Lucas UCL or Redline SI-1?

[panthermike]

Hi all,

My girlfriend drives a 2000 Toyota Corolla that has 134K. Anyways, it developed a ping around 100K. Over those miles, I have noticed that as the heat increases(especially here in phoenix), so does the ping.

I was reading on redlines site and it states that the SI-1 can be used for continuous use as well as the lucas. My solution is to use one of these all summer at least, on every fillup. We have tried a lot of things and replaced parts but to no avail, the ping does not go away.

So, is this a good idea to do? And, which would be the better choice.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[ewetho]

Redline SI-1 will clean the [censored] out out it literally and figuratively. I have actually done 4 and 5 gas analysis of several cars and one bottle of the SI-1 will clean it almost (and I mean ALMOST) as clean as a fuel injector cleaning. Awesome stuff.

I would start with a full strength bottle of that and maybe even 2 back to back fill-ups and then go on to maintenance doses if not solved. You might even try going up to 89 octane instead of 87.

Lucas I use when I am a lazy and don't want to go get the good stuff.

Yup, I need to get a bottle or 3 next weekend from PepBoys.

 

[panthermike]

Yeah, I really want to try that stuff. We've used techron, seafoam and B44 once, and it didn't to anything.

 

[Lyondellic]

Lucas UCL and Redline SI-1 each serve different purposes. Lucas UCL is more of a lubricant, with some cleaning abilities. Redline SI-1 is more of a cleaner, with little to no lubricating properties.

It sounds as though you may want to try running a bottle of Redline SI-1 or Amsoil PI in a tank of gas just before an oil change. Both of these are excellent fuel system cleaners. You should then consider adding a 5.25 ounce "One-Shot" bottle of Lucas UCL to a few tanks of gas to see if the noise issue improves. I have found that Lucas UCL makes my 2007 Honda Civic LX idle smoother and it reaches speed with less effort. Lucas UCL is fairly economical when purchased by the quart ($10) or the gallon ($20).

The noise may be due to oil breakdown, or even a sludged engine. I would recommend catching an oil sample for UOA analysis to see if the engine has any issues. Though it wont identify every problem, a $22 Blackstone UOA is well worth the money in my opinion.

If everything looks OK in the UOA, and the Lucas UCL isn't helping, then you may want to consider using a heavier grade of oil. I believe that the Corolla uses 30 weight oil, so you may want to try a 40 weight oil to see if the noise improves.

One other thing to consider is the condition of the engine's air filter. When was the last time that the air filter was replaced? A fouled air filter is often the root cause of sub-par engine performance.

 

[panthermike]

There's no visible sludge that I can see but this car does burn oil about 2 quarts per 3K. We did try 20w50 once, but I don't recall if it helped, I should have paid attention. As far as the air filter, it is about due again but even when we replaced it about 10-12K ago, there was no improvement. But that is something cheap and easy so why not.

I also thought maybe the PCV valve was bad, so I changed it and there was no difference, we've also done the plugs, the cat and o2 sensors(because of a code).

Do you think it would be beneficial to say run seafoam through the booster hose? I've done this once, is it good for the car? The reason I ask is because I'm not sure if it's related but after the first seafoam, the cat had to be replaced about 15K later.

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: Lyondellic
Redline SI-1 is more of a cleaner, with little to no lubricating properties.



No, Redline is a cleaner and a lubricant. Has great lubricating properties. Read the data sheet.

"SI-1 also contains detergents and a synthetic upper cylinder lubricant which will help clean pollution control valves and can reduce octane requirements by two numbers."

 

[panthermike]

Well, I decided to go with the SI-1. Put in 6oz. for startoff dose and then we will go to the 3oz. per tank dosage. Hopefully it helps out. Got the bottle from checker for 7.99

 

[Lyondellic]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Originally Posted By: Lyondellic
Redline SI-1 is more of a cleaner, with little to no lubricating properties.



No, Redline is a cleaner and a lubricant. Has great lubricating properties. Read the data sheet.

"SI-1 also contains detergents and a synthetic upper cylinder lubricant which will help clean pollution control valves and can reduce octane requirements by two numbers."


I agree that the Redline SI-1 is labeled as being a cleaner and a UCL, but my experience has shown that it is more of a cleaner than a UCL. I feel that Lucas has much more UCL properties than Redline SI-1. I use both products and am not trying to throw down the Redline product in any fashion.

 

[Lyondellic]

Originally Posted By: panthermike
There's no visible sludge that I can see but this car does burn oil about 2 quarts per 3K. We did try 20w50 once, but I don't recall if it helped, I should have paid attention. As far as the air filter, it is about due again but even when we replaced it about 10-12K ago, there was no improvement. But that is something cheap and easy so why not.

I also thought maybe the PCV valve was bad, so I changed it and there was no difference, we've also done the plugs, the cat and o2 sensors(because of a code).

Do you think it would be beneficial to say run seafoam through the booster hose? I've done this once, is it good for the car? The reason I ask is because I'm not sure if it's related but after the first seafoam, the cat had to be replaced about 15K later.


I honestly have no experience with Seafoam, but am sure that there are folks here that do who will chime in. A lot of folks like to use MMO here too, so that may be something to consider as well. I would be very leery of adding a strong fuel system cleaner to every tank of gas. UOA results have shown that this practice sometimes leads to increased wear.

Using 2 quarts of oil every 3,000 miles seems excessive to me. Could this be an indicator that the engine has a lot of sludge? Maybe it's time to check under the valve cover to see if AutoRX is needed? A well cared for Toyota should only have used up about 40%-50% of total service life by 134,000 miles from the stories I have heard.

 

[panthermike]

Yeah, I'm not sure what is up? She got the car like 5 years ago with 55K on it. Has been very well maintained, then at around 100K we went to change the oil and noticed it was two quarts down. Ever since, it has burned that much per OCI, but now I check it a couple of times a week to keep up on it. I've thought about using ARX, there's no visible sludge from the oil fill hole, but who knows about what I can't see?

 

[panthermike]

Do you think running the recommended 3oz. would be more harmful then beneficial? Maybe I should do it every other tank

 

[Lyondellic]

Originally Posted By: panthermike


Do you think running the recommended 3oz. would be more harmful then beneficial? Maybe I should do it every other tank


I wouldn't use a fuel system cleaner on a continuous basis, but only because folks that I respect on this site have indicated that doing so may break down oil and cause increased wear metals. In my wife's 2006 Pilot, I treat the tank of gas that precedes an oil change with either Amsoil PI or Redline SI-1. That provides the best of both worlds in my opinion, fuel system cleaning and reduced potential for engine wear by virtue of the OCI immediately following the treatment. Perhaps that approach would work well for you as well.

I use Lucas UCL on a continuous basis because my engine is new (~4300 miles total) and is still fairly tight. The UCL helps the engine to run smoother, but I don't expect it to provide much cleaning.

 

[Kitto]

To Lyondellic: about the oil consumption, I think someone here mention b4 about the ring problem of the corolla engine in that year. You might want to do more research about this problem.

 

[mechtech2]

Lucas UCL [Upper Cylinder Lubricant] is more of a lubricant than the fine Redline SI-1.

 

[ewetho]

I had not used my favorite Redline SI-1 for a while and after posting on this thread earlier I went and got new bottle to clean up my Neon. All I can say is WOW. I have used Lucas a couple of times and it always seemed just a bit rough. Well I dumped it in drove to the gas station and filled up and it is already much smoother. Forgot how good this stuff is.

I just dumped the whole bottle in my 12.5 Gallon Neon.

I have had friends dump a whole bottle of that stuff in a CBR900, Riding Lawnmower, and numerous cars with similar effect.