Engine flush

[Thunderbolt]

would it hurt to do an engine flush on my Chevy 6.0 ? I have run Mobil One since 20k. I noticed my lifters are a little noisier now that it has 210,000 miles. I am due for an oil change and was considering Seafoam or possibly the old timers way of adding some kerosene ad letting it idle for 10-15 minutes. Or should I just change the oil ?

[Grit_dog]

Rare cases where an engine flush may be necessary, but typically the culmination of a lot of poor maintenance.
Usually engine flush = wallet flush.

[ktmrfs]

packnrat wrote:
there is a term called stickshun. ( spelling?) a mix of sticky and suck.
i do not know about moble one, is there any cleaners in it?
best to change out oil even 4K miles. and filters every 2K.
filters get part pluged up and a by- pass valve opens up, thus no filtering.
in my diesels i run a " additave" in the fuel. ( need to help clean out the corn oil they water down the fuel with). never in the oil.
lifter problems might require new ones? or clean out the old ones. it is a varnise bulid up in them.

.O and someone said pull a head to fix a lifter???? the lifter side on the cam not in the clyinders. no need to pull a head to do this. not sure what your motor is like but most can be accessed by removing the valve cover.

if an oil filter is plugged and bypassing at 2K, even 4K or 10K miles, that's an indication there is a MAJOR problem. changing filters isn't the solution.

[fj12ryder]

packnrat wrote:
there is a term called stickshun. ( spelling?) a mix of sticky and suck.
i do not know about moble one, is there any cleaners in it?
best to change out oil even 4K miles. and filters every 2K.
filters get part pluged up and a by- pass valve opens up, thus no filtering.
in my diesels i run a " additave" in the fuel. ( need to help clean out the corn oil they water down the fuel with). never in the oil.
lifter problems might require new ones? or clean out the old ones. it is a varnise bulid up in them.

.O and someone said pull a head to fix a lifter???? the lifter side on the cam not in the clyinders. no need to pull a head to do this. not sure what your motor is like but most can be accessed by removing the valve cover.

Stiction is actually stick/friction, and is a coined phrase to describe the momentary friction that causes something like a seal to stick to a tube before the momentary friction is overcome.

Changing oil at 4,000 miles and filters at 2,000 miles is a waste of money and resources. Your choice, but it's wasting money and oil.

Yes, you need to pull the head to fix the lifters. What you're thinking about is the "pushrods and rocker arms". The hydraulic lifters run directly on the camshaft and transfer the lifting force to the valve via the pushrods and rocker arms.

[ib516]

I do an engine flush whenever I buy a used vehicle, especially one with high miles. I use the product designed for the purpose, and follow the directions on the bottle. If I knew the history and I had owned it since new it might not be as necessary, but the way some people neglect to change oil it gives me peace of mind for $10 knowing I cleaned out some gunk.

[Chuck_thehammer]

to see "IF" engine is slugged ,,, remove valve cover...

some oil filters... do not flow well.. reducing oil flow. for better filtering.

do not clean inside engine unless its NEEDED...

after 75,000 miles go up in oil weight... if 5w20 to 10w30.. etc ONE and ONE.

cleaners are not a fix.... just a band-aid

a proper running engine with today's good oil. should not get nasty inside PERIOD.

[packnrat]

there is a term called stickshun. ( spelling?) a mix of sticky and suck.
i do not know about moble one, is there any cleaners in it?
best to change out oil even 4K miles. and filters every 2K.
filters get part pluged up and a by- pass valve opens up, thus no filtering.
in my diesels i run a " additave" in the fuel. ( need to help clean out the corn oil they water down the fuel with). never in the oil.
lifter problems might require new ones? or clean out the old ones. it is a varnise bulid up in them.

.O and someone said pull a head to fix a lifter???? the lifter side on the cam not in the clyinders. no need to pull a head to do this. not sure what your motor is like but most can be accessed by removing the valve cover.

[dodge_guy]

It’s possible you are hearing piston slap which is very common for that vintage motor.

[colliehauler]

lawrosa wrote:

colliehauler wrote:
If you have run Mobil one and changed every 5 to 6k I would be willing to bet your motor is quite clean. I bought a high mileage vehicle with a 5.4 with known narrow oil passages. My mechanic said you can do more harm flushing then going to benefit.

lifters are a little noisier now that it has 210,000 miles.

He most likely has a collapsed lifter...

Its not going to go away with just an oil change..

If engine flush of ATF dont work, then pull the valve cover, find collapsed lifter. Pull rocker for that lifter and spray cb blaster down push rod to lifter.

Reassemble and see if that works..

Otherwise you need to pull head to replace lifters...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQNAvoQ4-T8

The previous vid I posted shows that process..

Its a GM thing... Fords also have their issues with thier cam phasers and such.

You're correct I'm not aware of GM issues.

[lawrosa]

colliehauler wrote:
If you have run Mobil one and changed every 5 to 6k I would be willing to bet your motor is quite clean. I bought a high mileage vehicle with a 5.4 with known narrow oil passages. My mechanic said you can do more harm flushing then going to benefit.

lifters are a little noisier now that it has 210,000 miles.

He most likely has a collapsed lifter...

Its not going to go away with just an oil change..

If engine flush of ATF dont work, then pull the valve cover, find collapsed lifter. Pull rocker for that lifter and spray cb blaster down push rod to lifter.

Reassemble and see if that works..

Otherwise you need to pull head to replace lifters...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQNAvoQ4-T8

The previous vid I posted shows that process..

Its a GM thing... Fords also have their issues with thier cam phasers and such.

[spoon059]

I've mentioned before, but I used to have a SUV with the GM 3.2 V6. This iteration of the engine had very small oil drainback holes. When there was a little carbon buildup on the holes, it didn't allow oil to drain quick enough and would burn oil. It would burn about a quart every 3000 miles.

Found a forum that suggested Seafoam to clean the carbon buildup on the drains. I'll be darned if it didn't work great. It cleaned the engine, solved my oil burning issues.

Granted, my engine had 70K miles... not 210K miles. I'd be awful nervous about causing bigger issues...

[colliehauler]

If you have run Mobil one and changed every 5 to 6k I would be willing to bet your motor is quite clean. I bought a high mileage vehicle with a 5.4 with known narrow oil passages. My mechanic said you can do more harm flushing then going to benefit.

[ktmrfs]

My opinion is that if you need a motor flush because of crud buildup, a motor flush can do more damage than good. loosening the stuff quick can then plug other passages and the oil filter.

You'd be better off doing a few short oil changes with a high quality synthetic oil with lots of detergents to slowly release and hold anything.

but if you've done good maintenance, current oils will keep the inside of an engine and it's passages very clean. maybe a slight thin varnish film, but nothing else inside.

[ktmrfs]

lawrosa wrote:

ksg5000 wrote:
Not a believer in additives - but in my Audi mechanic suggested adding some Magic Mystery Oil and sure enough it quieted down. Go figure.

Marval mystery oil is just trans fluid AFAIK..

You can do the same as I suggested with a quart of trans fluid.

After you do it and see how dark the oil comes out you'll know it worked to desludge the motor and clean those lifter ports...

Just my opinion though and what I use and believe.

I wouldn't do the kerosene one though ..

I belive motor flushes are the same thing... Just tranny fluid in a bottle with a motor flush label...

Marvel mystery oil is NOT ATF. the Msds lists naptha as the primary ingredient (80%) along with mineral spirts (15%) and other hydrocarbons.

quite a way from ATF.

But marvel mystery oil, seafoam etc. are similar, mostly naptha which is a good solvent.

Now I'd guess most motor flushes as you say are similar to marvel mystery oil, naptha and mineral spirts, but not ATF

[lawrosa]

ksg5000 wrote:
Not a believer in additives - but in my Audi mechanic suggested adding some Magic Mystery Oil and sure enough it quieted down. Go figure.

Marval mystery oil is just trans fluid AFAIK..

You can do the same as I suggested with a quart of trans fluid.

After you do it and see how dark the oil comes out you'll know it worked to desludge the motor and clean those lifter ports...

Just my opinion though and what I use and believe.

I wouldn't do the kerosene one though ..

I belive motor flushes are the same thing... Just tranny fluid in a bottle with a motor flush label...