Engine Flush

[godfather18]

Whats the best way to flush my engine to my 96 ES300 with 86000 miles on it, because I opened the oil cap the other day and it was filled which looked like some sludge. Drives great and all but I would like to get all that junk out of there and prolong my engine life. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

[mburnickas]

Whats the best way to flush my engine to my 96 ES300 with 86000 miles on it, because I opened the oil cap the other day and it was filled which looked like some sludge. Drives great and all but I would like to get all that junk out of there and prolong my engine life. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

what you see is not the real valve cover. It is called a baffle inside the cover. Most times people THINK they have sludge and do not. I thought the samething till I pulled the cover...all fine.

Here are some pix of mine:

http://home.comcast.net/~sump/car_valve/clear_shot.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~sump/car_valve/clear_shot_close.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~sump/car_valve/valve_cover2.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~sump/car_valve/valve_cover.jpg

I would use something a little "gentle" like LC20. $11.50 for 32 oz and will work fine for a flush AND after to clean more and more crap out. It clean and keeps the engine clean, unlike most flushes that clean then get drained. LC20 does that and more.

That (LC20) is what I use and there FP60. Not pimping there items but using them so far has CLEANED alot of junk out (VERY black oil), smoothed the engine bigtime and gained over 1 mpg so far (in 4 months of using). That is about 14 gallons of petro or $42 in savings (and a cleaner engine).

[Toysrme]

Seafoam, Marvil Mystery Oil, Kerosene/Diesel fuel.

[mburnickas]

Oh in case anyone cares, I will have an oil test next week to compare to the last 3. This one is only different by using LC20. See how the numbers look.

[Toysrme]

Cooooooool.

[monarch]

Remove one of the valve covers to determine if you have sludge. You may be pleasantly surprized at how clean the engine is inside. Also, I believe your 1996 owners manual advises to have the engines valve clearances inspected at 60,000 miles. The valve cover needs to be removed to perform this inspection so the valvetrain could be inspected for sludge at the same time at no extra cost. Incorrect valve clearances are far more harmful to engine life than a little sludge, but oil additive and oil analysis salesmen will not tell you that because they would rather see you develop a "mechanic in a can" and philosophy about car care.

[mburnickas]

Incorrect valve clearances are far more harmful to engine life than a little sludge, but oil additive and oil analysis salesmen will not tell you that because they would rather see you develop a "mechanic in a can" and philosophy about car care.

This is a slightly subjective or biased statement. The oil analysis business or company does not care on what you use or purchased. They [oil analysis] are just “spitting out data” for you. What you do with it is your decision, not theirs. There main direction or job is to supply you with a service, oil analysis.

Do I like adds (in general, no; but every rule has an exception) but I know what I have found out to be a good/great product. Picking up “free” MPG, cleaning the fuel and lube systems (all while cleaning and add lubricity to oil) is a good thing, with today’s gas prices.

[Lexusfreak]

I've used Amsoil engine flush & never had a problem. B)

[mburnickas]

I've used Amsoil engine flush & never had a problem. B)

I think all Amsoil flush is, is Kerosene per say.

[abrarcool]

Seafoam is very popular i havent used it but u can give me some feed back about it.Also is there a chance that some of these Kerosene products can cause leaks in old engines with the old seals already hard going bad generally rear main seal.

[Toysrme]

<in all modesty> I single handidly brought seafoam from the toyota truck guys to the toyota car guys.

It's use runs rampant.

[godfather18]

<in all modesty> I single handidly brought seafoam from the toyota truck guys to the toyota car guys.

It's use runs rampant.

Im going to use seafoam on my engine and follow toysrme's tutorial on flushing with seafoam. Now can I add seafoam in my engine right before I change the oil and change the oil after I use it. Should I use expensive oil or cheap oil first?

[mburnickas]

Seafoam is very popular i havent used it but u can give me some feed back about it.Also is there a chance that some of these Kerosene products can cause leaks in old engines with the old seals already hard going bad generally rear main seal.

The only two products that I know of the condition the seals is AutorRx and LC20. Per oz, LC 20 is the cheapest.

[ArmyofOne]

<in all modesty> I single handidly brought seafoam from the toyota truck guys to the toyota car guys.

It's use runs rampant.

Im going to use seafoam on my engine and follow toysrme's tutorial on flushing with seafoam. Now can I add seafoam in my engine right before I change the oil and change the oil after I use it. Should I use expensive oil or cheap oil first?

cheap, as log as its SAE certified.

[godfather18]

<in all modesty> I single handidly brought seafoam from the toyota truck guys to the toyota car guys.

It's use runs rampant.

Im going to use seafoam on my engine and follow toysrme's tutorial on flushing with seafoam. Now can I add seafoam in my engine right before I change the oil and change the oil after I use it. Should I use expensive oil or cheap oil first?

cheap, as log as its SAE certified.

Now how long should I keep that oil in the car before I put in the good stuff?

[monarch]

Seafoam is very popular i havent used it but u can give me some feed back about it.Also is there a chance that some of these Kerosene products can cause leaks in old engines with the old seals already hard going bad generally rear main seal.

Why take chances? Time and time again I have found the monster odometer mileage Toyota owners don't use oil or fuel additives. Example: Here's an owner on another forum who told us today about his family's 800,000 mile 1986 Toyota Celica:

Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 09:16:22 -0700

From: "Alex Lau" <lau.alex@gmail.com>

Reply-To: Toyotas_Only@yahoogroups.com

Its an 86 stick. My dad, aunt and uncle all bought one at the same time. My uncle crashed his, my aunt's got stolen so that leaves my dads. It is still running today with the orginal engine, transmission, clutch. The main thingd that were done over its life were regular oil, filter and spark plug changes. It is still running to this day. Now we use it to hual dirty stuff around. It is a little rusty and the lights go out if you go too fast around a left corner, but the engine and transmission is still running smooth. On a side note, I know of a few Previas that are closing in on the 800K mile marker.

Alex

[godfather18]

All I want to do is give it this one treatment man thats all, I just need to know how long after the seafoam treatment should I keep the cheap oil in my engine before I put in the good oil?

[mburnickas]

All I want to do is give it this one treatment man thats all, I just need to know how long after the seafoam treatment should I keep the cheap oil in my engine before I put in the good oil?

Yes, you seafoam and then run, then dump. Then I would install some cheap dino oil and run for a few hundred miles. Then dump and install some good synthetic oil.

The reason for (2) dino cheap drains is to clean the "junk" out before installing the good stuff. I would also just use a cheap filter on dino #2.

Hope this helps.

**PS. I know you might think I PIMP LC20 but it will help the seals if you need it.Just trying to help ya since oil is not a "one call does it all". LOL

[godfather18]

All I want to do is give it this one treatment man thats all, I just need to know how long after the seafoam treatment should I keep the cheap oil in my engine before I put in the good oil?

Yes, you seafoam and then run, then dump. Then I would install some cheap dino oil and run for a few hundred miles. Then dump and install some good synthetic oil.

The reason for (2) dino cheap drains is to clean the "junk" out before installing the good stuff. I would also just use a cheap filter on dino #2.

Hope this helps.

**PS. I know you might think I PIMP LC20 but it will help the seals if you need it.Just trying to help ya since oil is not a "one call does it all". LOL

Im still knd of new to this what DINO OIL?

[mburnickas]

Im still knd of new to this what DINO OIL?

Dino oil is anything NON synthetic.

Oh in case anyone cares, I will have an oil test next week to compare to the last 3. This one is only different by using LC20. See how the numbers look.

Well using LC20 and FP60 (while getting more mpg, over 1MPG), I got my test data back today.When compared to the last test (first #: 10,100 miles) and the second (drain #2: 12290 miles).

This test is with 8,273 miles or 7.5 months. Anything Negitive means gone down or is what you LIKE or want. It (-) is a good thing.

Iron Dropped: (-)54.54%....(-) 16%

Lead:(-) 59%...(-) 10%

Copper: (-)54.54%...(-)37%

Tin: 0%...(-) 100%..same

Alu: 0%...(-) 50%..same

Nickel: 0%..0%

Silicon: (-)1&...UP 29% (expect that due to RTV on valve cover)

Boron: (UP) 5%...(-) 100%

Sodium: (-) 100%....(-) 100%

Magnesium: (UP) 2%...UP 7.8%

Cal: (-) 29.2%.......UP 8.2%

Phos: (-) 11.9%...(-)3.39

Zinc: (-) 8.29%...(-)6.24%

Moly: 0%...0%

Titanium: 0%

Vanadium: 0%

potassium: 0%

Viscosity @ 100 C: (-) 39.9271%....(-)15.53

TBN:(-) 26.49%....(-)26.04%

OXD:(-) 45.83%...(-)35%

NOX:(-) 38.23%..(-)35.29%

Looks like I am going to keep using it [these products]!

[Toysrme]

What were the actual results in PPM? (Parts Per Million) Looks good, Toyota v6's of all kinds rarely wear anything important.

Boatloads of boring oil anylisis on Bob's forums for Toyota v6's. Try to keep comparisons in the same families. If not specific generation, atleast the same engine family itself.

http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultima...;result_start=0

To break it down quickly:

*You'll see that mobil 1 is notoriously beating down.

*Average life for mobil 1 dino is 7500miles - without any viscosity change & without being in the "addatives are wearing out, it's oil change time".

*Mobil 1 synthetics, hello 10,000-12,000 mile + oil drains.

See... Toyota/Lexus/Whoever isn't stupid. That old 7,500m oil change isn't a dumb idea, nor oiut of left field too long of an oil interval. Notice all the sludge letters said 10 months / 10,000 miles? That'd be when mobil 1 dino would be in the "We shouldn't wait any longer to change". Synthetics would be just starting to show some addative droppage. And people thought they were stupid with the 7,500m changes & wondered why they would warranty sludging (which I don't believe is an engine problem) out to 10m / 10,000 miles.

Breakdown for dummies from Bobistheoilguy.com

Aluminum (Al): Thrust washers, bearings and pistons are made of this metal. High readings can be from piston skirt scuffing, excessive ring groove wear, broken thrust washers, etc.

Boron, Magnesium, Calcium, Barium, Phosphorous, and Zinc: These metals are normally from the lubricating oil additive package. They involve detergents, dispersants, extreme-pressure additives, etc.

Chromium (CR): Normally associated with piston rings. High levels can be caused by dirt coming through the air intake or broken rings.

Copper (CU), Tin: These metals are normally from bearings or bushings and valve guides. Oil coolers also can contribute to copper readings along with some oil additives. In a new engine these results will normally be high during break-in, but will decline in a few hundred hours.

Iron (Fe): This can come from many places in the engine such as liners, camshafts, crankshaft, valve train, timing gears, etc.

Lead (Pb): Use of regular gasoline will cause very high test results. Also associated with bearing wear, but fuel source (leaded gasoline) and sampling contamination (use of galvanized containers for sampling) are critical in interpreting this metal.

Silicon (Si): High readings generally indicate dirt or fine sand contamination from a leaking air intake system. This would act as an abrasive, causing excessive wear. Silicon is also used as a anti-foam agent in some oils. more on silicon

Sodium (Na): High readings of this metal normally are associated with a coolant leak, but can be from an oil additive package.

[Lexusfreak]

I've used Amsoil engine flush & never had a problem. B)

I think all Amsoil flush is, is Kerosene per say.

That a good or bad thing?

[Toysrme]

Depends on if they charge the $3 a gallon for good kerosene, or $20 a quart!

hahaha

[mburnickas]

What were the actual results in PPM? (Parts Per Million) Looks good, Toyota v6's of all kinds rarely wear anything important.

Boatloads of boring oil anylisis on Bob's forums for Toyota v6's. Try to keep comparisons in the same families. If not specific generation, atleast the same engine family itself.

I agree, I am just trying to find the "sweat spot" in wear etc. I had a very good milage going with running just amsoil. Now using these items, it throws the sweat spot out the window. With like 90% of my wear rates going down, along with NOX and OXD, increase in TBN (very cool) I have to run more baseline tests. I did not expect these results (to this degree of decrease).

I will post them later when wife and kid leave. I know I did not expect the wear to drop this much. I was just looking for a few areas to benefit, not all these :)

See... Toyota/Lexus/Whoever isn't stupid. That old 7,500m oil change isn't a dumb idea, nor oiut of left field too long of an oil interval. Notice all the sludge letters said 10 months / 10,000 miles? That'd be when mobil 1 dino would be in the "We shouldn't wait any longer to change". Synthetics would be just starting to show some addative droppage. And people thought they were stupid with the 7,500m changes & wondered why they would warranty sludging (which I don't believe is an engine problem) out to 10m / 10,000 miles.

The only letter I got looked like this. I do agree, dino is "dead" and these engines "eat" dino up. The engine does produce a lot of heat and the dino can't hold its own up to it; unless you are doing the old "money maker" oil drains (if you like that).

http://home.comcast.net/%7E94gsxr1100/lexus/oil/Sludge1.pdf