Checked the intake tract for oil and dirt...

[BuickGN]

I pulled the intake pipe off of the throttlebody for the first time ever today at 75,000 miles. I've heard reports of TLs with half my mileage with a dirty oily intake tract.

Mine is spotless. No dirt whatsoever, and no oil. I was wondering if the lack of oil in the intake tract could be from using the Amsoil ACD SAE30 for most of the car's life?? I've never seen something this clean after this many miles.

Any thoughs on the oil being a factor?

 

[pitzel]

Absolutely buddy. A low volatility oil such as Amsoil 0W-30 (or its other synth HDEO cousins, such as Esso XD-3 0W-30, etc.), in combination with appropriate oil change intervals ('appropriate' being not too often, and not too little -- not necessarily the mfg 'recommended' OCI either) will keep your intake as clean as possible.

That's why I've been pounding the table, in a few threads recently, that changing oil too often can actually cause a lot of problems in vehicles that are susceptible to intake issues. Volatility and excess volatilization through either bad oil, or overly frequent oil changes is a *huge* issue for manufacturers these days.

 

[milo]

Newbie Q : How do i know an oil's volatility's property?
How about Mobil Delvac MX 15w40?

Thanks.

 

[pitzel]

Re: Volatility

Ask the vendor for the results of the ASTM D5800 test done on the oil.

http://www.astm.org/Standards/D5800.htm

 

[Steve S]

A nice engine well put together engine. Note the many low wear # uoas posted on the Honda family of engines.

 

[Craig in Canada]

BuickGN:

I don't know squat about your particular engine, but are you sure that you're looking in the right place for what you're looking for?

If you're looking for crud from the PCV/CCV system dumping back into the intake, shouldn't you look after the throttle-body where there's always vacuum (except at WOT)? Before the throttle body rarely has any vacuum and doesn't seem like the place that the PCV/CCV would vent to.

If you found oil ahead of the t-body, I'd expect that to be from an over-oiled aftermarket air filter.