Should I clean the inside of my engine?

[ics88]

Newbie here. I have a 99 VW Passat V6 with 94K on it. The place that I get my oil changes at said that the inside of my engine has some buildup. I forgot the exact word that they used to describe it but they wanted to sell me this engine cleaning service.

I told them no and I asked my mechanic later about this and he said not to do it because the engine has been running fine with this many miles and putting the cleaner into the engine might cause the lifters to tick.

Here are some pictures of the oil cap removed.

www.geocities.com/ics88/engine1.jpg

www.geocities.com/ics88/engine2.jpg

Should I be concerned about the brown stuff or just leave it since the engine has been running fine?

BTW, I got car used 20K ago so I don't know the complete history of it. My OCI is 3 to 4K with 10W-40 dino oil.

 

[oilpan49]

to BITOG!

Your engine doesn't look all that bad. Maybe try running some Auto-Rx through there. Purchase from www.auto-rx.com The inventor is named Frank and is a site sponsor here. Nice guy and knowledgeable. Follow directions on the bottle and your engine will most likely run alot better. I have used it twice both with positive feedback. Good luck,,,,op

 

[surfstar]

I'll second the ARX recommendation if you want to safely clean your engine. Its also possible that they were just trying to sell extra services. If you had the 1.8T, its likely to have sludge, but you should be safer with the v6.

 

[Eddie]

My Subaru with 98,000 miles was running as new using a top tier oil & filter always. I use a 5,000 mile oci and a lab analysis from Blackstone said my engine was very good and try a 7,000 mile OCI. I did an AUTORX cleaning, following the directions carefully. I was very surprised at the blackness of the oil that I drained during the 2000 mile rinse phase which is less than 1/2 the mileage I usually run. Obviously the AUTORX did some real cleaning even when using a top grade sythetic oil. There was no change in the vehicle preformance that I could feel, see or measure I.e. gas mileage. I think it is a good idea based on my experience. I like to think I did some preventive maintence to avoid some future wear. JMO

 

[Matt_S]

Engine cleanings are one of those services that every oil change place tries to sell to you. The benefit is marginal at best, the cost to them is very small and they make a lot of profit. Definitely pass on that service whenever it's offered. AutoRX will do a much better job and it's reasonably priced. Looking at those pictures, though, I'd say you'd be fine if you did nothing at all. There's not even a lot of varnish there. The brown spots are normal deposits that won't hurt anything.

 

[unDummy]

Pull a valve cover. If it looks clean under there, do NOTHING. Stick with your regular OCI's and don't worry about it.

Quickeelubes need to sell services to increase profit. I remember when they did nothing but oil changes. Now they flush engines/trannies/rearends....change filters(air/fuel).....flush coolant....recharge A/C....and all kinds of other stuff if you say 'OK'. Don't let them do anything besides the oil/filter change.

 

[Donald]

The quick oil change places want to get about $50 per customer so they will try and sell you some extra services. Some are reasonable and some are rip-offs. A local transmission place said they routinely fix stripped transmission drain pan bolt holes due to sloppy work by the quick oil change places. Others suck out the trans fluid through the dip stick. In my case they shoved a screwdriver through the air mass sensor trying to pop a hose off the air filter intake. I sued, but lost as it was difficult to prove.

 

[ics88]

Thanks for all the replies. I will go the Auto-Rx route. I have a small amount of oil leak and hopefully Auto-Rx can fix that.

Since I don't do my own oil changes, would it be okay to add the Auto-Rx after I get the oil change with the oil level at the full mark? I did a search on this forum and someone thought it would be okay. Just want to confirm that before I do it.

The engine takes approxmiately 6 quarts so I will be adding the entire 12 oz. bottle.