Kreen treatment plan on 2004 Liberty 3.7l burner

Status
Not open for further replies.
3.7 chrysler engines are known for failed lash adjusters "lifters" which cause the dreaded ticking and oil consumption.

Kreen may do some cleaning but will not repair the issue.
 
Thank you for this info. How is oil consumed due to this? A failed/partially failed lifter leads to incomplete valve opening and then ? For this vehicle, I have not discerned that this motor has noticeable ticking but is possible I just haven't picked it up.


Originally Posted By: krismoriah72
3.7 chrysler engines are known for failed lash adjusters "lifters" which cause the dreaded ticking and oil consumption.

Kreen may do some cleaning but will not repair the issue.
 
If it isnt ticking..then the lifters are probably good.

Does it smoke alot during startup? bluish smoke? if so then valve stem seals most likely.

Does it smoke after warming up? the more fuel you give it the more it smokes? if so then probably cracked or very worn piston ring causing blowby which then goes thru the crankcase into the pcv then burns the oil.

Give us more info so that we can see where you are losing your oil. Also note that heavy oil burning through combustion will lead to failure of your cat converters.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Kreen in the oil probably has a better chance of producing some results if in fact any are obtainable.
You know yourself there is really no magic bullet, once something is stuck (not just sticking) everything you try is a hail Mary pass.

Giving the product time to work is important with any product. Personally for genuinely stuck rings i would soak them in Chemtool and use the Kreen in the oil.
The object is to break the ring free of the carbon and varnish filled grooves, its not easy.


Nope. And it is many times not successful, too. But that is the nature of Kreen, it is unlikely to be needed in any newer good running engine!

We have had great success with Kreen here, sometimes truly amazing. And it is wonderful for carbon build up. The best I have ever seen IME...
 
Originally Posted By: strat81
Add an "italian tune-up" or two to the process.

My GM 5.3L started to sound like death lately - ticking, valve clatter, piston slap... sounded like a diesel even when warm, and that's with M1 0W-40 in there.

Took it on the highway, warmed it up for 10 minutes, then flogged the heck out of it. Lots of idle to redline runs, ran it at 4.5K for a few minutes at a time, etc.

The next morning, it sounded much, much better. The valve clatter and ticking were completely gone, the piston slap greatly reduced when cold.

Whether or not it helped my oil consumption problem, I don't know yet (the 0W-40 was my second attempt to 'fix' that problem). But I do have a new can of Kreen sitting in the garage that will probably get tossed in sometime late next week.


make sure you use the Kreen in both the gas and the oil as recommended on the can.

Judging from your story some of the noise you were hearing was carbon knock, the ITU knocked some of it out for a quieter engine. Carbon knock is often confused with piston slap and can seem very similar...
 
Piston soak in progress. I screwed up the plan by reading the can instructions- they suggest adding the Kreen to your existing fill so after I read that I put it into the oil without remembering I was going to put it in with fresh Rotella. The original plan was kind of long for how little this car gets used so with my screw-up and in combination with the advice I've gotten, here's what I've done and the simplified plan:

1) Pulled plugs and put about 1.5oz Kreen per cylinder with syringe and hose. Replaced plugs loosely and cranked motor over a few times. Put about 8oz Kreen in 3/4 tank of fuel. Put about 16oz Kreen in existing oi fill. 158,457 miles Feb 15,2014

2) After 48hrs of soak, drive around 200 miles and change oil with 10w30 T5 Rotella and new filter

3) Drive 500 miles, put in Penzoil Platinum 10w30 and new filter, new plugs, new oxygen sensors

4) Monitor new consumption rate closely


Now that I've blown my Kreen supply, I guess I would consider an additional product in the Rotella run (and consider running it longer than the 500mi).
 
since the vehicle is not used often---what do you think of this idea? Put the required amount of fresh Kreen in the oil. Only run the motor for 10 minutes every day for 5 days in a row---just enough for Kreen to circulate and start its cleaning, this will also help reduce the amount of product which evaporates. After 5 days drive normally
 
Originally Posted By: steve20
since the vehicle is not used often---what do you think of this idea? Put the required amount of fresh Kreen in the oil. Only run the motor for 10 minutes every day for 5 days in a row---just enough for Kreen to circulate and start its cleaning, this will also help reduce the amount of product which evaporates. After 5 days drive normally


The Liberty got 100 or so more miles on it, maybe 200 since the initial Kreen. I plan to change the oil/filter with Rotella tomorrow. I'm thinking of cutting the old oil filter open to see if I can identify carbon chunks.
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8

make sure you use the Kreen in both the gas and the oil as recommended on the can.

Judging from your story some of the noise you were hearing was carbon knock, the ITU knocked some of it out for a quieter engine. Carbon knock is often confused with piston slap and can seem very similar...


I added Kreen to both oil and gas, as per the directions. What benefit does it have in the fuel tank that I would not see from regular use of Techron or BG 44K?

With the cold weather we've had lately, it seems a bit quieter at cold start than it did prior.
 
Originally Posted By: strat81
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8

make sure you use the Kreen in both the gas and the oil as recommended on the can.

Judging from your story some of the noise you were hearing was carbon knock, the ITU knocked some of it out for a quieter engine. Carbon knock is often confused with piston slap and can seem very similar...


I added Kreen to both oil and gas, as per the directions. What benefit does it have in the fuel tank that I would not see from regular use of Techron or BG 44K?

With the cold weather we've had lately, it seems a bit quieter at cold start than it did prior.


In our fleet trucks we get carbon build up in the cylinder head. It is a well known issue in engines that are not revved up and wound out regularly. Since we rarely do that sort of thing in a 9000 pound vehicle we suffer a noise that can sound remarkably like piston slap, but is actually carbon deposits.

Kreen easily removes carbon and is highly effective if you need it. It also vaporizes out through the PCV system and can clean the intake and so forth downstream.

But due to the nature of the product it is used in many hopeless cases as a last resort. Thus it is not always an appropriate choice for your particular issue.

I've said this here before, with millions of different vehicles driven in millions of different duty cycles by millions of completely different owners there will always be a few of us with unique problems that may be addressed with additives...
 
I have a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 4.7 engine , 140k, with the same issue. Uses a quart about every 500-700 miles. I've used Maxlife 10w40 in it for several years. I would have thought that would help. Haven't tried any additives, although I have used Seafoam in other vehicles for carbon issues.
 
I am now finally in the observation phase- that is observing to see if consumption has improved. I had put the Kreen in with the existing oil so I have relatively fresh Rotella with no additives, a few hundred miles in. I am observing the dipstick level after the car has sat for at least 6 hours.. Probably 200 miles into it and no material move on the level. I believe the operating range on the dipstick is near a quart. I'd be very satisfied if the level moves 25% or less than the operating range in 500 miles- that would imply improvement to >=2000mi/quart.

There is one significant flaw in my test, I am sorry to report. I had just begun to see a bit of oil on the garage floor. I don't recall it when we first took over the vehicle in November and for a while I thought the oil was from when a different vehicle was in that garage slot. I finally determined I had a modest RH valve cover leak. I'm sure it had to be leaking more modestly at some point and just burning/not enough to hit the ground. So some consumption may have been from this.. that said, the heavy usage has been for a number of years, so my best guess is that this issue was at most 1/4 to 1/3 of my problem, but I can't be sure.

I changed the valve cover gasket over the weekend. There were a couple of gunky/sludgy spots in there. Sorry I didn't take pictures. Since I wasn't primarily responsible for the maintenance, there may have been a cycle or too of conventional oil to 10k+ miles.
 
So-so results as of late I think. Also hard to interpret with the valve cover leak issue. I bought a can of seafoam on sale that I am considering running into each of manifold, oil and fuel sometime soon and get PP in there. (still running the Rotella) From additional reading, I would consider trying GM top end cleaner that seems to have a good reputation.


Mar 1, 2014 158,661 miles
Mar 5, 2014 158,730 miles: Oil level ~75% operating range, just into upper cross-hatch
Mar 11, 2014 158,805 miles: Oil level ~70% oper. Range, just at beginning of upper cross-hatch
Mar 15, 2014 158,914 miles: 253 miles in. Oil level ~70% oper. Range, just at beginning of upper cross-hatch
Mar 21, 2014 159,018 miles: 357 miles in. Oil level ~60% oper. Range
Mar 25, 2014 159,128 miles: 467 miles in. Oil level ~55% oper. Range
Apr 6, 2014 159,354 miles: 693 miles in. Oil level ~35% oper. Range
 
Originally Posted By: strat81
I added Kreen to both oil and gas, as per the directions.


Well, 1K miles and about 1 month later on my Rainier:
-Slightly less cold start noise
-Engine 'felt' like it wound spin easier. Deposits gone or thinning of the oil from the Kreen? All in my head?

And the not so good news:
-It apparently cleaned my rear main seal (or maybe the M1 0W-40 did?). What used to be a damp bell housing turned into a drip. Perhaps the RMS has been the source of my consumption?

Anyway, I changed the oil and filter. I put in Maxlife Blend 10W-40 along with some AT-205 ReSeal. Filter is a NAPA Silver. The 10W-40 has made the engine quiet. No piston slap at all. But, it's the thickest oil I've run in this thing, others being 5W-30 and 0W-40, which I'll still use during the cold weather.

Also threw a P0332 so it looks like the intake has to come off for new knock sensors (85k miles). I hate this car.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Turk
Hey deanm11,

What's the latest Kreen update??



Bump! Any update as I may be doing something this (like TODAY?)
smile.gif
 
Sorry for the delay.

I think I only got marginal results in the end. I think I am burning a quart/1000mi. This test was imprecise at best because of not having measured the consumption before. I just dumped the Rotella for 10w30 Pennzoil Platinum and will monitor again.
 
I have a bottle of Lubro-Moly Pro-Line Engine Flush that I haven used yet, Will use it for my next OC on my 03 Ranger.

I wonder if that could help with your situation?

I have a 3.7L in a Liberty as well, 08 model.

Uses no oil but then it has not yet broken 100K (97K ATM)

I run 5w-20 Valvoline maxlife in it and a bottle of Liqui-Moly Ceratec at the last OC.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top