My own results in doing a before/after with the LM product revealed the same - a drop in viscosity/flash point and not much else.
Blackstone tests some engine flushes
- Thread starter TiGeo
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My own results in doing a before/after with the LM product revealed the same - a drop in viscosity/flash point and not much else.
I stick with using the Gumout Multitune at one ounce per qt and just let it idle prior. I was shocked to find out they classified on the Blackstone report as all three were solvent based. I kinda thought the Amsoil or LM would be detergent based. Thanks for sharing
My understanding is detergents are meant to keep things in suspension not provide oil to metal cleaning. Makes sense that a solvent would be used for this application right?
I think you're right - need to do a filter analysis.
I've used it a number of times but have way to validate it - seems legit to me!
Not surprised by the results. Mild solvent w/high dose of detergents. Won't hurt anything because it's not very aggressive. How could it? I also suspect that people who use these products tend to over maintain their vehicles so the engine internals would be cleaner vs the population as a whole.
On an aside even HPL Engine Cleaner acts as a solvent (i.e. Ester) and IIRC LM has suggested their product should be used on vehicles with inconsistent maintenance history.
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Old school Gunk engine flush(and the stuff sold at Jiffy Lube) is basically kerosene and butyl cellosolve. LM is using calcium sulfonate as the detergent along with solvents to soften up sludge.
In a formulated motor oil, the detergents help keep combustion byproducts in suspension at those concentrations but they also provide a small effect of cleaning.
I’m always mystified that with your nearly obsessive use of expensive oils and additives along with your frequent OCIs that you somehow still need a flush, and somehow see that it does anything.
Those deposits man...hahahahha
I have a car that’s nearly always had good full synthetic in it for nearly 200k and it developed a tick ( probably lifter) I decided to just do a quick 5 min flush and see if it helped. used minute clinic from Walmart and it did stop the tick. Hasn’t done it for a month now and before that it had been doing it for several months. Wish I did it sooner. I visually sampled the oil before and after and the after was much much darker. In fact the before, just as has always been the case when dumping the oil, was just barely brownish. The after was dark brown. The color of the flush was not dark. For those 2 reasons, the lifter tick fix and significant difference in color after 5 minutes of flushing, I conclude that “high quality synthetics” also leave deposits. So a flush every once in a while seems like a reasonable and worthwhile thing to do in some cases.
I say let this guy use and follow the maintenance routine he chooses to with his own machines.
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Well with any engine, and especially GDI engines, fuel will get in the oil. The fuel contains impurities and by products from combustion will eventually stick the metal no matter how good the oil. Only very frequent changes which are probably pretty wasteful would guarantee no buildup whatsoever and even then, who knows, it might still naturally form deposits.
My car apart at 84K for a new timing chain after a broken tensioner...clean as can be (what I could see) with ~5K changes and LM Engine Flush after a lot of them as well as HPL Engine Cleaner earlier this year and HPL oil most of this year.
That's true. No matter how good the oil is, deposits will find its way to the crankcase. I used LM flush a couple of times in a cheap fresh oil just to see how dark it might turn, I was actually doubtful LM flush will do anything, but I was wrong. First drain was very dark in just 10 minutes of idling, second one drained like it went in.
Using a flush every once in a while might be a sane practice rather than going for the short OCI and wasting money.
I don't like to be subjective in my judgment, I didn't notice any gains in MPG or cooler engine, but engine response was better and that was very obvious.
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Detergents prevent deposits from adhering to surfaces and keep them in suspension while dispersants prevent them from agglomerating, so that they can stay in suspension. Detergents are not designed to remove existing deposits, for that you have to use something polar, like an ester, or a solvent.
Lovely, so all these years I've been misinformed... Live and learn, right?
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Detergents second role is to neutralize acids …
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
It happens. People see the word "detergent" and tend to think that it's like a Mr. Clean magic eraser in your engine.
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