Hey- I need to change my oil soon (probably this weekend), I remember I have some Chief engine flush laying around (never opened), should I use it or is it just junk? Will it really help clean my engine before I put fresh oil in it? -89IRO

Yes use engine flush - tranny fluid, not the crap labeled 'Engine Flush'. Do a quick search, I think we beat this to death near this time last year IIRC.

Red Devil- what do you mean by "tranny fluid"??? Are you saying I should flush my engine for 5 minutes with tranny fluid, and not the stuff that is made for flushing out an engine??? -89IRO

O.K. I searched that about using an engine flush- see what you mean by tranny fluid. People were also talking about using kerosene, which is basically the same stuff you pick up at the parts store labeled "engine flush" right? I think I am going to get the Pyroil engine flush- read a little about it and it sounds good. It's only $2.50 compared to who knows how much for tranny fluid. I got almost 200,000 miles on my camaro ( hey, don't laugh- still running very strong), so I hope I will be O.K. using it. Gonna follow that up with Castro high mil. 10w-40/STP oil treatment, and purolator or pennzoil filter (which is best? I heard fram sucks). So tell me what your guy's thoughts are on that. -89IRO

from what i have read everyone here is dead loyal to Mobil1
oil

I just responded to joccww's post, which is sort of similar. Tranny fluid would be less expensive than $2.50. Use the purolator filter, pennzoil is just fram relabeled. I wouldn't bother using any high mileage crap or oil treatment. Do you have any problems burning oil or leaking?

If your engine is gummed up really bad, engine flush will wash all the crud to the bottom of the oil pan and could plug up the oil pump pickup, I've seen this happen to a friends car, the engine didn't last long after that.

I work over at energy release for the time being


and damn that **** is strong....

just made up some motor flush last night and got it all over my clothes and arms, plus a little in my eyes....


burns....


but from what I understand the s<x>hit works good. all it is made from I think is kerosene a little oil, and some detergent..... strong stuff though

Well, I'm going to just stick to the oil I've always put in it- GTX high Mil., no need to change it all around, and yes, if I had a brand new motor, I would run synthetic oil, but my engine has never seen it so I'm not gonna put it in. I really don't have a problem spending $2.50 on some engine flush- even if tranny fluid is cheaper. Well I'm stuck now because some people say that I should go ahead and do the flush and others say since I have 200,000 miles on it, I shouldn't flush it (cause it may get clogged), how am I supposed to know how much damn crap is in it to determine if I should do it or not? The engine doesn't leak at all (tightened up the oil pan last month) but I do think it may be burning a little. Damn, I don't think kragen carries purolator filters, maybe pep boys does. Well, guys I would like a fresh, clean motor, but I sure could do without a blown motor- kinda a gamble I guess- gonna change my oil this weekend, what should I do? -89IRO

pull the valve covers. if there's a lot of buildup then a flush wouldn't be a good idea unless you clean that up first. in this case you'd be better off with a synth blend. it'll slowly clean the crap up and you wouldn't have to worry about anything getting clogged.
i'm running synth blend in one of my non thirdgens and changing it every 1500-2000 miles, depending on how it looks. 3K in this case is a bit far. a couple more changes and i'll be pulling the v.c.'s to see if i can use my flush.

Well I don't have time or anything to yank the valve covers off right now, but I think I decided I'm not going to flush it- just change the oil, it isn't worth the risk. Besides, the engine couldn't be running any smoother, and idle sounds good, so I'm assuming it is clean inside, plus, the car was very well taken care of throughout its life (regular oil changes and so on.) But since I am still a little uncertain, I'm not gonna do it. "Don't fix anything until it breaks." Hell, if my engine lets go anytime soon, I have a good excuse for my dad to get me a new engine and hot rod the hell out of it! No, j/k, it is running really good right now. Anyways, how would a synth. blend slowly clean the engine? Do the synth. blend come in 10w-40? What brand(s) do you recommend? I don't want a full synth. but maybe a blend might be ok, that's half synth. and half regular oil right? By the way, what kind (brand) of oil did Tony Stuart's team run, since they won this year? -89IRO

When your motor needs a quart of oil just put a quart of trans fluid in it, and then change it when it starts looking really awful, which will probably be within a few hundred miles. Then put a quart of ATF in with 4 quarts of new oil, and change it again when it looks like it needs it. Keep doing that until it quits turning black and gross.

ATF is strong detergent. It will eat the stuff out of there and keep it suspended in the oil rather than letting chunkies accumulate in the bottom of the pan and plug things up. Of course, I don't know if an engine will last a long time doing that, I've only got 275,000 miles on a 454 that I do that way, and 343,000 on a 305. Both of them the original short blocks, they've both long since been through timing chains though. Whenever they get around to having high mileage on them, I'll let you know how long a motor will last if you use that in it.

The car is running good right now so I don't think I'm gonna go and screw with it. I depend on every day to and from school and so on. Changing the oil every 2,000 miles should be more than enough to keep it running clean (since I drive a lot of short trips.) -89IRO

Will the Synth. Blend oil do the same thing as the one quart of trans. fluid- slowly eat away at the crap? -89IRO

O.K., like I said above, the car's idle is nice and smooth and it runs strong- is this an indication that the engine is fairly clean inside? If so, then I can use some of that Pyroil engine flush, but is it too strong of a detergent? Remember I got a lot of miles on my car. I mean, if I run the thing for 5 minutes, no more, and immediately change the oil, I don't see how anything can get plugged or damaged. -89IRO

Don't use the flush, use ATF. It's the cheapest, best, most effective, safest way to do it. And it has advantages too.

All you need is 5 minutes of running with flush to dislodge some crusties, and have them all wash down into the bottom of your pan, and get sucked into the oil pump pickup, and block the screen; and then go back to normal oil that won't dissolve them, so they just stay there. That's how people wipe motors out with that stuff.

It's the wrong answer for an old, encrusted, poorly maintained or overheated motor. Use ATF.

i was told by my mechanic that using any kind of engine flush is bad for your bearings. he said just change the oil more frequently is all u need to do

I think what I am going to do is just change the oil more frequently and that should keep it fairly clean. The engine is running good, so I don't want to mess with it. Now I just need to decide what the best oil is to use. -89IRO

Oh, yeah, some guys said if I use a Synth. Blend oil, it will not only keep it more protected, but it will slowly, and safely clean it out. -89IRO

if the engine doesnt leak at all, then i would go synthetic if u dont mind spending the extr dough. if it has any intentions on leaking then ull know after uve use synthetic tho.

if youre gonna change your oil more frequently u might just want to use the recommended oil , just regulr 10 30 or 10 40 cause its not gonna make sense to use expensive oil if your gonna dump it out more frequently

know what i mean?

any reputable oil should do.

and from what i undedrstand its not a good idea to use synth oil on a brand new rebuilt engine. it prevents it from breaking in properly

just my 2 cents