Ring Deposits

[Gene K]

What do different basestocks contribute to ring deposits?

Petroleum feedstock bases
Petroleum derived slack wax feedstock bases
GTL
PAO
POE
AN

From worst to best how should we expect different basestocks to contribute to ring deposits?

 

[Blinker]

I have no idea, but I’m interested in the conversation since it’s something I’ve often wondered about.

 

[PimTac]

Most oils are a blend of base stocks.

 

[buster]

Deposits in the rings occur from oxidation and thermal degradation. I don't know if that question is really answerable because you can't run any of the aforementioned base oils on their own.

 

[Propflux01]

Deposits in the rings occur from oxidation and thermal degradation. I don't know if that question is really answerable because you can't run any of the aforementioned base oils on their own.

No, but there is products like Valvoline RESTORE, that use a blend of base oils to particularly clean ring deposits.

 

[CR94]

Deposits in the rings occur from oxidation and thermal degradation. I don't know if that question is really answerable because you can't run any of the aforementioned base oils on their own.

Good point. I betcha the degree of tendency to form depends on the additive package, too.

More important is what we need to do to avoid those deposits (and consequent stuck rings and oil guzzling) in known susceptible engines. Avoid or increase working the engine hard? Special warm-up routine? Avoid 0W-X oils, climate permitting? Some people are saying very frequent oil changes are the answer, but I haven't seen much evidence changing much more frequently than necessary to avoid deposits elsewhere makes a difference.

 

[buster]

No, but there is products like Valvoline RESTORE, that use a blend of base oils to particularly clean ring deposits.

POE's do have really good solvency. That particular oil is about 50% POE I believe.

 

[Gene K]

Most oils are a blend of base stocks.

True but we have a reasonable expectation that certain products are primarily made of certain basestocks.

(The following is a hypothetical only)
I think most would be very surprised to find out Supertech 10W-30 was primarily PAO/POE based or Pennzoil Platinum was primarily a non-GTL GIII for instance.

 

[Krieg]

Reference is made posts #5 & 7. Asked, answered...

 

[The Critic]

No, but there is products like Valvoline RESTORE, that use a blend of base oils to particularly clean ring deposits.

Tried it in two cars, one of which was @nthach's.

The effect was minimal, at best.

 

[Propflux01]

Tried it in two cars, one of which was @nthach's.

The effect was minimal, at best.

Were these engines this product was used upon, have mechanical issues, or ring deposit issues that this product did not alleviate?

 

[The Critic]

Were these engines this product was used upon, have mechanical issues, or ring deposit issues that this product did not alleviate?

They had oil consumption issues but no known mechanical issues.

 

[Propflux01]

They had oil consumption issues but no known mechanical issues.

Did you ever find the cause of the consumption?

 

[nthach]

Tried it in two cars, one of which was @nthach's.

The effect was minimal, at best.

IME, I had a lot more success with a piston soak using B-12 Chemtool and BMW/GM Top Engine Cleaner than VPBR.

 

[The Critic]

Did you ever find the cause of the consumption?

Aside from tearing down the engine(s) for a rebuild, I am not sure how you would.

Compression and leakdown are probably fine on both engines, so it is likely due to stuck oil control rings.

 

[Brian123]

What do different basestocks contribute to ring deposits?

Petroleum feedstock bases
Petroleum derived slack wax feedstock bases
GTL
PAO
POE
AN

From worst to best how should we expect different basestocks to contribute to ring deposits?

Good question, maybe a better question would be what oils out there on the market prevent ring deposits. Of course OCI's and driving habits need to be put in this scenario. I remember talking with a mechanic years ago and he said the most important thing was to keep the rings free and clean. At 1 time I thought Pennzoil Platinum and later Pennzoil Ultra Platinum was the best at maybe cleaning and keeping the engine clean. Now I am using Mobil 1 ESP and I like the oil, but I cannot prove why I like it.

I will put this out, of course this is on a new vehicle, if you do reasonable OCI's like 5K, you should have no problems. I am hoping nobody is making oils today or using base stocks that contribute to deposits. I will not name the car manufacture that had problems with ring deposits, but the 1 that did had someone show the internals of the engine and the pistons and the piston rings looked great. This person that posted the pics claimed that he was using Mobil 1, but I do not remember what the OCI's were.

 

[LineArrayNut]

I would guess AN, POE, PAO, GTL, VISOM DINO
But there are many kinds of different forms of the first 3 and more than a handful of the rest. No real way to quantify such unless you had very deep pockets to test all of them
In situ in a real motor being driven.

 

[PontiacHO]

Yamalube Ringfree works well in 4 stroke outboards. I’m sure would work in the automotive world. In outboards stuck rings are caused by slow engine operation over long periods - trolling. Cars typically don’t have that opportunity. On the other hand, excessive blow by causes stuck rings. Wear, rough treatment, and/or neglect adds to the equation.

 

[ultraviolet]

No, but there is products like Valvoline RESTORE, that use a blend of base oils to particularly clean ring deposits.

snake oil if you ask me, the saturn 1.9 is renowned for burning oil due to deposits in the oil control ring lands, and geniuses saying "oh it's burning oil let's buy the cheapest conventional for top-up and never change it" really exacerbates the problem. the only truly effective way i've found to clean them out is to disassemble the engine and scrape the carbon out with a pick, i've tried a number of soaks and oil additives and never saw anywhere near the reduction in oil consumption that i did from disassembly and manual cleaning.

don't get me wrong, i have seen some improvement by running 15w40 hdeo and going on a few hundred miles of nice spriited drives, but it still wasn't close to the level of improvement that actually scraping that carbon out of the ring lands with the engine apart achieved.

 

[Brian123]

Yamalube Ringfree works well in 4 stroke outboards. I’m sure would work in the automotive world. In outboards stuck rings are caused by slow engine operation over long periods - trolling. Cars typically don’t have that opportunity. On the other hand, excessive blow by causes stuck rings. Wear, rough treatment, and/or neglect adds to the equation.

It better be a good product, the stuff costs like $56.00 a quart.