Kerosene To Flush Engine?

[Julian AF Bradbury]

Re oil flush.

o In unsure, use a normal can of flush and
follow the instructions. That ensures you
have more oil lube than kerosene.
o Personally I'd not run a 50:50 oil
kerosene mix and yes ATF has been used in
the past.

Re high mileage, if the engine has been well
maintained with regular oil changes & service
then 150k miles is not old even remotely. Ask
a few oil company engineers, the Mazda KL is
able to give the Lexus I6 & V8s a good run.

The reason is because the KL (K series) was
designed for the Mazda Lexus competitors. A
few oil companies have run >300k miles. What
they don't like is neglected oil changes, but
that's always been true of Japanese engines.

[FWP!]

Good lord!?!?! A 50:50 mix!?!?!? That's crazy!! I'm worried about even having an engine flush in my motor for 5 minutes knowing how much it thins out the oil. Having one quart of oil in there with 3 quarts of kerosene just seems.....nuts! My engine's got 125k on it, should i be ok? I've run engine flushes in the past, like every other change, no valve tick, no smoke, it loses oil but only from the oil pump somewhat. Hrm.....this is just mind boggling to me. That much kerosene in the oil!?!?! That one guy said it best above - what the hell is lubricating the bearings on the crankshaft? The valve train? The oil pump? OH well....what do you think about my car? Can it be done? Or should i just say screw it and build up a ZE :razz:

[Rick_96PGT]

Geez...

Read....:grin:

Read the ingrediants for Kerosene...
Then read the ingrediants for any engine flush in a can....

WOW....They have very similar properties....

Unlike Gasoline, Kerosene contains oil ...That is it has Lubricating properties...Its not Water....

From an MSDS:

Ingredient: ALIPHATIC PETROLEUM SOLVENT

[FWP!]

On 2001-04-14 04:50, Rick_96PGT wrote:
Geez...

Read....:grin:

Read the ingrediants for Kerosene...
Then read the ingrediants for any engine flush in a can....

WOW....They have very similar properties....

Unlike Gasoline, Kerosene contains oil ...That is it has Lubricating properties...Its not Water....

From an MSDS:

Ingredient: ALIPHATIC PETROLEUM SOLVENT

One can of an engine flush, sure, it's like a quart, but you guys are talking about 3 quarts to 1 quart of oil, that's suuuuuuuuuper thin, something I don't think I'd do....

[Julian AF Bradbury]

My post has been ammended,

it should have said I'd prefer to not use a
50:50 mix. Yes I know kerosene has oil in it,
go visit the rear end of a jet engine.

However, it's an aggressive cleaner (to clean
jet engine turbines) and the tolerances in a
KL engine are very very small indeed. It is a
Lexus grade engine - Mazda's Lexus line. It
is easy to send dirt to squirters/HLAs.

So I prefer to do things progressively.
Using a Bypass Filter & Comma 5w30 Full Synth
(UK PAO/Ester oil) things are fine. Indeed I
am struggling with invisible clean oil on the
dipstick and when hot forget getting a level.

[Julian AF Bradbury]

Most cans of flush are ~550ml or <1 PINT.

I'd use that ratio for a few oil changes,
progressive, then maybe an aggressive one.

However progressive seems more reasonable.
Regular oil changes over anything else, a
Trussville/Roebuck oil filter is 4.25$US.

[Rick_96PGT]

I didnt mean you should do a flush at every oil change...

Maybe once a year would suffice...

[DigitalGT]

For what its worth, I performed this kerosene flush today as my engine was approaching its oil change window. I must admit I couldn't be happier. I took steps a little further just to see how clean I could get the flushed mixture to come out of the pan. I actually performed the flush three times in a row running the engine for about 10-12 minutes each flush. Each time I replaced the oil filter with a cheapo one and refilled with a new quart of synthetic oil and 4 quarts of kerosene. I was delighted to see a completely clean oil/kerosene mixture come out of the pan on the third try. I refilled with 5 quarts of oil, replaced the filter, took it for a slow very low load drive, came back, drained the oil, exchanged the cheap filter for a K&N, and refilled with new oil. So I burned through 14 quarts of oil, a bunch of junk filters, and about about 4 gallons of kerosene. I noticed my engine seemed a little quieter but I couldn't place my finger on what it was that was missing from the normal underhood noises. Then it hit me. No more HLA tick. I didn't think that a flush like this would cause HLA tick to go away, but for some reason it has. I've always had a very slight one even with a warmed up engine right after an oil change. But this time. No Tick. Money and time well spent if you ask me. Plus you wouldn't believe the color of the junk flushed out the first two times. I'll definately be doing this to my '97 if it ever gets enough mileage on it to be worth it.

Duncan

[Guest]

Dude if you want to flush your motor and get the mofro clean use Clorox. According to my homogilation special owners manual: "To flush motor use clorox." Not sure though, cause my manual is written in some foreign language. I got the car from some guy for 100 bucks. He sold me the car and left really fast. He says its from Germany or something.

[Rick_96PGT]

[EPKixAss]

I will be switching to Mobil 1 on my next oil change. If I do the engine flush soon, is it ok to use my oil I use now (Castrol) while doing the flush?

What is HLA? I have been told this is where my tap is coming from and I have no idea what it is.

[HowLeTT]

duncan do you usually run synthetic oil? it was still that dirty even with synthetics?

[EPKixAss]

[tracer bullet]

HLA is hydraulic lash adjuster - it's a piece that goes between the cam lobe and the top of the valve, a rocker arm will be in there too. Ahh, heck, look it up on a "how engines work" book.

I've been using Mobil 1 for yers, and yes - it gets just as dirty as anything else. I just changed it again, about 3000 miles on it, it was flat out black.

I did the kerosene thing last night. I talked to some "car guys" here at work, they all pretty much said yeah, no problem, old trick. They thought it might even help swell up the rubber seals a little, that if I had any leaks (nope) that they might go away...

Anyhow, I got 5 bottles of $1 oil, and 5 of Mobil 1, and both a cheap and a really good filter. I also picked up a 5 gallon deal of kerosene (hmm, it was pink!).

I drained the old oil (black) and changed the filter to the cheap one. Filled up with about 2-1/2 quarts kerosene, 2-1/2 of the cheap oil. Ran it at idle about 15 minutes. Drained the oil (black again), left the filter on, and capped it back up. Refilled with about 2-1/2 quarts kerosene and 2-1/2 quarts oil again, and repeated. Drained it again, black a third time. Wow, where's it all coming from?

I would put the oil/kerosene mix in for a third time, but I was out of the cheap oil. So I drained it as long as it would go and removed the cheap filter. I poured in just a little more oil (the bottom of the bottles, plus about 1/2 quart left over from a long time ago) and let it drain right out, hoping it would take a little more residue with it.

Lastly I capped it all back up and put on the good filter. Filled it back up with Mobil 1. (I would have done another cycle, but like i said I was out of oil). Ran it around a little and parked it.

So - this morning, I start it up - I think it's (OK, I know it's) quieter than it's been in years. I've still got the friction gear tick, but everything else is gone. I think I can say that if your engine sounds fairly quiet when it's warm, but is loud cold, then this is it. Now warm or cold are exactly the same! I've done this to some extent before, with some different flush-in-a-can products, they worked but not this well.

Not sure what else to say. Once I sort of realized that this was an age old time worn trick, I got a little more confidence in it. It certainly worked for me, it's a lot quieter now. I'd hate to replace the friction gear piece, I don't know if I could even tell if it's running?

[mario]

Good write up tracer, I think I need to go get some Kerosene and cheep oil now.