motors and need fluid and filter changes from the start. Again, I’ve seen little proof that an additive actually does anything. I’m confident that the big name manufacturers are adding enough detergents etc to their products that there’s no need to add some blokes “secret elixir” to make it work better. Simply maintain it from the start and it will last as long as any mechanical device can.

I would save the money and keep it for repairs.