Varnish

Pennzoil motor oil
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zerosoma

zerosoma

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Tell me now, what can be said about engine varnish? When I look down the oil fill hole I can see no sludge (good!), but some light varnish. Is this absolutely normal with all engines over 80k? Is there any reason I should try and get rid of the varnish off by running a strong oil?
 
Varnish is generally harmless. It's normal, and unless there's a teeny tiny little VVT passage that gets varnished to the point of uselessness (incredibly rare, BTW), it won't do any damage.
 
Most engines will have some varnish,but it doesn't hurt anything like sludge or deposits do,just looks bad,i wouldn't worry about.
 
Originally Posted By: daman
Most engines will have some varnish,but it doesn't hurt anything like sludge or deposits do,just looks bad,i wouldn't worry about.

+1
 
Varnish will mess up some engines. Trav posted pics of a varnished up honda he worked on. It was causing all kinds of problems.
In engines like my 5.4 that have a lot of hydraulic stuff going on it can really mess stuff up. I mean a bad tensioner can cause phaser problems and it could cost thousands in repair bills. A dirty vct solenoid will cause bad cam timing poor performance and the engine to sound like a diesel.

So ya as far as im concerned its a very real problem
 
Originally Posted By: zerosoma
Tell me now, what can be said about engine varnish? When I look down the oil fill hole I can see no sludge (good!), but some light varnish. Is this absolutely normal with all engines over 80k? Is there any reason I should try and get rid of the varnish off by running a strong oil?


Some light varnish is normal in an older engine, but you might want to consider using a major brand synthetic if the engine has a low oil consumption or a High Mileage oil if not. The other good idea is to send off a used oil sample to Blackstones for analysis to cross check your OCI is OK. If you do decide doing a used oil analysis, ask for the TBN, as that figure in combination with the insolubles is crtical in terms of confirming your OCI.
 
Originally Posted By: electrolover
Varnish will mess up some engines. Trav posted pics of a varnished up honda he worked on. It was causing all kinds of problems.
In engines like my 5.4 that have a lot of hydraulic stuff going on it can really mess stuff up. I mean a bad tensioner can cause phaser problems and it could cost thousands in repair bills. A dirty vct solenoid will cause bad cam timing poor performance and the engine to sound like a diesel.

So ya as far as im concerned its a very real problem


Varnish is just a discoloration of metal. Deposits/films/build-up cause those problems, not varnish.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: badtlc
Originally Posted By: electrolover
Varnish will mess up some engines. Trav posted pics of a varnished up honda he worked on. It was causing all kinds of problems.
In engines like my 5.4 that have a lot of hydraulic stuff going on it can really mess stuff up. I mean a bad tensioner can cause phaser problems and it could cost thousands in repair bills. A dirty vct solenoid will cause bad cam timing poor performance and the engine to sound like a diesel.

So ya as far as im concerned its a very real problem


Varnish is just a discoloration of metal. Deposits/films/build-up cause those problems, not varnish.


Varnish is a film. And it builds up
 
Originally Posted By: electrolover
Originally Posted By: badtlc
Originally Posted By: electrolover
Varnish will mess up some engines. Trav posted pics of a varnished up honda he worked on. It was causing all kinds of problems.
In engines like my 5.4 that have a lot of hydraulic stuff going on it can really mess stuff up. I mean a bad tensioner can cause phaser problems and it could cost thousands in repair bills. A dirty vct solenoid will cause bad cam timing poor performance and the engine to sound like a diesel.

So ya as far as im concerned its a very real problem


Varnish is just a discoloration of metal. Deposits/films/build-up cause those problems, not varnish.


Varnish is a film. And it builds up


A film is a film.
 
Ok chief
08.gif
 
Originally Posted By: badtlc
A film is a film.


And a film that gets thicker is a build-up.

Varnish is polar oxidised oil molecules that float in the oil, and are attracted to metal. Once the film is formed on the metal (not discoloration of the metal, an actual film), it then attracts other varnish molecules, and "building" the film thickness.

And when it's thick enough, it can cause problems.

Here's Varnish "in" an oil, and it's behaviour with temperature.
 
Originally Posted By: volk06
So the question is, how can varnish be removed effectively? PU? MMO?


I have had good luck with synthetic oils, kreen , and MMO.
 
Originally Posted By: tig1
Originally Posted By: volk06
So the question is, how can varnish be removed effectively? PU? MMO?


M1 claims it can be very effective with varnish removal. Here's a link.

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Synthetics/Mobil_1_Sludge_Protection.aspx



Is that true when Mobil 1 says,

"all conventional and semi-synthetic oils oxidize and turn to sludge. Mobil 1 does not." ?

If that's true, why change M1 at all? Why not leave it in forever?
 
Originally Posted By: zerosoma
Originally Posted By: tig1
Originally Posted By: volk06
So the question is, how can varnish be removed effectively? PU? MMO?


M1 claims it can be very effective with varnish removal. Here's a link.

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Synthetics/Mobil_1_Sludge_Protection.aspx



Is that true when Mobil 1 says,

"all conventional and semi-synthetic oils oxidize and turn to sludge. Mobil 1 does not." ?

If that's true, why change M1 at all? Why not leave it in forever?


Keep in mind its an advertisement.
lol.gif
 
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