To flush or not to flush

[Big Bear Bob]

Now the other day when after I had the oil changed, the tech came over to talk to me about the overall condition of the vehicle and said that I needed to have the engine flushed because in his opinion the oil was very dirty with heavy slug in the oil pan and he highly recommended flushing the engine.

My Question is this normal, I have never had or been told that any of my other vehicles needed an engine flushing. But on the other hand in the past few years all of the vehicles I owned where either new or bought with very low mileage.

Thanks for your opinions guys

 

[Jason_25]

Definitely do not "flush it". Switch to a synthetic oil instead. They have detergents that eat the gunk out of your engine.

 

[aldive]

Sounds like someone is trying to scam you with the flush.

Good luck......

 

[Dan Whitaker]

I'm with Jason, do not flush the engine. Some one used to make an engine flush that came in a qt can. The stuff smelled like kerosine. I don't know about you but the thought of this me!

 

[jimbo74]

you can flush it yourself with a quart of atf 10 minutes before you change your oil.... if you do need it... hell, if i would have observed that at work i would try and sell our flush.... we have to make money to live off afterall.... but basically our flush is a quart of atf we put in than idle your car for 10 minutes than do our oil change

 

[Ross-N-Chicago]

This always gets mixed reviews but realize that the flushes are made by experienced oil companies and are desgned to be used minutes before an oil change. I personally don't see anything wrong with them but no one needs it more than once in 150,000 miles even with dino oil. Check out Amsoil's website as well at Valvoline, both make flushes. And Jason 25 is right, a good synthetic will break everything loose in a matter of time. Just be sure to change your filter after 1 or 2K miles when you make the switch since a lot of gunk will be in the filter.

 

[gunnerbob]

Amsoil recommends flushing your engine prior to switching to synthetic. Put a new oil filter on, then replace the lost oil wtih Amsoil's engine flush and follow directions. There are a lot of flushes that contain stuff like kerosene, etc, but Amsoil's does not. Bottom line, look at what is in whichever flush you use, and if it contains something you wouldn't want to put in your engine, find another. Once it's flushed, do a regular oil/filter change, using a quality synthetic oil.