stevek
Yorkshire and The Humber
Posts: 728
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You know the ones you put in and run the engine for 20min (or so) and its 'supposed' to make your engine better.
I know little about them but I 'think' the theory is they have some detergents in that try to shift some of the built up deposits in the engine into the oil, which then gets drained out with the old oil. I read the bottle of one in Halfords and it sounds plausible, but hey I'm not gonna be a sucker and believe the bottle.
Any particular brands any good? Good for Retro/Modern engines or both?
I wanna hear the 'Believers' and the 'Skeptic's' what do you guys (and girls) think? There's bound to be mixed opinions on these things so lets hear....
(Ps. I don't mean the performance additives i've seen those covered before, just the pre oil change ones)
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bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,968
Club RR Member Number: 71
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Engine flushes = Spawn of satan
Like Gremlins really - feed em after midnight and expose them to water and they'll cause you a whole heap of trouble
There isn't and never will be a substitute for regular oil changes
I'll post some pics later to illustrate the point!!
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  Not a fan. If stuffs been there for years dislodging it now could lead to more bother... |
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,968
Club RR Member Number: 71
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I know little about them but I 'think' the theory is they have some detergents in that try to shift some of the built up deposits in the engine into the oil, which then gets drained out with the old oil. I read the bottle of one in Halfords and it sounds plausible, but hey I'm not gonna be a sucker and believe the bottle. They - have a high detergent content - thin the oil They enable carbon removal by reducing the oils ability to keep moving parts aparts so encourage wear There are part of an engine espacially a worn high mileage one where you really don't want to remove carbon eg - behind the rings I hate the bloody stuff with a passion and I have seen some perfectly servicable but high mileage engines ruined by the use of pre oil change engine flushes If you must use one then follow the instructions to the letter and don't think that if 10 mins is good 20 mins must be better If it says add to engine and allow to tickover - don't drive it then don't leave it in for a week and 500 miles Still think it's spawn of Satan mind |
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don't USE IT it dislodges carbon in old engines that havent had frequent changes and FOOKS everything up orrible stuff
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I would not recommend them either, every car I have used them in seems to burn more oil after the treatment! Same with that Castrol high mileage oil, for old engines IT' TOTAL SH!T burns off twice as quickly as regular oil and made the 1.6 CVH in my old XR3i sound knackered  |
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Last Edit: Jun 1, 2007 14:41:28 GMT by Robinxr4i
Sierra - here we go again! He has an illness, it's not his fault.
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qwerty
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,419
Club RR Member Number: 52
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OOOPs I've always used it. Never had any problems.
I flushed the engine in my Coupe S and it ran waaaaay better. Stopped spitting oil into the carb as well. Just gunna change oil regularly now tho.
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bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,968
Club RR Member Number: 71
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I want to be positive in this thread and offer an alternative to the "flush" treatments
Flushing is agressive harsh and potentially an engine killer -blah blah blah
Oil when it's old and burnt leaves carbon deposits
New oil will absorb some of the carbon gently back into itself
Thats why when you do an oil change on an engine thats had less than regular maintenance it turns black so fast!!!
So use cheap budget branded oil and change it and then maybe after 500 miles change it again after 1000 miles change it again and after 1500 further miles change it again
Then revert to 3000 mile changes it will have cost you max £15 and you will have done a much better job (and safer) of removing any crud without dislodging some of the stuff you really don't want to dislodge
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qwerty
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,419
Club RR Member Number: 52
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Yup mines getting another service before I head down to retro cars.
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Ive used flush once. It was in my 1979 reooc, but its only done 66000, 63000 at the time. I cant remember why, but i couldnt drop the oil so i ran the car with the flush in for a few days.  Its been fine ever since. No better, no worse. But the oil stays nice and clean. However, don't use fuel system flush!! Cleans all the curse word out the lines/tank then clogs your carb jets up all the time till you flush it all out properly. That stuff really is spawn of satan! maybe i had no probs as it was a low mile engine? |
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ImpManiac
Part of things
Imps... Imps... Imps...
Posts: 868
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I cannot prove it but am sure that engine flush killed the 3-litre quad cam in my old Omega. It was my daily and I had it repaired at a garage local to my work more than once. You simply cannot use it on an engine with the kind of likeage that my old Omega had - about 176,000 miles when I got rid of it. The tappets never recovered and clattered to the bitter end. I miss that car.  "I'm"  |
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1966 Singer Chamois sprint/hillclimb car in white over blue two tone
1975 Triumph Stag long term project (over 20 years so far) in colour TBA
2003 Vauxhall Vectra GSi 3.2 in black sapphire
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Personally I used it once in a Pinto with 115k miles on. At 125k it died - two of the cylinders' bores looked cooked (gone "blue"). Whether or not it was related to the flushing, I don't know, but I wouldn't do it again....
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My fleet:
Suzuki GSX-R600Y SRAD with bald, melted tyres
A borrowed Mondeo
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bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,968
Club RR Member Number: 71
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Not many fans then (and IMHO some lucky escapes with lower mileage engines)
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Hirst
Posted a lot
This avatar is inaccurate, I've never shaved that closely
Posts: 3,930
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Sounds like the only engines you'd want to use them on (ones with lots of sludge) would be damaged by them, so a bit pointless really! Don't like the idea of a quick fix solution.
Bstardchild's method sounds like the way to go. When I get my Avanzato on the road (which has been sat for a few years now), I'm going to change the oil every month until I'm happy. If my theory is right, the first oil change should be filthy, then it will gradually get cleaner as the rubbish leaves the system.
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Good timing, my new retro grind ha not had a change for at least 3 years, sooo needs a service, and the rest!  pondered these detergent things while day dreaming today. reckon i'll sling that £3 budget oil in and change all filters/plugs for a bit and hope it perks up.... |
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 it doesn't matter if it's a Morris Marina or a Toyota Celica - it's what you do with it that counts |
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spacekadett
Part of things
F*cking take that Hans Brrix!!
Posts: 838
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Use them nearly every service at work (my boss is a fan of them), except on old / high milers and strangely some BMWs as they're recomended for them  Had a problem once when some idiot customer put one in a clapped out CVH Rustcort. They drove it 15 ish miles to us clattering like curse word as it had dumped all the cack into the sump and blocked the strainer. Cleaned the sump and it ran fine for years afterwards tho! However I would never EVER put one in my own car! |
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Mechanic's rule #1... If the car works, anything left on the floor after you finished wasn't needed in the first place  |
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bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,968
Club RR Member Number: 71
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Bstardchild's method sounds like the way to go. When I get my Avanzato on the road (which has been sat for a few years now), I'm going to change the oil every month until I'm happy. If my theory is right, the first oil change should be filthy, then it will gradually get cleaner as the rubbish leaves the system. It does exactly that. |
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Hirst
Posted a lot
This avatar is inaccurate, I've never shaved that closely
Posts: 3,930
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Excellent work! Best go load up on Tesco Value Oil, then.
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froggy
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,099
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i use forte stuff but not in old shitters ,it does work on late motors that can have lifter issues and in nearly ten years of daily use ive never had any problems but i wouldnt use it on a known sludger ie v8 or cvh but i hardly see any now
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Not many fans then (and IMHO some lucky escapes with lower mileage engines) It also got a complete new top end at the same time, changed the head/tappets/cam AFTER the treatment so the only thing it vould have badly affected was the bottom end. don't think i'd take the risk again though. |
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Had a problem once when some idiot customer put one in a clapped out CVH Rustcort. They drove it 15 ish miles to us clattering like curse word as it had dumped all the cack into the sump and blocked the strainer. Cleaned the sump and it ran fine for years afterwards tho!
