I have an 89 IROC 305 TPI with about 94,000 miles on it. I got an ad from the local Chevy dealer about a Power Engine Flush. How does this help engine performance/life? What is done to the engine?

 

Sounds to me like they want to flush you engine between an oil change. If this were the case, I would pass. No need to disturb any sludge or debris in a higher mileage engine...this will cause more harm than good.

 

Ad reads

Lube, oil, and filter.
Removal of harmful oil deposits from engine
Improvement of performance
Reducing of engine wear
Improvement of gas mileage

 

Ad should also read"when your engine fails, We will replace it with a re-man for $3000.00!" Dont flush, just keep up on scheduled oil changes. Stay away from additives too. They just want to sell you somthing. I remember when everyone was spending an extra $50.00 for a bottle of Slick50. Thats crazy. Ask for the promises in writing, see what they say. How much does the flush cost? Ill bet $49.95!

 

From what I understand, they hook up a machine to the oil filter mount and push solvent through the oiling system and let it drain out the pan. That isn't very effective for getting areas such as the rings "flushed", which is where most of the gumming and sticking problems would exist. With today's API requirements, gumming and sticking aren't the problem they used to be.

You'd be better off using a flush product that is added to the oil before draining at an oil change. AMSOIL makes one that I've been using for years when switching over an engine that's had petroleum-based oil used in it to synthetic. A good synthetic like AMSOIL or Mobil 1 will also desolve those deposits (which is why AMSOIL came up with the flush in the first place, to reduce the contamination of the synthetic when switching over). An alternative is to use a quart of synthetic in place of a quart of petroleum when changing the oil and filter, using an additional quart of synthetic at each change until the whole change is synthetic (1 qt syn & 4 qts petr, then 2 qts syn & 3 qts petr., 3 qts syn & 2 qts, petr., etc.). Either one of these protocols will be more effective than this "power flush", and less expensive.

 

On higher milage engine i wouldn't do it. It's the sludge and built up crap that keeps the oil from leaking in the 1st place.

 

Well, define "higher mileage". I flushed and converted my 305 at 123k. I later replaced the valve stem seals, but they needed that, anyway (for the record, I never drove this engine before putting it into the Camaro, and converting it to syn). There really wasn't much crud build-up to say it was keeping the oil in. I'm still running the original rear main seal today, with 166k miles, and it doesn't have a sealing problem.

Last night I picked up an old tech book on valves and valvetrains - forget the name and vintage, but I think I got it in the mid-70's. There was a section on cam swap procedure - they used a tired old 327 2-bbl for the step-by-step pictures. The crude build-up in that poor engine, even in the timing chain area, was simply incredible. An engine would have to be horribly neglected to get that kind of deposit build-up using today's API rated oils - even if you were using my least favorite types/brands.

Things have changed in the last 30 years. For the better, I might add. Things were even better in 1989 than they were in 1980, for that matter.

The use of synthetic oil can usually be justified. This "power flush" - nah.

 

JB makes a product that is listed as a 3 part emission flush. One part is a chemical that is added into the oil, so you change the oil, add 4.5 or 5 quarts then put this on top of it after you bring the engine up to temp. The next one goes into the fuel system. Part 3 is a vacuum delivered chemical. This product is supposed to clean the rings, valves, intake and reduce the sludge buildup. I dont know how exactly it removes sludge out of the engine since it evaporates in 10 minutes. It actually does increase engine vacuum usually 1 or 2 inches worth.

 

Thanks for the help. I went ti the local chevy dealer today and found out that 2 spark plugs were fouled and the engine was only running on alomst 6 cylinders. Spark plugs and wire are being replaced. Technician said that the fouled ingnition was also causing the transmission to act up. Transmission was replaced in july and recentyl car started running rough. I thought the problem was the transmission but now i know what really went wrong. By the way the engine flush is $129.99 and there is some sort of engine warranty.

 

WOW, thats more than I expected it to be.

 

Sounds like Seafoam. There's only 2 "snake oil" products i believe in and Seafoam is one, Marvels Mystery Oil is the other.

 

Seafoam's contents have been discussed, and while you guys may like dumping a water emulsification mix into various parts of your internals, I don't.

Marvel, I used to like until I realized what it was. I can now get it a cheaper the other way.

For the engine flush, if you want it to happen over time, synth oil will do it.

If you want to do it quicker, but not catastrophically, transmission fluid in place of one quart of oil will work wonders. There is a few different views on how to do the tranny fluid, but mine is the 500 mile method.

If you want instant gratification with the possibility of clogging your oil pickup, toss in some diesel fuel.

 

Sea foam doesent hold a candle to this product. I know people who have had good results with all products most people consider snake oil but this product is even better the GM top engine cleaner.