Do all synthetic oils act as a cleaner?

[aquariuscsm]

Mobil 1 used to (not sure if they still do) claim that their high mileage oils will clean engine sludge within the first oil change.

 

[ka9mnx]

Originally Posted by aquariuscsm

Mobil 1 used to (not sure if they still do) claim that their high mileage oils will clean engine sludge within the first oil change.

Starts cleaning in the first oil change. They say it may take up to 3 oil changes.

 

[Luftmasse]

Originally Posted by RDY4WAR

Group IV PAO has the lowest solvency of any oil group and also the harshest on seals. This is why you won't find a straight PAO oil. It will have some amount of group III, ester, or napthalene to give it some solvency and help condition seals. The group III and IV synthetic oils actually have less cleaning ability than conventional group I and II oils because of that lower solvency. Solvency is what breaks down sludge so it can be picked up in suspension and filtered out. The additive package has little to do with this. A common misconception is that detergents clean the engine, but that's false. Detergents keep the oil clean as a way of sludge prevention, but they do not remove sludge that's already there. If you want to clean up sludge from your engine, the best way to go is an oil with a lot of ester. This is the basis for Valvoline Premium Blue Restore (VPBR) as it's ~60% ester.

The Mobil 1 EP claims to help the engine seals on the website. So it is false since the Mobil 1 EP 0W-20 has high PAO content, it will hurt the engine seals?

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted by painfx

Originally Posted by RDY4WAR

Group IV PAO has the lowest solvency of any oil group and also the harshest on seals. This is why you won't find a straight PAO oil. It will have some amount of group III, ester, or napthalene to give it some solvency and help condition seals. The group III and IV synthetic oils actually have less cleaning ability than conventional group I and II oils because of that lower solvency. Solvency is what breaks down sludge so it can be picked up in suspension and filtered out. The additive package has little to do with this. A common misconception is that detergents clean the engine, but that's false. Detergents keep the oil clean as a way of sludge prevention, but they do not remove sludge that's already there. If you want to clean up sludge from your engine, the best way to go is an oil with a lot of ester. This is the basis for Valvoline Premium Blue Restore (VPBR) as it's ~60% ester.

The Mobil 1 EP claims to help the engine seals on the website. So it is false since the Mobil 1 EP 0W-20 has high PAO content, it will hurt the engine seals?

They blend in POE or other bases that counteract the effect. Oils are a balancing act.

 

[RDY4WAR]

Originally Posted by OVERKILL

Originally Posted by painfx

Originally Posted by RDY4WAR

Group IV PAO has the lowest solvency of any oil group and also the harshest on seals. This is why you won't find a straight PAO oil. It will have some amount of group III, ester, or napthalene to give it some solvency and help condition seals. The group III and IV synthetic oils actually have less cleaning ability than conventional group I and II oils because of that lower solvency. Solvency is what breaks down sludge so it can be picked up in suspension and filtered out. The additive package has little to do with this. A common misconception is that detergents clean the engine, but that's false. Detergents keep the oil clean as a way of sludge prevention, but they do not remove sludge that's already there. If you want to clean up sludge from your engine, the best way to go is an oil with a lot of ester. This is the basis for Valvoline Premium Blue Restore (VPBR) as it's ~60% ester.

The Mobil 1 EP claims to help the engine seals on the website. So it is false since the Mobil 1 EP 0W-20 has high PAO content, it will hurt the engine seals?

They blend in POE or other bases that counteract the effect. Oils are a balancing act.

 

[Jackson_Slugger]

Originally Posted by sloinker

The Ester or Group V is the base oil that is known to clean. You won't find much Group V ,if any, in off the shelf oil nowadays. If I had to guess it would be that there is no ester content of any amount in any mass marketed synthetic oil in America. It's probable the modern add pack may substitute some of Ester's characteristics used in the predominately Group III base oil found on the shelf at the local Walmart..

I think it's been said there that Mobil 1 High Mileage is a good percentage of AN Group V...

 

[littlehulkster]

Originally Posted by sloinker

The Ester or Group V is the base oil that is known to clean. You won't find much Group V ,if any, in off the shelf oil nowadays. If I had to guess it would be that there is no ester content of any amount in any mass marketed synthetic oil in America. It's probable the modern add pack may substitute some of Ester's characteristics used in the predominately Group III base oil found on the shelf at the local Walmart..

IIRC, Castrol Magnatec has some ester in it, which is what gives it it's so called "magnetic" effect.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

Originally Posted by Jackson_Slugger

Originally Posted by sloinker

The Ester or Group V is the base oil that is known to clean. You won't find much Group V ,if any, in off the shelf oil nowadays. If I had to guess it would be that there is no ester content of any amount in any mass marketed synthetic oil in America. It's probable the modern add pack may substitute some of Ester's characteristics used in the predominately Group III base oil found on the shelf at the local Walmart..

I think it's been said there that Mobil 1 High Mileage is a good percentage of AN Group V...

M1's own website claims in no ambiguous language, that it's HiMi formula CLEANS out PRE-EXISTING sludge and unless somebody has a better explanation, that language suggests to me that there's something more going on inside M1 HiMi besides normal API SN levels of calcium and magnesium.

 

[PimTac]

It has been mentioned here that all M1 oils have esters in their base in varying degrees.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

Originally Posted by PimTac

It has been mentioned here that all M1 oils have esters in their base in varying degrees.

Seems to make sense.. M1 claims it's HiMi is fully synthetic, so to me that would rule out any grp2 BO's being in there and the cleaning effect they would impart due to their higher solvency. So what else does that leave but esters, no???

 

[talest]

Originally Posted by BigCahuna

Do they sell blended oils only for people that don't care about keeping their motors clean?.,,,

They make the blends for people that are not sure if they should use conventional or synthetic oil in their engine. Plenty still believe putting a synthetic in will cause leaks, you know.