Fram FS7317 C&P

[michael007]

First time I've opened up a filter. It was used for 4000 miles.

For shts and giggles, 10mL of techron was added before the final 1000 miles. It's only about 1-2mL of PEA according to the SDS so not enough to have a negative effect on the oil and I was curious if it would bring out any carbon to the oil filter.

It looks like some carbon was found in between the pleats so maybe the test was a success. Would a normal mobil 1 OCI bring out some black bits? You guys would know better.

Not sure why the media is fuzzy in some spots. Maybe the fuzz fell off of the top when cutting the media with my utility knife. Will have to pay better attention next time.

 

[Slick3914]

You put Techron in the oil?

 

[michael007]

You put Techron in the oil?

This comment was always in the back of my mind and one day I was googling the "trade secret" number for Techron's PEA from its MSDS and saw that same number come up in the MSDS for Vartech -

Chevron Vartech Industrial System Cleaner (ISC) is a deposit cleaning product added directly to the oil during operation in order to clean a system of varnish and sludge deposits before a scheduled oil change. It helps prepare the system for optimum performance prior to a new, fresh oil change.

Others have expressed interest so this was my way of testing the waters in a safe manner. In the future, I'll try to get my hands on some.
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/chevron-vartech-industrial-system-cleaner.341212/

Vartech recommends (for industrial equipment, definitely not passenger cars), a concentration of 5-20%. SDS says the trade secret concentration is 1-10%.

My oil sump is 3700mL
Vartech at a 5% concentration is 185mL
That would mean there would be 1.85mL-18.5mL of the trade secret

10mL of techron is 1-2mL of this same trade secret

According to this, what @sk_pete said might be true:

 

[fantastic]

Those Fram's media seems to be "Fuzzy" as standard so no need to worry about that. It does appear that there's noticeable carbon deposit's in the pleat creases. Was this from Techron or? Don't know. You could run another test by not using the additive & see how the carbon compares. But this product does appear to say it has a cleaning property to it. Just to be clear This was a non-wire backed Fram Titanium? Thanks for sharing!

 

[michael007]

Those Fram's media seems to be "Fuzzy" as standard so no need to worry about that. It does appear that there's noticeable carbon deposit's in the pleat creases. Was this from Techron or? Don't know. You could run another test by not using the additive & see how the carbon compares. But this product does appear to say it has a cleaning property to it. Just to be clear This was a non-wire backed Fram Titanium? Thanks for sharing!

Good to know about the fuzz and you are correct, this was a non-wire backed Fram Titanium.

If there's any carbon left after the next two oil changes, will definitely try a run without any additives.

It's been a pleasure to share as this has been a fun way to keep to the mind active... it reminds me of my old science classes. Glad to hear you guys enjoy it too.

This run has the last of my valvoline blue restore (2016 production date).

Next run might be 5% Vartech after some research is done on how it'll affect the viscosity

 

[michael007]

Unless the math is wrong, viscosity should be perfectly fine

m1 afe 0w30 is 10.3 cSt

With 5% vartech, the viscosity would change from 10.3 to 12.54 cSt

W30 oil viscosity can vary from 9.3 to 12.5 cSt

 

[bullwinkle]

What was the date code of your Titanium? Literally all the FS7317s I saw at AAP last week appeared to be non-wire backed (I bought a wire backed FS10060j, guess February was a LONG month for Fram… They also have appeared to be joining the “we can‘t make louvers” correctly club (no more holes) as well!

 

[michael007]

What was the date code of your Titanium? Literally all the FS7317s I saw at AAP last week appeared to be non-wire backed (I bought a wire backed FS10060j, guess February was a LONG month for Fram… They also have appeared to be joining the “we can‘t make louvers” correctly club (no more holes) as well!

A23142

November 10th 2022, 2nd shift if I'm reading it correctly

 

[fantastic]

Unless the math is wrong, viscosity should be perfectly fine

m1 afe 0w30 is 10.3 cSt

With 5% vartech, the viscosity would change from 10.3 to 12.54 cSt

W30 oil viscosity can vary from 9.3 to 12.5 cSt

Doesn't the Vartech you cited lower the viscosity? Is the Techron rated for engine oil? If it is I'd stick with that. The whole "untested" additives are playing around out of my comfort zone but you do you.

 

[michael007]

Doesn't the Vartech you cited lower the viscosity? Is the Techron rated for engine oil? If it is I'd stick with that. The whole "untested" additives are playing around out of my comfort zone but you do you.

That quote from Chevron was for natural gas engines which apparently use thick oil (150cSt).

For passenger cars like ours, oil is much thinner:
0w8 - 5.3cSt
-------------------->
10w50 - 19.5 cSt

Techron is not rated for engine oil, it's only supposed to be used in the gas tank. I just happened to figure out the PEA used in Techron is the trade secret ingredient used in Vartech.

I think for playing around, the carrier fluid in Vartech

is better than Techron

I understand this being out of the comfort zone of many - it's a strong industrial cleaner - but as long as proper concentrations are respected - I think this might end up being one of the safest and most effective methods out there to clean an engine and remove varnish which apparently is a hard thing to do.



For me, it's a learning experience.