• 10/09/2019

"Additives are chemical tools"

The head of research at LIQUI MOLY on the technical and financial opportunities of additives

"Additives are chemical tools that can solve lots of problems faster, more easily and more cheaply than mechanical solutions can," says David Kaiser, Head of Research and Development at oil and additive specialist LIQUI MOLY. "They should be in every professional's toolbox."

An example: A car's engine will no longer run. Investigation determines that the air inlet is the cause of the problem. Exhaust gas recirculation has caused it to become so coated in deposits that the air flow to the engine is impaired. Normally this would require the air intake system to be dismantled and cleaned by hand. LIQUI MOLY has a much easier way. Spray some throttle valve cleaner for gasoline engines or intake system cleaner for diesel ones into the intake tract and the engine will run once again. The cleaning agents will remove even the most stubborn of residues. In no time at all the intake tract is clean and the engine is running.

Another example: An old diesel car is producing emissions that are too high. The cause is often encrustation of the injectors meaning that the fuel in the combustion chamber is no longer being finely atomized. This, in turn, means that dirty fuel is burnt, resulting in even more deposits. LIQUI MOLY's Diesel Smoke Stop gets rid of the encrustation and so improves fuel consumption. This also results in significantly improved emission levels.

One final example: Changing the oil in a car with high mileage. Over time, lots of deposits will have built up in the oil circuit. Garages often ignore this fact or try to solve it by increasingly reducing the time between oil changes. Engine oils contain cleaning agents, just not in very high doses. This type of cleaning, unfortunately, wears off after a few hundred kilometers. LIQUI MOLY's engine flush does the job much more quickly and efficiently. This is a highly effective cleaning additive for the oil circuit. Add it to the oil just before it is changed and then allow the engine to idle for around ten minutes. During this time the agent will dissolve the dirt and suspend it in the oil. The dirt is then drained out with the old oil. The new oil enters a clean motor and can deploy its full performance.

These three examples illustrate how additives can provide technical solutions for the everyday problems that garages deal with. As they take very little time, they are easy to integrate into daily operations. They also cost very little, offering garages attractive margins, both when using the additives themselves and when selling them to customers.