Cleaning oils, who's best?

[SilverFusion2010]

I haven’t seen a rigorous study comparing cleaning ability of PCMO.

You’ll get lots of anecdotal evidence.

The one thing that a majority agree on is several short oci with whatever’s on sale, then use Your preferred oil for a full oci.

I had good results in a sludged up 2001 Malibu (coolant leak) by doing the following:

Cleaned out sludged up PCV valve with brake cleaner

Changed oil with Supertech High Mileage 10w30 and ran for 2k miles or so with the orange Fram. Then before changing the oil I got the engine good and hot and used Gunk engine flush per the directions on the bottle. (10 minute idle)
Drained oil, let drip 20 minutes. Cussed when filter dripped hot oil on my face.
There was a fair amount of yuck that came out.

Replaced drain plug, installed a Fram ultra and filled with 5qt of Mobil 1 High Mileage 10w30
Oil has around 3500k on it now and is still a nice dark amber on the dipstick.

My .02

 

[irv]

Originally Posted By: SilverFusion2010
I haven’t seen a rigorous study comparing cleaning ability of PCMO.

You’ll get lots of anecdotal evidence.

The one thing that a majority agree on is several short oci with whatever’s on sale, then use Your preferred oil for a full oci.

I had good results in a sludged up 2001 Malibu (coolant leak) by doing the following:

Cleaned out sludged up PCV valve with brake cleaner

Changed oil with Supertech High Mileage 10w30 and ran for 2k miles or so with the orange Fram. Then before changing the oil I got the engine good and hot and used Gunk engine flush per the directions on the bottle. (10 minute idle)
Drained oil, let drip 20 minutes. Cussed when filter dripped hot oil on my face.
There was a fair amount of yuck that came out.

Replaced drain plug, installed a Fram ultra and filled with 5qt of Mobil 1 High Mileage 10w30
Oil has around 3500k on it now and is still a nice dark amber on the dipstick.

My .02


How long are you going to run your recent fill with Mobil 1 High Mileage 10w30? If it were me, and being anal, I would have likely done another short OC on a cheaper oil first before going with a more regular/expensive oil after having that Gunk engine cleaner in there, but judging by your mileage and the color of your oil, it likely wouldn't be necessary.

 

[SilverFusion2010]

5-7k I wasn’t going for a pristine engine I just wanted the worst of the coolant created sludge out of the motor. It cranks and runs fine and that’s all I need from it

 

[irv]

Originally Posted By: SilverFusion2010
5-7k I wasn’t going for a pristine engine I just wanted the worst of the coolant created sludge out of the motor. It cranks and runs fine and that’s all I need from it
\

Understood.

 

[dnewton3]

There are things we can easily see in VOAs and things we cannot.
Because lubes are a combination of many things, it's essentially improbable to say which is "best", because we only know what a company will tell us (not what they withhold).
There are easily identified elements (Ca, Mg) that you can see in VOAs; check out the PQIA website for PCMOs.
But the elements are only part of the story. Cleaners/detergents are only part of the story; dont' forget about anti-agglomerates/dispersants too. There are chemical add's which won't show up on a VOAs. There are compounds of chemicals that spectral analysis won't discern.

If, for example, you value Ca as a primary cleaning agent, then PQIA can show you that some respected brands such as Chevron may not have nearly as much as Pennzoil. But a surprising thing to many is that Super Tech lubes have a load of Ca; far above many others. So while folks look upon Super Tech as "cheap" lubes of mediocre quality, the reality is that they are often very strongly formulated, every bit as well as other name brands.
http://pqiamerica.com/PCMO_Sample_Summary_12_15_2016.html
http://www.pqiamerica.com/Feb2014/chevronsupreme.htm
http://www.pqiamerica.com/Nov2013/Motorcraft.htm
http://www.pqiamerica.com/Nov2013/Mobil5000.htm
http://www.pqiamerica.com/Nov2013/Pennzoil.htm
http://www.pqiadata.org/SuperTech5W30.html
This does not mean that Chevron does not clean well; it means they don't use as much Ca as others, perhaps preferring other elemtents, or more likely compounds unforeseen by typical analysis.

Again - looking at one or two elements is NOT a total picture of "cleaning" ability. It can only give insight into part of the story. Therefore it's a bit of a fool's errand to think a quick conversation here is going to illuminate the "best" cleaning lube.

Bottom line is that unless there's a formal, well controlled study done, independent of marketing hype, we'll not know for sure.

What I am comfortable in saying is that many of today's lubes clean far better than their predecessors. But I cannot say with any clear conscious which one is "best".

 

[ZZman]

AMSOIL Signature Series has a extremely high detergent level. About 1/3 higher than other Syn Oils.

 

[mctmatt]

I am enjoying this thread as it is very informative . For those that are just wanting to make sure they are trying to keep a clean engine would an occasional HDEO be good for a short OCI and can you run HDEO in any automotive gas engine for such a purpose?

 

[tig1]

Use Mobil 1 oils for the life of the vehicle and you will always see clean engines. That's been my experience for the last 40 years.

 

[Malo83]

Pennzoil Platinum in both my newer vehicles and Pennzoil High Mileage in my older vehicles, Pennzoil is my oil for the last 45+ yrs of driving

 

[deven]

If you use an API SN certified oil and do sensible OCI's you'll see clean engines with any oil

 

[BrocLuno]

Originally Posted By: tig1
Use Mobil 1 oils for the life of the vehicle and you will always see clean engines. That's been my experience for the last 40 years.


That works IF you took the hit and bought it new ... I did that once in my life.

The rest have mostly had 100,000 on them when they get here. The exception is my "new" F-150 that only has 85,000 on it. Sometimes I have the service records, sometimes not ... Just have to deal with it as it comes in the door ... That's why I know something about cleaning an engine enough to get decent performance and longevity, enough for my needs anyway

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
Originally Posted By: tig1
Use Mobil 1 oils for the life of the vehicle and you will always see clean engines. That's been my experience for the last 40 years.


That works IF you took the hit and bought it new ... I did that once in my life.

The rest have mostly had 100,000 on them when they get here. The exception is my "new" F-150 that only has 85,000 on it. Sometimes I have the service records, sometimes not ... Just have to deal with it as it comes in the door ... That's why I know something about cleaning an engine enough to get decent performance and longevity, enough for my needs anyway

I buy vehicles one to two years old to save thousands of dollars. Most often around 20-30K on them. I also check the oil fill hole and make sure the cam area is clean if possible. Then I go with Mobil 1, of course.

 

[atikovi]

Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
Originally Posted By: tig1
Use Mobil 1 oils for the life of the vehicle and you will always see clean engines. That's been my experience for the last 40 years.


That works IF you took the hit and bought it new ... I did that once in my life.

The rest have mostly had 100,000 on them when they get here.


Maybe I'm lucky but this is a 130,000 mile Honda right after I bought it,

and another one with 221,000 miles.

And what happened to the advice to add Kreen to the oil?

 

[BrocLuno]

You're lucky

 

[atikovi]

Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
You're lucky

Naw, I got this 89,000 mile Cadillac a few years ago.

 

[irv]

Originally Posted By: atikovi
Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
You're lucky

Naw, I got this 89,000 mile Cadillac a few years ago.

Yuck! Any idea what oil was used in that and how often it was changed?

 

[irv]

Originally Posted By: Malo83
Pennzoil Platinum in both my newer vehicles and Pennzoil High Mileage in my older vehicles, Pennzoil is my oil for the last 45+ yrs of driving

I've been using Pennzoil oils now for quite a few years and really like them. I was a Mobil 1 user prior to finding this site where I noticed Mobil used oil analysis always seemed to have higher wear metal amounts compared with Pennzoil oils.

Maybe things have improved/changed since then, but I have no reason to ever switch back now, especially when I can get the Pennzoil cheaper than the Mobil.

 

[jongies3]

Any of the name brands clean good. Pick your poison and run it! I personally am skeptical of house brands like SuperTech and such, but, a lot of people have confidence in those, too. Even though a lot come from name brand suppliers, it would seem as though what gets bottled ends up not being as good of quality as the stuff that goes into the flagship product.
(I just lost faith after seeing a cold pour test on YouTube and the ST basically turned to wax and didn't even pour. While other oils like Mobil 1 and Amsoil were all done pouring out by the time the ST glob reached the bottom of the glass.)

 

[dnewton3]

Originally Posted By: ZZman
AMSOIL Signature Series has a extremely high detergent level. About 1/3 higher than other Syn Oils.


OK - I'll bite ...

Where the evidence of this claim?
Credible links to trustworthy analysis?
Are we going to see elemental analysis, or compounds that cannot be seen?


These kinds of drive-by claims are the garbage bench-racing chatter that make it hard to take anything seriously around here.
I'm not saying you're wrong.
I'm saying you've done nothing to prove your point. Absolutely nothing whatsoever.


You have every right to make a claim.
And I have a right to challenge it.



Prove it or it didn't happen.

 

[atikovi]

Originally Posted By: irv
Originally Posted By: atikovi
Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
You're lucky

Naw, I got this 89,000 mile Cadillac a few years ago.

Yuck! Any idea what oil was used in that and how often it was changed?


No, and not very often.