Motor Flush Compounds and Additives- Safe to Use?

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My oil coming out pretty disgusting. And after I put the new oil in, it is still kind of dark. Am I due for a flush or leave it alone? How do these flushes work? Add the stuff right before an oil change? Been using Mobil 1 for over 200,000 miles with 8000 mile OCI. Thanks.
 
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My favorite flush has been Heartland Xtreme Clean Motor Flush.

Completely removed a lifter tick in my 300ZX that they are notorious for. Car mostly sits, and the tick is minimal years later.

Drain oil, remove oil filter, install new filter (use a cheap one)
Add the gallon of flush, run the engine a few minutes
Drain flush, remove oil filter, install new filter (good one, like Fram Ultra)
Add oil

laugh.gif


Edit: If it's just cleaning, I'd limit the 8K OCI's to about 2-3K and replace a quart of the Mobil with some MMO.

Edit again (LOL) - Perhaps the oil is doing just fine, and the engine is just turning the oil black due to something else, that of which I wouldn't know off the top of my head. Maybe a dirty air filter or a tune up is in order?
 
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Maybe you should drive it a few miles and change oil again and repeat until its gone?? Could get costly,but might want to clean it up as fr as you can visualize. I dunno...Im about to face the same situation

I would worry about clogging the oil pump and screwing the engine with the strong flushes.I dont want to have to drop my oil pan to check the oil pickup screen for clogging. Ive decided to add something not as agressive as flushes Ive recently seen. My hmo adds detergents and I may try some mild flush,but first I have to learn which one that might be. That parts going to be a toughie.
 
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First I’d look at why you think the oil is such bad condition and turns dark so fast.
Is the crankcase ventilation working? Any vacuum leaks that cause rough running?

Any system malfunctions that prevent clean running could be your root cause, vintage engines
run dirtier then late model.

I use straight kerosene, but only when I ‘need’ to and not often, any flush additive has an
astringent quality that can dry and shrink seals causing leaks later.

When I do use a flush I let the engine idle for 20 minutes for best results and let it drain
out for 15 minutes at least to be sure it’s mostly gone, then a new filter and oil. I run the
flush in the old oil, no point wasting new oil!

ENGINE OIL FLUSHES - DO THEY WORK?
https://app.box.com/s/5s5bcjdbs2e5xu9x1rqo

I use FilterMags now on my late model car, but I wish I could have used them on all
my older cars to back in the day!

It's been 4 yrs since my last flush, FilterMags and extra mags on the spin-on filter housing
likely means I'll never have to again!


FILTERMAG vs HOMEBREW
https://app.box.com/s/uxvu8dmscf5wcgftutdm0ejqwgn86tw7
 
Originally Posted By: PalmSpringsSCal
Maybe you should drive it a few miles and change oil again and repeat until its gone?? Could get costly,but might want to clean it up as fr as you can visualize. I dunno...Im about to face the same situation

I would worry about clogging the oil pump and screwing the engine with the strong flushes.I dont want to have to drop my oil pan to check the oil pickup screen for clogging. Ive decided to add something not as agressive as flushes Ive recently seen. My hmo adds detergents and I may try some mild flush,but first I have to learn which one that might be. That parts going to be a toughie.


I'm not a fan of flushes myself, but the reason I went with the Heartland Xtreme clean is it is basically a super cleaning oil change.

Otherwise I'm with you in that I'd add "soft" cleaning agents or find a high-detergent oil (I think most are nowadays??)
 
They're mostly safe unless you have an extreme sludge condition. None of them will directly hurt the engine but if they clean too aggressively there is potential for big chunks to come loose and clog the oil pickup. That's a bad thing.

I haven't personally seen a flush kill an engine. I've heard stories.

Tune up the engine. New filters, spark plugs, wires, PCV valve. Look for vacuum leaks. Clean the MAF and the throttle body. Run some Techron in a couple tanks of fuel.

Photos would be helpful here. Also how many miles to turn dark? The oil may be cleaning up the motor gradually. Short OCI 1-2k miles with a good oil is considered the "safe" method of cleaning.

Some also advocate a thicker grade.

If you go with frequent oil changes make use of the sales and rebates offered by the various oil blenders. Often you can get a full synthetic oil for the same price as conventional. Supertech filters are made by Wix and are an excellent cost effective option. $2.85 out the door at my Walmart
 
The Mobil 1 is doing a good job of keeping it clean. I'd leave it alone. Maybe a shorter OCI.
 
The only way to tell if the motor has sludge is to open the front valve cover and see what is underneath.

If you are using Mobil 1 chances are its very clean inside.


My wife's 1997 mainly used mobil 1 for most of its life and the internals are spotless after 194,xxx km. She does a lot of short tripping.
 
If you're saying you've got milkiness, chunks or signs of other issues, then that's something completely different and we need to figure out why you're having this problem, because a flush won't help.

8k intervals isn't anything special, so long as you maintained the oil level on the dipstick. Did you maintain the oil level or has it ever gone low or do you simply change it every 8k and never check between changes? What's your oil consumption.

Finally, what do you mean by disgusting? If you're saying that your oil is coming out dark, then just keep doing what you're doing - no more answers needed, nothing's wrong, and what you've been doing will work well from now until the car falls apart. End of thread.
 
They are usually useless and sometimes worse. The only thing they flush is your money.

But if you insist on using one, get the Liqui Moly brand. Napa sells it at a good price.

But really, you'd be better off with a few short OCI's with synthetic, like the M1 on sale at AAP for two more weeks.

Pull the valve covers if the job isn't difficult on your car, so you can get a better idea of how clean or dirty the engine is
smile.gif
 
I have used motor medic flush w zero issues in multiple vehicles. It’ll only set you back like $4. But if u been using M1, then I’m sure the inside of your engine is clean
 
I mean it's a bunch of solvents going through your oil passages. Maybe it'll take some varnish and smaller buildup out. Does it really change the system? Not really but it's interesting peace of mind.
 
Originally Posted By: Hot_Ajax
My oil coming out pretty disgusting. ... Been using Mobil 1 for over 200,000 miles with 8000 mile OCI. Thanks.


Disgusting? Yuk...is it all like dirty and stuff?

Lol.
 
I wouldn't waste the money on synthetics for a car with well over 200,000 miles on it.

I'd use a cheap conventional (Harvest King oil is only $6 for 5 quarts!) and change it every 4,000-5,000
 
Unless the air filter or its plumbing is leaking I would guess the M1 should keep the engine clean. Do A uoa or pull a valve cover and inspect before thinking a flush is needed.
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex
I wouldn't waste the money on synthetics for a car with well over 200,000 miles on it.

I'd use a cheap conventional (Harvest King oil is only $6 for 5 quarts!) and change it every 4,000-5,000



I got a pal that saves all his used synthetic oil and is building a machine to clean it. Got the idea from
work where they use a "oil cart" that rolls around and is used to clean and return hydraulic oil
to heavy production presses, where they can't shut down a machine to change the oil!

Once he's over 250K miles, he'll re-use the oil and do top-ups with new oil, surprisingly, UOA showed
additives are not nearly as depleted as manufacturers want us to believe!

Now that's cheap! Maybe Dave can clean my oil too if he doesn't blow an engine! LOL
 
Originally Posted By: i_hate_autofraud
Originally Posted By: Linctex
I wouldn't waste the money on synthetics for a car with well over 200,000 miles on it.

I'd use a cheap conventional (Harvest King oil is only $6 for 5 quarts!) and change it every 4,000-5,000



I got a pal that saves all his used synthetic oil and is building a machine to clean it. Got the idea from
work where they use a "oil cart" that rolls around and is used to clean and return hydraulic oil
to heavy production presses, where they can't shut down a machine to change the oil!

Once he's over 250K miles, he'll re-use the oil and do top-ups with new oil, surprisingly, UOA showed
additives are not nearly as depleted as manufacturers want us to believe!

Now that's cheap! Maybe Dave can clean my oil too if he doesn't blow an engine! LOL
Only taking chem 101 at the J.C. Depleted Calcium is still Calcium.
 
I'm the odd man out that still does the ATF engine flushes. The thing is, I only do it if I know the complete maintenance history of the vehicle. I also do them at approximately 100K on a religiously maintained vehicles. Full sump of ATF for 15 minutes at idle. The inside of the 141K Civic is spotless.
 
Change your oil with cheap dino oil and add a quart of Marvel mystery oil at the same time. Drive a thousand miles and change your oil and use Mobile 1 synthetic.If you think your engine is still in need of more cleaning.Consider adding a detergent oil and another dino oil change to help clean your engine out.
 
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