engine treatments

[Chiquae07]

do those work? they say empty out your oil and use this instead. run the car for 5 minutes not drving it though. then drain, clean out the oil pan, and replace the oil plug. then fill back with oil. do these work? reason im asking is that i just changed my oil, and it goes in clean, but after 50 miles it turnes out really into a nasty color black.

[rice(er)]

i've heard good and bad things about these, so

[-Josh-]

This is one of those ocassions where it's better to have the dealer do it. They have machines that flush the system using something very similar to what you used. Also if something goes wrong you can get them to pay for it.

[SaabJohan]

Originally Posted by Chiquae07

do those work? they say empty out your oil and use this instead. run the car for 5 minutes not drving it though. then drain, clean out the oil pan, and replace the oil plug. then fill back with oil. do these work? reason im asking is that i just changed my oil, and it goes in clean, but after 50 miles it turnes out really into a nasty color black.

That is a sign that your new oil is cleaning your engine well, if not much of the oil have been left in the engine. If they oil gets black fast you can try two oil changes within a short time.

If you suspects that your engine is very dirty you can remove the sump and have a look at it.

[beef_bourito]

you'll never get your engine oil to stay clean for long. my dad knew this guy who desperately wanted to have his engine clean as can be. he must have changed his oil 5 or 6 times that day, it would neve stay clean or clean looking, it would always come out black.

as for the additives, i don't think your engine really needs it. they were designed to run without them and it should do fine with regular oil changes and topping up when you need to. If anything i'd ask a dealer about it, or have them do it like previously said, because then you're off the hook if something goes wrong

[TheSilentChamber]

If you want to clean it out real good you can add a few cups of diesel to your oil and remove your spark plugs, turn it over for about 30 seconds, drain it, do it again, then fill it with oil. Will clean out all the build up and sludge.

[Chiquae07]

i diddnt do the treatment, im just stating on what happened on my oil change. i was thinking about doing a second one within a short period, but w/e. plus its driving me nuts that when i turn over the car, the oil light stays blinking until about 5 sec after the car is on. fresh after the oil change it diddnt do that. now it does. i think imma have the dealer do the whole engine flush thing. would it be a waste if the tranny got the same treatment?

[UncleBob]

what I have absorved, while working at a car shop, there are two types of cars on the road: Those that change their oil at reasonable intervals, and those that do not.

Those that don't, you change the oil, start it up, pull the dipstick, and just in that short time of running, the oil is pitch black. There is so much particles and carbon build up in the motor, the new oil is instantly contaminated and looks black.

Then the cars that the oil is changed frequently, even after 3000 miles, the oil will not be black (granted, a dark brown). If you pull a valve cover, the internals won't even be stained brown.

So if you have an engine that has been "neglected", you would need to remove all of the build up on all of the internals to really get the oil to stay clean-looking. I really don't think there's any magical snake oil that will do this thoroughly.

I wouldn't stress over it though. Having some, even a lot, of build up of sludge by itself won't cause issues, most likely. Just change the oil at regular intervals (3K miles is a good number, less if you want to be more anal) and the motor will not build up any new sludge.

[SaabJohan]

Originally Posted by UncleBob

what I have absorved, while working at a car shop, there are two types of cars on the road: Those that change their oil at reasonable intervals, and those that do not.

Those that don't, you change the oil, start it up, pull the dipstick, and just in that short time of running, the oil is pitch black. There is so much particles and carbon build up in the motor, the new oil is instantly contaminated and looks black.

Then the cars that the oil is changed frequently, even after 3000 miles, the oil will not be black (granted, a dark brown). If you pull a valve cover, the internals won't even be stained brown.

So if you have an engine that has been "neglected", you would need to remove all of the build up on all of the internals to really get the oil to stay clean-looking. I really don't think there's any magical snake oil that will do this thoroughly.

I wouldn't stress over it though. Having some, even a lot, of build up of sludge by itself won't cause issues, most likely. Just change the oil at regular intervals (3K miles is a good number, less if you want to be more anal) and the motor will not build up any new sludge.

Changing the oil at 3000 miles intervals is an uneccesary cost and waste of resources. 10000-30000 km (6000-19000 miles) are the rule of thumb for most new engines.

[curtis73]

For newer cars, yes. With one exception, my newest car is a 1974 and oil testing confirmed for my cars that 3000 miles WAS a good recommendation. The metallurgy wasn't nearly as sophisticated in years past and oil became contaminated much faster.

Believe me, I would be the first to support the higher mileage between changes recommendation, but do yourselves a favor and test oil in each of your cars to determine their individual interval requirements. I have one that needs it every 1500 and one that doesn't need it until 15,000.

[UncleBob]

you can "get away" with changing your oil at longer intervals, but you will build up sludge. I guess it depends on how long you want the engine to live.

Just because the owners manual says something, doesn't make it gospel IMO. Take, for example, toyota's recall on Sienna's, they dicovered that people that followed the recommend intervals were having sludge build up issues at higher miles, and started smoking......Toyota is the only company that would bother even noting such things, let alone doing a recall over it.

[TheSilentChamber]

MMmmmmm .... the theory of bob... served well on saltine crackers with a strong glass of wine from a box.

[UncleBob]

I always thought I was more like pop tarts and Jolt cola. Good 90's junk food....mmmm....

[SaabJohan]

Originally Posted by UncleBob

you can "get away" with changing your oil at longer intervals, but you will build up sludge. I guess it depends on how long you want the engine to live.

Just because the owners manual says something, doesn't make it gospel IMO. Take, for example, toyota's recall on Sienna's, they dicovered that people that followed the recommend intervals were having sludge build up issues at higher miles, and started smoking......Toyota is the only company that would bother even noting such things, let alone doing a recall over it.

Well, essentially all car manufacturers have an oil change interval, and the notification that it should be made shorter under certain conditions. For a new car with an oil according to specification 10000 km is considered low and 30000 km high.

Several car companies have had trouble with sludge build-up (which have led to notifications, extra warrants and recalls), but mainly sludge is a problem when the oil change interval isn't followed. Most people also tend to forget that there is also a time limit of one year, and that the inteval can be made shorter under certain conditions.

To reduce the problem with oil sludge many manufacturers have today added an oil function to the engine control unit. This system works with an additional oil sensor or calculations based on how the engine is used, and thereby the user can be warned when the oil needs to be changed.

With older cars the oil change intervals can be made longer due to the better oils that are availible today. As for wear that is something that mostly accur when the engine is started and shortly thereafer. Wear metals in the oil is usually not a reason to change the oil.

[cody_e]

Originally Posted by UncleBob

you can "get away" with changing your oil at longer intervals, but you will build up sludge. I guess it depends on how long you want the engine to live.

Are we talking about conventional oil here or synthetic. I have Mobile 1 Extended Performance fully synthetic oil in my car. It's guaranteed up to 15k miles. Granted my engine has over 109k miles and is 10 years old I think I'm going to change it at 6-8k. Any objections to that? I also got a Fram Extended Performance filter that goes up to 7-8k miles.