flush old oil?

[paradoxx]

Does anyone know how to, after throwing away the old oil, clean all the residues of the oil? I want to have the internals very clean.

[DanielC]

If you are talking about cleaning up the inside of the engine, I believe the best way is to change the oil, and filter again.

when you change the oil, do this. Get the engine good and hot, then park the car where you can let it sit overnight. Right before draining the oil, start the engine again, rev the engine up to about 3000 RPM, holt it there for about 30 seconds, and immediately pull the plug, and let the hot oil drain. Pull the oil filter, too.

Let the oil drain overnight.

The next day, fill the center hole on the new oil filter with oil. Do this slowly, and let the oil seep all the way into the filter. Use the factory filter, do not use orange oil filters. Put the drain plug back in, and put the oil filled oil filter back on the engine. Put the required amount of oil back into the engine, remembering you already put a pint to a quart of oil into the filter. If you can crank the engine without starting it, do that. (Unplug and ground a coil wire, or pull a fuel pump relay). Crank until you get an oil pressure indication. Hook the coil wire or relay back up, and then start the engine. Look for oil leaks, especially around the oil filter. Recheck the oil level.

 

Make sure your Positive Crankcase Valve is working. At idle, you should feel a slight vacuum on your hand if you use it to cover the oil fill hole.

 

When your oil gets dirty again, change it, and the filter again. It may happen as 300 miles, it may happen at 3000 miles.

[BJW's FiveTen's]

I use a product called Seafoam, Pour in right before oil change while engine is hot. Let run for 15 min, drain. Or you can use ATF, it is a great detergent for cleaning your engine.

[paradoxx]

If you are talking about cleaning up the inside of the engine, I believe the best way is to change the oil, and filter again.

when you change the oil, do this. Get the engine good and hot, then park the car where you can let it sit overnight. Right before draining the oil, start the engine again, rev the engine up to about 3000 RPM, holt it there for about 30 seconds, and immediately pull the plug, and let the hot oil drain. Pull the oil filter, too.

Let the oil drain overnight.

The next day, fill the center hole on the new oil filter with oil. Do this slowly, and let the oil seep all the way into the filter. Use the factory filter, do not use orange oil filters. Put the drain plug back in, and put the oil filled oil filter back on the engine. Put the required amount of oil back into the engine, remembering you already put a pint to a quart of oil into the filter. If you can crank the engine without starting it, do that. (Unplug and ground a coil wire, or pull a fuel pump relay). Crank until you get an oil pressure indication. Hook the coil wire or relay back up, and then start the engine. Look for oil leaks, especially around the oil filter. Recheck the oil level.

 

Make sure your Positive Crankcase Valve is working. At idle, you should feel a slight vacuum on your hand if you use it to cover the oil fill hole.

 

When your oil gets dirty again, change it, and the filter again. It may happen as 300 miles, it may happen at 3000 miles.

 

Thank you very much for that excellent explanation.

 

 

I use a product called Seafoam, Pour in right before oil change while engine is hot. Let run for 15 min, drain. Or you can use ATF, it is a great detergent for cleaning your engine.

 

Let me check if I can get that product here locally.

 

P.S. Let me know about the auction stuff :D

[Braden]

Thank you very much for that excellent explanation.

 

 

 

 

Let me check if I can get that product here locally.

 

P.S. Let me know about the auction stuff :D

seafoam will work fine but, it is about 7 or 8 bucks a can and is nothing more than a powerful solvent, kerosene or work good so will diesel fuel, they make actual motor flushes that you can get at the parts store, be careful though, i wouldnt run the engine more than 5 minutes only at IDLE, kerosene doesnt have the lubrication properties that motor oil does, have fun and good luck!

[hang_510]

"orange filters" :lol:

Let me check if I can get that product here locally.

careful doing this on an old/tired engine(motor :P )!

 

 

i like marvel mystery oil, similiar to ATF.

 

 

seafoam is also good stuff. very smoky! :D

[72240z]

seafoam will work fine but, it is about 7 or 8 bucks a can and is nothing more than a powerful solvent, kerosene or work good so will diesel fuel, they make actual motor flushes that you can get at the parts store, be careful though, i wouldnt run the engine more than 5 minutes only at IDLE, kerosene doesnt have the lubrication properties that motor oil does, have fun and good luck!

 

I do a variation of this and it is hands down the best. Seafoam is good for like upkeep cleansing but for a full on flush and clean running kerosene is hands down the best. My variation is more involved, I run a quart of oil then the rest kerosene for 5 min with the engine already hot. Then after I drain the kerosene I run bargain basement oil for 10min to help flush out the kerosene remnants out.

 

That method I have used maybe 10 times to solve everything from lower end noises to valve tick. It works every single time.

 

Like warned though don't run it longer then 5 min and I really do suggest the flush with garbage oil. Remnants diluting oil aside kerosene is going to eat at all your seals of a longer period then just a quick flush.

[dimedriver]

Be very careful after adding one of these solvents to the oil.

 

Don't let the engine run over idle and don't let it over heat just sitting there with no air over the radiator.

 

I had a friend put Marvel mystery oil in then drive the car 50 miles. He lost a rod bearing or two.

 

 

I feel safer just making sure I run an oil with a good detergent package and change it a little early a few times. Maybe every 500 to 1000 miles for the 1st two changes I do. I like Shell Rotella T in the blue bottle its a synthetic blend and the detergent package it one of the best available in the US. Its a 5W-40 so some people may complain about it but its cheap for a semi synthetic at $20 a gal. Most of the big diesel truck oils are good choices if you like the weight of the oil.

 

 

I think using this method is less harmful. You don't want big chunks of stuff breaking off and floating around in your oil. Plus I was never one for additives. It also helps cut done on the ratio of what ever was in there before to your known good oil. Check out Bob's the oil Guy.

 

-Avery

[DanielC]

I would suggest that you would be much better off doing an extra oil change or two, instead of spending money on anything to flush the engine, that may damage your engine.

[zed]

When I do an oil change I leave the car for at least a day with the sump plug out, jack one side up to tilt the sump to help the old oil run out. I use a paraffin gun to blow into the sump and valve cover - the paraffin runs out black. I also use a paraffin gun to blow the old oil out the oil cooler. Probably overkill...

[datzenmike]

If you change the oil and filter as needed, in other words well before it needs it, you don't have to flush or go to this much bother.

 

If you come across a gunked up motor and want to clean it up, buy a gallon of cheap diesel motor oil and a filter. Diesel is highly detergent. Drive around for a month or until it starts to darken as it dissolves the crud, and change it out. Check under the valve cover and you decide if you want to run another gallon through, then change to your brand. Always change the filter.

 

I wouldn't run diesel all the time as the heavy detergent will clean so well it will remove the carbon that helps the piston and rings seal on older motors.

 

I've run ATF (1 liter) for a day and changed it out. Can't say it was effective or not. I wouldn't run this stuff for long as it isn't formulated for the higher temps inside an internal combustion engine and may leave heavy ash deposits around the rings?

[ggzilla]

I agree with Mike.

 

The other treatments will work too, but are more work and more money. And there is a chance of loosening too much gunk at once, which can damage the engine.

[datzenmike]

Seafoam is a solvent that basically dilutes your oil's lubricating properties. If you use it, don't drive it hard or for long. When I was a kid a neighbor would change his oil and refill with a gallon of diesel fuel or furnace oil and run for ten minutes (not driven!) or until the lifters started clacking. Drain it out and refill with regular oil and filter. The ultimate flush. Motor had well over 200K miles. Keep in mind this was an early 60s motor which was lucky to see 120K. I wouldn't go to this extreme on todays motors but was effective back then.

[paradoxx]

well thank you all! flushing it right now

[74datsun620]

ATF is a natural detergent and is cheap add one liter run motor intill warm and drain.

[datsun mechanic]

i would consider remove oil pan.....usally a lot of gunk to solvent brushed out of it

 

 

[datsunaholic]

From experience, running 2 oil changes worth of Synthetic cleaned out my L20B in a hurry. Cleanest engine I every had aside from a fresh one.

 

It also found every way possible to escape out the gaskets...

[jratt]

I recommend doing a couple of extra oil changes within 1000 miles of each other. I've used a motor detergent on my S12 with a CA20E motor.. The engine had over 100k and ran fine before the additive. The problem is the detergent loosend up a bunch of junk that led to bearing problems.

[hang_510]

Be very careful after adding one of these solvents to the oil.

 

I had a friend put Marvel mystery oil in then drive the car 50 miles. He lost a rod bearing or two.

be careful w/all snake oils!!!

 

i added MMO at least 5 times(and other crap) to the CC and drove more than 50mi each time... max 150mi.

went over 1000 mi (on a motor that sat for 10yrs and was 'stuck') before i blew it up due to bad rings :D

[Spades]

the best result with the least amount of consequences I have seen is some ATF added to the oil, let it run at idle to get the engine warm, and drain it all hot. change the oil and then change the oil again 500 miles later.

 

I advise staying away from mineral oil based flush products, hell, I stay away from most engine flush products. I have seen the damage they can cause. The thin additives/oil can weep through gaskets, creating a permanent leak, and the abrasives can damage internals.

 

You would be further ahead to use ATF then change your oil frequently for a bit...

[Farmer Joe]

i would just add a quart of atf, run it for a couple minutes at idle, and then drop the oil. fill it up with new oil and filter and you should be good to go. when i worked at the ford fast lube, we had a customer that had us add a quart of atf to his crown vic before we would do the oil change. add the atf, let it idle, drop, refill with new filter.

 

do this for the next 1 or 2 oil changes and the engine should clean up pretty good.

[Nice140Y]

Thank you very much for that excellent explanation.

 

 

 

 

Let me check if I can get that product here locally.

 

P.S. Let me know about the auction stuff :D

 

Si pues!!

That SeaFoam stuff works great man! I used that on my car and the oil came out so dirty.

I changed the oil again after 3000kms and it came out so clean.

That stuff works.

[datzenmike]

Just realize that you are effectively diluting you lubricating oil with a solvent. This not only reduces it's protection of bearing and cam surfaces, it also flushes carbon and crap which dilutes it further. Follow the directions and easy does it if driving with this stuff in the motor. In fact I wouldn't drive it at all just let it hot idle and sit over night.

 

The best think to keep a motor clean is keep it tuned and change the oil when it starts to get dirty.

[ppeters914]

So, ATF is the flushing bomb, but which one: Type F or Dexron? :rolleyes:

[Spades]

So, ATF is the flushing bomb, but which one: Type F or Dexron? :rolleyes:

 

ATF is a very old school trick, I heard of it first from my grandpa...the additives in common dex 3 work as well as most mineral oil engine flushes, but it is far less harsh on the engine than a mineral or detergent based oil flush.

 

The best thing to do is add half a quart or less to the oil after you have driven the car and warmed the engine up, then let it idle for 5 to 10 minutes, and shut the car off and pull the drain plug while the car is still hot. Let it drain as long as it takes, then dump about a quart of oil in it to help get the dirty oil mixed with ATF out, let it fully drain, and change the filter and add fresh oil.

 

If you repeat this process for a few oil changes, and use a good quality oil(no Penz or Quaker State), and change your oil every 3k or less, your oil will start to come out clean again.

 

It is better to use a less invasive approach like ATF or a small amount of mineral oil based flushes while the motor is at idle over the course of 2 or 3 oil changes, than to run the motor hard with detergent in it and have it look clean after one oil change. Like others have said, you are thinning the oil out, flushing deposits and grime through the engine, past your valve train and bearings...it is a very intrusive procedure no matter how you do it, and to use Gumout or the like, and either drive it with the flush in, or do the flush using RPM's, you risk long term damage to engine components.

 

<shrugs> I am not sure about what Type F has for additives or composition, so I can't tell you if it is a good idea to dump it in your motor, but I can say that you don't want to use regular dex in old ford power steering systems, 'cause if you don't use type F, they wear out sooner and whine allot.