So I had a noisy lifter that would come and go. It ticked about 90 percent of the time and I figured a lifter or even a cam and lifter job was in order. What the hell I said, let me try some of this snake oil stuff, right? Even the name, "Marvel Mystery Oil" can be a synonym for Snake Oil but behold, I dumped a quart into my motor and like magic, the tick went away after 15 minutes. I let the motor cool down, then restarted and no tick. I let the motor Idle for close to an hour with periodic romps on the pedal and still no tick. This stuff has been around forever and I can't believe I didn't try it sooner. I am now a believer.

yes , and what oil and filter brands and oil weights were you using beforehand ? what are oil change time and mileage intervals . IE , it's only my summer toy car , and the oil + filter is 4 years old because it's only got 2,ooo miles on it .

I put a quart in every 20 gallons of gas

Best 7 bucks I ever spent. Think I'm going to add some to my other cars as a preventative measure.

No, as another said it helps protect rubber parts with fine mineral oil - search for an MSDS sheet on it we see it's basically oil, mineral spirits (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_spirit) and naptha.
https://www.marvelmysteryoil.com/media/1256/marvel-mystery-oil.pdf

I wouldn't want ATF on non-trans rubber seals, but it also has fine solvents and cleans hands great.

Rick Walker Carbs assembles their rebuilds with it and recommends the quart per 20 gal for old motorhomes and trucks.
https://www.facebook.com/RonEsauRac...work-all-over-the-world/434184586659940/

ATF doesn't hurt seals, it's oil, very light weight oil. Has additional additives and cleaners but oil none the less.

I was told:
“never use one of these Ingersol Rand air impact guns without first squirting Marvel Mystery Oil in the air quick connector.”
It worked “Marvelously” for that.

Probably not, but I had ATF swell polyurethane badly due to the additives so am wary...

I had a collapsed lifter in a 350 Buick back in 1980. Threw a quart of Marvel in and in a few hours all was well!!
Ron

Yep, I had a Aspen with rackety lifters and off the advice of a friend, poured a qrt of trans fluid in. 2 mins run time and all was well. Same results w marvel

Just throw the quart in on top of the normal level. Done it plenty of times, nothing to get scared about

Just don't leave it in there. Change the oil and filter after a bit.

I'm sure it's dirty. 5.7 with over 100,000 miles and I haven't checked idle or engine hours, but for sure very high. Not the best maintenance here. It just came out of fleet for lower rad hose and I think they did oil change while there.

Pilots and aviation mechanics (A&P) use it frequently for it's ability to dislodge glaze from cylinders and heads. Remember aircraft are air cooled and meticulously maintained (should be at least).
The stuff is basically a lot of mineral oil and some mineral spirits with a little bit of benzene solvents to cut oil that becomes plasticized from high heat (think outside cast iron skille)t.
Anyplace you see that crusty black stuff or amber colored buildup n parts when disassembling an engine will be cleaner if you use this stuff in oil and fuel. Using it one needs to stay up on oil change intervals and filter changes. If used on old engines checking the oil pickup screen is a good idea. I recall seeing "experienced" engines that died of oil starvation after the stuff was used and the pickup was plugged solid. Regardless wearing surfaces generally stay clean (cam lobes and lifters, cyl walls, bearings) and the area around ring lands do stay clean.
If using synthetic the best I method I recall was to put it in about 1,000 mi before a filter change, repeat every change.

My gut feeling is the benzene solvents really do the work and the mineral oil and spirits thin and mix with the oil to get the solvents into the lube circuits and carry the crud away to the oil filter.
Which reminds me use high quality filters so as to trap the crud.

I remember as a kid, my dad pouring small amounts of ATF down carb of slant six, keeping idle up, and telling me it cleaned valves IIRC.

I'd dump a quart in if I can catch it shortly before an oil change. I just have to catch it at right time. Fleet guy probably won't do it. IDC, I will. I haven't seen what filters they use, but I'm betting el cheapo.

I remember as a kid, my dad pouring small amounts of ATF down carb of slant six, keeping idle up, and telling me it cleaned valves IIRC.

Brings back memories. As a kid I worked at an gas station where we serviced vehicles regularly. The owner had mix in a oil can of marvel 50% gas 25% and Diesel 25%, or thereabout by eyeball. He had a quart or so mixed up all the time. On crappy running cars we'd put some in a half pint or so plastic bottle with a hole drilled in the cap and squirt that down carb of a running engine about 2,500 rpm "to free up the rings" couldn't do it too fast or engine would stall. Thing was it made plumes of smoke. He had me always call the fire dept before doing a car as there was a lady on the back street that would sometimes call in a fire at the gas station. Poor old lady feared that someday the block would burn down because of the gasoline tanks (underground)..

When added to the crankcase, will Marvel cause seals to leak in a high mileage engine that has previously not leaked? I have always been told never to switch from conventional oil to synthetic for that reason.

Sorry to stray off topic a bit, but has anyone had experience with Rislone Engine Treatment? Is it more aggressive than Marvel?

Thanks,
David

I think Rislone is essentially kerosene. I have also poured kerosene in an engine after draining the oil and putting the plug back, then let it dissolve the sludge.
But in my 413 I had dropped the pan and cleaned it anyway.