Oil System Flushing?

[MikeCyr]

Years ago I had met an auto mechanic who swore by his method of oil system flushing at least every other oil change. This was back about 25 years ago, and at that time he was near retirement age. What he swore by and used on his personal vehicles was to drain the oil, replace it with an equal amount of either kerosene or paint thinner, to be honest I forget which one specifically. He would then start the vehicle, run it for no more than 30 seconds, let the vehicle set for 5 minutes then drain the kerosene/paint thinner from the pan. His reasoning was this was flushing sludge from the engine while still providing just enough lubrication to be safe on the engine. I did witness a few tear downs he did on cars he had done this to and the internals looked clean, clean, clean. BTW the tear downs were being done to upgrade the heads not to repair any engine issue.

I am curious to hear what people think about this means of sludge and deposit removal as applied to today's engines. Is such a drastic method really needed with the engines and oils of this era as compared to yesteryear?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Barkleymut]

it is NOT needed now, not sure if it was needed on pre 80's cars (since I have never owned a pre 80's car). If you keep your OCI reasonable the cleaning detergents of modern oils will keep your engine very clean. Look at the 100's of pics on here with the valve cover off.

 

[spasm3]

This could not be good for the main bearings.

 

[fdcg27]

This strikes me as a really bad idea from the stanpoint of lubricating the parts even for only thirty seconds. You'd also then have at least some undrainable solvent mixed into the fresh oil.
It's also completely uneeded.
As long as you change the oil at reasonable inervals for your engine as you use it, you'll never see any buildup of deposits.
If an engine does have a buildup of deposits, there are various products that will work to safely clean it up, like Kreen, ARX and MMO, each of which has its advocates.
I'd never run an engine even briefly on anything other than motor oil.

 

[RF Overlord]

That *may* have been an acceptable way of cleaning sludge left by Group 1 oils from the '30s and '40s, but for anything newer it's just a quicker way to the junkyard.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: MikeCyr
Years ago I had met an auto mechanic who swore by his method of oil system flushing at least every other oil change. This was back about 25 years ago, and at that time he was near retirement age. What he swore by and used on his personal vehicles was to drain the oil, replace it with an equal amount of either kerosene or paint thinner, to be honest I forget which one specifically. He would then start the vehicle, run it for no more than 30 seconds, let the vehicle set for 5 minutes then drain the kerosene/paint thinner from the pan. His reasoning was this was flushing sludge from the engine while still providing just enough lubrication to be safe on the engine. I did witness a few tear downs he did on cars he had done this to and the internals looked clean, clean, clean. BTW the tear downs were being done to upgrade the heads not to repair any engine issue.

I am curious to hear what people think about this means of sludge and deposit removal as applied to today's engines. Is such a drastic method really needed with the engines and oils of this era as compared to yesteryear?

Thanks,

Mike


The guys on CarTalk mentioned that basic method. They tried it a few times and always ruined the engine but they said others had better luck.

 

[tig1]

This was a fairly common practice in the 50s and 60s. My dad was doing that and ruined a 318 engine in a 63 Plymouth. Just use a quality synthetic oil like M1 and you'll never have sludge problems with reasonable OCIs for your driving conditions.

 

[Zaedock]

"Luck" is the word when doing this to your engine.

 

[SLATRON]

yeah bad idea now a days, I have had luck with LM engine flush, & AMSOIL engine flush. Both of them are detergent based not harsh solvents that probably cause wear, hurt seals/gaskets n plug pump/oil ways.
I hav used mmo too but not sure if any better than good oil n shorter oci
oh, not talked about much on this site but I also have used rislone engine oil treatment, the concentrated one at wally world for under $5, to topoff

 

[SatinSilver]

I cringed the entire time reading the OP guys. Reminds me of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=der5-2S_P1Q

 

[gregk24]

That sounds awful. Todays name brand API SN oils will keep everything clean if changed at the manufactures recommendations.

 

[hattaresguy]

Not a bad idea with pre war cars that ran none detergent oil, with no filters. I would think even with say a Model T today with today's modern oils this practice is way out of date.

OTOH I'm sure someone with a 5 year old Camry here will want to do it between 3k mile changes of Mobil 1 to make themselves "feel" good to make the engine more "responsive". If that is the case I want to start a pool on when the engine pops! I'll bet $50 that it will go three feel good flushes to it pops!