Best oil flush solution used?

[jawbraeka]

what is the BEST ever oil flush to use as i have a 20+ year old festy that i really want a thorough clean.. puled the valve cover to have a look at the oil and it's pretty chunky and possibly getting baked to the surface, but from what i could see, it seemed loose and quite chunky..

i just want a few recommendations for oil flush products that will give me an awesome clean of the engine.

Also what is a recommended oil for the transmission and motor after the flush is done?

I was thinking 10w40 for the engine but i'm not really sure on transmission.. it's a manual 5 speed if that helps.

Thanks in advance.

Gary.

[navdoc101]

Seafoam for the flush, use in engine & gas tank. Use 5w-30 oil , & ATF fluid is in the trans. Lots of debate on trans fluid, do a search on that.

[Aaronbrook37]

If your sludge is really bad, you may want to pull the oil pan and take a good look the next time you do an oil change and really clean that sucker out with some strong cleaner. You don't want to risk clogging up your oil pump after all. As for the engine itself, you could run some additives and or consider running a high-detergent (high mileage) oil when you do your next change. Rumour has it that synthetic oils will scrub away engine sludge, but additives prior to an oil change seem to do some good work as well. I never had any issues running 5W30 in my B3, and it seemed to be fairly quiet and responsive with a decent quality semi-synthetic as well. As for transmission fluid, I've always run 75W90 gear oil with a lot of success both with my B3 and B6T.

[scitzz]

ATF is a really good detergent. You can put about half a pint in with your oil at each change and start removing sludge. The suggestion to remove your pan isn't bad either.

[FestYboy]

the most important thing to remember here is that you DO NOT want to remove all that gunk at once... bad things happen (like loss of oil pressure). you want to do it a little at a time over a long period. really though, the best way is to pull the head and pistons and clean them outside the engine with a parts cleaner. i'll show pix of what i mean once i start my build thread (i'm half way through it but wont start the thread till i'm almost finished so you guys dont' have long periods between updates).

[FB71]

ATF is a really good detergent. You can put about half a pint in with your oil at each change and start removing sludge. The suggestion to remove your pan isn't bad either.

ATF isn't a detergent, Its a thin oil. It has some very low levels of aromatic hydrocarbons, surficants and water dispersants. The use of ATF can result in spun bearings, seized valves and scuffed piston skirts. Clean new engine oil contains more than enough detergents to clean up sludge. Anything thats crusted onto the interior surfaces will require mechanical abrasion to remove. Products like Seafoam are simply the detergent package thats already a component of engine oil. If you add Seafoam to new oil, it will reduce the oil's viscosity and its ability to maintain a hydraulic barrier. So, change the oil within a few hundred miles if you add Seafoam.

[Studebaker]

Personalty, I would leave the sludge were it is. That sludge is enbeded with all sorts of contaments (ie metal). I chemically cleaned an engine once. A little peice of metal spun a bearing.

David

[scitzz]

ATF isn't a detergent, Its a thin oil. It has some very low levels of aromatic hydrocarbons, surficants and water dispersants. The use of ATF can result in spun bearings, seized valves and scuffed piston skirts. Clean new engine oil contains more than enough detergents to clean up sludge. Anything thats crusted onto the interior surfaces will require mechanical abrasion to remove. Products like Seafoam are simply the detergent package thats already a component of engine oil. If you add Seafoam to new oil, it will reduce the oil's viscosity and its ability to maintain a hydraulic barrier. So, change the oil within a few hundred miles if you add Seafoam.

Huh, I seem to recall Arty suggesting it to me to use in my new/used B6 recently, to help clear out old sludge...

[jawbraeka]

thanks for the feedback so far guys.. educated me for a whole heap of reasons such as not removing all the sludge at once as i figure the motor is old and would probably present a sort of "shock treatment" to the motor and it's simple response would either be one of two: Either "WTFFFFFFFFFFFFAAAAAAAAAAAAAARK Boom" from all the sudden freedom for the parts and pressure that is now released and availability of space for parts to move or "He really loves me... NAW, that's my boy and thanks"

But in all seriousness, he oilflush will be done after i add the new resonator and radiator.. seems my radiator didn't like the lectric soda i put into the motor to clean it so i'm guessing a seal gave way from a block of gunk being removed.

As for the resonator, well i got me a bolt-on replacement, so that's ok..

I think after all the new parts are fitted and tested, i'll do the oil flush as i can see that seems to be the only problem left to deal with (well the one that hasn't caused any issues.. yet)

Other than that my car will be ready for the new spark plugs that i'm getting.. Iridium here we come aye, aye..

does anyone know where to get cheap 10mm red distributor leads at all?

[FB71]

Huh, I seem to recall Arty suggesting it to me to use in my new/used B6 recently, to help clear out old sludge...

then Arty needs his peepee smacked...

[blkfordsedan]

I'm not a big fan of trying to "flush" an engine. Usually you end up with a clean engine with low oil pressure and plenty of blow-by. I don't even like ultra-high detergent synthetic oil if there is a fair amount of sludge. The best way (I feel) is to change the oil as soon as it gets dark and you can't see through it. Even if that's only 1000 miles. Eventually, it will stay clean for a longer duration. I have used a very small amount of Seafoam in the oil, but only a few ounces in 5-6 quarts of oil.

If the oil is pretty dirty and there's carbon caked on, chances are the bearings and piston skirts are already scuffed and wore. The cam journals in the head don't like dirty oil and it wears on the soft aluminum. If you tear the motor down, I would check everything out closely.

[scitzz]

then Arty needs his peepee smacked...

ummm.....

I think I will leave that to you!

[scitzz]

In Arty's defense...

Rotella 15-40 and 5-20HD at a 50% mix = 10ish-30HD (kinda). for the ATF, no more than .25 qt (atf isn't a good lube...).

as for the carbon deposits: you can seafoam or water fog the engine while running (warm) to steam clean the cylinders.

[bhearts]

ive been using a quart of diesel fuel in my crankcase oil. i add it in the day before i change my oil and ill drive it around town like i do normally (usually low engine load). ill drain the mix and throw in about 4 more quarts of diesel and let the little guy run for 10 minute at idle. then i drain that again. but i do not have any caked on sludge or anything of this nature. so im not worried about things breaking loose.

[crazyrog17]

My friend's car was totally gunked up. I don't think the previous owner changed the oil any more often than the tires. He tried some tune up in a bottle and it screwed the whole system up. No oil pressure led to the engine siezing...

If you're not going to open it up to manually remove the gunk, use a tiny amount of seafoam to clean it out slowly at each oil change. If you can get your hands on cheap dino oil, change it every 500-1000 miles.

Before I switched to full synthetic, I ran name brand 10w-30 (normal additives). The filters are so cheap, I replace them with every oil change even though you could run one for two changes. The oil never got too dark, but I could tell it was nearing the end of useful life by the roughness of the idle.

Since changing to synthetic, the oil hardly gets dark. It's even hard to see the level on the dipstick close to the 4,000 mile mark. The idle is just as smooth on the old oil as it is with the new. If you have a clean engine, I recommend synthetic.