Date: Sun, 30 Jul 2000 12:21:31 -0400
Reply-To: Bulley <gmbulley@bulley-hewlett.com>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Bulley <gmbulley@bulley-hewlett.com>
Subject: Re: Slick 50 for Manual transmissions
Seems like DuPont's statement talks specifically about use in internal
combustion engines, and makes no mention of transmissions.
Since the discussion was regarding MANUAL TRANSMISSION ADDITIVES (as a
means to rescue a whining transmission), does anyone have any info
regarding DuPont or anyone else's review of this use?
G. Matthew Bulley, Principal Consultant
Bulley-Hewlett Corporate Communications
Mount Olive, NC USA
877.658.1278 Tollfree
www.bulley-hewlett.com
My Agenda: Vanquish Suburban Sprawl.
My Methods: Revitalize mature urban towns. Champion mass transit and fast
Internet service. Demand replacement of archaic, "separationist" zoning
laws with neo-traditional mixed-use zoning.
The Result: Exceptional living/working alternatives; restrained sprawl; our
children inherit walkable, beautiful, interlinked towns. Find out more at
http://www.cnu.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Snow [SMTP:mwsnow@home.com]
Sent: Sunday, July 30, 2000 10:49 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Slick 50 for Manual transmissions
The following paragraphs are an excerpt from an interesting article that
appeared in Road Rider Magazine (a motorcycle publication) concerning the
use of Slick 50 and related products in lubricating oils. You can read the
entire article at http://www2.bmwscruz.com/tech/tech003.html
Though they have gained rather wide acceptance among the motoring public,
oil additives containing PTFE have also garnered their share of critics
among experts in the field of lubrication. By far the most damning
testimonial against these products originally came from the DuPont Chemical
Corporation, inventor of PTFE and holder of the patents and trademarks for
Teflon. In a statement issued about ten years ago, DuPont's Fluoropolymers
Division Product Specialist, J.F. Imbalzano said, "Teflon is not useful as
an ingredient in oil additives or oils used for internal combustion
engines."
At the time, DuPont threatened legal action against anyone who used the
name
"Teflon" on any oil product destined for use in an internal combustion
engine, and refused to sell its PTFE powders to any one who intended to use
them for such purposes.
After a flurry of lawsuits from oil additive makers, claiming DuPont could
not prove that PTFE was harmful to engines, DuPont was forced to once again
begin selling their PTFE to the additive producers. The additive makers
like
to claim this is some kind of "proof' that their products work, when in
fact
it is nothing more than proof that the American legal ethic of "innocent
until proven guilty" is still alive and well. The decision against DuPont
involved what is called "restraint of trade." You can't refuse to sell a
product to someone just because there is a possibility they might use it
for
a purpose other than what you intended it for.
Mike Snow
Camp Pendleton, California
