Best engine treatment

[DaHeinah]

To be honest, I'm a little gun shy about that seafoam material, I don't completely trust it... So, I bought some Gunk engine flush today. Has anyone tried this treatment? WHat others do you guys recommend? I'm just trying to lessen the valve chatter through chemical means before I consider replacement.
Is this gunk effective?
Thanks all!
Greg

 

[Opera House]

Get a pressure gauge

Without knowing the pressures it is hard to recommend an action. The gauge on the dash doesn't tell anything. It is only connected to a 5# switch. Oil pump screen clogging could be your problem and that is not an easy fix. Any cleaner can cause more problems than it solves. I use nothing more than tranny fluid and I don't suggest that or anything else unless you can carefully monitor the engine. Some have had success with just running synthetic for one change.

 

[aldive]

I would not recommend any "flush". The use of quality motor oil ( I prefer synthetic ) will do the trick.

 

[CHuntMD]

My 94 OHV with 121,000 miles started to make the cold startup clatter (rocker amrs and pushrods). I've always used Mobil-1 5w-30 and motorcraft filters.

This time I used the same oil with a Puralator Pure One PL30001 filter from PepBoys.

I've driven 500 miles since then and no startup noise.

Chris

 

[Bill Kemp]

There are some products that "quiets noisey lifters" . It is a detergent for your oil. I have used it with success on my daughters honda. It didnt do it all at once. It took about 2,000 mi. but it did work. Use a can of that and some Valvoline high milage oil (which also contains detergent) on your next oil change and it should help.
The flush "could" be harmful if it loosens enough gunk all at once to clog your pickup screen. I would use the flush only as a last resort on a veh. I didnt care about.

 

[mcgyver ky]

Why its

not a good idea to flush your system is because it will break up all the setaments in your engine but your oil pump and screen cant handle it all , a detergent oil Detergent oil, cleans
the soot of the internal engine parts and suspends the soot particles in the
oil. The particles are too small to be trapped by the oil filter and stay in the
oil until you change it and it is the best way to go it will clean a little slower and be caught by your oil filter in small amounts and over time it will do the job more effective and not ruin you oil pump


And if you go Synthetic way here are some facts for you the Advantages of Synthetic
Synthetic oil was originally developed for high performance racing engines Mobil was promoting 20K or 25K oil changes with synthetic,
but they soon backed down from this. Synthetic oil is a good choice if you have
a vehicle with a high performance engine (in fact synthetic is required for many
of these engines). It is also a good choice if your vehicle is operated in
extremely cold climates. It has higher resistance to breakdown caused by heat
and it flows better in extreme cold. Unfortunately for the synthetic oil
industry there is virtually no advantage to using synthetic oil in a non-high
performance engine that is operated in moderate climates. You probably could go
a bit longer between oil changes with a synthetic, i.e. following the normal
service schedule even if you fall into the severe service category, but I
wouldn't advise this. In short, synthetic may give you the peace of mind of
knowing that you are using an oil that is far better than necessary for your
vehicle, but it won't reduce wear or extend the life of the engine. The mistake
some people make it to wrongly extrapolate these benefits onto normal engines
operated in mild climates


Most manufacturers of synthetic oil advise users to not exceed the
manufacturer's recommended oil change interval. Part of this is self interest
(they don't want to be liable for any damage) but the real reason is that
synthetic oil, while it does have certain advantages, still becomes
contaminated.
Be extremely wary of synthetic oil companies that offer to pay for your repairs
if it is determined that their oil and their extended change interval
recommendation caused the problem. Think for a moment of the incredible hassle
you would have to go through to prove responsibility for an engine problem. Who
would pay your legal bills? Who would pay for replacement transportation during
the battle? The more bizarre the warranty the poorer the product is a good rule
of thumb.

hope this helps you out and sorry i get a little carried away and long winded

 

[gavin]

if you've already "flushed" your engine with that Gunk Motor Flush crap, I'm sorry!
That crap is useless.. it smells like gas, feels like gas, gotta be gas. It is a WASTE OF MONEY. Sure, my 2.9 Bronco2 ran like crap with ~280k miles on it, but about 500 miles after flushing my engine with that crap, it's running even WORSE. I have a feeling my main bearings are going out, and that Gunk crap is the culprit.
Do NOT use something labeled as a "Motor Flush" as it has NO lubricant additives what-so-ever and can hurt the engine! I have heard of several people using automatic tranny fluid (or was it power steering fluid), since it is a detergent yet it also lubricates at the same time, without any problems.
Or go the route with Marvel Mystery Oil. I've been usin it for quite some time now, on both my 2.9 V Bronco2 and my 302 V8 Explorer with no problems what-so-ever.

Damn was this hard to ype.. havin a bit too much to drink makes you use the "backspace" key a little too much!

 

[DaHeinah]

Thanks for the warnings, I haven't used it yet. That's a little disturbing to hear about all of the complaints of this stuff, at least it was only $1.50 .
Yeah, I guess I should try synthetic oil first, BTW- McGyver- Great write-up!!!
One thing I'm a little confused on, this Gunk flush is added to the oil, therefore wouldn't that oil provide lubrication and thus suspend all carbon deposits or other curd that may detach during the flushing?
Gavin, You're right about the smell and viscosity of the flush.
Hmmmmmm...
Thanks all!
Greg

 

[Opera House]

I think the real mistake

is they pour this stuff in real nasty oil that has already been sheared down to a lower viscosity. Also think about it, thats like adding soap to dirty laundry water. You would get much better results adding it to 87 cent Walmart oil and a $2 filter after it was driven 200 miles. If you want clean go the extra $6. Most of that stuff is just kero with some benzene added.

 

[poconosms1]

I used it a while back, and have had no problems. In fact, my truck ran smoother and I noticed an increase in pickup.

I was careful to use a 20/50 oil in case there was any leftover gunk in the engine, and changed the oil before the next 3k was up.

 

[Magicfan25]

The main mistake people make with synthetic is on the extended drain intervals. The filter still needs to be changed every 3kmiles or so if you want to run the oil longer. If you wanna get the most out of synthetic oil, but a test kit and send in a few samples to determine when you need to change the oil.

A truck using an Amsoil dual remote filter went over 500,000 miles ( I want to say its 750,000 but im not sure) with regular filter changes and topping off the lost oil before it was finally broken down to where it needed changing. The engine was then torn down and no part showed more wear than the parts of another engine with the same mileage run on regular oil with regular change intervals. In fact, the wear was usually LESS on the amsoil engine. doesnt really apply to us so much with the low mileage (comparatively), but you can see just how much better Synthetic really is.

 

[JGAMBLE]

synthetic oil was origionally develop for high performance racing engines

Actually it was developed for turbine engines. Crude oil can't stand up to the high temps.

 

[biggs92EB]

so what about prolong? or slick 50? ive heard good things about that stuff anyone used it? did it make a difference? ive seen the damn commercial where they run a motor with no oil, just prolong, and pour gravel on the heads while runnin it at 5000 rpms bla bla bla obviosly i dont believe that, but i was thinkin about adding some to my x just for piece of mind, its gettin up there in miles, rough miles at that and id like it to last as long as possible.

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by biggs92EB
so what about prolong? or slick 50? ive heard good things about that stuff anyone used it? did it make a difference? ive seen the damn commercial where they run a motor with no oil, just prolong, and pour gravel on the heads while runnin it at 5000 rpms bla bla bla obviosly i dont believe that, but i was thinkin about adding some to my x just for piece of mind, its gettin up there in miles, rough miles at that and id like it to last as long as possible. [/QUOTE

Don't waste your money; use it to become an Elete member instead.

 

[biggs92EB]

goin for a moderator job? haha my 100th post maybe i'll celebrate by becoming an elite

 

[gavin]

Prolong? That crap is colored mineral oil, nothing more. There are lawsuits out there going on against Prolong.
As for Slick50, STP, etc, all those "Oil Treatments" basically are, is VERY thick oil, something along the lines of 90w. Sure, they may have a few additives, but really do nothing more than thicken the oil.
Seafoam, and I think another I cannot think of the name of, are the only things I've heard MANY people on this board, along with The Ranger Station, who have had VERY good results.
It seems Seafoam may be the only thing that really works, but I believe that may partly be due to how it actually gets into the engine.

 

[Ross-N-Chicago]

da Heinah,

are you using a cheap oil filter? theya re known to have POS check valves that don't flow as well as the better filters and cause lifter tick and valve chatter at start up. i know b/c i had a fram in there that did it until i swapped out for an amsoil filter and it went away. my .02

 

[FLYIN 5.0]

I AGREE 100% try a different filter. i also had this problem and a different brand filter did the job. Some filters are very cheap and are not designed well.

 

[DaHeinah]

I previously used proline P3001 filters for a while (nice filter) but then I switched to the motorcraft filters, of which I have been greatly satisfied with. Great suggestions though, I think you guys have just solved my mom's valve chatter problem! Thanks.
Greg