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Has anyone ever seen or heard of a Marvel Mystery Oiler, that supposedly drops oil into the intake to lubricate the top of the engine to reduce wear? Any positive or negative comments. A Cutlass my brother might be interested in has one that was supposedly installed by the original owner. As seen in the attached image, the device is mounted on the driver's side fender well.
Not only have I heard of them, when I had my shop back in the 1960's, I had a 1960 Oldsmobile 98 come in with one that the ladies father had installed when the car was new. The car had about 75K on the odometer, and the engine was extremely clean on the inside. It came in for valve cover gaskets, and a bad exhaust manifold leak. We had to pull the intake and the head to get a broken exhaust manifold bolt out (might have been a stud, after 50+ years, I don't remember all the exact details), and I was surprised to see no sludge in the engine, nor any wear in the cylinders. Even the valves were clean of carbon. No question in my mind that it worked. It was a plate under the carburetor that had a very small orifice that would pull a slight amount of Marvel Mystery Oil from the bottle. Don't remember for certain, but I am inclined to believing that the bottle on this car was glass with a metal top and a rubber hose connected to a fitting.
Not only have I heard of them, when I had my shop back in the 1960's, I had a 1960 Oldsmobile 98 come in with one that the ladies father had installed when the car was new. The car had about 75K on the odometer, and the engine was extremely clean on the inside. It came in for valve cover gaskets, and a bad exhaust manifold leak. We had to pull the intake and the head to get a broken exhaust manifold bolt out (might have been a stud, after 50+ years, I don't remember all the exact details), and I was surprised to see no sludge in the engine, nor any wear in the cylinders. Even the valves were clean of carbon. No question in my mind that it worked. It was a plate under the carburetor that had a very small orifice that would pull a slight amount of Marvel Mystery Oil from the bottle. Don't remember for certain, but I am inclined to believing that the bottle on this car was glass with a metal top and a rubber hose connected to a fitting.
Thank you very much for the information and photos. I'm guessing the earlier versions used the glass containers. Wondering how much needs to be done to remove the set-up, and what was modified to install the oiling system?
Back in the late 1980s, a friend had a 72 chevelle with a straight 6 1bbl that was running lousy. His father poured some marvel mystery oil right down the carburetor and suddenly it was running better. He poured the rest of the bottle in the gas tank and the car ran pretty good after that. Since then, I do that to any old car I get.
Another friend in those days bought a 69 coupe de ville which had a bottle under the hood filled with water, and I believe a vacuum line stuck into it. I don't remember the previous owner's reason for it, but we ripped it out and it ran fine without it.
Back in the late 1980s, a friend had a 72 chevelle with a straight 6 1bbl that was running lousy. His father poured some marvel mystery oil right down the carburetor and suddenly it was running better. He poured the rest of the bottle in the gas tank and the car ran pretty good after that. Since then, I do that to any old car I get.
Another friend in those days bought a 69 coupe de ville which had a bottle under the hood filled with water, and I believe a vacuum line stuck into it. I don't remember the previous owner's reason for it, but we ripped it out and it ran fine without it.
If I recall correctly, there were some aftermarket accessories that claimed to stop engine knocking by adding a water mist to the air/fuel mixture.
It can be a performance boost if done right. If done wrong, you can hydrolock the engine.
Would the hydro lock be something that occurs over time or would be immediate? Trying to determine if worth pursuing the Cutlass Supreme or if could expect engine problems stemming from use of this oiler device.
An “Older Timer” I worked with @ Olds dealer late 80’s swore by the Marvel mister set up & had one in each of his vehicles.
I guess it actually worked and did no harm to the engine. Wonder why the Big 3 did not use a similar system? Unless it possibly effected emissions in a negative way.
Marvel Mystery Oil has been around for 90+ years. It's mineral oil, mineral spirits and a touch of lard. It was a big seller back before detergent oil. I remember in the early 1960s if you pulled the valve covers some engines were solid crude with only channels back to the oil drain holes in the head. If the engine had non detergent oil for years the last thing you'd want to do is put in detergent oil. I remember my older Brother use to clean out the solid packed crude from a 1953 Olds, he'd light the valve covers on fire to loosen the crude up. A 1958 T-bird, 352 if I remember, was the worst crude up engine I ever saw. Old timers swore by the stuff but one better start using it from new or near new. You wouldn't believe the arguments between the "old timers" when I started in the steel mill in the late 1960s. They argued about how to break in a new car to how to re-break in an older vehicle that obviously wasn't broke in correctly, to their "secret " method. It was an interesting time and most talked about subjects were cars, women and kids (by the fathers). I didn't have children yet so this topic didn't interest me, yet. Another product was Rislone, which again, the "old timers" swore by, to put in your engine just as winter started to thin out the oil for easier zero degree winter starts. I never use the stuff in my never cars instead I use name brand synthetic oils and the better Wicks filters plus I change the filter at 3K and top off and oil and filter change at 5,500 miles. I've used Rislone because of the ZZZDP in a couple of driver old cars and Comps Cam additive in older cars that may get the 4 barrel kicked in occasionally. Now I'm starting to sound like the "old timers."
Marvel Mystery Oil has been around for 90+ years. It's mineral oil, mineral spirits and a touch of lard. It was a big seller back before detergent oil. I remember in the early 1960s if you pulled the valve covers some engines were solid crude with only channels back to the oil drain holes in the head. If the engine had non detergent oil for years the last thing you'd want to do is put in detergent oil. I remember my older Brother use to clean out the solid packed crude from a 1953 Olds, he'd light the valve covers on fire to loosen the crude up. A 1958 T-bird, 352 if I remember, was the worst crude up engine I ever saw. Old timers swore by the stuff but one better start using it from new or near new. You wouldn't believe the arguments between the "old timers" when I started in the steel mill in the late 1960s. They argued about how to break in a new car to how to re-break in an older vehicle that obviously wasn't broke in correctly, to their "secret " method. It was an interesting time and most talked about subjects were cars, women and kids (by the fathers). I didn't have children yet so this topic didn't interest me, yet. Another product was Rislone, which again, the "old timers" swore by, to put in your engine just as winter started to thin out the oil for easier zero degree winter starts. I never use the stuff in my never cars instead I use name brand synthetic oils and the better Wicks filters plus I change the filter at 3K and top off and oil and filter change at 5,500 miles. I've used Rislone because of the ZZZDP in a couple of driver old cars and Comps Cam additive in older cars that may get the 4 barrel kicked in occasionally. Now I'm starting to sound like the "old timers."
I got a '59 Olds 394 once. I removed the valve covers and it had so much build up that you could use a putty knife to remove a lot of it. I had heard at the time that Pennzoil was known for that stuff.
Rislone, Marvel Mystery Oil, STP and Bars Stop Leak were the "wonder chemicals" of the day. I probably have a can of Marvel Mystery Oil in the garage I use for airtools and miscellaneous. Some old timers believed that pouring a pint can of ATF in your motor oil would cure sticky or clattering hydraulic lifters.
Marvel Mystery Oil has been around for 90+ years. It's mineral oil, mineral spirits and a touch of lard. It was a big seller back before detergent oil. I remember in the early 1960s if you pulled the valve covers some engines were solid crude with only channels back to the oil drain holes in the head. If the engine had non detergent oil for years the last thing you'd want to do is put in detergent oil. I remember my older Brother use to clean out the solid packed crude from a 1953 Olds, he'd light the valve covers on fire to loosen the crude up. A 1958 T-bird, 352 if I remember, was the worst crude up engine I ever saw. Old timers swore by the stuff but one better start using it from new or near new. You wouldn't believe the arguments between the "old timers" when I started in the steel mill in the late 1960s. They argued about how to break in a new car to how to re-break in an older vehicle that obviously wasn't broke in correctly, to their "secret " method. It was an interesting time and most talked about subjects were cars, women and kids (by the fathers). I didn't have children yet so this topic didn't interest me, yet. Another product was Rislone, which again, the "old timers" swore by, to put in your engine just as winter started to thin out the oil for easier zero degree winter starts. I never use the stuff in my never cars instead I use name brand synthetic oils and the better Wicks filters plus I change the filter at 3K and top off and oil and filter change at 5,500 miles. I've used Rislone because of the ZZZDP in a couple of driver old cars and Comps Cam additive in older cars that may get the 4 barrel kicked in occasionally. Now I'm starting to sound like the "old timers."
An old timer I used to work with told me that in the early 60s, at a gas station he co owned, they used to do a "kerosene wash". If an engine took 5 qts of oil, they put in 3qts of kerosene and 2 qts of oil, ran the engine for a little while, drained the mixture, and filled with oil. Imagine needing that periodically...
My Aunt's poor Nova could've used all this help. She had a 71 Nova with the durable 307. She believed that if it started and stopped, everything was fine. It got an oil change once a year, in the summer. Otherwise it ran with whatever was still in it. It sounded like a typing pool with all the clogged lifters. One day my father checked and went to add oil, but it wouldn't go in. Both valve covers had to be removed, and the solid crud chipped away. Amazing that engine lasted to 100k miles before the car got wrecked and junked.
Long time ago was working in a shop (maybe 1973) guy brought in a 68 Galaxie sedan for a valve job. He swore by 30 weight Penzoil, all he would use. Said it used about a quart every 500 miles, so after the 5th quart, he would change the filter, so it was like an oil change. The inside of the valve covers was caked real thick, as were the valve springs and the rest of the top of the heads. (390 2 barrel). worked about 6 hours cleaning around the valves and inside the covers. Once all the gunk was cleaned out, hardly any problem with the valves, only had to resurface one valve.
I have seen and heard of the Marvel Mystery Oil added to the engine. never had to take one apart that had used it. My father-in-law would run a quart of ATF in an engine for about 100 miles before tearing one down or doing an oil change. Never saw a gunked up engine when we were working on one.
I personally used the ATF trick to clean out an old 1974 AMC Hornet 2 door hatch with the 4.2L six cylinder engine (only 50,000 original miles on it) that I got for $200 cash.... It was so caked up with crud inside and it had several tapping lifters, we thought it was a goner....This was 17 years ago....
The oil came out in lumps at first ...... after we poked a hole through the sludge under the drain plug. The blackest oil I had ever seen. We pulled the oil pan off and scraped out all the sludge and crud completely, then pulled the valve cover and did the same thing. We bolted the pan and valve cover back on with new gaskets. Valve springs were sludged up as well, so I can only assume what the rest of the engine looked like inside.
Dad says "well, we have nothing to lose, let's try the ATF in the oil trick". We proceeded to add 2 quarts of Dexron III cheap atf into the pan along with a new cheap oil filter, and 4 quarts of 10w30 house brand autozone oil. We started it up and it didn't knock, but the lifters still tapped..... We ran it at 2,500 rpm for a few minutes, then checked the dipstick and it was completely black again. We spun on a new oil filter and did the 2,500 again for a few minutes, and it was getting much quieter.... and smoother running with a lot more pep. We then dumped the mess out of the pan and got a lot of black and runny oil out. We spun another oil filter on and changed the oil and ATF out, this time using the same recipe as before. Ran it again for a few minutes and it wasn't nearly as black as the first few times. Changed the oil filter out two more times, and by the last time, the lifters were all completely quiet and the engine was running perfect!
We changed to all regular good oil and a decent wix filter and ran the engine for several minutes at 2,500 and the oil stayed clean and nice.
I later sold the car for $1,500 a few months later and the guy was super happy with how smooth and quiet the engine was. I told him about the process we used to get the engine cleaned out and he was surprised but agreed that it must have worked well.
It was a neat little car, and another one that I wish I wouldn't have sold.... I really wanted to do a small block mopar or Olds swap into it..
I had heard the marvel mystery oil had been used the same way as the ATF in the past.....
Last edited by Battenrunner; August 1st, 2018 at 08:46 PM.
I personally used the ATF trick to clean out an old 1974 AMC Hornet 2 door hatch with the 4.2L six cylinder engine (only 50,000 original miles on it) that I got for $200 cash.... It was so caked up with crud inside and it had several tapping lifters, we thought it was a goner....This was 17 years ago....
The oil came out in lumps at first ...... after we poked a hole through the sludge under the drain plug. The blackest oil I had ever seen. We pulled the oil pan off and scraped out all the sludge and crud completely, then pulled the valve cover and did the same thing. We bolted the pan and valve cover back on with new gaskets. Valve springs were sludged up as well, so I can only assume what the rest of the engine looked like inside.
Dad says "well, we have nothing to lose, let's try the ATF in the oil trick". We proceeded to add 2 quarts of Dexron III cheap atf into the pan along with a new cheap oil filter, and 4 quarts of 10w30 house brand autozone oil. We started it up and it didn't knock, but the lifters still tapped..... We ran it at 2,500 rpm for a few minutes, then checked the dipstick and it was completely black again. We spun on a new oil filter and did the 2,500 again for a few minutes, and it was getting much quieter.... and smoother running with a lot more pep. We then dumped the mess out of the pan and got a lot of black and runny oil out. We spun another oil filter on and changed the oil and ATF out, this time using the same recipe as before. Ran it again for a few minutes and it wasn't nearly as black as the first few times. Changed the oil filter out two more times, and by the last time, the lifters were all completely quiet and the engine was running perfect!
We changed to all regular good oil and a decent wix filter and ran the engine for several minutes at 2,500 and the oil stayed clean and nice.
I later sold the car for $1,500 a few months later and the guy was super happy with how smooth and quiet the engine was. I told him about the process we used to get the engine cleaned out and he was surprised but agreed that it must have worked well.
It was a neat little car, and another one that I wish I wouldn't have sold.... I really wanted to do a small block mopar or Olds swap into it..
I had heard the marvel mystery oil had been used the same way as the ATF in the past.....
Why people are so allergic to periodic oil changes I'll never understand.
I have heard most of those remedies and tried a few. When I worked at a Buick dealer in the mid 1960's, we had a customer that had a 63 Buick Special with the aluminum V8. He was a traveling salesman and put 126,000 miles on the car in 2 years. He never ran anything but Havoline 30 weight high detergent. He had the oil and filter changed every 3,000 miles (pretty often). At 100,000 miles he brought it in and had to pan pulled to clean the sludge out. There was none. He traded the car in for a 65 LeSabre and the low life used car manager sold the car as having 26,000 miles on it. I used Havoline oil for a long time. One other product that nobody mentioned was Bardahl which is still around. Here is the link:
July 27th, 2018, 06:31 AM
