Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic Blend Clean engine?

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Just wondering if using the Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic Blend clean the engine slowly over time from varnish, sludge, and deposits since they advertise special cleaning agents in the oil?

Thanks
 
My guess would be that it would clean the engine up some but probably would be better to use a cycle of AutoRx then stick with whatever oil you want after the cleaning. I do not believe regular oil will clean up everything in the engine.
 
nope. Don't count on motor oil being able to clean an already dirty/sludged up engine.

If you want something seriously good and be able to enhance the oil's self cleanliness/cleaning ability, add AutoRx into your oil.

Q.
 
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Valvoline does claim that Maxlife will clean existing deposits.


Directly from their website: "Detergents chemically bond with and remove existing sludge and deposits"

Unfortunately, this is only a claim. I was wondering if there is real world evidence of this from users.
 
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Originally Posted By: Quest
nope. Don't count on motor oil being able to clean an already dirty/sludged up engine.


I hate to disagree because I know it's not polite, but we're talking about Maxlife here. If there was ever a time for me to stick my neck out on this hostile board, this would be it.
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When I bought my Buick with 80K on the clock, it was loaded with varnish. Two back to back 1700 mile oil changes and that Buick V6 was spotless inside; no more paprika colored rocker arms.

I stake reputation on Maxlife's ability to clean.
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Wait a minute . . . I don't have a reputation.
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hehe, that was good, Merkava!

Actually though it is good to know how good it has worked for you. I have known MaxLife is good stuff and it is interesting to see how well it worked for you.
 
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Good for you Merkava_4!
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It's good to see that at least a few people who are willing to stick their necks out and voice an opinion. That's what discussion boards are about - discussion of ideas no matter how crazy they are!
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:2cents:

Imagine that the a product out there may actually do what they have on the label. WoW.
 
From the 9-5 perspective:

Never seen Redline clean.
Never seen Maxlife Synth clean.
Never seen Pennzoil Platinum clean.
Never seen insert favorite synthetic and/or HDEO here clean.

Only one I haven't tried is Mobil1 HM. Not enthusiastic.
 
Merkava
When you performed your back to back oil changes at 1700 miles with Maxlife, did you note any varnish residue on the dipstick?
I switched from M1 to Maxlife at 100K miles, and immediately (500 miles or so) noted dark oil and varnish deposits on the dipstick. I attributed this to the varnish being dissolved by the detergents and being redistributed and deposited on the dipstick. I drained it at 2000 miles and went back to Valvoline synpower, but am thinking of going back to Maxlife as its has an excellent additive package.
 
As most on here know, I've used nothing but top notch synthetics in the Honda and conventional oils as well.

I recently put MaxLife 5w20 in and after 2,500 miles I found dirt on the dipstick. There is also a dark, black grimy film of oil right around the fill hole and top of engine. The internals are clean, as seen through the fill hole but ML is cleaning up "something" from "somewhere".

I'm really shocked by this. What is in MaxLife that is causing this? Are their detergents different than the other brands? I have never seen this from using any other oil in this car.


Is it from the seal conditioners?

Bizarre. I picked up a new filter and will be refillng with ML 5w30. I'm stick with ML due to the performance/price point.
 
I found that too when I first started using HM oil. Reading about HM oils they generally have an additive pack with more/extra wear additives, cleaners, and a seal conditioner with a swelling agent. Don't think its seal conditioners unless the the seals are shedding deposits as they swell.

Also, how long were you running the same oil? Some here say change is good occasionally for deposit cleanup
 
Hey Leaky....thanks for the feedback. It's been about 2,500 miles.

I checked the oil 2x over the course of 2,500 miles and the first time I saw this I thought it was a fluke. I then checked it again the other day and noticed this black stuff on the dipstick and through the fill hole.

The part that doesn't make sense is 1. The engine was already very clean from what I could see via the hole. 2. I've only used top quality oils in this car, including Mobil 1 and Amsoil, both of which never did this. Very odd.

It could be that ML uses a very high dose of cleaners/detergents, but then again, so does Mobil 1/Amsoil.

I'm going to drain it out soon and refill with the new dexos 1 ML 5w30.
 
Buster, wipe the rubber seal on the oil fill cap and see if small chunks of rubber come off. Check the texture of the chunks on the dipstick. These checks will help determine if seals are shedding.
 
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