What motor oil does the best job of cleaning?

I would love to see that! But thanks for finding another Mobil 1 product they claim can clean.

For reference, this is the sludge clean-up claim for M1 0w-40:
View attachment 97420

Decent results, but definitely not "near new" as claimed in the outcome section.
How do we know that M1 FS 0W-40 do clean up better than almost any oil out there, without a standardized clean-up engine test to put other oils on? Or is it just M1s claim coupled with the assumption of presence of some group 5 base oil like POE?
 
Could the Mobil 1 Truck & SUV oil offer some benefits?

Not sure about it's ability to clean. Oils aren't cleaners. They have detergents in them to keep oil deposits to a minimum while still effectively lubricating.

The marketing claim of the Mobil 1 Truck & SUV is it contains 10% more detergents to help maintain, clean, and reduce oil deposits or prevent them from happening in the first place.

It may have a legitimate advantage of some other oils.
 
How do we know that M1 FS 0W-40 do clean up better than almost any oil out there, without a standardized clean-up engine test to put other oils on? Or is it just M1s claim coupled with the assumption of presence of some group 5 base oil like POE?
Exactly. It's just a claim, but at least they provide some evidence that their product cleans. Most brands do not. As I said, engine oils aren't cleaners, their focus is on keeping things clean.
 
To put in suspension (detergents) and prevent from agglomerating (dispersants) both combustion byproducts as well as the contaminants produced by the lubricant breaking down.
To put in suspension, is that what dispersants do?
 
To put in suspension, is that what dispersants do?
No, as I noted, the dispersants prevent agglomeration; prevent the suspended deposits, bits of VII material, broken down base oil, carbon from combustion and blow by...etc from clumping together, which would make them heavier and work against the action of the detergents that are preventing them from plating-out on surfaces and trying to keep them suspended.
 
Kind of like this?

So… Detergents are a surfatent

And that leads up to dispersants…
 
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Kind of like this?

So… Detergents are a surfatent

And that leads up to dispersants…

Yes, both are surfactants, but they serve different functions, as the videos show you. Now, while the video says they get deposited in the oil filter, that's not really true. Only large particles will end up in the oil filter. Soot for example, is too fine to end up in the filter, so it stays in circulation. That's why the dispersants are important, because they prevent the soot particles from agglomerating. While some carbonaceous material will of course end up in the oil filter, there is plenty of stuff that won't, and so the detergents ensure that these stay suspended in the oil (don't plate-out on surfaces; keep surfaces clean) so that they can be removed with the next oil change.
 
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You could also add Rislone engine oil treatment to an oil change or Sea Foam the last 100 miles of an OCI . Pro's and Con's to both .
 
I have no scientific proof whatsoever, but after i changed to shell (penzoil in us) i noticed that after every oci the oil filters had a lot of deposits in them. So much that i could scrape it out with a screw driver.

1500 miles ago i switched from shell to Fuchs after having used shell for 90k miles. All in all i was happy with shell with also delivering a good uoa at 15k ocis.
 
Wouldn’t a dual rated diesel oil be held to the same standard and restrictions as its gas counterparts or else it would just be a diesel oil, what makes a dual rated oil clean better and finally what does shell gas have to do with an oil’s cleaning ability?
 
Wouldn’t a dual rated diesel oil be held to the same standard and restrictions as its gas counterparts or else it would just be a diesel oil, what makes a dual rated oil clean better and finally what does shell gas have to do with an oil’s cleaning ability?
You can see on the jug that Rotella is a gasoline SN rated oil in addition to the Diesel CK-4 so what that means to you is exactly that.
A SN rated gasoline oil.
Being it is also rated CK-4 for Diesel engines it would be safe to assume it has more detergent than a non diesel oil.
Diesel oils typically have more detergent to clean and keep the soot in suspension.
I havent looked into it in a while and you can confirm.
 
Not to beat a dead horse, but engine oils aren't formulated to be cleaners, as I've stated multiple times in this thread, and that goes for diesel oils as well. While there is some advertising material from Mobil about their oils providing some level of cleaning, this isn't an additive package function; the additive packages are not formulated to eliminate significant existing deposit formation, they are setup to prevent deposits from forming (keep surfaces clean via the detergents, which also neutralize acids and have some other functions) and prevent the material like soot, carbon, broken-down VII, degraded base oil...etc from agglomerating (dispersants), aiding in keeping them in suspension so they can be removed via an oil change.

To eliminate significant existing deposits you need to use either:
1. A solvent. This carries with it obvious risks, as these products do not totally dissolve what they are removing and you can plug up filters and oil pump pick-ups as well as small passages in the engine (think VCT stuff).

2. An ester. This will be limited by seal-swell tendencies. It will also be MUCH slower than solvents, but is far lower risk. HPL produces an engine cleaner product that leverages this mechanism. This is also the source for Mobil's claim about the cleaning ability of M1 0w-40 in the past, and likely with other products, since their portfolio of esters is extensive. The treat rate with the Mobil products will be lower than with the HPL dedicated cleaner.
 
2. An ester. This will be limited by seal-swell tendencies. It will also be MUCH slower than solvents, but is far lower risk. HPL produces an engine cleaner product that leverages this mechanism. This is also the source for Mobil's claim about the cleaning ability of M1 0w-40 in the past, and likely with other products, since their portfolio of esters is extensive. The treat rate with the Mobil products will be lower than with the HPL dedicated cleaner.
My engine has almost 90K miles on it, and doesn't use any observable amount of oil in 3,000+ miles, nor does it have any leaks. However, when I purchased the car almost 2 years ago, it was clear that it had been neglected. During the past 2 years, I've done whatever I could do to improve its condition.

I'm coming up on an oil change and was thinking of using the HPL Engine Cleaner, but I am hesitant to do so because I've seen pics and read reports of carbon getting dislodged and small pieces being found in the oil filter. I'm concerned that the carbon could get into a position, such as into the bearings or cylinders, to do some damage.

So, that brings me to the questions I have:

What are the chances those small pieces of carbon can do damage to bearings or cylinder walls, or perhaps block some small oil passages?

In a way, I'd prefer to take a slower and easier (on the engine) approach by using an oil that could help clean things up a bit. M1 0W-40 sounds like it may be an acceptable approach. The only downside is that I'd prefer a somewhat thinner oil, like a 5W-30 or 0W-30 in the sump. Is there another oil that would behave similarly to the M1 0W-40 in those thinner grades?

The other thought I has was to use some HPL oil. I was wondering if its formulation would have cleansing characteristics similar to, or perhaps even stronger than, the M1? Would the results be comparable to using the HPL Engine Cleaner?

Thanks for any feedback.
 
My engine has almost 90K miles on it, and doesn't use any observable amount of oil in 3,000+ miles, nor does it have any leaks. However, when I purchased the car almost 2 years ago, it was clear that it had been neglected. During the past 2 years, I've done whatever I could do to improve its condition.

I'm coming up on an oil change and was thinking of using the HPL Engine Cleaner, but I am hesitant to do so because I've seen pics and read reports of carbon getting dislodged and small pieces being found in the oil filter. I'm concerned that the carbon could get into a position, such as into the bearings or cylinders, to do some damage.

So, that brings me to the questions I have:

What are the chances those small pieces of carbon can do damage to bearings or cylinder walls, or perhaps block some small oil passages?

In a way, I'd prefer to take a slower and easier (on the engine) approach by using an oil that could help clean things up a bit. M1 0W-40 sounds like it may be an acceptable approach. The only downside is that I'd prefer a somewhat thinner oil, like a 5W-30 or 0W-30 in the sump. Is there another oil that would behave similarly to the M1 0W-40 in those thinner grades?

The other thought I has was to use some HPL oil. I was wondering if its formulation would have cleansing characteristics similar to, or perhaps even stronger than, the M1? Would the results be comparable to using the HPL Engine Cleaner?

Thanks for any feedback.
Large deposits will have to get past the oil filter to get to any tight clearance like bearings. Unless the filter goes into bypass and that is a possibility. A engine flush can affect oil seals also. If you change you oil with a TBN about 1/2 of what you start with you can get the maximum cleaning of the detergent ability of the oil.
 
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My engine has almost 90K miles on it, and doesn't use any observable amount of oil in 3,000+ miles, nor does it have any leaks. However, when I purchased the car almost 2 years ago, it was clear that it had been neglected. During the past 2 years, I've done whatever I could do to improve its condition.

I'm coming up on an oil change and was thinking of using the HPL Engine Cleaner, but I am hesitant to do so because I've seen pics and read reports of carbon getting dislodged and small pieces being found in the oil filter. I'm concerned that the carbon could get into a position, such as into the bearings or cylinders, to do some damage.

So, that brings me to the questions I have:

What are the chances those small pieces of carbon can do damage to bearings or cylinder walls, or perhaps block some small oil passages?

In a way, I'd prefer to take a slower and easier (on the engine) approach by using an oil that could help clean things up a bit. M1 0W-40 sounds like it may be an acceptable approach. The only downside is that I'd prefer a somewhat thinner oil, like a 5W-30 or 0W-30 in the sump. Is there another oil that would behave similarly to the M1 0W-40 in those thinner grades?

The other thought I has was to use some HPL oil. I was wondering if its formulation would have cleansing characteristics similar to, or perhaps even stronger than, the M1? Would the results be comparable to using the HPL Engine Cleaner?

Thanks for any feedback.
Those deposits are usually pretty soft, so I wouldn't be too concerned about them. I got a ton of them out of my Expedition when I started running M1 in it, they'd accumulate in the filter.

You could try a run with M1 0w-40 and see if it cleans anything out. If it does, then perhaps running the HPL cleaner would be wise. If it doesn't, then probably not much to clean.
 
I am hesitant to do so because I've seen pics and read reports of carbon getting dislodged and small pieces being found in the oil filter.

Isn't that exactly what it's for? :unsure:
I suppose, but that isn't my concern. You selected only a part of what I said. The important part was: I'm concerned that the carbon could get into a position, such as into the bearings or cylinders, to do some damage.
 
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