Best Oil Additives for Noisy Lifters 2023: Reviews and Buying Guide
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I’ve been blessed with avid readers who like to read this digital diary of mine while I go on my quest of soundproofing or minimizing the unnecessary noises around us. I do it all in search of a quiet life.
As you know from my previous post from a few days back, I’m trying to work out and document different strategies to keep my car engine silent as a whisper.
Besides fixing noisy lifters, I came up with another approach. Let’s discuss the best oil for noisy lifters. This is the piece that completes the two-piece lifter puzzle.
Basically, I chopped and changed my engine oils and additives to find out if I could get an extra perk or two out of my car’s engine or not. As it turns out, switching the product helped!
All I did was choosing these things with great care and implementing them as per instructions. It changed my car’s engine for the better. So, I decided to let you guys know about it.
At A Glance: Our Top Picks for Oil Additives for Noisy Lifters
In this article, I’ll be discussing the process of choosing engine oil additives and all about the products that I played around with. So, here we go!
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What to consider when buying Oil Additives?
Before I go on and spill my own recommendations, I just want to clarify how one should go on the hunt for these oils.
This section of the article will widen your knowledge in case you’re looking to do the research yourselves.
Here are the aspects I considered before choosing the products for a test drive.
Look into the Chemical Directory
Relax! I’m not telling you to re-memorize the periodic table of elements that we all left behind long ago.
Instead, you should know about which type of ingredients these things have. This will help you decide what you need for your car.
Bear in mind, oils and additives with different ingredients affect engine differently.
For example, products with Zinc act like performance boosters for the engine. The presence of zinc in your product (not beyond a limit) helps with faster movements of the inside parts.
Then we have Phosphorus. This little ingredient is common with Zinc at the helm. It’s great if you want to reduce the wear and tear of your engine.
Engine oils and additives that protect the parts against wearing down, have Phosphorus in them.
Your Product Should Reduce Friction
Most of the times we take our family and friends to a long drive and forget what’s it like inside the car’s engine.
While we’re enjoying our time, the engine is banging parts together to function.
Metal to metal collision is creating friction. It’s necessary for the car. But too much of it can spell doom for the engine.
Too much friction can cause metal parts to chip away and get damaged. Our lifters are no different.
That’s why the product people choose needs to reduce the friction by lubricating metal parts of the lifter.
With just the right amount of the oil and a little care, frictions will come down.
Choose a product that forms a guard around the metallic parts of the lifter.
Believe me, some products come with advanced technology to make sure they stick to the lifters to guard the parts against knocking noise (cue: my list).
Right Product Should Grant You an MPG (Mile Per Gallon) Increase
People might use additives or an entirely new engine oil for their cars. It’s their choice.
But the key thing is to optimize the engine for performance. We all want the best output we can get from the engines.
Sure, the ideal product will properly lubricate parts and joints. It should reduce friction too.
But don’t you want a little bit extra? Sure, you do.
The ideal oil or additive should see to it that you get an MPG increase. Even if it is as minuscule as 1.8% per gallon.
Increase in millage will mean your engine parts (including the lifter) is performing better than before. Keep it in the back of your mind.
Preventing Rust Should be in Your Priority List as Well
No matter what oil or additive you use, it should prevent rust accumulation on and inside lifters.
Rust makes it hard for the lifter parts to move and to function. As a result, you can hear some creaky noise when driving your car around.
Sometimes, the noise will be faint but it will increase over time.
An ideal product should help people by cleaning the oil passages as it moves through them.
While it's doing that, it helps to dissolve rust in the oil and clean sludge as well.
Some of the high-end products can even adapt to soaring temperatures and keep chemical vapors from forming rust and sludge.
Consider the Thickness of Your Brand
When it comes to buying these things, people go for the thicker options. Very few people know that the thickness of an engine oil or an additive is a relative matter.
Don’t go all guns blazing and purchase a can of thick liquid thinking it’ll work out great for you. Take a moment to check the machining of your engine.
How narrow or broad are the oil passages? Is the lifter small with small valves and openings?
Depending on the answers, you might need a product with a thick or thin consistency.
Narrower engines need a thin liquid and engines with wide openings need a thick liquid to flow in them.
Your Product Should Adapt to Climate Changes
You can use oil additives for lifter noise at whatever time of the year.
However, some of these products do not perform well when exposed to high temperatures.
Conversely, some of the lifter additives are not suitable for below-zero temperatures.
When choosing a lifter noise additive, you should ensure that it is suitable for both hot and cold environments.
The additive should be able to cope in whatever climate without losing any of its powers or performing poorly.
Is Your additive Suitable for Your Engine Model?
Engines usually use different motor oils, and the same applies to lifter oil additives.
Before you settle for a product, look at the label to determine whether it is safe for your engine.
Oil additives fit specific oil specifications. These specifications are usually indicated by a code found on the bottle.
If you are not sure what kind of engine you have, you can check your car manual. This should help you pick a product that is compatible with your engine to avoid much bigger problems.
This is where it gets tricky. As I told you in my buying guide, oils additives do a bunch of things.
A well-known brand might have two or three types of oils or additives for different jobs. That means heaps of products to choose from. So, how do you choose the best product for noisy filters?
To save you from this head scratching dilemma, I’ve included 5 products that will keep your lifters quiet.
Best Oil Additives for Noisy Lifters 2021
When it comes to additives, I trust Liqui Moly the most over all the others.
Just a little bit of the additive is enough to get the oil working. I like Liqui because it increases the lubricating properties of the oil.
While it’s doing that, Liqui Moly 20004 cleans the oil passages as well.
This hydraulic lifter additive is great for valve bores. It cleans them and keeps them in top shape.
Believe me, it works. I found the ticking noise and the noise of valves tapping is completely gone when using the Liqui molly 20004 hydraulic lifter additive.
As a result, the engine became quieter than it was during my drives previous to applying this thing.
I know people who have hydraulic tippets in their car engines. These are vintage vehicles and require extra care.
Without proper maintenance, these things can make annoying noises while driving. I knew this much. But I was surprised to see Liqui Moly make the engine work like one from shiny, new BMW.
This is a product I suggest you use with your gasoline and diesel engines.
Even if the engine features Turbochargers, this additive will work great with the engine oil.
Depending on how frequently you drive, this thing is good for 3000 miles or slightly less than that.
I won’t complain since I need an average of 1500 miles’ worth of juice in my car’s heart.
Before you question me about whether or not this product is usable with all types of commercial engine oils; yes, it’s fit to be used with them all.
I personally tested with the 300ml pack. It’s good for 6 liters or 6.34 quarts of oil
I’d be a fool if I talk about Liqui Moly 20004 and leave Marvel, it’s the main competitor out of the list.
Marvel turned out to be thicker than my earlier recommendation and it’s a worthy competitor too. So, what does Marvel mystery oil do?
Marvel MM13R Mystery Oil does you a solid in cleaning up the inside part of your diesel engines.
It works on fuel injectors and carburetors. As you know, these injectors can be clogged and carburetors can build up sticky residue inside.
The MM13R works to lubricate these parts and also cleans them.
While we’re on Carburetor, I must address the varnish and gum.
Varnish dries the inside part of the engine and gum prevents the lifters to move properly. Thus, you hear annoying sounds.
If the gum is too much for the engine to bear, it might stop or slow down midway to your destination.
Marvel MM13R washes the gums and the varnish coating off. You won’t notice the weird smell or the loud ticking noise that irritates most of us owners.
We all know about the stickiness on valves left by the engine oil as well.
Thanks to these sticky valves, your car or truck engines won’t be able to work so well. The valves move slow.
As a result, the engine wastes a lot of HP. Yeah, that’s how severe it is.
With MM13R from Marvel, people can get rid of the stickiness. It thins the sticky oil residue left on the valves. It doesn’t let acid or sludge build up inside engine walls and prevents decay.
Use this on with your engine oil and you’ll notice the oil cost coming down inside a month.
There’s no secret in the fact that Marvel MM13R prevents engine oil from losing its consistency and breaking down under extreme temperatures.
This means, the oil won’t evaporate and will maintain its efficiency.
As a result, car or truck owners will require less oil for the job. If you live in regions like Alaska where it’s cold, this oil is the perfect boost for your engine.
It works well when you are in need of cold starts.
If you are in the hunt for best oil for noisy lifters of the gasoline-dependent engines, BestLine is a brand that can’t be overlooked.
I’m a fan of the brand because it works on reducing harmful smog that comes out of the exhaust pipes.
There’s no oil that COMPLETELY eradicates harmful emissions. But when an additive brings the smog down by 60 – 75%, it’s a gem in my eyes.
The best part of it is, you can pour just a tiny bit of this oil additive inside the engine before pouring the engine oil. It’ll help clean the inside part of the engine.
This is a big help. The internal parts remain protected from over-exertion.
Also, BestLine Engine Treatment is a good lubricant. It prevents frictions between the engine parts and the diesel engine oil that people use.
As a result, the parts wear out slower than you’d think. One point for longevity my dear friends. And guess what? Less friction translates to less noise while driving.
Let’s do a count for the benefits. With this oil, you get less friction, less wear and tear for the engine parts, less emission of harmful particles in the air.
And of course, a silent engine is the bonus here.
All of these things lead to less use of the engine oil. That means, a reduced cost per annum. In simpler terms, you get to save a lot of money.
I’d advise you guys to use one bottle (16 ounces) of oil in such a way that it becomes 10 to 15 percent of the total engine oil.
Do it when you’re changing the engine oil to avoid complications
Want a tiny but effective engine additive pack to make your automobile engine quiet?
TriboTEX is among the top dogs in this sector. It’s a USA product with nanoparticles that help cleaning your engines from the inside.
I say automobile but this little thing works for trucks and tractors as well.
NASA, the National Science Foundation, and US Department of Energy funded and developed these nanoparticles. These are originally used to improve gearbox performance of the turbines under windy and demanding conditions.
I don’t doubt the quality of these things one bit. I don’t need to.
As it happens, this oil is compatible with all types of engines relying on gas and diesel. Also, it goes well with almost all engine oils available for purchase.
Experts mention that TriboTEX forms a coating carbon around your bearings in the engine. It guards the bearings against wear and tear.
This layer of carbon helps to extend the life of your engine lifters by cleaning the gum that’s built up over the days (or years in some cases). It reverses the wear and tear.
In the process, it reduces the noise level of the lifters and the bearings alike. People use TriboTEX with Ford and BMW. Come on guys, need I say more?
This is all good but how does it do that? As the manufacturers put it, the oil additive has a sticky side and a sleek side.
When you pour it in regular oil, the sticky side of the nanosheets attaches itself to the engine components.
Things change after 500 miles of driving. Then the nanosheets pour Tribofilm that lubricates the internal parts. That’s why one needs less oil to maintain the engine.
Much of the work is done by this product alone. People will notice the difference at the end of the year when the oil expenses come down.
So with which engine type should people use this additive with? I’d recommend using it with medium-sized engines that use 4 – 8 US quarts/liters of oil.
Don’t worry about the performance. One oil change with this oil grants you 40,000 miles of driving on the road.
Adding Rislone onto the list was sort of a no-brainer for me. This is the one product I favor after TriboTEX and for good reason too.
You won’t have to wait for even a second to get the ball rolling after mixing this additive with your engine oil.
It starts working from the moment it gets in touch.
I must say, I’ve had great results with Rislone and my dad’s car. All the sludge inside oil passages were gone in a matter of minutes!
I dare say people will find this product awesome with dirt inside the engine as well. It lubricates the lifter parts and reduces the tapping noise of hydraulic systems.
Gum or Varnish are no problems at all. It dissolves them and enhances the lifter’s efficiency. Some of the competing brands have trouble removing these things from the valves and rings clogging up the oil passages.
But this is not the case with Rislone. It cleans these things without obstructing the oil passages of the engine in any way.
The best part is, this thing works equally well for tractors, cars, and truck engines that run on diesel.
There’s no restriction about when you should add this product to your engine oil. Anytime works.
People might think adding this product to the standard engine oil might cause some dark things (pun intended) to the engine and void the warranty for a new car. No, it won’t.
Rislone is an additive that’s formed with non-reactant substances that are not toxic to your engine materials.
So, how much should I put in the engine?
It varies from engine to engine. For example, 4102 Rislone Engine Treatment’s bottle is good for 4 – 6 quarts of engine oil.
If you’re dealing with a larger engine, spend one bottle for every five quarts. If you’re driving your granddad’s car and the engine’s super dirty, go for double the dosage.
Just a pro tip: Consider changing the oil after every 100 miles and add Rislone engine oil treatment in the mix. The combo will help your car stay at the top of its game.
On the Best Oil Additives for Noisy Lifters
Although the lifter is a small piece in your car’s engine, it’s a vital part if you are sensitive to annoying noises like me.
Constant ticking or knocking of this small piece in the engine is enough to cause some people a headache. Leave it untreated for long and the problem will intensify.
Every driver should know how to counter a noisy lifter. Buying the best oil for noisy lifters help. It’s all about finding the right product.
For me, it’s a tie between TriboTEX and Marvel. These two are at the top when it comes to providing my car’s engine with a good service.
Please remember to take care of the car by following instructions when applying these products.
Be precise with how much of these you need to use and HOW to use them.