What is a good measure of detergency? Or more specifically, I wonder if Maxlife would be as effective as HDMO? Maxlife does have high calcium, last I looked about 2500 ppm.

So what cleans and engine. Besides HDEO, I have heard ester based oil will clean an engine.

There are many products out there that claim to clean an engine. Do we care so much about varnish, other than if it is sticking the rings? Elsewhere varnish should not be a big issue.

How to clean the ring pack? That is one place not bathed in oil, but the oil that does get there is about the hottest the oil gets. So it makes sense that ester would perform best in the ring pack area, but what about cleaning the ring pack? Fuel additive? Oil additive? Both?

Best to run PAO or ester from the get go and not have the ring pack gum up in the first place, presuming that is the case with PAO and ester. Would a steady diet of Gp III keep it clean?

Wonder whats in Marvel Mystery Oil apart from the ad claims.

http://www.marvelmysteryoil.com/main.taf?p=1

quote:

Originally posted by Gurkha:
I have seen quite a few gasoline high milegage cars with neglected engienes whose compression improved greatly with HDEO use.

I'm sure there is some cleaning going on, but also the compression could be up due to film thickness. I'd love to see a good photo study.

quote:

Originally posted by Gurkha:
Wonder whats in Marvel Mystery Oil apart from the ad claims.

http://www.marvelmysteryoil.com/main.taf?p=1

Don't know, but I think it would thin out the oil, so maybe winter only for MMO. Rislone seems like a similar product.

Then some claim ATF cleans an engine.

quote:

Originally posted by Gurkha:
Wonder whats in Marvel Mystery Oil apart from the ad claims.

http://www.marvelmysteryoil.com/main.taf?p=1

That top one is their diesel fuel system cleaning stuff. I don't think you are talking about putting that in the oil are you?

The regular MMO had some small amount of chlorinated paraffin at one point, but I don't see the MSDS anymore, so I'm not sure about that.

Good morning Boys and girls,

During the 1950's we used Kerosene and gasoline to clean engine parts because that's what we had. We allways smeared / squirted neat oil over the parts on reassembly. Please never put diesel fuel in the crankcase of an assembled engine. You will lower the viscosity of the oil causing extreme wear when you "Turn the engine over" Use fuel as fuel, and oil as a lubricant.

quote:

Originally posted by Pablo:

quote:

Originally posted by Gurkha:
Wonder whats in Marvel Mystery Oil apart from the ad claims.

http://www.marvelmysteryoil.com/main.taf?p=1

That top one is their diesel fuel system cleaning stuff. I don't think you are talking about putting that in the oil are you?

The regular MMO had some small amount of chlorinated paraffin at one point, but I don't see the MSDS anymore, so I'm not sure about that.

Pablo,

I meant the oil additive and defintely not fuel.

I have a 1994 Chevy Astro Van and it failed the emissions test by a few points. I was wondering what is the best thing to use to clean out the engine. I was thinking about using STP Smoke Treatment and STP Complete Fuel System cleaner. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

New spark-plugs would help you burn fuel more efficiently.

There are "guaranteed to pass" fuel system cleaners. If you were up against a tight deadline I'd try that first along with a new fuel filter and air filter.

Also spark plugs, spark plug wires, rotor and distributor cap may need to be replaced.

In the long run you might consider cleaning up your piston rings, etc. with Auto-Rx or Cermax.

And a thorough carbon cleaning by professional or via Gumout Regane would go a long way as well.

I've tried HDEOs, flushes, Redline. None of that stuff cleans up a sludged engine. Auto-RX IS the only thing that worked for me. I got a little bold today and just TRIED a homebrew 10 ounce mix of MEK, Acetone, ethanol, and toluene. Inspected valve train before/after. Nothing. No difference. Even scraped my pickup screen to make sure I hadn't gunked it up. Nothing... Arx is the only thing that has taken any of the hard deposits off that engine of mine.