School Me on Varnish Please

[BISCUT]

Mention before I came into a 95 Camry 2.2 4 banger with only 68k miles. Changed oil for the first time with Pennzoil conventional.

The car was well taken care of (was my 92 year old grandfathers and before than my aunts). From the mileage you can see my grandfatehr never drove much at all. The oil was changed 2x a year irregardless of the fact the mileage was often 1k miles in that timeframe.

Looking through the oil cap there is varnish, light coating not thick, but its there. I'm sure this vehicle very rarely got to a good 160-180F operating temp for any amount of miles. I'm guessing thats what caused it.

I drive this vehicle about 25 miles each way to work and back so its plenty warm now. Will the varnish eventually dissipate? or just remain there?

I'm going to be running 3k OCI with DINO most likely Pennzoil conventional.

 

[chubbs1]

I have actually seen varnish come off using Pennzoil Platinum, so it can come off. Light Varnish will not affect the performance of the engine.

 

[Tros]

Originally Posted By: chubbs1
Light Varnish will not affect the performance of the engine.

 

[cp3]

Most feel that it is only cosmetic. I have no facts to disprove that. If you're not too concerned about it I would try your planned regimine and see what happens.

I agree with chubbs, my G6 was starting to yellow and after 3 OCIs on PP maybe into the next on Petro-Canada synthetic it was gone. Pennzoil conventional has a pretty good add-pac as well, maybe with getting some heat now it will clean up too.

 

[CB7Accord]

You said irregargdless....that's awesome!!! lol Most everyone seems to agree varnish is no big deal. Hope you enjoy your new vehicle!

 

[mechtech2]

It is not irrational to say that the engine was irregularly irrigated with oil.
Irrespective of that, the engine will perform with that varnish discoloration - regardless .

 

[CB7Accord]

Originally Posted By: mechtech2
It is not irrational to say that the engine was irregularly irrigated with oil.
Irrespective of that, the engine will perform with that varnish discoloration - regardless .
Nice!!! I just purchased a Jeep Wrangler 2.5L with pretty heavy varnish at 159000 miles. I'm just going to use an inexpensive synthetic to hopefully clean off the varnish in the next 30000 miles. OP enjoy your new sweet ride.

 

[BISCUT]

My thought was varnidh in a very tight tolerance engine may be an issue, I didn't feel it would be in this one. Sludge would bother me...a little varnish no.

I'll have this ride til it's a money pit. My almost 93 year old grandfather lives on boys! Funny part is my boys (4 n 6) love it.

Just wanted to hearf about varnish. Is it the sodium that helps clean it??

 

[Tros]

Biscut, there are a few additives that clean out a motor. Sodium was used with good success, but most modern oils seemed to of moved on to other things.

Most of your large brand oils clean very well. I use Quaker State and it cleaned up my motor quite well. A popular choice on this message forum tends to be Pennzoil. To be fair, I think most synthetics clean very well. Any more, I think conventional oil might rival synthetics on their cleaning ability. That is more opinion than fact, however.

 

[mongo161]

IMO....I've used Pennzoil Conventional and Diesel Dino, (Rotella, Kendall, Delvac), and these oils have helped, clean up an engine. There are some cleaners on the market that you may want to explore....

BTW....According to the posters, I thought that Mobil 1, EP, was the best cleaning oil for an engine on the market?
Some really like Pennzoil Ultra, Platinum while some like Valvoline SynPower and White Bottle conventional.

IMO....all motor oils, synthetic or conventional, clean an engine to a certain degree....but varnish is another story.

IMO...Unless, there are some hidden gems on the oil shelf.....for varnish..... I would look into an engine cleaner on the "Oil Additives Section".

 

[Tros]

Originally Posted By: mongo161

IMO...Unless, there are some hidden gems on the oil shelf.....for varnish..... I would look into an engine cleaner on the "Oil Additives Section".


Certainly a sound suggestion. I do have a curiosity how something like Pennzoil Ultra, which claims to be the most cleaning-est motor oil, would compare to a cleaner like MMO or Auto RX.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Originally Posted By: BISCUT
Mention before I came into a 95 Camry 2.2 4 banger with only 68k miles. Changed oil for the first time with Pennzoil conventional.

The car was well taken care of (was my 92 year old grandfathers and before than my aunts). From the mileage you can see my grandfatehr never drove much at all. The oil was changed 2x a year irregardless of the fact the mileage was often 1k miles in that timeframe.

Looking through the oil cap there is varnish, light coating not thick, but its there. I'm sure this vehicle very rarely got to a good 160-180F operating temp for any amount of miles. I'm guessing thats what caused it.

I drive this vehicle about 25 miles each way to work and back so its plenty warm now. Will the varnish eventually dissipate? or just remain there?

I'm going to be running 3k OCI with DINO most likely Pennzoil conventional.


Good idea. Get the engine normal temps regularly - do at least three OCIs this way and watch the varnish dissipate.

 

[mongo161]

You could also take the car on a nice high speed RT road trip to Florida. I bet that would help remove the varnish with some Pennzoil Conventional in the sump.

 

[Shannow]

The varnish is an oxidation product of the base stock of the oil...it took a long time to get there, and usually does no harm.

(It's nasty in turbines, as it hinders, and sometimes massively and dangerously messes up governor control).

It forms in the oil, at a rate governed by the conditions. When the oil is "full" of varnish, it finds places to drop out, to keep the oil "full" usually these are cooler areas...vid shows "solid" varnish dissolving with heat.



Once there, when you change the oil, the new oil will reach equilibrium, and if there's a lot of laid down varnish "fill up" almost immediately,and start laying down varnish from oxidation products almost immediately.

There's electrostatic technologies to pull the varnish out of the oil, when it's got some capacity back, it dissolves more. If it can be removed, system will become clean.

Some oils hold more than others for sure, but only to their capacity, same with solvents.

Only way to get rid of it is to add new oil, give it a time to saturate with varnish that it's dissolved off the surface, drain and repeat...

Multiple short OCIs...get a 5 gal drum of Fleet HDEO, and change every 1,000-1,500 miles until the drum is empty, should make a difference...then go back to your regular viewing.

 

[BISCUT]

Shannow,

When the oil is saturated with varnish would you bea able to see the oil change from light gold to dark and dirty? On a short OCI?

Does is fill a filter? or is it more like a burned off byproduct in suspension you cannot readily see with the nacked eye?

 

[Shannow]

Given normal oil dirtiness, I don't think you'll see it or filter it.

 

[circuitsmith]

Changing the oil twice a year assured a clean engine.
Ignore the varnish.

Since 1990 I drive about 4000 miles a year. I ride a bicycle to work.
My 1988 Accord got 2 changes a year from 1994 to 2007 and ran fine and burned no oil when I sold it with 221k miles.
When I pulled the valve cover to adjust the valves everything except the cam lobes had a golden tint.
Now my 2006 Matrix has 30k miles and gets the same oil change twice a year, filter once a year.