Thoughts on flushing engine oil

[Red Merle]

Pretty common technique in the old days when oils had less cleaning agents, but not my favorite nowdaus

Yeah, I have heard that. I just don't know if it's for me. I would rather just run a bunch of cheap oil through the motor and see where I end up rather than go that route. I feel the same way about Seafoam in the oil too. In the gas tank or in the intake manifold seems better, and I have used BG44K with some success, but even that makes me nervous. It just seems like it might solve one issue, but could cause another one.

 

[mrsleeve]

I agree with making sure you dont have a contamination source of coolant or PS fluid before proceeding to far. Once you have ruled that out, or fixed that issue. this is how I would go about "flushing" the crankcase, I dont like seafoam or other

Get a change worth of cheap on sale oil. 1 qt of decent ATF. A change worth of your prefered oil load. and 2 filters

1 Drive around get things warmed up add 1/4 to 1/2 of tha quart of ATF and drive around for a while longer and then let idle and run for a 10 to 15 min longer after you get back to the barn. Drain oil, and change filter with the cheap oil, go for a drive, a longer one about an hour or longer. Come back to barn drain oil and change it and the filter to your preferred loading. ( I like Mobil Delvac 1 myself). Then Keep an eye on the color and whats going on, with in the system, and keep it on a short change cycle (3000k miles or less) until the issues are flushed. I would also use the CJ-4 Diesel oils as they are much better and picking up and moving crud to your filters and cleaning things. Also I found my 1FZ is MUCH happier with a 40w running weight oil than 30w variants, plus I only have to keep 1 oil on the shelf for my Duaramax and My 80

 

[sailingcruiser]

I have enjoyed the 0-40 so far engine runs great. I know about atf my worry would be that I might swell seals. Same with a aggressive additive I already have a slow drip from the rear main seal our upper oil pan. And by slow oil congealing on tranny by access plate. It sounds like a few flushes with a diesel rated oil is in store. And then not worrying about it since I'm sure some where out there way worse has been run through one of these engines. Slow and steady will win this race. Is my thought process

 

[Red Merle]

I agree with making sure you dont have a contamination source of coolant or PS fluid before proceeding to far. Once you have ruled that out, or fixed that issue. this is how I would go about "flushing" the crankcase, I dont like seafoam or other

Get a change worth of cheap on sale oil. 1 qt of decent ATF. A change worth of your prefered oil load. and 2 filters

1 Drive around get things warmed up add 1/4 to 1/2 of tha quart of ATF and drive around for a while longer and then let idle and run for a 10 to 15 min longer after you get back to the barn. Drain oil, and change filter with the cheap oil, go for a drive, a longer one about an hour or longer. Come back to barn drain oil and change it and the filter to your preferred loading. ( I like Mobil Delvac 1 myself). Then Keep an eye on the color and whats going on, with in the system, and keep it on a short change cycle (3000k miles or less) until the issues are flushed. I would also use the CJ-4 Diesel oils as they are much better and picking up and moving crud to your filters and cleaning things. Also I found my 1FZ is MUCH happier with a 40w running weight oil than 30w variants, plus I only have to keep 1 oil on the shelf for my Duaramax and My 80

Found the oil dork

This seems like good advice though.

 

[sailingcruiser]

It's all great advice! And very much appreciated. It was a little disconcerting this morning to see the gunk was still there. If I had a guess judging by the way the cruiser looked when I bought it. It must have been sitting idle for six months our so. I wonder if that let deposits dry up a bit and let loose with a fresh rinse of oil.

 

[sailingcruiser]

Oh and you have no idea how far I take oil. I spent a evening cross referencing. Viscositys off atf fluid to find the synthetic atf the closest to Dex 3. M1 is as close as you can get. Any LV atf is yo thin out of the box and only gets thinner. Technology moves on. My cruiser dose not move with it very fast.

 

[gummycarbs]

Another classic cleaning technique is to use diesel or kerosene:

 

[mrsleeve]

Oh and you have no idea how far I take oil. I spent a evening cross referencing. Viscositys off atf fluid to find the synthetic atf the closest to Dex 3. M1 is as close as you can get. Any LV atf is yo thin out of the box and only gets thinner. Technology moves on. My cruiser dose not move with it very fast.

Anything with an Allison Rating of TES-295 will be way beyond what a 20 year old Yota needs. Its superior to Dex 6 and is direct replacemnt for D3 and an on.

 

[Red Merle]

Another classic cleaning technique is to use diesel or kerosene:

California plates and flip flops. Pretty much sums up everything I think about the citizens of that state in one photo. Classic.

 

[Red Merle]

-

 

[LINUS]

If you had burgundy color in your oil, and esp if it was riding high on the dipstick or your PS is low - you have a leaking main seal from the PS pump into the crankcase.

Been there myself once. It can happen.

I have seen alot & learned from years of working in petro refining, and now days if you use good oil, it has excellent detergents but the key is to regularly hit self-cleaning temps for it to work as engineered.

@Red Merle ia right - it was some speculation on my part as Delo wasn't common use by anything other than us refinery mechanics. We used it in all crankcases for backup motors, or any refinery equipment, gas or diesel.

Strangely I never heard employees putting it in private equipment, IDK why.
My Dad has used it forever in all but his most recent "retirement truck" ('14 GMC gas truck)- he previously had all pre- OBD2 so cats/O2 sensors weren't even on the radar.
So inhouse I'm very familar, always had Dad around in my life & I'm 45.
I think I was the only Delo / OBD2 rig in family prior to HG, I switched to M1 after break-in on head refresh w/ that.

I'd run Delo awhile, see if you can hit self-clean temps regularly- no Seafoam, no other BS flushes as you can rock the boat like powerflushing a trans, but more likely scorch a crank bearing or overwhem a oil filter.

Anymore it's really about getting to the self-clean temps as the oil detergent packages are excellent in the top tier oils.
I intentionally do a drive up the coast on Chuckanut instead of I5 & back if I'm getting condensate in our oilcaps (excellent trap, indication you need a good long trip) - lots of throttle positions & such over just mindless interstate driving.

I really watch it pre-oil change, burn condensate before I swap oil.
Just this practice alone & my valve cover comes up with minor sludge at worst if you ring the cover with a hooked finger in the oilcap port. Flashlight in the oilcap & cams & head/sprocket area have minimal laydown, all tan color, no brown/black coking.

HTH.

 

[sailingcruiser]

Thanks for the advice. What threw a red flag for me is that when I cut my filter open. The particles felt like sand. You could break it up with your finger. If you wanted. But more then should be there in a healthy engine in my book. When I pulled the dipstick this morning I saw one of those particles on it floating around.

 

[inkpot]

Maybe the oil was Royal Purple?

 

[Kernal]

One way to get some data on possible contamination would be to collect a sample of the used engine oil, it doesn't need a lot of miles on it if looking for contamination. The oil sample can even be poured out of the oil filter, then send the sample to Blackstone Labs for an Engine Oil Analysis. They will send you free collection bottles, but any clean plastic screw top bottle will work.

 

[Qball]

Thanks for the advice. What threw a red flag for me is that when I cut my filter open. The particles felt like sand. You could break it up with your finger. If you wanted. But more then should be there in a healthy engine in my book. When I pulled the dipstick this morning I saw one of those particles on it floating around.

That may be concerning, however if the particles are not metal then it is most likely just gunk and needs a flushing. Get some cheap oil, tranny oil and/or seafoam (just solvent) and flush it a couple of times and you should be good. Mine is just dark so I figured it will take a while for new oil to slowly resolve the old build up.

 

[sailingcruiser]

I think I am resigning to the fact that I should pull the valve cover and lower pan and get the junk out. I looked under the oil fill cap this evening and there was some discoloration as you would expect. When I ran my finger around on it it wipes away with a gritty feeling. I don't have anything to compare to. It feels like the kind off soot that I found in my intake on my old diesel. I am pretty bummed since I don't have any leaks. And I feel like I am running down a rabbit hole. Any thoughts on cleaning a top end would be great.

 

[gummycarbs]

If it was genuinely gritty, I think you'd already hear knocking from trashed bearings. If I were you, I'd just keep doing short oil and filter change intervals until it clears up.

By the way, when you say "under the oil fill cap" do you mean on that little shelf? Buildup on that shelf doesn't tell you anything about the condition of the rest of the engine. The only way that shelf stays clean is if someone has regularly wiped it out, which is a totally 'mud thing to do (i.e. no normal owner would ever even look twice at it).