Should I flush before I switch to synthetic?

[beatle78]

Hi guys,

I'm new to synthetic, I've always used dino my whole life.

I just picked up a '03 5.3L silverado w/ 36k miles and I'm going to be switching over to synthetic this next oil change.

Do I want to use Seafoam or some other engine flush before I drain the oil?

thanks,
beatle78

 

[coffee]

With that low of miles I would say no to the flush and yes to the synthetic. It will clean up anything that "may" exist and is a good time to switch.

 

[Bulli]

NO, engine flushing is for loosers.
Jusst pour in the synthetic and feel the differance,

 

[globey]

It's totally unnecessary. Given it's relatively low mileage, this vehicle should not require any of these steps unless it was absolutely ignored.

Drain and switch to synthetic with no remorse.

 

[Pablo]

I would say not necessary, but if the history of oil changes is spotty, perhaps a flush will help drain all the old oil out.

I would say better would be a day or an hour on fresh lower cost dino would be better than a flush for a semi-clean engine.

 

[beatle78]

ok, thanks guys.

The OCI history seems to be right on. It's about to hit the 3000 miles mark on this batch of dino that came with the truck. It's probably 6 months to a year old since the previous owner did not drive that much.

 

[Harley Anderson]

Agree with Pabs, I would use a cheap oil to flush with before I put any harsh solvent in a engine. Go to walmart or TSC and get some cheap HDEO to run for a couple hundred miles.

 

[FZ1]

No flush. Get the oil hot and change it hot. Just dump in the syn of your choice. Good to go.

 

[PT1]

You could always flush it with Royal Purple...

 

[chet2]

i have always just dumped in the M1 w/o flushing...dont waste your money

 

[Iain]

Originally Posted By: beatle78
Hi guys,

I'm new to synthetic, I've always used dino my whole life.

I just picked up a '03 5.3L silverado w/ 36k miles and I'm going to be switching over to synthetic this next oil change.

Do I want to use Seafoam or some other engine flush before I drain the oil?

thanks,
beatle78

Stay far, far away from any sort of chemical engine "flushes".

When I bought my 2001 Taurus in 2005 with it's then unknown maintenance history, I immediately changed the oil with the cheapest dino I could find.

Then, after a 1K OCI of that, I switched to Mobil 1 5W-30 for it's initial 3K OCI of synthetic. That OCI was amazing as oil was pitch-black at end. Oil colour changes of subsequent OCI have not been as dramatic.

Subsequent OCI have been in compliance with with OEM specifications using 5W-20 and current fill viscosity of Mobil 1.

 

[02zx9r]

Originally Posted By: FZ1
No flush. Get the oil hot and change it hot. Just dump in the syn of your choice. Good to go.


X2

 

[beatle78]

thanks for all the replies guys.....

so get the engine hot (my ride home from work), change it hot, then replace with the PP I bought last night along with a NAPA gold filter.

Thanks!!!

 

[Bob The Builder]

Use the Amsoil Flush. I had very good results with it. On a low mileage engine such as yours, you won't have to worry about loosening up large particles inside of it. The Amsoil flush product is very strong and will pretty much dissolve anything that shouldn't be in there and will come right out when draining.

Anti flame disclaimer.....Or you could just change right over to your synthetic oil of choice while your old oil is still hot. Did someone just say Amsoil flush is good?

 

[beatle78]

Originally Posted By: Bob The Builder
Use the Amsoil Flush. I had very good results with it. On a low mileage engine such as yours, you won't have to worry about loosening up large particles inside of it. The Amsoil flush product is very strong and will pretty much dissolve anything that shouldn't be in there and will come right out when draining.

Anti flame disclaimer.....Or you could just change right over to your synthetic oil of choice while your old oil is still hot. Did someone just say Amsoil flush is good?


Since there are such few miles on the engine, will a couple of OCI's using synthetic basically do the same thing?

 

[PW01]

If you are going to do anything, use Auto Rx. If not, just change and go.

 

[harry j]

Originally Posted By: beatle78
Hi guys,

I'm new to synthetic, I've always used dino my whole life.

I just picked up a '03 5.3L silverado w/ 36k miles and I'm going to be switching over to synthetic this next oil change.

Do I want to use Seafoam or some other engine flush before I drain the oil?

thanks,
beatle78




beatle78,

I switched to synthetic with 118,000 miles (Amsoil TSO 0W-30) and didn't do an engine flush. Now with 250,000 miles on 'er, all is well, in fact it runs so well, not withstanding the gas prices, can't wait to drive somewhere. I just love a smooth, well running engine.

 

[JohnBrowning]

You do not have to but it is a good idea. If you flush first then you can take full advantage of the synthetics charteristics if you do not then it takes 2-3 oil changes with the synthetic before you can really see the advantages of extended drains and insane amount of miles per OCI etc..... It does not have to be anything fancy any over the counter engine flush done for 15-30 minutes even if it says 5 minute flush will do. Add to cold engine run RPM's up to 1200-1500 for 15-30 minutes drain change filter and add fresh synthetic and you are ready to rock and roll! On a realtively new vechile like lets say 20K or less miles you can just change directly to the synthetic since most engines with that few miles are not going to be very dirty unless they have been neglected.

Their is no reason to be afraid of a solvent engine flush. They have been used almost as long as car's have been on the road and seldom is their a problem when their is it is not the flush that does the damage rather the extreme level of neglect prior to the flush. SOlvent flush's are industry standard as well any place internal combustion gas or diesel engines are used. You just do not want to abuse them or over use them.In fact some places use machine to do what more mild in crankcase solvent run does. So if a vechile is not a sludge beast from he ll and it has decent clearances and the seals and bearing s are in decent shape it is almost impossable to get into any trouble. This is why Amsoil,Lube Guard,Golden Eagle,Gunk, and many other companies make solvent flush's for car's not only are they cheap to produce and sell they are realitively safe to use. Some oil companies like Motul make a FLushing oil wich was a 20Wt. oil that had a lot of solvents,dispesants,amines in it and was designed to stay in the car just long enough to clean out some of the junk that was in their.

 

[pickled]

I'm with you JohnBrowning. I use the Amsoil Engine Flush (I bought a case of it 6 years ago overall it's pretty cheap and effective) whenever I change a vehicle over to synthetic. The three vehicles I didn't do this with (2 chevy's and a honda) all had consumption issues for the first 2 OCI's on the new EXPENSIVE synthetic juju. I'm sure others have experienced this, but when I flush vehicles first they don't seem to consume expensive make-up oil as readily. Just my own observations...it's your car do whatever your heart desires.

 

[lenjack]

No flush needed.