Anyone Else "Oil Flush" When Doing an OC?

[Blake1107]

I think you'd be better served to position the vehicle with the drain at the lowest point possible in relation to the engine. Some of my cars that means having one side higher than the other, some it means to have the front end up higher than the rear. Then I let it drain until it's no longer dripping enough to care about (while I empty the oil into a recycling container, get it ready to be taken to be recycled, put the oil filter remover up, cut open the filter if I'm going to do so, etc.). Pouring in the fill-hole and having that oil bypass all the oil galleries, etc., and just draining out the drain seems impractical and not making a positive impact on the goal of an oil change: to replace MOST of the oil with new oil.

My OC's are done in my driveway or garage, both of which have very light declines rather than flat and I have always appreciated that about them. Satisfies my brain a little with thinking it gets virtually all of the old oil out. I normally let the initial drain drip until it nearly doesn't anymore, lightly finger tight the pan bolt, remove the old filter (if it's time), clean up that mess, put new filter on, move the container back under the pan, remove the bolt again and normally have a little more oil come out. Let that get to a very slow drip again and then normally would move to the steps of refilling with the new, but like I said, figured since I wasn't going to use the spare jugs with a quart or two in them for anything else, I did the "pan flush". If no one takes the few leftovers I still have, I may do it the next couple OC's until gone. Once they're gone, though, I won't be continuing that step any longer.

 

[Blake1107]

I was under the assumption that since his daughters car was new & he was trying to purge the break-in loaded oil out of the oil pan for a UOA baseline he can get to sooner. In a bigger oil system that holds a lot more oil back would probably make more sense to do this but he was trying to rid the contaminates of break-in debris. This is certainly not 100% fault proof but an easy method to get what he could with an extra qt of oil used to flush.

I see no harm in that & it makes sense when doing the next UOA. I'd not be able to afford to do this myself though & I'd assume that even doing UOA it would avg out over time doing reg. oil drains w/o the added expense. I could see one doing this for the first or second oil drain while doing UOA but after that it's not something I'd recommend.

I'd say if I were to do it to use the same oil that will be used in the run but as you allude to if you have some other oil lying around then have at it. It would make more sense though in a new engine, w/same oil, when doing used oil analysis the first few times.

We see several members here that will go 500-1000 miles or less on a new engine to flush loaded oil & or get to a UOA baseline sooner so I certainly see no harm in using just 1 qt to purge some old oil out.

That is probably very true of what he was doing! I had watched 3 or 4 of his videos prior to coming across this one and I'll be honest, there was so much information given among the length of all those videos my brain was a little overloaded and sounds like I missed the true reason of why he did the "flush".

 

[Blake1107]

What oil is it

That I put in my engine or used for the "flush"?

 

[himemsys]

Terrible assumption on my part and I apologize for that. Also, I apologize for stating my response in a way that was no better than what I was accusing you of. I appreciate your input!

I've learned that certain topics on these forums cause a lot of heated reaction. This is one of them. For some reason, people get really angry when someone suggests something contrary to their opinion. If you read on here long enough, you'll know what those hot topics are. If you want to do something like this, go for it! You might keep it to yourself, though, to avoid all the angst.

 

[Elkins45]

For less than the cost of a quart of oil I can buy a gallon of diesel fuel. If I really wanted to flush out my engine I would pour a gallon of diesel through it.

 

[Owen Lucas]

The Pilot takes 5.7L so I pour in .3 at the end of the drain just to get rid of it. The oil does come out darker but I doubt that makes much of a difference realistically.

 

[4WD]

have tried it - goes right through like a pound of pecans

 

[Eddie]

My father used to do this with his 1948 Pontiac. The days of non detergent oil was the reason. Absolutly no reason to do this today.

 

[oldgrayman]

A lot of people do it but I've never seen any verifiable evidence that it is beneficial . Therefore , I do not waste my money on it .

 

[4WD]

Soooo … if one was to find this flush believable …
Do it with thick or thin oil

 

[bbhero]

I never have done a flush, even on cars that needed a bit of a cleanup. I just used Mobil 1 0w40 and halved the OCI until the oil looked like it didn't darken so quickly after an oil change. I'd be too concerned about knocking big chunks off and clogging something if an engine really needed a clean up.

As far as adding extra chaser oil, I don't think I even ever thought of doing that.

Talking about a “ flush” ..

I heard today at my new job orientation that a nurse put Miralax in a water pitcher that was used and given to all the patients that day…. That’s the darndest thing I have ever heard of someone doing… And yes it’s equivalent to giving everyone who drank that water medication… Without a physician order…

Everyone in that room with me in orientation was flabbergasted…

I wonder if she was doing that to work herself up to start administering other more lethal drugs without an order to certain patients ? I sure wonder about that possibility…

She was promptly fired too. Thank goodness.

 

[goingplacesanddoingstuff]

I do this if I have some rando leftover oil I want to get rid of.

 

[02zx9r rev2]

That I put in my engine or used for the "flush"?

Use for flush yes

 

[02zx9r rev2]

Talking about a “ flush” ..

I heard today at my new job orientation that a nurse put Miralax in a water pitcher that was used and given to all the patients that day…. That’s the darndest thing I have ever heard of someone doing… And yes it’s equivalent to giving everyone who drank that water medication… Without a physician order…

Everyone in that room with me in orientation was flabbergasted…

I wonder if she was doing that to work herself up to start administering other more lethal drugs without an order to certain patients ? I sure wonder about that possibility…

She was promptly fired too. Thank goodness.

??

 

[Blake1107]

Use for flush yes

Castrol EDGE, Valvoline EPHM, M1 FS.

 

[userfriendly]

For less than the cost of a quart of oil I can buy a gallon of diesel fuel. If I really wanted to flush out my engine I would pour a gallon of diesel through it.

So instead of new clean engine oil pooled on the cylinder heads and lifter gallery, you have Diesel oil.

 

[4WD]

So instead of new clean engine oil pooled on the cylinder heads and lifter gallery, you have Diesel oil.

Only in his motor …

 

[malibuguy79]

Ive been doing it for years. Usually use about a half quart.

Does it make a difference? No. But I just feel better doing it.

 

[TiGeo]

Only works if you do it on Tuesday with the car facing north

If this is your thing then do it right...do a full fill/run/drain (multiple times) to get out anything residual/until oil drained is new color...I've seen several videos on YouTube showing it. Doing what the OP described is basically the same as nothing to me.

 

[demarpaint]

It might be of some benefit with a lawn mower where the drain plug is difficult to get to, or engines that require being turned upside down to change the oil. Flip the mower, allow it to drain, move it around a bit, turn it right side up, pour in some clean oil, slosh it around, and flip to drain again. But hey whatever floats your boat.