Fabled mystery oil

[pooch]

What is this so called magic oil that fixes everything from sticky rings to arthritis ?

Have never heard of it here in OZ.

Is it nothing more than diesel light crude ?

Tell me what does it say its ingredients are on the can ...

[30aadoodlebug]

I dont have the bottle in front of me, but you just opened up a can of worms by asking that on this forum. The true ingredients are debated on here as much as whether the oil itself works, or if it is in fact nothing more than snake oil.

That being said, here is the ingredients according to a quick Google search: [I]74 percent mineral oil, 25 percent stoddard solvent, and 1 percent lard.

[C26Pinelake]

You mean after 1800 plus posts you have never heard about Mystery Oil? Do a search ! Wayne

[Synchro909]

good question, Pooch.
30aadoodlebug, What is stoddard solvent? Haven't heard of that either!

[1946]

Pooch, The famed MMO...Marvel mystery oil, can be obtained from AVIAL an aviation supply company in Melbourne Aus. I was told to get some for the engine in my 1946 Auster Aircraft, the aircraft mechanic who looks after it told me where to purchase. I have since used a very small amount in the Shell 100 engine oil and as an upper cylinder lube in the fuel. I would always use Two Stroke marine grade oil as an upper cylinder lube at the rate of 1ml to the litre, as I do in all the cars, both old and new, the engine is a little less noisy, same fuel burn rate, same oil pressure. It is not cheap, and for some stupid reason has to be transported under the dangerous goods act, may be that is because I live in Tasmania, the island state.

[30aadoodlebug]

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Again, from a Google search:

Stoddard solvent is a specific mixture of hydrocarbons, typically > 65% C10 or higher hydrocarbons,[7] developed in 1924 by Atlanta dry cleaner W. J. Stoddard and Lloyd E. Jackson of the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research as a less volatile petroleum-based dry cleaning solvent than the petroleum solvents then in use. Dry cleaners began using the result of their work in 1928 and it soon became the predominant dry cleaning solvent in the United States, until the late 1950s

My take on it is its a purley petroleum derived form of mineral spirit. This is opposed to the more common vegetable based terpintine spirits of that era.

[Mitch//pa]

I typed in the fordbarn search box "marvel mystery oil"
Here is what came up.... The search is your friend
There are pages and pages to read
https://fordbarn.com/forum/search.php?searchid=6540765

[Bob Bidonde]

Still no scientific test evidence that MMO has any value for internal combustion engines.

[Terry, NJ]

How many additive companies have gone out of business since 1923? Marvel's Mystery Oil, MMO, has been around since then. Yeah, I know there's really no mystery about the ingredients. We can break it down in five minutes. However, It works! I especially like it for freeing stuck engines. Stuck! Not Frozen. There are things it can't do. MMO is also good for a top cylinder oil to free sticky valves. I wouldn't put it in the the crankcase of a running engine because it's basically a solvent. Although couple of ounces a day or two before oil changes probably won't hurt anything. But so will ATF (Auto Trans. Fluid) and it's a lubricant.
Terry

[marc hildebrant]

Read previous posts.

Marc

[CarlG]

Originally Posted by synchro909

... What is stoddard solvent? Haven't heard of that either!

Wikipedia sez:

White spirit (UK), or mineral spirits (us), also known as mineral turpentine, turpentine substitute, petroleum spirits, solvent naphtha (petroleum), varsol, stoddard solvent, or, generically, "paint thinner", is a petroleum-derived clear liquid used as a common organic solvent in painting and decorating.
A mixture of aliphatic and alicyclic c7 to c12 hydrocarbons, white spirit is used as an extraction solvent, as a cleaning solvent, as a degreasing solvent and as a solvent in aerosols, paints, wood preservatives, lacquers, varnishes, and asphalt products. In western europe about 60% of the total white spirit consumption is used in paints, lacquers and varnishes. White spirit is the most widely used solvent in the paint industry. In households, white spirit is commonly used to clean paint brushes after use, to clean auto parts and tools, as a starter fluid for charcoal grills, to remove adhesive residue from non-porous surfaces, and many other common tasks.

I keep a 5-gallon bucket of Stoddard Solvent around just to clean up things.

[MikeK]

MMO consists of a naphthalenic rather than a paraffinic base. There is also a halogenated component. The combination of those two permits it to penetrate gummed up and oxygen link polymerized paraffinic oil deposits that stick valves, lifters, and rings. The second part of MMO is an ester oil component. (the 'spearmint oil' you smell) Esters are superior lubes that are categorized as synthetics in the oil industry. That's why it works- solvent power plus synthetic lube.

Yep, 'snake oil' is a can of worms- some products are designed to free up your wallet, others actually work based on what the ingredients do.

[hangarb7]

I was told a long time ago that the lard used in MMO was originally 'pig fat', and the smell came from Oil of Wintergreen.

Here in the USA, many airplane mechanics use it in older airplanes to keep valves freely operating. I use it in both the fuel and the crankcase of my '46 Taylorcraft and have heard stories from folks who have used it to free sticky valves, that it works.

However, here in SW Pennsylvania a few years back, we were inundated with StinkBugs. Those buzzy big bugs that fly circles around the light in your house and drop into your food plate at the dinner table. They were everywhere, millions of them! And nothing, not even gasoline will kill them.

I read on the internet that a sprayer filled with 1/2 water, Dawn dish liquid and Oil of Wintergreen will discourage them. Where to get O of W? So I used Marvel Mystery Oil, and once or twice per day I would walk around the outside of the house and mist the air. I would also spray it on the garden plants (mostly tomatoes as StinkBugs love to ruin tomatoes).

It really, really worked. My neighbors all around me were and every year still are, infested with StinkBugs. Not me.

JackD

[Tom Wesenberg]

I went to Fleet Farm and Aldi the other day. When I left Aldi the throttle stuck wide open on my 1999 Olds 88, and even stepping on the brake as hard as I could would not stop the car. I had to turn off the ignition switch and coast to the side of the road. I put a large spring on the throttle lever and put MMO on the throttle shaft. This got me home. The next morning I removed the spring, and now the throttle works perfectly again. Time will tell if MMO helped, but I sure hope it fixed the sticking throttle.

I use only good gas and put 4 ounces of MMO in each 10 gallons. I haven't had any fuel related problems in my antique cars and small engines since doing this.

[Mitch//pa]

I'm not one for using technician in a can, but MMO does have some benefits....

[harleytoprock]

Isn't there some chicken soup in it also?

[Bruce_MO]

I used to work at a Monsanto plant that made methyl salicylate (synthetic oil of wintergreen), among many other specialty chemicals. I was shocked one day to get a call from a company that overhauled large steam turbines. They used methyl salicylate as a penetrating oil for disassembly, and they wanted to buy some as they had run out.

[H. L. Chauvin]

Per reply no. 7's MDSD:

Please don't let the cat out of the bag which could cause a short supply.

Big MMO Secret:

SKIN CONTACT causes DEFATTING

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by Mitch//pa

I typed in the fordbarn search box "marvel mystery oil"
Here is what came up.... The search is your friend
There are pages and pages to read
https://fordbarn.com/forum/search.php?searchid=6538798

This is all I get with that link:

Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms.


Seems MMO doesn't want to come out into the open!

[dr.j]

Does it work ? No idea !
Do I use it ? All the time in all my gas running engines including the A.