Is there any data, aside from the anecdotal "data", of a synthetic oil that will remove varnish and sludge significantly better than others? Over the years some people make claims of this or that oil leaving varnish and running a specific brand at a short interval to clean things out. Personally, I roll my eyes a bit at these "anecdotes". Given the name brands in the $25ish price at, say, Walmart or Costco or NAPA on sale, is one going to make my engine internals super clean and shiny compared to others? And if so, where's the comparison data that's not from some random, unscientific YouTube type data source. If not, thanks for helping me sleep at night because I use whatever brand is about $20 for 5 quarts. Or TGMO if I'm lazy and let the dealer do it (they do say they use TGMO).
Is any synthetic REALLY better at cleaning than others?
- Thread starter HowAboutThis
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dnewton3
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Are "synthetics" better at cleaning over "other" base stocks? No.
Are the esters and ANs which can be present in many products better at cleaning than others without them? Absolutely yes.
If you want a product that offers good cleaning abilities, pick a lube that includes esters and ANs. Don't focus on a brand or the word "synthetic", as those don't assure you anything.
Are the esters and ANs which can be present in many products better at cleaning than others without them? Absolutely yes.
If you want a product that offers good cleaning abilities, pick a lube that includes esters and ANs. Don't focus on a brand or the word "synthetic", as those don't assure you anything.
But I'm wondering how much better to even know if it's worth the time and money.
Much to my surprise, HPL has shown to clean existing deposits from engines that were previously ran on synthetics. Not all, but some.
Some oils focus heavily on preventing deposits/sludge through the use of heavy detergents and good dispersant add packages. Also, strong oxidation resistant base oils and ashless cleaning boosters.
Then there are some synthetics that use ultra-high performance classes of base oils found in the Group V category - POE and ANs more specifically. They're expensive so not often found in your typical synthetic oil. These base oils have high solvency and can actually breakdown deposits.
34.8907653%.
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PYB kept my engines clean in my previous vehicles that didn’t require synthetic
All that wax wouldn't let anything stick
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Well that got to the point
Shel_B
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Keeping an engine clean isn't the same as cleaning an engine that is varnished and sludged and that may have certain oil passages obstructed.
Shel_B
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Gotta applaud your thoroughness ...
Ah man, don’t spoil the fun. You have to hold something back as a surprise for later…
Triple_Se7en
$50 Site Donor 2024
Some engines produce higher oil temps and this is important when picking an oil. Synthetics are better where oil temps reach extremes and sludge forms during extended OCIs engine temp extremes and fuel dilution extremes will mess with your wear protection and oxidation numbers. So I trust synthetic oils to fight-the-fight considerably longer than conventional oil.
Since most vehicles on the road today are either GDI or TGDI and you never mentioned what vehicle you drive - what model it is - what year it is and what engine you have, I apologize if this reply returns you to being a restless sleeper the next few nights.
Yeah, but so many of those I've seen over the years are anecdotal or like pseudoscience. The Civic I had for about 200k miles was fed a steady diet of M1 and QSUD at the time over 5-6k intervals. Lots of city driving and brutally cold winter driving around town. When adjusting valves things were beautiful. But a small amount of varnish. Pennzoil Platinum used to be described by some on here as a good cleaning oil. If I had run that over 200k would it have made a difference? Would the small amount of varnish been non-existent? I can't imagine it would've made a difference, but as you pointed out it's an often discussed topic but when I skim the threads seems like a lot of feelings and lacking actual data.
It's a 17 Corolla. So I could run store brand vegetable oil for 5k intervals (mostly joking).
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My understandings are with synthetic oil it has better cold pump-ability, less volatile to extreme heat and overall intended to go further longer. It is advertised that oil in general weather be full synthetic or blend”conventional” has cleaning abilities in my mind it’s not like laundry detergent where you can run a specific oil for xxx miles dump it and expect a cleaner engine. I do believe running a good oil at appropriate recommended oci’s you’d get good results at keeping an engine clean.
This is my understanding. But with all the posts about people taking a used car they just got, a car with infrequent oil changes, etc. and running X-brand oil for a couple of 1000 mile drain and fills to clean things up and whatnot, I was curious where that idea was taken from? Is there actual data saying M1 or QSUD or whatever will clean better than Kirkland or NAPA or whatever else?
I run about 7500 miles which is a change about every 5-6 months. I'm not worried, personally, but tend to run the cheapest, name brand synthetic I can find. Or TGMO if I take it to the dealer. But if someone has actual scientific data saying the extra $5-10 for a more expensive name brand will leave a significantly cleaner engine I'd contemplate it.
Yes, there’s no data beyond oils meeting the requirements of whatever specs they carry approvals for. Only a few anecdotes and reading into formulations otherwise. I just run a good oil and change it frequently.
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