best detergent oil and filter

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hi all its been a wile.I picked up an old accord for my son it runs great 155k but the valve train is pretty dirty I'm not a fan of additives but would like some recommendations on a reasonable priced oil and filter to slowly clean it up. All thoughts and ideas greatly appreciated.
 
I'm a personal fan of PYB and a high efficiency synthetic/blend filter such as an Ultra (or slightly more expensive Wix/NAPA Gold), but I've also had good results with short OCIs of Maxlife red bottle (synthetic blend) and a cheaper quality filter such as a Tough Guard or even an Extra Guard. Biggest thing is to keep OCIs short at first & cut open the filter to make sure it's not full & going into bypass.
 
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SuperTech at Walmart and a Fram Toughgauard. Get some new crush washers at a Honda dealer for the drain plug.
I use to be a mechanic at a Honda dealer but now work on semis.
If you ask for one, they might just toss it to you for free rather than ringing you up. I've had a few tossed to me for free in the past.
 
I'm not a fan of additives, but I'm no mechanic either. As far as cleaning, how do you know it's dirty? Did you pull a valve cover to inspect?

If it was me I'd just use a shorter OCI, if anything. "Lots" of cars motor on while being filthy on the inside. On a short OCI, anything will work, so it might as well be cheap. Same for filter. Not sure it's worth over-thinking.
 
A HDEO for three 2k intervals with a Fram extra gard (orange can)

Then pick a nice 5w-30 and a Fram ultra. I tend to prefer M1 products but all the branded oils are very good. The Supertech dexos1 oils are good value if you don’t want to sit for rebates or sales.
 
My brother actually picked up an '01 Civic super cheap from a relative with 196K-once he gets the numerous oil leaks fixed, it's getting a regimen of PYB or Maxlife Red and frequent oil filter changes (including cut open inspections)-it'll be a good test for this program.
 
I'd use mobil high mileage, coventional. See how much it uses, before trying a syn. Mobil claims their hm oils have more cleaning ability. Or an hdeo 5w 40 with kreen added.
 
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supton said:
I'm not a fan of additives, but I'm no mechanic either. As far as cleaning, how do you know it's dirty? Did you pull a valve cover to inspect?

Thanks for the reply's. I dont have the car home yet it was just an observation looking down the oil fill when I was checking the blow by it was i dirtier than I like
 
Get a case of jobber oil filters from rockauto, like ecogard for less than $2 a piece, and cheap clearance oil (or Super S syn blend / Supertech) and do 3k OCIs. I know u don’t like additives, but I would use a 5 min idle flush on the first OCIs. The jobbers are good for 5k miles so no need to worry.
 
Originally Posted By: silver1
hi all its been a wile.I picked up an old accord for my son it runs great 155k but the valve train is pretty dirty I'm not a fan of additives but would like some recommendations on a reasonable priced oil and filter to slowly clean it up. All thoughts and ideas greatly appreciated.


That is the best way to do it, maybe change the oil and filter at 3K for a couple of changes and that will clean it up. Plenty of detergents in engine oil to clean the oil without additives. A short 3k OCI will allow that oil to clean the engine for you...it has it's own detergents. Anything it can't clean out might be best left where it is. I have seen more than a few engines get cleaned to well and then the seals and gaskets leak. At 155k an overly aggressive cleaning with aditives might dislodge some gunk and start some leaks. Just using oil with a 3k OCI is the best way/ Often these oil cleaning or oil flushes require dropping the oil pan and replacing oil seals. That can run into a big DIY job and or a major expense if jobbing it out.
 
Valvoline Maxlife and a Wix/Napa Gold filter at 3,000 mile intervals and as much time at operating temp as possible. (Aka minimal short trips or stop/start errand trips.) I'm not one to use additives when they aren't justified, but the proper amount of Seafoam in the oil for 500-1,000 miles can really help clean up gunk.
 
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
My brother actually picked up an '01 Civic super cheap from a relative with 196K-once he gets the numerous oil leaks fixed, it's getting a regimen of PYB or Maxlife Red and frequent oil f
filter changes (including cut open inspections)-it'll be a good test for this program.


as far as cutting open the oil filter i what would i be looking for
Oh and did you go to Colerain? bullwinkle
 
In my experience both HDEO and Euro oils will do the trick in a short order.
Originally Posted By: silver1

as far as cutting open the oil filter i what would i be looking for

Look for heavy contamination.
HDEO RT6 in a 242 I6
20150605_094453.jpg

Chevron Supreme followed by 0w40 GC on the same filter. GM 2.8L V6
20160407_200639.jpg

20160407_200632.jpg

And if using a purolator
20151027_191915.jpg
 
wow that is nasty! so how does everyone feel about a cheap oil filter like the ones on rock auto ecogard $1.45 ea. and short oci's say 2000 miles.
also I'm a big fan of seafom in my fuel a couple oz's in the crank case?
 
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Any HDEO in the diesel oil section of your autoparts store/Walmart.
You should be able to find one in the weight range that you need.

Almost all of them carry an API for gasoline engines and are designed to clean and keep clean, nasty dirty diesel engines.
 
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If you can find it, put in some T6 multi vehicle 5W-30 and a FRAM TG or XG filter and call it a day. Personally, I'm planning on using multi vehicle once it becomes more widely available hopefully. I use either the standard Rotella 15W-40 or synthetic T6 5W-40 in pretty much everything else I own besides my Tacoma and Mustang (which is still running the break-in fill, it will get T6 this spring) because I'm worried about the higher phosphorous levels killing my catalyst system.

The detergent and add packs are real stout in Rotella oils, and will be more than adequate for cleaning up your engine. Best part is, they're CHEAPER than most the other options listed here!
 
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Thanks to all for the reply's. this brings up another question, in my experience there are two types of dirty oil, some turns black like in my 7.3 ford but it still feels good (no grit) and oil that looks fairly clean but you can feel grit between your fingers off the stick that is the case with the new to us accord. any thoughts on that would be appreciated.
 
Don;t worry about color. My buddy used Valvoline conventional in his Chrysler Mini-Van 3.3 engine for a 15 years, 300K run and the dipstick never turned black nor even real dark, during his many-many 4K OCIs.

Pennzoil Platinum is similar, in-that it takes a long time in many engines to turn black. But as everyone knows, it's top-notch in performance.
 
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