Cleaning Oil Resevoir

[jereece]

I have 2 questions.

1) I have a 98 Camry LE 4-cyl with 110,000 miles. I was in an automotive shop recently and saw a product you can add to your oil just before you change it. You add it and run the engine for 5 minutes. It is supposed to dissolve deposits and gunk. You are supposed to drain the oil / gunk removed and also remove and clean your oil pan. I was wondering if this is a good idea after 110,000 miles or is it necessary?

2) The platinum spark plugs in my Camry are 60,000 miles old. How long do platinum spark plugs typically last? I am wondering if it's time to change them?

Thanks for the help.

Jim

[ycl1688]

your question 1 not sure it works.

Quesition 2, you should change spark plugs
around 55 k miles or earlier.

[Mike Gerber]

1. IMHO it wouldn't hurt to try this stuff, but if you have changed the oil religiously every 3,000 miles or so, it shouldn't be necessary. Most of these cleaners I have seen are mostly kerosene. If you do decide to do this I would change the oil and filter again in about 1000 miles to make sure any portion of this cleaner is rinsed out of the engine.

2. The manual for the 98 says to change the platinum plugs at 60,000 miles.

Mike

[Brian R.]

Most of these oil solvents do not require you to remove and clean the pan after you add it to your oil. Just change the oil and filter.

[Bmaintz]

I haved used the flush from Amsoil, they say to idle the engine for 10 minutes with it in & then change your oil as normal... They stress not to drive with the flush in... Bob

[Daniel M. Dreifus]

auto-rx.com is probably safer than something that cleans in five minutes. Also, solvents might not be good for some of the seals.
If you've been using fully synthetic oil they're really good at keeping the engine clean internally.
Even with conventional oil, they all contain detergents so you should be OK unless oil change intervals have been extended.
If that's the case, there's a risk that a solvent could free particles that could travel through the oil and get lodged in a spot that could cause blockage.

[yotatechie04]

I've used the stuff that breaks down deposits in five minutes...I actually think it works fairly well. I do know that before my last oil change the cams, lifters, the whole nine had bad deposits and buildup on them, and I checked them out again last week and they look almost new, minus the wear and tear of age...I really do recommend this stuff...I am going to start using it every other oil change...

[Cammy_01]

Originally Posted by Daniel M. Dreifus

auto-rx.com is probably safer than something that cleans in five minutes. Also, solvents might not be good for some of the seals.
If you've been using fully synthetic oil they're really good at keeping the engine clean internally.
Even with conventional oil, they all contain detergents so you should be OK unless oil change intervals have been extended.
If that's the case, there's a risk that a solvent could free particles that could travel through the oil and get lodged in a spot that could cause blockage.

Absolutely agree with this comment.. if you do break something loose (pieces of dirt/sludge) and it gets caught in an oil passage, guess what.. you starve something of oil. The new cars, especially the Jap cars have very small oil passages and it does not take much to plug them. If you just keep the oil changed you will not have an issue. If you bought used and it is very dirty or was not change regularly and you wish to try to clean things up.. the only additive I will use is straight transmission fluid.. it is a really high detergent oil, but it is not so violent that it will break things loose.. it will slowly over time clean things up. What I do is about 100 miles before the oil change add a quart.. dont over fill the crank case, drain some out if you have too, then just change the oil per normal. It does clean things up over time, but that is what you want.. over time and not knock it loose all at once, that is bad. As far as additives.. I do not believe in oil additives at all, they are not necessary and probably are a bad thing. I dont buy into the synthetic oils either.. the new oils are so close to the lubricating ability of the syn oils, its not worth the price.. Just change the oil every 2500 - 3000 miles with good ole Castrol GTX.. not the high mileage stuff, this or that stuff.. just the regular ole 10 / 30 GTX. If you do use the syn, just be sure you dont go with their recommended oil change interval.. stick with the 2500 - 3000 miles.. I looked in my friends oil cap who did use the syn with the longer oil change interval and it is as sludgy as can be.. looked really bad!

[nadeem72]

I would not recommend the 5 minute flush unless you are planning to drop your oil pan to change leaking gasket or for any other reason. The oil have to pass thru the oil pick up screen in the oil pan before it reaches the filter. If your engine is really dirty from inside, chances are you will end up with blocked oil pick up screen. If you read closely on the instructions, most 5-10 minutes flush recommend you to drop oil pan and clean oil pick up screen. Another alternative is to change your oil more frequently for the next few oil changes. Modern oil have detergents in it which are not as agressive as engine flushes.

[Brian R.]

I agree. Don't use a flush on an old sludge-filled engine. It is fine to use to get rid of minor deposits or if you accidentally forgot to change the oil for longer than you would have liked. My wife does that to her car once in a while.

An old mechanic friend of mine (mechanic for 40-odd years) used to always put one quart of ATF in his engines instead of one quart of oil and always ran them that way. I don't know if I'd recommend doing that in modern engines, but he sure liked it.