TOPIC: 100% Pure Snake Oil

I wasn't sure if this was the correct thread to post this in but it does have to do with snake oil.

I got my kit from Ron last week and finished the training manual and bought a dremel. Haven't had a chance to groove anything yet. Lots of family responsibilities and my wife's motor gave out! I don't know if anyone here has experience with the bad Kia/Hyundai 1.6 and 2.0 motors but I wanted to give everyone a heads up. My wife bought new a 2014 Kia Soul 2.0L and upon its engine failure I learned many other people are experiencing the same. Ours just turned over 70k on the clock and others online are reporting engine failure between 60 and 100k. This is on the 2014 and 2015 models. Some had theirs fail, then it was replaced under warranty and then that new motor only lasted another 1 or 2 years! Thankfully ours is being replaced under the 100k warranty, but how long this one lasts...who knows.

As I'm digging around online I found many similar stories to ours as well as reports from self proclaimed Kia techs. They are saying that the rod and/or main bearings get toasted after a while. BUT, these motors are also notorious for their ever-increasing oil consumption. Kia has said there's around 2,000,000 of these motors out there that will develop this problem. So that led me to thinking of Snake Oil. If its a problem developing over time because of oil usage, then perhaps getting a dose of snake oil BEFORE it fails could help to prevent it???

Once our car is back home it will be getting the groove and snake oil. I guess I won't know for sure if its been cured until the day its still humming along well after 100k miles? Thought I'd bring this to everyone's attention and maybe it could be a snake oil selling point for the Kia and Hyundai owners out there?

Your wife's engine - that's unfortunate it happened, but good that it's covered under warranty. (and yes, it's probably better to start your own topic for this car so other people can easily search if they've come here looking for solutions to theirs)
Hyundai/Kia have addressed body/chassis rusting issues pretty effectively from what I can tell since they first landed here years ago, and now you have a great opportunity to make the new engine last as long (or longer!) than the rest of the car.
I'd apply snake oil first on the new engine (and then drive for a while), then I'd address the PCV system (and drive for a while more) and THEN groove...all before you perform the first oil change.

My rationale:
get the goodness of the oil treatment happening as you break the engine in - protect the brand new wear surfaces, bearings and oil passages with the good stuff before the gunk builds up. THEN, because the PCV system is related to crankcase blow-by dynamics/flow/pressures, you want to treat that with the good stuff as well, and then, as all of that is setting in, you want to solidify it while the groove starts doing it's thing.

Good luck, have fun!

Sounds like a good plan, thank you Greg!

Another idea,
Dear Ron, just somthing that pooped into my mind. Would it be possible to modify your Snakeoil composition to a rust Inhibitor??? Since the Snakeoil, as I understand is creeping into the open Surface and seals it off, could be also usable to protect enviromental exposed surfaces against moister. Now, since we have moving parts on our vehicles which should last in pricipal forever and going to outlive the rusting bodyparts it would be just Incredible if there would be a way to apply the formular to rusting parts as well.
Regards Kim

my understanding is that once rust sets in, it's difficult to reverse.
BUT -
I like the idea of a protectant...what about in a treatment, like the ceramic people are applying to their cars? maybe in some sort of wax to PREVENT the rust from starting?

There have been several reports of Snake Oil reversing many conditions thought to be irreparable. Like Russ Terrein's report on his tractor.

Here's the timeline I've put together from the SEVERAL messages he sent me:
1) 2017-Heavy rains submerged the tractor for at least three days.
2) When he could finally get it out of there (more days without getting the water out) he drained the oil and put fresh oil in it. Couldn't start it to blow the water out of the combustion chambers, and the electrical system was dead because of the water.
3) TWO YEARS LATER-replaced all the electrical components and restarted it (That's two years of rusting inside the engine) only to find the rings damage, spouting oil smoke to an intolerable level.
4) Added 5 cc's of Snake Oil and in less than 2 hours, all the damage was healed.

Not too shabby of a result, I'd say!

Not shabby at all, Ron! I’d say you’ve nailed the formula and should only tweak the formulation when reports dictate a change.

Wow, that is amazing indeed!

But hey- Ron and we DO amazing things, Right?!

Tracy G