Best cleaning oil?

Pennzoil motor oil
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Mar57

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Which oil do you guys think is the best oil for cleaning and keeping the engine internals clean? I've read some of the oil companies claims but I'm interested in real world results.
Vehicle is an '02 Toyota Highlander with v6 engine. Factory spec oil is 5-30.
 
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I've seen people on here swear by just about every oil there is. You can dig through the history and find someone telling a story about just about any oil and talking about how it's the only thing their father used and when they took the valve covers off after a gazillion miles and it looked like it was still brand new.

Personally I think it's about using a quality oil and figuring out what the appropriate oil change interval (OCI) is for your vehicle and driving conditions.

I'm not as familiar with Toyota engines as some people on here, and I know there were some years that were known for sludging, so I'm not going to suggest an OCI but I think any quality synthetic oil should work well for you as far as protection goes.
 
Most synthetics will keep your engine pretty clean when changed at reasonable intervals. Not sure which brand cleans the best though. As far as conventional oils go i would try an HDEO as they have some of the stoutest additive packages on the market
 
As others have already said, keeping the OCI in check is going to help all on its own. Having said that, the Pennzoil synthetics seem to deliver good results. I would go with any name brand synthetic (Mobil 1, Pennzoil Platinum, Valvoline Synpower, Quaker State Ultimate Durability) and change at 5K. Others will not agree with this change interval, but you will be hard pressed to have a dirty engine on that regimen.
 
How 'bout MobilClean 5000? Its right there in the name and is Walmart's cheapest oil.


For real though, I wouldnt worry about cleaning out your engine unless you have found evidence and/or adverse effects of it. And please, do not use additives. IIRC, it is said to not use them in every owner's manual I have read.
 
2002 Toyota V6 is a known 'sludger' So you have to determine what extent of sludge you currently have (if any), and go from there.

Pull valve cover and inspect. If significant sludge is apparent, pull oil pan to determine what lies below.

If you find no sludge, keep doing whatever has been done for the past 12 years.
 
Originally Posted By: Mar57
Which oil do you guys think is the best oil for cleaning and keeping the engine internals clean? I've read some of the oil companies claims but I'm interested in real world results.
Vehicle is an '02 Toyota Highlander with v6 engine. Factory spec oil is 5-30.


as far as real world results from this site, nobody has yet presented any evidence here showing plain oil can clean an engine.
 
Mobil 1 will clean the engine really well. I notice that Mobil 1 goes from light gold to dark brown within 1,000 miles which means it's doing it's job cleaning the engine.
 
Originally Posted By: badtlc
Originally Posted By: Mar57
Which oil do you guys think is the best oil for cleaning and keeping the engine internals clean? I've read some of the oil companies claims but I'm interested in real world results.
Vehicle is an '02 Toyota Highlander with v6 engine. Factory spec oil is 5-30.


as far as real world results from this site, nobody has yet presented any evidence here showing plain oil can clean an engine.


I beg to differ.
We bought a '96 Ody with about 110K, a 2.2 VTEC that should have been barely broken in.
The thing was clean and eveything worked, but the engine was really dirty under the filler cap.
When I drained the oil, it could have been 20W-50 or maybe it was just that thick after many miles beyond any reasonable drain interval.
Anyway, I gave the thing 2-3K oil and filter changes for a while and the upper valve train cleaned up pretty quickly.
This was using any cheap 5w30 along with lower tier filters.
So, yes, oil all by itself will clean up an engine, or at least that has been my observation.
 
I would not say your results are typical, but I'm glad you had good results.

Keeping an engine clean is easy with proper intervals. Cleaning up a truly dirty one with oil alone is a loooooonnnnggggg proposition in my experience.

My Jeep was neglected I have been BITOG ocd with it for almost 45k now, it is better but not a lot and the hard black carbon has hardly budged. Softer sludge oil will clean better IMO.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Amsoil signature series


The OP is asking about oils that will clean their engine best not their wallet!!
grin.gif
J/K
 
All production motor oils these days do a good job of cleaning. If you want to remove extra or harder sludge, varnish, etc. then do a 5 minute motor flush (you can leave it in for a little longer if you wish) before each oil change, then add some MMO (typically 20% of your oil capacity) or Riselone (1/2-1 quart) through the crankcase and run it for a couple short 3k OCIs and that should get most of it. I have seen some really nasty stuff come out of engines after performing this exact process.
 
Originally Posted By: GM4LIFE
Mobil 1 will clean the engine really well. I notice that Mobil 1 goes from light gold to dark brown within 1,000 miles which means it's doing it's job cleaning the engine.


That's not always the case. Some additives will darken or turn opaque from heat, causing the oil to look dark. This is why oil color alone is not a good indication of the state of the oil
 
Originally Posted By: GM4LIFE
Mobil 1 will clean the engine really well. I notice that Mobil 1 goes from light gold to dark brown within 1,000 miles which means it's doing it's job cleaning the engine.


Are you sure it isnt from heat. Like with brake fluid, when it gets heated, it darkens.

But with motor oil you also have combustion by-products, but I don't know for sure but what you have is an assumption.
 
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