I'm needing to help a friend who hasn't managed to "get around" to an oil change fro about a year now and asked for my "advice". Obviously besides FREQUENT changes has anyone tried any of the Oil Flush products on the market and are they worth the trouble??? OR should I just help change the oil a couple or 3 times till it comes out clean?? any input is appreciated.

 

Now this applies to my truck, so I can't vouch for Camaros. I have a '92 Chevy K1500 POS with 208,000 miles on it. My oil pressure light came on because my oil pressure was around 5lbs at idle. Oh boy, time for a rebuild, right? Nope. After making sure the oil was at the right level, I went in for a change and had them run that oil flush through it. Now my oil pressure is at 35lbs. After seeing this, I am a believer in the Jiffy Lube oil flush. This was about 6 months ago, and my motor hasn't developed a leak or spun a bearing, so I think it's worth it.

 

I've heard from a good mechanic that sometimes if you flush an engine it can dislodge larger particles that clog up the oil pump pickup. I'd be cautious. Maybe the Jiffy lube flush is better??

John

 

Those solvent based flushes are dangerous. They can dislodge too much stuff too fast and clog oil passages. The key is when you read on the package that it says to idle the engine (not drive it) that means this stuff is solvent based and will also thin out the oil. Then when you change it, some of it stays behind, thinning out your next oil and ruining it's lubricating properties.

One product I highly recommend (based on my own usage of it) is called Auto-rx.

www.auto-rx.com

It's a safe non solvent cleaner which works slowly over 500 miles and dissolves the sludge and carbon and carries it to your oil filter. All you do is change to a fresh oil filter, add this stuff and drive normally. You can add it to your existing oil. It cleans the rings up to provide better sealing, less oil consumption, and it can also fix minor oil leaks by cleaning the seals and letting them do their job properly again. And it does not harm the oil when it's in there, it won't thin it out or thicken it.

My before and after oil analysis results are right here:

http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/...c;f=3;t=000160

 

Patman, i just finished 500 miles of auto Rx after following one of your earlier links and think it works.

the drain after 500 of auto Rx looked extra black. Threw in 5 qts Mobile 1 10W-30 dino oil and new K&N filter. Drove is around a bit, came back and drained it again and threw in 5 more qts of the dino ($1.19 qt). What came out looked almost like virgin oil (haha poor man's flush)

They said the dino oil is better for the seals after auto-rx tx.
After 3,000 i'll switch back to Mobil 1 syn.

does it work? i also changed my O2 sensors for the first time (67K) and the car has never run better. Low end definitely improved. Probably more due to the O2s, but also nice to know the engine is desludged after 8 years of driving.

 

What about Sea-Foam?

 

When I used Auto-rx my bottom end improved a lot also, and that was before I changed my o2s as well. I'm going to do a second treatment this spring, just to be sure the engine is fully cleaned. A very dirty engine sometimes needs two treatments, and when I bought this car the valvetrain was pretty noisy (and still is a tiny little bit)

It's true, if you are using rx to try and fix a seal leakage, it works best using conventional oil.

As far as Seafoam goes, I'm not sure how effective it is when used in the oil. From all the people's experiences on here, it sounds like it works very well to clean out the combustion chamber, when run through the throttle body.

 

I have used Sea Foam in the crankcase. It worked pretty good on my carboned up engine. It works slowly though, because it took several thousands of miles (and about 5 oil changes of course with Mobil 1) to get most of the gunk out. But I guess working slowly is safer.
I left the Sea Foam in about 300 miles, then changed the oil and then every 3000 miles with Mobil 1 and I noticed the engine running better and better over time. The oil was really black for the next few changes, now it looks almost like fresh oil when I change it...

HTH

Sam

 

I have used Sea Foam in the crankcase. It worked pretty good on my carboned up engine. It works slowly though, because it took several thousands of miles (and about 5 oil changes of course with Mobil 1) to get most of the gunk out. But I guess working slowly is safer.
I left the Sea Foam in about 300 miles, then changed the oil and then every 3000 miles with Mobil 1 and I noticed the engine running better and better over time. The oil was really black for the next few changes, now it looks almost like fresh oil when I change it...

HTH

Sam

 

put in a can of 8cyl. RESTORE oil treatment.... do it the first two oil changes (which i recommend at 1,500-2,000 miles) it comes in a silver can with a tear off top (like cheese dip)

 

Yes Restore does work, but in the case of sludged up engine, cleaning it slowly by dissolving the sludge with auto-rx or rislone will help the motor out more than anything. After that, Restore would be a nice addition.

Jason