Most detergent? Best short-term cleaning oil?

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I recently bought a used car with 60k that calls for M1 0W-40 as the factory fill but I would like to run a really potent cleaning oil for ~500 miles to clean the internals as much as is safely possible so I have a good baseline.

Is there a high-quality oil that is known for having excellent cleaning characteristics or should I roll the dice and dump in a can of Liqui-Moly Pro-Line Engine Flush (500ml)?
 
What exactly are you needing to clean? Did you buy a car with a sludged up engine?
 
Originally Posted By: CT8
What exactly are you needing to clean? Did you buy a car with a sludged up engine?

+1
 
Rotella, from what iv heard all the Rotellas have very high detergent. Don't really which one you use.

Personally I wouldn't flush a engine, but if I was forced to I would want to try and clean the fine out as best as I could before hand.
 
If the previous owner ran Mobil 0W-40 and then there would be little to clean.

I know the feeling, though, of buying a used vehicle and, not really knowing the previous owners scheduled maintenance, wanting to ensure that it is in tip top shape. I recall running Chevron Techron for two straight tanks and trying Mystery Marvel Oil mixed with some synthetic oil in my last used purchase.

If you only want to go 500 miles before the oil change and then I would recommend using either a synthetic Mobil or Pennzoil product and going for a long 500 mile ride and changing the oil when you get back.
 
I bought a beater 1991 Chevy W/T a couple years back. You could scrape the crud from the oil cap hole. I changed the oil, ran about 500 miles, then changed again at 1000 miles. I used National brand oil as it was $7 for 5 quart jug.

Oil looks real good now, change at different intervals i.e length of time, mileage etc.

I guess my answer would be find a cheap, regular, nothing special oil. And do it that way.
 
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IMO PAO synthetics do not have good solvency and are poor for cleaning up dirty engines. Synthetic with high levels of esters are much better and pure ester synthetic are the best. You can also do very well with and old group I straight mineral oil with high TBN or sulfated ash. Just run for a short time interval and watch oil pressure. When the oil is removed examine for crude and dirt, if it was clean they probably ran a good oil all the time.
 
i would just change the oil at a normal interval and use the 0w40. If the engine had any oil changes at all using the Mobil it probably doesn't have sludge.

I'd be confident that if the engine only had 3 20k mile oil changes it would still not be sludged up using M1 or any modern high quality synthetic. Varnished? more than likely but i seriously doubt it would be sludged up. I know there are some engines that are and exception to the rule, but in general most synthetics can do 10-20k miles and not sludge in and engine. will it have higher wear? possibly, but most engines under normal conditions wouldn't sludge up even on a 15-20k mile run on a lube as good as M1 0w40.

If it starts quiet when cold and runs normal then just use a normal interval. 60k miles is not very many. If its even been remotely serviced it will be in fine shape.
 
Mobil 1 0W40... OR the Rotella 5W40 is also a fantastic oil. Mobil 1 may actually be a better value then the Rotella if you buy it at Walmart. Both will clean as good as any oil you can buy.
 
Absolutely no reason for any special flush product...

I would continue with the M1 0W-40

You could even shorten the OCI initially if you wanted to
 
M1 0W-40 has a pot load of calcium for cleaning.

I'd stay with it at shorter OCI's until you get your engine cleaned up.

I don't believe a HDEO would do any better job than this fine Euro spec motor oil.
 
Mobil 1 0W-40 is a pretty good cleaning oil, and I can say I've witnessed this first hand. PU or PP is also a good choice, given the GTL basestock. If you're that concerned, I would add a bottle of Rislone towards the end of the OCI and drive 1,000 miles before changing the oil.
 
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