Forte Advanced Motor Flush

[gman88667733]

I purchased a 2004 Fiat Panda 1.1 with only 37k miles that had been owned by an older lady and driven lightly for about 13 years. In that time I have 1 record for an oil change, plenty of repairs and bits, but no services. I have changed the oil and filter and the oil was like sludge, the filler cap was sludgey and Looking inside the bore of the crankcase breather hose, that is also sludgey.
I was recommended over on the fiat forum to use the forte advanced motor flush. I've just ordered it, but have read a few horror stories online.
Shall I go ahead with it?

Any experience?

[Demelitia]

I find doing two oil changes in a short space of time, maybe with a week in between, or longer if you don’t drive much, to be a safer bet. The oil can only hold so much crap in suspension at once. Knocking it all loose at once on an engine with poor oil history like that seems like a bad idea.
I can’t imagine the oil capacity is massive so an oil and filter change can’t be that expensive.

If anything I’d maybe put a bit of the flush in the oil, run for 5 minutes and drain it, fresh oil in and run it for a week. A bit more flush in that oil and then drain and refill with fresh again.
After that give it regular inspections to check how quickly the oil is flagging up and go from there.

[steveo3002]

does the engine sound normal ? oil light goes out ok?

id be inclined to do several oil changes with budget oil /filters before putting flush in it...they can be too good and remove caked on stuff that then circulates and ruins something else

or if youre diy type see how hard it is to whip the rocker and sump give them a good clean and call it a day...as long as the oil pick up is clear is should be alright

[gman88667733]

It takes 3-3.5l of oil at most. An oil change costs about £17 with the castrol magnatec I tend to use.
I have cancelled the order of the flush just now as I don't like the risk it poses..!
My car needs 5w40 C3 oil ideally, but if I just get a regular 5w40 oil for one change, run that for a few days and get it nice and hot, then drain and refill with the proper 5w40 C3, would this be a better bet?

Edited by gman88667733 on Tuesday 4th February 12:32

[gman88667733]

Engine sounds okay, I think!

[gman88667733]

Here is a picture of the crankcase breather bore

Had to reduce the quality to upload, but as you can see, there is a lot of build up of deposit and sludge.

After changing the oil 600 miles ago, the oil on the dipstick is still reasonably clean, not perfect, but not a dark or thick as it was before

[rxe]

I've used it several times, never had an issue. Generally on Alfa V6s that have varnished up lifters that tick when over or under pumped. Worked every time.

I do think the whole "flush ruined my engine" is more "I tried flushing an utterly fked engine and it didn't work". Think of how it works. The filter catches everything. So there is no crud going to the critical bits, however much crud is in the engine. If the filter has failed, the engine is fked, flush or no flush. The return from the crud to the sump is about 2 inches wide in most engines, so no fatberg of crud will block that.

What I would do is:

- Change oil and filter. Cheap oil, nothing fancy.
- Run the car for a week.
- Add flush. Don't load the crank (i.e. drive it) with flush in, the viscosity is lower.
- Idle for 20 minutes (or whatever the flush says)
- Drain and replace oil and filter (with the good stuff)

[gman88667733]

rxe said:

I've used it several times, never had an issue. Generally on Alfa V6s that have varnished up lifters that tick when over or under pumped. Worked every time.

I do think the whole "flush ruined my engine" is more "I tried flushing an utterly fked engine and it didn't work". Think of how it works. The filter catches everything. So there is no crud going to the critical bits, however much crud is in the engine. If the filter has failed, the engine is fked, flush or no flush. The return from the crud to the sump is about 2 inches wide in most engines, so no fatberg of crud will block that.

What I would do is:

- Change oil and filter. Cheap oil, nothing fancy.
- Run the car for a week.
- Add flush. Don't load the crank (i.e. drive it) with flush in, the viscosity is lower.
- Idle for 20 minutes (or whatever the flush says)
- Drain and replace oil and filter (with the good stuff)

See, this is what I would like to do, but am concerned about the potential for damage?

[steveo3002]

regarding the pic...engine flush doesnt fix that , take it off and clean or replace it

yeah id go for some cheap ecp oil and drop it after 500 miles ...refill and see how that looks after the same again , can save on oil only filling to the min mark if changing soon

[gman88667733]

Okay.
I think I may try just oil changes first of all. I'll get some cheaper oil and shove that in, run it for another few tanks. Then drain and refill with some better stuff and a new filter again and see how that works.

Could 4-5 oil changes over the next 12 months or so break down a lot of the crap and sludge?

[gman88667733]

steveo3002 said:

regarding the pic...engine flush doesnt fix that , take it off and clean or replace it

yeah id go for some cheap ecp oil and drop it after 500 miles ...refill and see how that looks after the same again , can save on oil only filling to the min mark if changing soon

The part in the picture shown is directly connected to the engine, it can't be taken off I don't think?

[InitialDave]

In cases like that, I use a flush, followed immediately by an oil and filter change (using cheaper oil), which I run for a little while and then do my "real" oil and filter change, maybe doing a further one at half the usual interval after that.

Currently running Mobil 1 0W40 (good price from Costco) in my Panda 100HP and it seems perfectly happy.

[gman88667733]

InitialDave said:

In cases like that, I use a flush, followed immediately by an oil and filter change (using cheaper oil), which I run for a little while and then do my "real" oil and filter change, maybe doing a further one at half the usual interval after that.

Currently running Mobil 1 0W40 (good price from Costco) in my Panda 100HP and it seems perfectly happy.

So you think a flush would be beneficial?
ECP seem to suggest a limited selection of oils for my car. It is currently running fully synthetic, the cheaper stuff is semi-synthetic and would cost £10 for a full change. But I am not sure if I should be mixing the two up?

[steveo3002]

gman88667733 said:

The part in the picture shown is directly connected to the engine, it can't be taken off I don't think?

everything comes apart somehow ..regardless clean it manually , engine flush wont fix that

couple of changes ought to have it back on track really ...once it will go a while before looking black then get some quality oil in it and forget about it

[InitialDave]

gman88667733 said:

So you think a flush would be beneficial?
ECP seem to suggest a limited selection of oils for my car. It is currently running fully synthetic, the cheaper stuff is semi-synthetic and would cost £10 for a full change. But I am not sure if I should be mixing the two up?

Having seen the photo now (didn't refresh the thread before my prior post), while I'd still use a flush at oil change, I agree with the previous poster, remove it and clean it out manually. The rocker covers on those 8V FIREs are dead easy to get off and a brief scrub with some paraffin etc (tbh that's all most of these flush products really are) will do a lot of good.

[gman88667733]

InitialDave said:

Having seen the photo now (didn't refresh the thread before my prior post), while I'd still use a flush at oil change, I agree with the previous poster, remove it and clean it out manually. The rocker covers on those 8V FIREs are dead easy to get off and a brief scrub with some paraffin etc (tbh that's all most of these flush products really are) will do a lot of good.

Okay. Just clean up any deposits underneath the rocker cover?

[steveo3002]

yeah take it off and just give it a scrub with parafin or such , make sure no filth falls inside the engine

sump off too for the same if you can manage it.

pipes you can tie a clean rag to a coat hanger wire and drag/push through the hoses to clear them

[gman88667733]

Okay.

I am still undecided on the engine flush itself. If a good few oil changes over a few months will give a somewhat similar result, that seems like the less risky idea?

[TEKNOPUG]

Clean everything you can, followed by an Italian tune, then change the oil and filter.

[gman88667733]

TEKNOPUG said:

Clean everything you can, followed by an Italian tune, then change the oil and filter.

So you think no to the engine flush treatment?