HPL Engine Cleaner 30.....800 miles in

[TiGeo]

Absolutely true. Where would you be inclined to believe are alternative sources of this material on low mileage engines that are otherwise impeccably clean inside in the areas we are able to see?

Without an engine tear down - no idea. Speculation of ring area is certainly a possibility.

 

[OVERKILL]

The areas we can't see.... but marketing and forum hype are too funny.

Marketing? Has @High Performance Lubricants ever claimed that it came from the ring pack area? That was an educated guess, due to the conditions encountered in that area, by forum members.

As such, I haven't seen any picture proof of dirty and then clean ring packs with ANY products.

And you won't of course, because nobody is pulling a piston out as part of their inspection routine. That being said, the areas you CAN gain relatively easy access to, such as the bottom-end with a pan pull or the top-end with a valve cover pull, doesn't leave too many areas that would accumulate this sort of carbonaceous material that could subsequently be removed.

All can be recommended so no point in shilling one brand over another.

How is it shilling (which implies mindless devotion and promotion) if people have observed the removal of this material from engines that have been religiously well maintained and are simply sharing their experiences on here? You being a jaded curmudgeon doesn't change that reality.

I see no need for HPL/Redline/Amsoil oil when Mobil1/Valvoline/Castrol/Pennzoil....

As a decades-long user of Mobil 1, I was very surprised when I found that carbonaceous paste in the bottom of the oil filter off my wife's RAM, which has had nothing by M1 EP 0W-20 its entire life. HPL liberated similar material, but in much lower volume and without the paste aspect to it, from my 6.4L, which had been run on Ravenol SSL 0W-40, another premium oil. But it also has considerably lower mileage. As @wwillson has well-demonstrated, this material tapers off over subsequent OCI's, just like I saw with similar material liberated by M1 0W-40 in our Expedition years back.

While we cannot be 100% certain that this material is coming from the ring-pack area, it's a reasonably informed theory. This has the harshest conditions for oil in the engine and very low flow-through, due to how the area is lubricated.

While you may not personally see the value in these observations or their discussion on this forum, many of us, like myself, @wwillson, @Astro14, @RDY4WAR...etc do. It's an interesting phenomenon in our eyes and discussing the mechanism and potential sources has merit, given the overarching theme of this messageboard. Dismissively labelling a large segment of the membership as "shills" so that you don't have to engage on this subject is lazy and needlessly combative. If you don't find the subject interesting, ignore it. Needless prickishness will do nothing but foster alienation and promote dismissal of your contributions due to the reputation that sort of attitude creates.

And for the record, I agree with many of your recommendations, it's extremely unfortunate that the first half of your post so greatly overshadows that.

 

[TheLawnRanger]

Oil udders anyone?

 

[Astro14]

Let’s take a break.