Can a fuel additive clean piston rings?

"DIY Dave" has an old Corolla which burns ~1QT every week, 300 miles. No leak, no smoke, the oil just disappears. He's been posting videos on everything he's tried over the last year, using suggestions etc.

Most recent video #14, he did a Barryman B-12 Chemtool piston soak. Pour it in, rotate crank 5 full rotations, wait 6 hours, repeat 5-6 times. He scoped the bores to show all the cylinders were empty. Topped off crankcase with fresh oil. Then 20 minute drive at high RPM. Change oil+filter. The result? So far after 300 miles the oil level is barely below top dot.


Basically what I did with Project xB, but in video form

I stand by it, it's a valid method that's proven to work
 
Dispersants keep small particles from agglomerating and making larger particles, they don’t clean existing deposits.
I guess he's assuming they will break back down larger particles too, but I don't guess it works that way.
 
It's highly unlikely that any cleaning around the rings will occur from fuel additives.

For the rings, you'll want an oil supplement like High Performance Lubricants SAE 30 Engine Cleaner.

If fuel gets past the rings to dilute oil, it's definitely possible to get additives there. But the question becomes, what additive will work, it must not be very volatile.
 
Question: Will a fuel system cleaner, with PEA, have a meaningful impact on reducing the clogging up and sticking of oil control piston rings?
according to web pictures, pea does cleaning on piston tops.
there is no forcefield between oil spreaded on cylinder, and combustion area.
therefore some "contamination" of oil will happen. effective dosage is big factor.
 
For stuck rings I'd recommend a piston soak with MMO, Seafoam, Berryman's, etc.... the HPL cleaner does work like magic when added to the oil and will help clean it up slowly overtime.

I don't know much about that engine but stuck oil control rings seems to mostly be a Honda/Toyota issue. Unless it's a serious design flaw in the engine I'd say using a good synthetic oil you really shouldn't have any issues with that.
 
First, is that engine / timing chain etc all original? If it is, good job! Not many early models seem to make it that far. On my parents 2017 GMC Terrain with the 2.4, I change the oil every 3 months / 3,000 miles with Dexos 5w30. Have used Valvoline, Mobil 1, Castrol and Pennzoil. All full synthetic Dexos 5w30 oils. Hoping that in our case the frequent oil changes keep things in excellent shape for years to come.
 
"DIY Dave" has an old Corolla which burns ~1QT every week, 300 miles. No leak, no smoke, the oil just disappears. He's been posting videos on everything he's tried over the last year, using suggestions etc.

Most recent video #14, he did a Barryman B-12 Chemtool piston soak. Pour it in, rotate crank 5 full rotations, wait 6 hours, repeat 5-6 times. He scoped the bores to show all the cylinders were empty. Topped off crankcase with fresh oil. Then 20 minute drive at high RPM. Change oil+filter. The result? So far after 300 miles the oil level is barely below top dot.


I did essentially this same routine to my Prius ~3 years ago. It was burning a quart every 800-1000 miles. Completely solved it.

Burns less than a quarter of a quart between oil changes (~5000 miles) now, even 3 years and ~35k miles later. There are at least two other people that replied to my thread about it that have had the same result.

B12 Chemtool is no joke. I'm glad there's still a company selling something cheap that actually works well.
 
If fuel gets past the rings to dilute oil, it's definitely possible to get additives there. But the question becomes, what additive will work, it must not be very volatile.
Something like PEA that survives the complete combustion process. Probably has to be started before this issue even takes hold. Using a stout cleaner at half the fuel ⛽️ capacity. Driving it when it's hot and muggy to try and let the moisture break some of it down. Shorter oci , detergent based flushes, oils with esters.
 
Gasoline is a cleaner/solvent in itself and since its being constantly being used, the system self cleans.

Their is some evidence of clean ability from a SAE white paper about PEA, but even then those test vehicles I believe ran the cleaner in a constant dosage cycle unlike the highly advertised one and done type bottles.
 
Amazon claims to have Auto RX. The Auto RX site seems to be down, but one reviewer on Amazon said not to buy from the factory site anyway because his order never arrived, though his card was charged. My suspicion is that the manufacturer is out of business and Amazon is selling leftover stock.
The Auto RX main site comes up on the desktop I use at work. No luck on a tablet. That particular link Doc8404 gave still has a 404 error, but other parts of the site work on the desktop.
 
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Amazon claims to have Auto RX. The Auto RX site seems to be down, but one reviewer on Amazon said not to buy from the factory site anyway because his order never arrived, though his card was charged. My suspicion is that the manufacturer is out of business and Amazon is selling leftover stock.
Rx website is fine. Frank passed (cancer) and now I believe it’s his son Scott.
The Auto RX main site comes up on the desktop I use at work. No luck on a tablet. That particular link Doc8404 gave still has a 404 error, but other parts of the site work on the desktop.
works on my iPhone
 
To answer your question, I don't think seafoam, gumout, or any fuel system cleaner will do anything.

I'm going to list a method that worked for me. My sister's 2009 Honda Accord was buring oil like crazy. After leakdown tests which came back good, I figured that maybe the oil ring is clogged up or sticking. First, I sprayed seafoam into the engine. Then, I added gumout to a full tank of gas and drove it until empty. Then, I added 1 ounce of gumout per quart of engine oil. Then, I tried Mopar Combustion Chamber Cleaner (which I believe is MUCH better than seafoam). None of these things worked.

Finally, I tried this.

ACDelco GM Original Equipment 10-3015 Engine Cylinder/Combustion Chamber Cleaner​


If this doesn't work, I don't think anything will. However, you need to really, really be careful. Try not to inhale any of the fumes. This stuff stinks and can cause you to pass out if you breathe it in. Here's what I did. Needless to say, don't touch the stuff.

1. Make sure the fuse to the fuel pump is removed or use another method to temporarily disable any fuel being sent to the cumbustion chamber. You can even unplug the electrical connectors to the injectors I suppose.
2. Try to start the care to burn off any fuel left in the lines and to ensure you've disable the fuel system.
3. Remove spark plugs
4. Pour entire bottle equally to each cylinder through the spark plug holes and let it sit overnight or at least 6 hours. You'll want to cover the spark plug holes with sort of lint free and fairly cleantowel or rag. This is just to preven any debris, bug, dust, etc. getting in there. If I remember correctly, you don't want to leave it more than 12 hours.

Now the messy part:

5. You're going to need to get rid of that stuff before you put the spark plugs back in or you WILL hydrolock your engine. I just left the towel loosely over the spark plug holes to minimize the spray and cranked the engine. It still did get all over the side of the cylinder head, but it wasn't bad to be honest. A less half a$$ approach would be to stick a fluid transfer pump into each spark plug hole and try to suck up as much as you possibly can. Harbor Freight sells one for 5 bucks, but make sure you get one with a tube thin enough to get into the spark plug hole. Be careful to not get any on your hands and to not inhale the fumes. I don't know where you can dispose of it. Be careful with that stuff. Once, most of it was out the engine, I removed the towel and cranked and cranked until I did not see any mist shooting out the spark plug hole. Crank the engine over and look for mist shooting out. I was able to look through my windshield, but you may need to have someone crank it while you look. Wear some type of goggle and stand back so that junk doesn't spray on you or your eyes. PLEASE MAKE SURE you do not reinstall the spark plugs and try to turn over the engine with that liquid still in there. You WILL bend/crack a rod, valve, ring, piston head.
6. Reinstall the spark plugs.
7. Reinstall the fuel pump fuse/ enable the fuel system.
8. Fire it up. Drive it gently for a mile or two. (White smoke WILL be coming from the exhaust, but this is expected and will go away after a few mintues)
9. GET AN OIL CHANGE. (Some of that stuff will have made it's way down into the crankcase and into the oil pan). You don't want that stuff sitting in your oil or engine.

My Sister's car went from burning at least a quart and a half per 1,000 miles to less than a quart per 3,000 miles. Less than a fifth of the previous oil consumption. I was shocked it worked, but it did. This was over 2 years and 30,000 miles so I can safely say the engine wasn't damaged and it solved her oil consumption.

I'm pretty sure this will work for you. I have no idea how easy accessing the spark plugs are and you may need to use a funnel to pour that stuff into the spark plug holes. I did this in 2 steps. I rotated the engine by hand until the middle 2 pistons were on the bottom of the cylinder, poured into those 2 and let sit for 6 hours. Then I rotated the engine until the outer 2 pistons were at the bottom and poured into those 2 and let those sit for 6 hours.

You may want to replace the spark plugs while you're doing this. It's a good opportunity.
 
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