Thread: Diesel Engine Oil Flush

Originally Posted by BMc

I have an 97 TDI with 190K service coming up next week. I heard that you can buy some Engine Flush products that clear a lot of the gunge that builds up over time - which you add just before oil change - such as Lubeguard or Amsoil .. I regularly use the diesel additives to clear injectors etc and the car has full service history so unsure if there will be much benefit ?
Any one tried these or others ? recommendations / warnings / comments ?

Cost Effective Maintenance is what i used and i found it great... look in the reviews section of the old site at www.our4wd.com as i havent had time to port it to the new site yet.

Nulon make something - haven't tried it nor do I know who stocks it - maybe SuperCheap they stock some Nulon stuff

http://www.nulon.com/products.php?productId=eof

I don't really like the idea of engine oil flushes (and yes, I've used them myself in the past) as they are generally a pretty strong solvent base that are pretty harsh and are really competing with the engine oil to do it's job.
It's much like tipping one litre of kero in the engine oil

There is a cleaner from the US that is ester based (much like expensive synthetic oils such as Redline and Motul) and takes around 5,000km to do it's thing between cleaning and rinse cycles. (I'm trying to think of a washing machine joke..) I think it's overpriced for what it does, but there are a few independent oil analyst types in the US that reckon it's the only thing of it's type that works and at least it can't harm anything as it's a very good friction modifier in it's own right and the claim is it doesn't mix with the oil, merely uses it to carry it through the engine and slowly dissolve carbon and sludge and somehow encapsulate it and deposit it in the filter.
It's called Auto-RX and a bloke in Melbourne imports it. I can PM contact details if you wish, but I reckon if you've been using a very good diesel oil and the engine is used on good runs (gets nice and hot) it will be bloody clean inside anyway.

if you do use engine flush after draining the old oil and before changing the filters run some cheap oil through the engine for 5 minutes at idle

Originally Posted by stevo

if you do use engine flush after draining the old oil and before changing the filters run some cheap oil through the engine for 5 minutes at idle

Friend used to use woolies oil in petrol cars to flush the crap. Put it in for 150-200km then drain and put the good stuff in. His idea was the detergents would do the cleaning job. No idea if it worked or not.

Originally Posted by George130

Friend used to use woolies oil in petrol cars to flush the crap. Put it in for 150-200km then drain and put the good stuff in. His idea was the detergents would do the cleaning job. No idea if it worked or not.

the only problem with that is that the cheapy oils generally have far less detergents/dispersants than the better quality ones, with dedicated diesel oils obviously having the most in this regard.

Originally Posted by rick130

the only problem with that is that the cheapy oils generally have far less detergents/dispersants than the better quality ones, with dedicated diesel oils obviously having the most in this regard.

Yeah i have used cheap engine oil for running in , but not for clean up,

cheap oils - lik ethe enviro oil Kmart used to sell generally arent friction modified - so they let parts wear a little - good for the running in process.

Guys - Appreciate the quick and informed feedback - a quick summary of my experience -

SUMMARY
Used Nulon - Engine Flush ..Found a definate immediate difference in power. Thumbs up

DETAILS
I contacted CEM (Cost Effective Maintenance per Incisor feedback) as they are Mail Order only, and was put off by the lack of professionalism - appeared to be running business from garage, no issues with that at all except the costs were almost 10X others - didnt get a good feeling from them to justify the costs .. So I opted for Supercheap stocked Nulon Engine Flush .. 190Km service was done by Ricks 4WD on Gold Coast and Rick happily added the stuff though he reconned it would not really do much difference.. I picked the car up, and drove back up the highway reoccupied with thoughts of my crook child, when I noticed I was doing just under 135kph and still accelerating - Being used to sitting with foot on the accelerator patiently climbing to 110 this was a definate change in top end power. So I slowed down and then floored it again - and there was a definate difference in acceleration. For me $10 well spent ..

I normally do Oil changes myself - just was having other stuff done by Rick, so next time I will use again ($10 is worth it) but will take Stevo feedback and flush with some cheap oil too, hopeful though that most of the crap from 190k has been flushed so dont expect any other noticeable differences / improvements.