Seafoam/oil treatment question

[91_festy_Gl]

My impreza has about 260,000 miles on it and it calls for 5w-30. As far as I know it has always had conventional oil being used. I spent 34 bucks on 5w-30 full synthetic, do you guys think it will harm my engine having that many miles on it? The engine itself is super quite and had no rattles or knocks. It uses oil only because the pan needs dropped and cleaned, then re-sealed.

[Movin]

the pan needs dropped and cleaned,

Any engine that has a lot of gunge inside
the engine should be cleaned with pan off
before ANY high detergent oil is installed.
Any other method of removing a lot of crud
is a crud shoot.
Mild build up, do what you want, as long as
you follow the directions!

[blkfordsedan]

HD truck oils can damage our engines when new..
15w40 is to thick to lubricate engines designed for
5w30. Things like valve guides will not be properly
oiled until they have worn enough to let oil in. 10w30
it still happens but not as much. 15w40 in a loose engine
is no problem and is a very good oil.

You can now get Synthetic 5W-40 Diesel truck oil. You still get the required cold start flow of the SAE 5(W) and once the oil is up to operating temp, it is only marginally more viscous than an SAE 30. The only bad thing I've heard is that the higher levels of detergents and dispersants in Diesel oils reduce the film strength and can cause increased deposits. Since the new diesel engines are getting to be more like their gas counterparts (higher RPM, decreased internal clearances, cat converters, etc.) I would assume that the new diesel oils are taking things into consideration. At least the availability of a 5W-XX diesel oil would indicate such.

Conventional oil for engines with iron bores, synthetic for alusil or nykasil bores.

Hmmm.....what about Trimethyloxydicromatonic flux plated modified Teflon hybrid bores that are polished to a -10^354 finish?
LOL, I have no idea what you are talking about, but I'll take your word for it! Must be some new-fangled Yap-Jap technology. :p

My impreza has about 260,000 miles on it and it calls for 5w-30. As far as I know it has always had conventional oil being used. I spent 34 bucks on 5w-30 full synthetic, do you guys think it will harm my engine having that many miles on it? The engine itself is super quite and had no rattles or knocks. It uses oil only because the pan needs dropped and cleaned, then re-sealed.

The full synthetic will not hurt the engine, but it may make the higher mileage more appearant. When I tried to run a full synthetic in my B3 it was not a smart move. I think the higher detergents exposed just how worn out my motor was. Within 1000 miles the blow-by was pretty extreme.

[Movin]

I lubricate my nykasil bores with synthetic tw-3
and warm it with race fuel
a small amount of justice bros doesn't hurt either

[JohnGunn]

I have a running B3 that I want to clean up a bit without taking the engine apart. It's kind of a throwaway engine setup so I don't want to take the time to clean it properly. It leaks a bit of oil and has 200,000+ miles on it, but I want to do a little something to give it some extra life. I recently put new oil into the engine to get it running, so not changing it again would be a plus. Though, with a firm recommendation I'll just bite the bullet.

Seafoam, STP's oil treatment, or GUNK's 5-minute engine cleaner + oil change is where I'm at. What would you recommend?

The guy at autozone said the seafoam would thin out my oil too much to use as an additive, and recommended the GUNK 5 minute cleaner, changing the oil, and using the STP oil treatment. I didn't feel like he was pulling my leg just trying to make a sale, as he pointed out it was in fact a bit cheaper (minus oil change cost).

I would take a fellow Festiva lover's advice over anybody's. What do?

Since you don't mention any specific problem with your oil delivery system, low pressure, clattering lifters, etc., which you are in a hurry to address, I would suggest a safe and sure approach.

The first thing you should do is remove the valve cover to get some idea of the size of your sludge problem. That should take no more than and hour and a half to do. Of course, if you're at all like me, you'll want to remove as much of the sludge as you can. If so, work very slowly and carefully, using lots of clean rags and, perhaps, a shop vac if available. And make sure nothing you have broken loose is left in the engine when you replace the cover.

You can monitor the condition of your oil by its color. The problem with that is, if you wait until the oil turns black on your dipstick, you've waited much too long. Better would be to decide to change oil and filter, Wal-Mart's cheapest, after the first 500 miles. Take some of the old oil, put in into a small glass, hold it up to a light, and examine it. If it looks black, keep changing the oil every 500 miles until you see marked improvement. Then move the change interval to 1000 miles, etc., until you reach your preferred change interval.

Many of the suggests here have included powerful engine flushes, which are run for only a few minutes before draining. My mind asks, why not apply the above technique to that process as well, i.e. repeat until engine is clean? I've never heard of anyone suggesting that. The reason must be that there is the real danger that these quick flushes will in some way harm the engine or its seals.

You'll sleep better and your engine will thank you with every revolution if you avoid acting in haste.

[91_festy_Gl]

Ya F full synthetic. It caused slight leaks on my imprez to become more worse leaks.

[FestYboy]

^ that just shows you what seals need replaced due to wear. not really a bad thing if you think about it.

[91_festy_Gl]

^ that just shows you what seals need replaced due to wear. not really a bad thing if you think about it.

Lol pretty much costed me 35 bucks to have all my leaks revealed to me. I think engines performance has went down hill alittle since i did that also.

[invader_star]

I love the information flying back and forth guys Great discussion that I think will help plenty others.

From everything I've gathered, my plan of action is this: Change the oil every 500-1000 miles, and using the small recommended dosage of seafoam with every change. To give everyone an idea, my sludge problem looks like this:

Like I said, it's kind of a throw-away setup that keeps my parts car moving, lol. The compression is not very good at all, so I think I'll stay away from the Gunk engine flush, and the oil treatments that have a lot of detergents. I don't want my crappy seals to completely bite the big one, haha.

Seafoam and frequent changes > stp oil treatments?

[milehighbear]

If you use the stp, drive your car for about 5 miles til motor is good and warm, stop the car, keep motor running, add stp, and drive your car for about another 5 miles so the stp gets nice and hot and works it's way all thru motor and coats everything. Reason I say this is once your car cools off and all oil drips into the pan, most of the stp that goes to pan will drop to bottom of oil and stay in bottom. Some people don't agree with this but I took the time to take the pan off of another car after I ran it for awhile and found this out. Just my 2-cents worth.

[Movin]

I love the information flying back and forth guys Great discussion that I think will help plenty others.

From everything I've gathered, my plan of action is this: Change the oil every 500-1000 miles, and using the small recommended dosage of seafoam with every change. To give everyone an idea, my sludge problem looks like this:

Like I said, it's kind of a throw-away setup that keeps my parts car moving, lol. The compression is not very good at all, so I think I'll stay away from the Gunk engine flush, and the oil treatments that have a lot of detergents. I don't want my crappy seals to completely bite the big one, haha.

Seafoam and frequent changes > stp oil treatments?

Thats pretty knarley! Was it gunked up solid in the PCV baffle? It looks like you have blow by and the resulting failed oil. That kind makes the rubber in seals like glass, they split easy and they are so hard they groove the metal. It wouldn't hurt to do a couple top end cleanings, put enough seafoam or ? down a running engine to choke it until it dies. Leave it for 20 minutes then start it back up. dribble the rest down the engine while lightly gunning it until the can is empty. Take the car out and test drive a few up hill passing cars until the smoke clears. Compression and blow by might be helped...This removes carbon from around the rings and valves letting them work like new if nothing else is wrong. There is more than one way to do this, use common sense. Don't do this around bad plug wires and do wear protective gear just in case.

[invader_star]

^ I's oly loical, riht? God tip.

[getnpsi]

As for gunk, no none said you have to use a whole bottle. I've used a splash here and there and never drained the oil for quite some time and no ill effects.

Most of the stp products re thick like lucas and designed for older engines, or addressing ringsealing. As we have those pesky HLA which need thinner oil at a better pressure to operate right and clean themselves with fluid getting everywhere. Again i still stand behind going for some 5w-20 if you dont leak oil.

I never had the huevos to pour in 1.5 gallons of diesel and crank the engine (with no start). I hear nothing but good about that one.

[JohnGunn]

I love the information flying back and forth guys Great discussion that I think will help plenty others.

From everything I've gathered, my plan of action is this: Change the oil every 500-1000 miles, and using the small recommended dosage of seafoam with every change. To give everyone an idea, my sludge problem looks like this:

Like I said, it's kind of a throw-away setup that keeps my parts car moving, lol. The compression is not very good at all, so I think I'll stay away from the Gunk engine flush, and the oil treatments that have a lot of detergents. I don't want my crappy seals to completely bite the big one, haha.

Seafoam and frequent changes > stp oil treatments?

Normally, I am more comfortable telling someone with a problem what I would do in their situation, and the following suggestion will be something I have done with amazing success. So much success that I'm asking you to trust me on this one.

To clean your valve cover do the following:

1. Go to Wal-Mart and buy two spray bottles of "Dawn Power Dissolver." (Suggestion from Iceracerdude to Zanzer to me to you.)
2. Tilt the cover so that the fluid will not drain out and spray a good deal into the hole where the PCV goes.
3. Cover the hole with your finger, turn the cover upside down, and shake the cover so that the cleaner will come into contact with all the passages under that plate.
4. Do the same for the hole which brings air into the cover from the air intake duct.
5. Place the cover on a flat surface, gasket side down.
6. Wait 30 minutes.
7. Turn the cover over and place it, gasket side up, on a flat surface.
8. Thoroughly dampen every surface of the inside of the cover with Dawn PD.
9. Wait another 30 minutes.
10. Now, for the amazing part. Rinse with a strong stream of warm water, giving special attention to the places you can't see, under the plates.
11. Then, take a tooth brush or just your fingers and dislodge the light coating of dirt that remains as the rinsing continues.
12. Then, just to be sure, do the inside of the plates again.
13. Wait another 30 minutes.
14. Rinse well.
15. Continue to do this until the rinse water comes out clean. (This is why I suggested buying two bottles.)

This picture from Zanzer's "Sensei's B6 rebuild and swap" thread shows how complex the passages under the plates are. Use lots of Dawn and tilt the cover to circulate it through all those passages.

Of course, you could remove the two plates on your B3 cover, but there are complex gaskets sealing them. Finding them might be a problem, or maybe impossible. And making replacements would be neither quick nor easy. That's the beauty of Power Disslover. Its cleans so well that, when it's done, almost all of the sludge will be gone, even without being able to physically access that area.

One last thought. The best thing you could do for your engine would be to remove the pan and clean it out. That would greatly speed the desludging process. But that is more involved that removing a valve cover and I understand why you might not want to go to that bother, but there is one thing you could do to speed the process.

When you drain oil from your Festiva a full half cup of the dirtiest oil remains in the bottom of the pan, below the level of the drain hole. I think it would be worth your time to take a vacuum pump or a battery filler, the kind with a bulb, attach a clear thin hose to it, insert in into the open drain hole at oil change times, and suck that crud out. You can use a wire inserted into the hose to form it so that it will curve down into that area of the pan.

These are tough little engines. I wouldn't be surprised if, after cleaning it up, you found yourself loving it.

[Movin]

I will get some and try it. We use purple as a pre-clean spray sometimes before putting parts in the dishwasher. Is the dawn pictured the right stuff?