Engine Cleaning Oils and Additives are Snake Oil..

[midnightlaundry]

I had to change a Valve Cover/Gasket because it was leaking oil onto my Exhaust Manifold.. I had enough so I finally did the job..
It was a little more involved than the obvious because it was the VC under the Upper Manifold, so that had to come off first..

Anyways, I get it open and it looked like this.. I've been running Pennzoil Platinum in some form for the 10 years I've been driving this thing. I've also run the HPL Engine Cleaner. You think you have some piece of mind knowing your Engine is shinny new inside, but it is not.. I had to know this because the tip of my Dipstick never lost that burnt brown color on the tip and that must see a lot of splash action in the Crank Case..

This is a 2002 4.0L SOHC Ford.. with almost 130K.

The upside is that all the Intake Valves a shinny clean. I've been running some Stabil In Season and Marine for about 4 months.. Was it the product, or was it just the Gas in a Multi Port Injected Engine?? Recirculating all the Exhaust for Emissions sure does build up tho..

 

[TiGeo]

Who cares if it runs well? Your valves are clean b/c it's port injected and fuel today is good quality/plenty of additives. The engine cleaner by HPL isn't intended to be a miracle in a bottle, it's intended to prep your engine for using their oils that have more cleaning ability on their own than the EC - run their oil and see how it looks. Can also try running Valvoline Restore/Protect and checking back after a few changes.

 

[Oliveoil2]

That engine could use some 5w-30 Valvoline Restore and Protect. Maybe 3-4 oil changes 3-5k each? Worth a try. Looks like it had non-synthetic for most of its life and lots of short trips.

 

[altaylar]

Actually if you run Valvoline Restore and Protect once or twice and open this up again, that would be a very useful data point for us all.

But apart from that, do you think that this level of (un)cleanliness has effected your performance or was your engine working smooth? If it

 

[RDY4WAR]

20+ years of API oil. Most of that in the head is varnish which is very difficult to remove and not the focus of API oils nor HPL Engine Cleaner. The EC is best suited for cleaning and unsticking coked rings. Do you have any pictures from before EC was used for comparison? Without a before picture for comparison, there's not a lot to be determined. It could've been much worse before.

 

[CleanSump]

Ditto all above. And to be honest to HPL Cleaner, you don't have any pictures of before to compare. You have no idea what it may or may not have cleaned out.

 

[doitmyself]

The OP stated he has run Pennzoil Platinum the past 10 years of this 23 year old engine. I wonder what it looked like when he acquired it at age 13? I agree with others it would be interesting to run the Valvoline Restore and Protect a few OCI's and then take a look.

 

[oldcodger]

I guess I am not as much as a cleanliness geek but that does not look that bad for the miles. 23 year old truck with unknown history for 13 of the years.

 

[Reloader59]

What was the oil change interval?

 

[midnightlaundry]

Post is a bit cynical, but I had expectations..

But the vehicle still runs mint. The Engine runs 100% like new. The Carbon in the Intake is there but I really doubt it's affecting performance. Looking at the diameter of the Ports with that level of buildup didn't worry me a bit, and I didn't even bother to clean up the Lower Ports..

I did learn that PB Blaster is amazing at removing the old baked on buildup on the Gasket Surfaces.. Brake Clean didn't do a thing to it. A small piece of 600 Grit helped. No Whiz Wheels.. I did replace the Gaskets for the Upper Intake, they were like $10 bux for a Felpro Set and I got a new PCV Valve in there too. Cleaned up the Throttle Body, but it wasn't that bad. I think I've cleaned it before..

I've done Suspension, Brakes, Tires, Exhaust and other repairs with regular Maintenance to this thing, but any 1 repair was far cheaper than 1 Car Payment. As long as it still runs and looks good and doesn't turn into a clunker, I'll still drive it. It so old that on some level I want to see how long I can keep it going..

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

What was the OCI on PP? And actually, hours would probably be a better indicator of OCI for a 23yo vehicle with only 130k.

Not really sure where you get the idea that PP is a “cleaning oil”, you’ve been here for a dozen years and it’s been shot down for at least that long that “high detergent” oils do not clean; oils containing specific esters and alkylated napthalenes do.

For an engine that traces its basic roots back to 1962, this is probably typical. The heads run hot, and heat leads to oxidation. Runaway oxidation leads to varnish and buildup. If it’s running well, try “regular” HPL or Valvoline Restore and Protect for at least 10-15k in no more than 5k OCIs and then pull the VC to check again.

In reality, this isn’t something to throw a fit over; it’s probably typical of about 98% of engines not owned by BITOG members.

 

[facility1]

looks to me the oci may have been longer than say 5k and what climate, idling time etc other than that, it may be normal condition.

 

[Blinker]

This engine looks great IMO. I see no evidence of sludge. That slight golden color you see I consider that to mean the engine is well seasoned.

Also, every engine with any appreciable amount of miles on it that I’ve taken the valve cover off, I’ve always seen crusty carbon deposits on the underside of the valve cover. That’s just physics, as the oil vapors rise and then cool they eventually leave deposits.

 

[alcyon]

Just because your cams are clean don't mean your ring packs are clean...

 

[tired]

Do you burn oil?

@Hohn ran PP for a while in his Honda, and he had very significant varnish build on it. He was loading up filters for a while on Valvoline Restore and Protect. I have not seen a lot of good reports with PP.

 

[ARB1977]

This was my beloved 2015 Toyota Tacoma 4.0L at 137K. I would have loved to see what it looked like under the valve cover. Amsoil XL was used 99% of its life. 5500-6500 oci.

 

[ARB1977]

View attachment 307222
This was my beloved 2015 Toyota Tacoma 4.0L at 137K. I would have loved to see what it looked like under the valve cover. Amsoil XL was used 99% of its life. 5500-6500 oci

 

[Zee09]

Yeah its all a fraud...

 

[Hohn]

View attachment 307222View attachment 307222
This was my beloved 2015 Toyota Tacoma 4.0L at 137K. I would have loved to see what it looked like under the valve cover. Amsoil XL was used 99% of its life. 5500-6500 oci.

Be careful extrapolating from what you can see to what you cannot see.

 

[Hohn]

My experience with my Van would give me confidence that Valvoline Restore and Protect could remove almost all the deposits from any oil-wetted surface.