general view on engine flush at oil change?

[lukey]

I know a few people who swear by this, they run flush at every oil change and say its the best idea, others say it can cause problems as it its basically a really weak acid in your engine.
I thought it would be a good idea to get rid of all the **** and grit that would have built up in the first miles of the engine, but a lot of people are saying to me these engines are very capable of keeping themselves clean so its not necessary unless its a high miler.
Im also changing to millers oil from the standard comma oil they put in at the dealers, and on the bottle it says millers reccomend when changing to a higher quality oil to run flush to make sure its got rid of the crapper oil

 

[glynnd]

If you want my opinion I would not use them. They can be more trouble than they are worth. Modern engines dont need to be flushed now.

 

[lukey]

thats my view on it too, obviously i wanna take the best care of my engine, so if not doing it is better i wouldnt,

also it says swapping to a higher quality oil, i would have figured that if its 505.01 certified its gonna be of a high enough qaulity anyway yea

 

[glynnd]

If your car has done a few miles (over 50K) dont change to a thinner grade stick at 10w 40 as your car will burn it off far quicker than the thicker normal pd oil. I tried it on mine and it started using a liter every 10k where as with the 10w 40 it does about 1 liter every 12k.
If you did not know 505.01 is the normal 10w 40
506.01 is 0w 30 for long life and this is the stuff I tried by comma

 

[Sooty torques]

Used to use engine flush in my old Pug 309 GLD but since I moved to turbo diesels and latterly TDI's I've been told by various peeps never to use engine flush. Only takes a bit that got left behind to degrade the fresh oil and that can make a big difference with a PD lump. Modern diesel engine oils have cleaning properties built in anyway so the flush could be seen as a waste of money...

If you want longer engine life, do an oil change between each scheduled one.

 

[lukey]

505.01 pd oil is 5w40

 

[hungabunga]

Not liking this, my local seat garage have a big poster up saying that they use engine flush each oil change.

Sully

 

[Sooty torques]

Not liking this, my local seat garage have a big poster up saying that they use engine flush each oil change.

Sully

Interesting - in the 5+ years of owning SEAT TDI's and having always used SEAT stealers, I've never been asked if I wanted an engine flush and never had one listed on the service check sheet / invoice...

 

[frenchy]

This is more of a way for the parts dept to make a bit of extra money. We used to use it but dont bother now as Audi basically said to us its not an approved product.

 

[lukey]

i know its not a hard job, but having never done an oil change myself whats actually involved, i figure its warm the car up so the oils thinner, ramp the front wheels and take a plug out of the sump, drian, change the filter, new sump washer, plug back in and fill up with new oil

 

[Sooty torques]

IMO best if you keep the car on as level a surface as possible. If you can get underneath to the plug without ramping it up, it should drain better?

 

[sssstew]

yep generally its not needed, more of a marketing gimic. the best thing for an engine is regular oil changes. this flushes the system enough.

 

[muddyboots]

i know its not a hard job, but having never done an oil change myself whats actually involved, i figure its warm the car up so the oils thinner, ramp the front wheels and take a plug out of the sump, drian, change the filter, new sump washer, plug back in and fill up with new oil

Conveniently I put together a guide to changing the oil on a TDI
It shows my Passat but it's the same engine as the Ibiza PD130 (just rotated through 90deg...).
CLICKY

 

[Sooty torques]

Hey that's a good guide, Lee! Afraid I still live in the stone age and crawl about underneath cars... still I have now bought a big box of disposable latex gloves! Whoooo!

 

[muddyboots]

still I have now bought a big box of disposable latex gloves! Whoooo!

Perv

 

[sssstew]

it is rewarding to do your own changes, and you know that good stuff has been put in too.

 

[Viking]

If you can find an engine flush that's certified to VW505.01 specification, then you might consider using it. Using oil that's not certified can damage your engine and invalidate your warranty. Why would engine flush be any different?