Like, the Motor Medic one that says to use for 5 minutes before an oil change. Do you use Motor Flush before an oil change or no?

 

Didnt know about this, but will be looking into this before my next one now.

 

No need to use motor flushes. Just warm up the engine, let it sit a few minutes, then drain the oil. Repeat about every 5,000 miles.

 

So no benefits?

 

That's pretty much exactly why I decided to ask, and not on other overly opinionated and non-helpful forums (that receive money from oil sponsors to direct favorable and unfavorable posters of opinions. Must tread lightly.)

I have HEARD that after enhanced sludge removal with that $5 Walmart product (seen about 5 videos from YouTube showing the oil holding MANY more contaminants and sludge after use, indicating it worked) that the less sludge translated to better mileage and more power, probably due to.. less sludge.

TRUE a well kept engine wont (or. Shouldn't) have much crud in there
and TRUE doing regular oil changes MAY make it unnecessary

BUT. Seeing as how I recently impaired an engine to the point of Rod Knock, 5 out of 6 cylinders working (and it still runs...) the engine that goes in has 1. Been sitting for who knows how long, 2. Is going to the same oil cooler lines as the old engine and 3. Really thinking using it either will make no difference, some, or maybe clean a lot. And either one of those options seems fine with me.

I let mine run for 12 minutes not 5......

 

If the engine isnt getting rebuilt before the swap, and is basicly just going straight in, if it "does" do some kind of cleaning, what's 5$ on a fresh install? Atleast you know your starting from "clean".

 

Over the years several different ways to 'clean' an engine have come and gone. One even was to put some ATF in the engine and run it (don't do that). The ingredient in some of the canned cleaners is just naphtha, no 'secret' potion. If an engine is heavily sludged, one thing is certain, it was not maintained and should be completely torn down and rebuilt before using it again. If you have an engine that is running but you do not know its history and question its cleanliness, then a one-time use of cleaner-in-a-can shouldn't hurt. After that, regular oil changes will prevent sludging.