Engine Oil Flush Treatements-Safe?

I recently did a valve cover gasket replacement on both banks of my 93' Camry's 3VZ-FE. This engine has 283K. Km., or about 160k m. and stills runs like new, but it is stained dark, and has way to much in the way of sludge and deposits. I'm wondering if it would even be safe to run a really high detergent engine flush treatements through the engine for a couple of oil changes, over a short period of time? Would it possibly cause any problems like plugging up the oil pump screen, or causing deposits to break loose and plug up drain passages?

Reply 1 : Engine Oil Flush Treatements-Safe?

doesn't look bad to me. If you look through the oil filter opening, do you see any shiny parts?



a few years back, I could see only black darkness through oil filter opening on my 5s-fe. didn't pull the valve cover to check, but I decided to do sea foam treatment (all 3 points of entry). after that and a year of running on fully synthetic oils (instead of cheap dino from local shop cheapest oil change deals i was using for 3 years) this is how under my valve cover looks like (4 cylinder sludge-maker gen4):







Also the oil filter opening is finally cleaner and I can actually see metal shiny parts through there



This how my bottom side of valve cover still looks like, you can still see dark streaks that are a left over after some minor/moderate sludging from past:







Safest route is to start using either Castrol GTX HM oil if you prefer dino oils or go the full synthetic route using e.g. Mobil1 Full Synthetic HM or Penzoil Platinum (it has strong cleaners in it) and start using best oil filters you can get.



Another option is sea foam, it's fairly short process, can be completed in 1 day if you are willing to change oil & filter in morning, then travel ca. 100 miles and then change oil again.



I would personally do sea foam on your engine. get a pair of the best oil filters you can, a jug of dino oil (any decent brand will do, even SuperTech from walmart is OK) and another jug of fully synthetic oil for later



drain old oil, remove filter, install new filter (e.g. PureOne long version for your engine, or Mobil1 filter or WIX or long version OEM), pour the new dino oil, add 1/3 can of sea foam into oil, another 1/3 of can into the gas tank and last 1/3 you have to suck into engine (idling) via the brake booster port on intake manifold, do it slowly or it will shut down (just restart it if it happens).



once all has been sucked up into engine shut it down for 15 minutes and restart. take it for a drive (might wanna check for any leaks before you drive away).



after 100 miles / 160Km change the oil and filter again using the best oil you can get (and prefer) and it will be shiny clean soon.



just my 2 cents.



EDIT:

also start running shorter OCI, e.g. 1,500 miles for any dino or 2,500-3,000 miles for any reputable full synthetic.

most dino oils loose their properties and start becoming black and dirty after 1,200 miles or so (not my conclusion, based on 73sport posts).

I would assume in those engine synthetics do the same in double miles (after 2,500 miles or so).



the key to success is using the high end oil filters. don't worry, it will go away over time (or very quickly with sea foam).

Reply 2 : Engine Oil Flush Treatements-Safe?

This is how my baby's head looked like when I opened for resealing at 175K or so. Thats the first time I opened it and was pleasantly surprised to find very little sludge deposits. I admit I had neglected it until I found TN

A pre-oil change 1/2 can of seafoam will certainly help IMHO. Just dont run the car for more than 10 miles or so with it. I one month oil changes in quick succession with Pennzoil HM 10W-30+Purolator/WIX filters. Before I opened up the VC while I was running Mobil 1 HM 10W30. It leaked like no tomorrow from all sides....M1 seems to have very certainly helped too.

Reply 3 : Engine Oil Flush Treatements-Safe?

that red color is amazing I almost like it



seems both you and me did similar things to our engines to clean 'em up a bit

Quote:

Originally Posted by peshwa This is how my baby's head looked like when I opened for resealing at 175K or so. Thats the first time I opened it and was pleasantly surprised to find very little sludge deposits. I admit I had neglected it until I found TN A pre-oil change 1/2 can of seafoam will certainly help IMHO. Just dont run the car for more than 10 miles or so with it. I one month oil changes in quick succession with Pennzoil HM 10W-30+Purolator/WIX filters. Before I opened up the VC while I was running Mobil 1 HM 10W30. It leaked like no tomorrow from all sides....M1 seems to have very certainly helped too.

Reply 4 : Engine Oil Flush Treatements-Safe?

I'd say fenixus has it covered.



Seeing those pics reminds me why I don't use dino oil. Not all engines that use conventional oil end up with sludge and varnish like that. But the climate here amplifies the problem, large temperature swings, combine that with short trips and you have an engine that doesn't get warn enough to burn off the moisture and gases, and it turns into a toxic soup that sticks to everything. And of course if dino oil gets too hot, it turns to mostly carbon and makes a big mess of the engine.



The safest way is to just switch to a full synthetic going forward, it will slowly clean the engine. I like Seafoam myself had very good luck with it. I personally leave it in there for 1-2 tank fulls, it blackens up the oil pretty good which means it did its job.

Reply 5 : Engine Oil Flush Treatements-Safe?

Yeah, do what they said. Castrol GTX HM cleans up really well, or quick OCIs with Synthetic will clean up even faster. Seafoam will help clean those intake runners and your valvetrain. Just don't leave it in there for too long like I did.