I think you missed the joke, although it may not have struck your phunny bone.Blame the guy who brought Seafoam into the conversation. Seafoam and ANs / esters are not even in the same universe as far as cleaning ability goes.
High Performance Lubricants Engine Cleaner
- Thread starter High Performance Lubricants
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I got it
Jackson_Slugger
$50 Site Donor 2022
For anything less than a significant sludge issue - would running a couple of lower mileage oil changes with a modern synthetic DEXOS D1 / Gen 2 or Gen 3 oil be effective for say 2,500 mile / 2 month OCI versus using a stronger solution such as an engine cleaner such as High-Performance Lubricants Engine Cleaner ?
Generally, no. Common API and D1G2 oils aren't formulated to clean pre-existing sludge and varnish. They have an obligation to limit how much it produces (how low of a bar that may be) with focus on prevention rather than a cure. You can have some cleaning action just by the nature of oil being present, and the slight abrasive cleaning effect some detergents provide, but it's usually canceled out by the oil's volatility and oxidation. It's how the engine ends up with sludge in the first place. Shorter intervals would improve the prevention of sludge from occurring, but unlikely to help much with cleaning pre-existing sludge and varnish.
Jackson_Slugger
$50 Site Donor 2022
Now just over 1600 miles, getting antsy. The oil is piping hot here:
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2020
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- 293
Pretty dirty for 1,600 miles
How can you tell
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2020
- Messages
- 293
Oil from any of our three vehicles sure doesn’t look like that at 2,575 kms.
@High Performance Lubricants Is there any reason using Liqui Moly Pro-Line Engine Flush would be hurtful at the end of a 2,000 mile cleaning run with HPL Engine Cleaner in the old oil? Would there be any benefit?
Thanks!
Thanks!
D
Deleted member 89374
I used Liqui Moly Pro-Line Engine Flush before, and it's pretty much useless. In fact, out of paranoia, I filled the engine with oil and put a new filter on, ran it for 30 minutes, and dumped the oil again. Liqui Moly Pro-Line Engine Flush is like Lubegard Engine Flush, AMSOIL Engine Flush, and many other similar products: it destroys the viscosity of your oil so you can do a more complete drain. All things considered, it's a bad idea, don't do it. This reminds me of people driving with Seafoam for the last hundred miles before doing an oil change, or so they claim.... Jesus... I mean, what if they have an emergency or have to go for a long drive, like out of state? The Internet is full of stupid ideas. SMH
HPL Engine Cleaner is the real deal. It's regular engine oil with a majority ester base stock for cleaning and a HDEO additive package. It won't harm anything and it will clean well. It's money well spent and you don't risk of harming anything.
Jackson_Slugger
$50 Site Donor 2022
I have no doubt that some cleaning has taken place, the oil above was at near full operating temp. When I changed oil in Nov I think the previous fill looked bad and had a dark gray tint after I added at least one quart as top off.
I also poured through the sump a qt. of clean, but old, oil while the drain was still open (Rotella 0W-40 from 2015 bought on clearance) after the old oil drained (probably MC 5W-20) and then installed the 5 qts. of Rotella 5W-20 along with HPL. Not saying just doing shortened OCI's with say Mobil 1 or SOPUS products might also have cleaned, but certainly at the very least the HPL is aiding in the picking up of varnish and probably some other deposits like carbon or sludge, but I would imagine these are not significant as the car had numerous oil changes and services on the Carfax...
Great analysis. I'm willing to bet that the Engine Cleaner being an ester will leave behind a great film on the engine parts that using an engine flush would be counter productive and possibly even leave the motor in worse case scenario.
f355spider
$50 Site Donor 2025
I have a 2001 E39 BMW 540 with 345,000 miles on it. Oil changes every 7500 miles since new using either factory BMW LL-01 oil, or an aftermarket LL-01 approved oil. Car does not consume any oil between these 7500 changes. Assuming I use the appropriate dilution rate, would there be any issue with running this the full 7500 miles, or safer to split it up and do two 3750 mile changes? I have no sludge, just the usual golden color inside the oil fill hole when I look inside. I am only considering running this, as I do have an occasional vanos knocking noise upon cold start. (vanos was rebuilt at 261,000 miles when the timing chains and guides were replaced...no sludge or issues noted at that time.) Thinking maybe there is some contamination in the vanos system or solenoids. I'm not expecting miracles. Oil filter on the M62 is pretty large....like double the size of the one on the newer, but similar displacement N63.
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Maybe I missed it in 19 pages of reading: is it effective to add the cleaner at the 3k mark of a 5K OCI? Or, is it better to start with new oil? This would be on a relatively clean engine at 110,000 miles with 6K OCI on Pennzoil Platinum.
Also academic question regarding the mix ration of 1:5, cleaner : oil. On a 5 quart system, is that 32 oz. cleaner to 128 oz. oil? Or, is it 27 oz. cleaner:133oz. oil? Splitting hairs and probably doesn't matter, but OCD is a BITOG requirement here,LOL.
Thank you.
Also academic question regarding the mix ration of 1:5, cleaner : oil. On a 5 quart system, is that 32 oz. cleaner to 128 oz. oil? Or, is it 27 oz. cleaner:133oz. oil? Splitting hairs and probably doesn't matter, but OCD is a BITOG requirement here,LOL.
Thank you.
1qt in 5qt sump, do it on fresh oil for 5k oci. Change filters at 1500 miles if motor is dirty.
I did 5k oci with it on 3 vehicles and all good. I would imagine it would go 7500 in a pretty clean motor but I am not 100% sure
CleanSump
Site Donor 2022
I did as @wlk and ran it in a BMW E83 with 125k miles. It totally ended the valve tap and VANOS knock. They haven't come back in the 12k miles since.
You may want to check/clean the anti-drainback valves on the side of the head. The small mesh screens can get varnished up or collect carbon and restrict flow to the VANOS solenoids.