Thread: 'Flushing oil concentrate' - snake oil?

I only just got to use the oil flush a short while back, was due for a service(300 Tdi).
Prior to the oil flush, I used their coolant product to flush my cooling system.
On first use(a day of running) it cleaned out the rad better than water flush alone, pushed out more brown looking water than my original garden hose flush.

After that flush, I ran straight water with only the CEM coolant flush/additive stuff .. maybe a couple of weeks, maybe a bit more and then noted a goopy buildup in the coolant reservoir above the waterline.
Looked like 'boiled rust'. hard to get a finger in there, but on the surface I could reach, this buildup had an 'oily' texture to it.

Had to pull the waterpump a short while back and whilst in there I tried to flush it all out again and noted it was just clean water plus their yellowy colours additive. no more browny goopy rusty looking carp coming out.
Tdi never ran hotter or colder in all this time.

With the last flush after the waterpump removal I then added the appropriate coolant mix.

my observation of their coolant stuff is that it does seem to do more than a straight flush.

With the recent (couple of months ago) oil change:
Prior to using the CEM oil flush, I'd change the oil, and within 500klms, the new oil would have a solid black colour appearance.
Note that I'm having an impossible time to trying to get the sump off as a previous owner has 'cemented' in on. It just won't budge in trying to lever it off, and I don't want to damage anything trying!.

So as per their directions, I used a cheap oil with flush, idled it for a good half to one hour, then drained again, changed filter(x2) .. etc.
then in with the new proper oil.
Oil only started to blacken after a couple of thousand klms, and 5K klms later while it is black, it's not solid black as it used to get, it's more of a translucent black.

I reckon I surely have an amount of sludge in the immovable sump that their stuff has weakened. If I try to lever the sump off, it just bends .. so for now I'm not even going to try to remove it to de-sludge it.

So next service again I'll do another oil flush as per their instructions .. and see how it fares after that too.

With every vehicle I buy, one of the first things I do to it is a sump removal sludge clean out .. but with the Tdi, I'm currently stuck .. so I had no option other than to try the CEM stuff.

snake oil(or kerro) or not, so far having used these CEM products seems to have helped more than not having used them ... especially the coolant flush/additive.

Originally Posted by AK83

I only just got to use the oil flush a short while back, was due for a service(300 Tdi)..

With every vehicle I buy, one of the first things I do to it is a sump removal sludge clean out .. but with the Tdi, I'm currently stuck .. so I had no option other than to try the CEM stuff.

.

Try gentle heating with a propane torch or a hot air gun while levering it off.There should be no gasket.
Heat softens most sealants.
Terry

Originally Posted by rover-56

Try gentle heating with a propane torch or a hot air gun while levering it off.There should be no gasket.
Heat softens most sealants.
Terry

Nah! that's the problem. It's not sealant .. it's a cement like stuff, as in solid, no flex in it.

I tried to pry it off thinking it was some silicon sealant, but all that I did was to bend the edge of the sump at the location of the chisel.
The sump didn't budge a bit(ie. break the sealant at all, and this cement stuff was not moved! didn't stretch, go stringy .. nothing! just sat there solid.
So I know I could remove the sump, but it'll take a whole lot of bending. not to mention needing to remove both anti roll bar and steering damper.

Then there's the headache of scraping(or grinding!), whatever this cement like stuff is, off the block!

But I'll keep the heat tip in mind if I ever HAVE to remove the sump for any reason.

Sounds horrible. I suppose you could get another sump first then go at the old one with a chisel
Good luck.
Cheers,
Terry

Maybe if you could get a thin sharp knife in there and tap it along to cut/prise the sump off, This is most likely the safest way to do this without buggering up the sump.

A known fix for sticking oil rings in certain engines is to drain half the engine oil, and then replace with kero (=50:50 mix) and then fast idle the engine for 15-20 mins at 1500-2000rpm. No load, mind you. But you need to get the oil throwing around the underside of the pistons, etc.

Then drain and replace filter. Fill with normal oil. Ideally do the next change at half whatever your normal interval is and then revert to 'normal'. I've done this myself on a few engines and had spectacular results (all high-mileage). 8-10 ltrs / 10,000kms oil usage down to under 1 ltr. That sort of result. Can recover an oil-burner if it's the rings sticking. Won't help one where the rings are just flogged out though. Sometimes the stuff that comes out of the sump is a bit terrifying. I've been know to refill with a 50:50 mix of cheap oil and kero and have an immediate second go at really bad engines.

For a well maintained engine a flush using 250-500ml of an 'oil thinner' before each change won't hurt, and might help dislodge anything trying to build and help get a more-thorough drain-out. But I'd use regular kero quite honestly. $1.50 a litre is a lot better than $30/250ml and it is essentially very similar (some might say the same).

So not 'snake oil', just 'expensive kero'

In the old days, you'd use diesel-grade engine oils in carby petrol engines to clean them out. The diesel oils had a higher amount of detergents and dispersants and would really effectively clean out an old engine over time. Usually meant quite a few oil and filter changes that became less often as it it did it's magic. The kero flush gets you 80% there in a single shot, quickly.

Originally Posted by Roverlord off road spares

I was skeptical when I handed over $55 for 250ml of fuel system cleaner, and thought i'd be a guinea pig, after the 3rd tank of diesel the rattle quietened done and she runs smoother at idle without a hunt.

Mario, are you a distributor now?

I remember doing this to a G60 Patrol and it finished it for good lol
I suspect the Kero flush will not be kind to the turbo on a modern diesel

Originally Posted by DiscoClax

So not 'snake oil', just 'expensive kero'

In the old days, you'd use diesel-grade engine oils in carby petrol engines to clean them out. The diesel oils had a higher amount of detergents and dispersants and would really effectively clean out an old engine over time. Usually meant quite a few oil and filter changes that became less often as it it did it's magic. The kero flush gets you 80% there in a single shot, quickly.