Would HPL EC clean this up?

[FTTSHO]

I personally would not recommend any heavy duty cleaners. If it running good now, and there aren’t any sludge, you’re fine. Varnish is nothing to worry about. Sludge is what you should worry about, but it doesn’t seem there are any sludge.


But if you want to do some cleaning action, VRP 5w30 or M1 ESP 0w30 will be a solid choice. ESP 0w30 with its ester should help clean some of that with multiple oil changes, and should also help with your seals, since it’s got 250k miles.

 

[Glenda W.]

Seems like the perfect candidate for Valvoline R&P to me.

 

[wemay]

Valvoline R&P.

 

[53' Stude]

I’d use royal purple Hps. I’m not some royal purple plugging nut, but I just had a very clean engine turn the oil black in 6500 miles when hpl and Schaeffers did not. I think there was some crud somewhere that the HPS cleaned up. I borescoped the top of the engine a 85k after running maxlife synthetic from new, changed out every 4-5k and where could see was still new looking. Bright and shiny. But I wouldn’t worry about what you have there. That’s varnish and won’t hurt a thing. It looks like a Mobil 1 engine, which isn’t a bad thing.

I wouldn’t. Royal Purple is NOT what it used to be. Reatore and Protect and HPL show results from what I have saw

 

[thetricky]

C’mon folks, he’s like most of us here! We all know varnish is not in the least bit detrimental, it is however, an eye sore for all of us that geek out over our engines and oils.

OP: run the full fill of HPL like several have stated and motor-on happy

 

[OVERKILL]

C’mon folks, he’s like most of us here! We all know varnish is not in the least bit detrimental, it is however, an eye sore for all of us that geek out over our engines and oils.

OP: run the full fill of HPL like several have stated and motor-on happy

Actually, varnish in the ring lands reduces oil control and compression, hampering performance, so it's not innocuous.

 

[thetricky]

Actually, varnish in the ring lands reduces oil control and compression, hampering performance, so it's not innocuous.

True. Most posts/concerns involve the valve train area, I should have been more specific.

 

[OVERKILL]

True. Most posts/concerns involve the valve train area, I should have been more specific.

Yes, but the valvetrain is a pretty low stress, moderate heat area, so I think it's safe to assume that if you are getting build-up here, your ring land areas aren't looking too hot either. At least that's been my experience with tear-downs. A 302 I tore down with a buddy of mine (it was his) had some moderate varnish in the valvetrain, everything was a "golden" hue, certainly not as bad as some of the examples I've seen on here. Every single piston ring was stuck in the grooves with a thick lacquer.

 

[ARB1977]

Currently running R&P in the 01 F150. In the fall I’ll change it out and go every six’s months after. It’s my son’s truck. The engine isn’t horrible and doesn’t burn any oil. I’ll cut the filter open when the time comes.

 

[D1dad]

I wouldn’t. Royal Purple is NOT what it used to be. Reatore and Protect and HPL show results from what I have saw

Walmart Royal purple, I agree. The better stuff is still decent. Staying on top of oil changes makes this conversation never happen though.

 

[53' Stude]

Walmart Royal purple, I agree. The better stuff is still decent. Staying on top of oil changes makes this conversation never happen though.

I’ll stay with whats working for me HPL. No fancy tricks there.

 

[thetricky]

Yes, but the valvetrain is a pretty low stress, moderate heat area, so I think it's safe to assume that if you are getting build-up here, your ring land areas aren't looking too hot either. At least that's been my experience with tear-downs. A 302 I tore down with a buddy of mine (it was his) had some moderate varnish in the valvetrain, everything was a "golden" hue, certainly not as bad as some of the examples I've seen on here. Every single piston ring was stuck in the grooves with a thick lacquer.

This is one of the main reasons myself and I'm sure others here run HPL, for the rings. I was just getting at the fact that a clean valve train is just a point of pride for most of us on here that are hugely into maintaining our vehicles in tip-top shape, for whatever each persons reasons are for doing it.

 

[Mainia]

Restore and protect for 4 oil changes, and call it a year.

 

[fen1]

I certainly am in agreement with those who think your engine looks very good for the miles it has. Overkill brought up something I did not think about, and that's the rings and lands. You can use Mobil 1 ESP 0/5W30, or HPL or VRP and clean that area up. You're in good shape overall.

 

[BlakeB]

https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/valvoline-restore-protect-experiment.153344/page-3
There are some pics in this thread that show some pretty impressive cleaning happening with VRP.

I posted this in the other VRP thread. It shows some pretty impressive cleaning in just two oil changes. There’s more pics on the 6th page as well.