Engine flush. Yes or no?

[poorpeet]

I'm going to chang the oil this weekend. I was wondering if it would be a good idea to use a flushing treatment. Some people swear by them but as my Chim is 13 years old & coming up to 90K, (Still with the original cam BTW. It must have the profile of a twiglet by now!)I was worried as I have heard that it can make older motors very noisy.
Any thoughts?

[slikk]

IMHO I would have thought that at the mileage you have done, there will be a bit of sludge in the oilways anyway. I dont know how this would affect the lifters, but I would flush it just to be on the safe side.

kim

[that daddy]

poorpet,i wouldent use them,if your going to flush just use a regular mineral oil run it the motor for 200 miles then change that,dont use anything in the motor other than oil.if you have sludge then you will do more harm than good the detergents in these flushing products tend to be rather fierce.someone is bound to poo poo this, just my opinion.

[.Mark]

My view would be if it ain't broke don't fix it.
Does it run ok? Does it sound ok (engine, not exhaust)? Is oil pressure good all the time?

If yes to above, change to oil and carry on enjopying it.

[silverback mike]

.Mark said:

My view would be if it ain't broke don't fix it.
Does it run ok? Does it sound ok (engine, not exhaust)? Is oil pressure good all the time?

If yes to above, change to oil and carry on enjopying it.

What he said...

[HarryW]

silverback mike said:

.Mark said:

My view would be if it ain't broke don't fix it.
Does it run ok? Does it sound ok (engine, not exhaust)? Is oil pressure good all the time?

If yes to above, change to oil and carry on enjopying it.

What he said...

thirded

Besides a bit of staining you'd be surprised how clean these engines can look after that kind of mileage, assuming the oil has been changed at least ever year that is.

[andy jb]

Bad move to flush a higher mileage engine, it won't like it & won't pay any dividens. The flush is essentially parafin & will destroy the manner in which your engine operates.

As some-one said if it runs okay leave it . Just use clean oil & change regularly. Good mileage out of a cam though !!!!!

[peter miller]

As far as I know, if you were to look at a crank jornal or cam lobe under a microscope you would notice that the surface is not actually as smooth as you may think, it will be covered with lots of surface inperfections like microscopic pockets etc which will have built an oil residue that does not drain off at oil change or when left for a while. apparently this residue does offer a form of protection when started from cold before the oil pump does its job.

Using an engine flush will completely remove this residue and therefore may allow for more bearing wear to be caused on start up, due to complete metal to metal contact.

As mentioned, this is what I believe to be the case but there will be people on here far more knowledgeble on the pros and cons of engine flushes.

[poorpeet]

Thanks for the input. I wasn't covninced it was a good idea hence the post.
I dont need to worry about filling up with synthetic after using mineral do I?

[peter miller]

No, as long as you change the filter as well it's fine.

[andy jb]

...and keep using synthetic not interchange with mineral

[ads]

I tried an engine flush in an Escort years ago, (anyone remember the CVH engine with the hydraulic tappets ) Never again, it made it sound worse than it did before, and I ended up changing the tappets anyway. Better off changing the oil more frequently IMO.

[that daddy]

Ads,your bang on the money with that reply,says it all.

[ads]

that daddy said:

Ads,your bang on the money with that reply,says it all.

Thanks mate, I knew some people would remember the good old CVH engine! Changing the oil every 600 miles normally stops the tappets getting clogged up on them!