engine flush

[FLUTE007]

i would never use any products, if it gets to the point that you have sludged your engine, damage done, if you then go and free all that sludge up you run the risk of clogging the pickup screen. imo and experience it is not a good idea.

[DCColegrove]

i would never use any products, if it gets to the point that you have sludged your engine, damage done, if you then go and free all that sludge up you run the risk of clogging the pickup screen. imo and experience it is not a good idea.

No certainly not a good idea in a nasty engine, but flushing an engine does have some points. If you can keep the oil control rings and other parts that are prone to getting combution conaminated the nasty internals can be avoided.

[FLUTE007]

No certainly not a good idea in a nasty engine, but flushing an engine does have some points. If you can keep the oil control rings and other parts that are prone to getting combution conaminated the nasty internals can be avoided.

point taken , i have kept engines clean with regular oil changes, and proper octane gas, to reduce carbon build up. all i mean is keep up with regular oil changes and you wont need a flush.

[TwoJ's]

point taken , i have kept engines clean with regular oil changes, and proper octane gas, to reduce carbon build up. all i mean is keep up with regular oil changes and you wont need a flush.

This is r3v, the home of people who have bought e30's with 150k + miles. Who is to know how the car has been treated unless there is a very detailed record of service?

Every post you have made has shown a lack of mechanical aptitude. A properly done "flush" will help a motor run better.

But you are finally right in one aspect; regular maintenance will prevent over the life of a motor will likely prevent the need for such a thing.

[Scotaku]

I am not a fan of any fast acting "flush" or other magic solutions to rapidly excise sludge from an engine that's seen a lot of miles. The risks of dislodging a large caliber blob are too high. That blob can foul the pickup tube or any number of oil passages/squirters and create oil pressure problems or hot spots that can cause long term damage.

Instead, I like AutoRx; a slow acting detergent that I've used before. Instead of quickly loosening large blobs of buildup, the detergent slowly breaks down and lifts the sludge and lets the oil filter capture the dirt over time. It takes anywhere from 500 to 1000 miles and is recommended -prior- to a routine oil change.

Some fresh oil filters and a few bottles of AutoRx ahead of oil changes yielded me unbelievably clean cams and valvetrains in both my old VWs and my wife's secondhand SUV. Both VW's have gone on to new owners (getting awesome, documented mileage too) and the little Ford Escape is out front even as I type. Of the three, only my wife's Jetta was hers from new so it had a known maintenance history. My Passat had a healthy folder of receipts and a logbook from the first owner so it too had a pretty good history too. The Ford though was a gamble as it had no records at all... given what I'd seen with the VWs, I was confident AutoRx would get the little truck into shape. I was right. It is clean as a whistle now and gets anywhere from 21 to 25mpg even at 56K; better than its EPA estimates.

These were all on engines that had measured good compression to begin with. If you've got a leaky cylinder, the sludge may be what is giving you even that low compression. I wouldn't AutoRx an engine that is already in need of a ring job.

Other slow acting remedies I like...

SeaFoam: just a little sucked in through a vacuum line then left sitting for 15-30 minutes will smoke like crazy but vaporize fuel varnish from valves.

STP fuel treatment: One bottle in the tank before a fillup around your regular oil change interval will zap water in the fuel system and keep injectors spraying like new.

Blackstone Laboratories analysis: email for a free sample collection kit and the $22.50 for a mail-away analysis of your engine oil. They'll mail you back a report on any contaminants found helping you determine if there's anything going/gone wrong inside.

[e30 Luv]

I am not a fan of any fast acting "flush" or other magic solutions to rapidly excise sludge from an engine that's seen a lot of miles. The risks of dislodging a large caliber blob are too high. That blob can foul the pickup tube or any number of oil passages/squirters and create oil pressure problems or hot spots that can cause long term damage.

Instead, I like AutoRx; a slow acting detergent that I've used before. Instead of quickly loosening large blobs of buildup, the detergent slowly breaks down and lifts the sludge and lets the oil filter capture the dirt over time. It takes anywhere from 500 to 1000 miles and is recommended -prior- to a routine oil change.

Some fresh oil filters and a few bottles of AutoRx ahead of oil changes yielded me unbelievably clean cams and valvetrains in both my old VWs and my wife's secondhand SUV. Both VW's have gone on to new owners (getting awesome, documented mileage too) and the little Ford Escape is out front even as I type. Of the three, only my wife's Jetta was hers from new so it had a known maintenance history. My Passat had a healthy folder of receipts and a logbook from the first owner so it too had a pretty good history too. The Ford though was a gamble as it had no records at all... given what I'd seen with the VWs, I was confident AutoRx would get the little truck into shape. I was right. It is clean as a whistle now and gets anywhere from 21 to 25mpg even at 56K; better than its EPA estimates.

These were all on engines that had measured good compression to begin with. If you've got a leaky cylinder, the sludge may be what is giving you even that low compression. I wouldn't AutoRx an engine that is already in need of a ring job.

Other slow acting remedies I like...

SeaFoam: just a little sucked in through a vacuum line then left sitting for 15-30 minutes will smoke like crazy but vaporize fuel varnish from valves.

STP fuel treatment: One bottle in the tank before a fillup around your regular oil change interval will zap water in the fuel system and keep injectors spraying like new.

Blackstone Laboratories analysis: email for a free sample collection kit and the $22.50 for a mail-away analysis of your engine oil. They'll mail you back a report on any contaminants found helping you determine if there's anything going/gone wrong inside.

Now there is a good post. Did you run it in your E30?

I was going to mention the AutoRx as well. I had a friend who did a lot of research on engine cleaning and came out with this. He ran it on his truck and got good results. I would try it

[CorvallisBMW]

I've heard from several 'old timers' that have been working on cars for many decades that adding a quart of ATF about 500-1000 miles before changing your oil works very well. ATF has more detergents than regular oil, and it will help to slowly break down sludge and deposites, just like the AutoRx mentioned above. I've never done it, but I would bet it's pretty safe.

[DCColegrove]

I've heard from several 'old timers' that have been working on cars for many decades that adding a quart of ATF about 500-1000 miles before changing your oil works very well. ATF has more detergents than regular oil, and it will help to slowly break down sludge and deposites, just like the AutoRx mentioned above. I've never done it, but I would bet it's pretty safe.

Yes, ATF is a good way to clean up a nasty engine, for example like when replacing a cylinder head I'll run a quart of ATF in the car and have the customer bring it back in like 1200 mi to do another oil change.

Oils are a lot better than they were say even 10 years ago, however you will still develop "varnish" deposits especially in the area of the rings.

As far as deposits you can look at it like this:

Changing your oil is like brushing your teeth.

Having the engine flushed is like going to the dentist to have them cleaned.

If you do neither you eventually need oral surgery and root planing.

[Scotaku]

Now there is a good post. Did you run it in your E30?

Thanks. :)

Have I run it through my E30 yet? No. Will I? Definitely, yes. Circumstances have kept my car in the garage pretty much since I bought it, but I do have compression numbers (+/- 1psi between any two cylinders centered on 175!) and I definitely plan to send a bottle through once I get back on my feet. At the moment I need to recover a lot of strength (cancer surgeries) and she needs some serious spelunking through the rear suspension, subframe, and possibly a new fuel tank... I want her safe first, reliable second, then finally fast.