Crankcase cleaner

[OhIIICobra]

A friend of mine who is a vette guy was debating with me about the necessity to clean my 2011 5.0 crankcase. He says it is needed due to my storage history.

My 2011 has 7,000 miles. It gets an oil change every year, Mobil 1 synthetic and filter. I had a year period where it was "garaged" in a storage unit because I was moving and didn't want it parked outside. I made it a point to take it on a 20 to 30 minute drive every 2 weeks or so during that year until I had a home with a 3 car garage.

My friend is trying to tell me that my engine likely has sludge and needs a crankcase cleaner. His vette is basically a garage queen and he seafoams his crankcase all the time. I'm telling him that I don't see the benefit in me even seafoaming the crankcase at all with my low mileage.

My oil looked like new every time it was changed, pretty sure my internals are sparkling clean. Am I wrong?

I've only ever used seafoam in my PVC on higher mileage cars. Do you guys ever use it in your crankcase as a preventive measure? Seem like overkill in my scenario.

 

[kevinatfms]

Get an oil sample done by Blackstone labs and it will tell you the oil composition after sitting for a year. Then you can call his bullshit on it all you want with cold hard facts.

Someone from here did a front page article on them and lots of SVTP members have used them for results, including me.

 

[CobraBob]

Definitely have your oil analyzed by Blackstone Labs. The kit is free and the analysis costs $25.00. Highly recommended. And, you'll impress your buddy with some REAL facts. http://www.blackstone-labs.com/standard-analysis.php

 

[WheelStander]

LMAO at Op's friend!!
Thanks for the laugh.

Waste of time, your oil is fine.

 

[SID297]

LMAO at Op's friend!!
Thanks for the laugh.

Waste of time, your oil is fine.

This. Ask him to put on his lab coat and explain the chemistry behind how said sludge was formed in you engine.

 

[oldmodman]

LMAO at Op's friend!!
Thanks for the laugh.

Waste of time, your oil is fine.

This. Twice.

Mobil !, while not the best oil out there, has an excellent detergent package. All he needs to do is change his oil and have a sample of the old oil tested.

As an example, I have used Mobil 1 in my old 92 Explorer. It's pushrod V-6 is one of the dirtier engines internally I have ever worked on. I was working on one that had used cheapo dino oil and it was a mass of cruddy goo under the valve covers.

But the Mobil 1 (changed every 3K) has kept my engine spotless inside. I had the pan off to seal as leak a few years ago and there was no crud built up anywhere.

All that letting the car site for three years will do is allow any particulates to settle out of the oil. Which will happen in the first week that it's allowed to sit.

He has nothing to worry about.

 

[thomas91169]

lolwat.

Youre fine. The engine wont have sludge for that.

Dude was probably sold on some useless "sludge buildup-remover" from the autozone guy and thinks it actually does something.

IIRC there are a ton of variables that go into what produces sludge in an engine, none of which are what your situation would cause.

 

[OhIIICobra]

I told him he's an idiot. I even popped the oil cap and showed him the cam and everything visible (albeit small) looks OEM factory fresh, no brown varnish, everything is shiny and bright. IMO the first place you'll notice it is under a valve cover. He insists it is hidden everywhere else. LOL.

 

[Lambeau]

Not to hijack your thread, but isn't "vette guy" actually doing harm to the seals/gasket/internals of his engine by using Seafoam too frequently?

 

[OhIIICobra]

Not to hijack your thread, but isn't "vette guy" actually doing harm to the seals/gasket/internals of his engine by using Seafoam too frequently?

I know my manual for the 2011 says: "Do not use supplemental engine oil additives, cleaners, or other engine treatments...they are unnecessary and could lead to engine damage that is not covered by Ford warranty."

For that matter his Corvette manual says: "Engine Oil Additives: Don't add anything to your oil. The recommended oils with the starburst symbol are all you will need for good performance and engine protection."

I tend to agree with both of these statements primarily because the engineers who designed the cars say don't do it, secondarily it seems really unnecessary, particularly on cars that see low mileage between oil changes and are already running synthetic oil. Seem to me that cars that fall in this scenario are the least likely candidates for a crankcase flush anyway IMO.

I could see using a flush product on a higher mileage vehicle that possibly sees the extreme end of extended oil changes in a dusty location or something. I've done that before on a Chevy truck when I was younger. When I opened the valve covers to change a leaky gasket I discovered caked dirt and grime in massive quantities. It was a beater and I scraped what crap I could out of the valve covers then flushed the hell out of it every oil change. I'm surprised I didn't clog the oil pump pick-up. The first couple oil changes soft dirt chunks were plopping out of the drain hole. I flushed and changed it every 500 miles with dino oil until it started getting clearer. I daily drove the truck for 5 years though with no issues. Later I swapped out the intake and valve covers and it looked a lot better than my first shocking discovery.

 

[SID297]

Not to hijack your thread, but isn't "vette guy" actually doing harm to the seals/gasket/internals of his engine by using Seafoam too frequently?

He could very well be trashing the bearing, bores, rings, etc. I would never add that stuff to my oil.

 

[kevinatfms]

lolwat.

Youre fine. The engine wont have sludge for that.

Dude was probably sold on some useless "sludge buildup-remover" from the autozone guy and thinks it actually does something.

IIRC there are a ton of variables that go into what produces sludge in an engine, none of which are what your situation would cause.

BG44K comes to mind with snake oil salesmen. Hated using those products when i was a tech but damn could it rake in the hours. I would never put that crap in my motor.

 

[MysticRob]

A friend of mine who is a vette guy was debating with me about the necessity to clean my 2011 5.0 crankcase. He says it is needed due to my storage history.

My 2011 has 7,000 miles. It gets an oil change every year, Mobil 1 synthetic and filter. I had a year period where it was "garaged" in a storage unit because I was moving and didn't want it parked outside. I made it a point to take it on a 20 to 30 minute drive every 2 weeks or so during that year until I had a home with a 3 car garage.

My friend is trying to tell me that my engine likely has sludge and needs a crankcase cleaner. His vette is basically a garage queen and he seafoams his crankcase all the time. I'm telling him that I don't see the benefit in me even seafoaming the crankcase at all with my low mileage.

My oil looked like new every time it was changed, pretty sure my internals are sparkling clean. Am I wrong?

I've only ever used seafoam in my PVC on higher mileage cars. Do you guys ever use it in your crankcase as a preventive measure? Seem like overkill in my scenario.

I think your friend is nuts. Not only do you have low miles, but you regularly change the oil and filter, and apparently haven't overheated the engine or introduced any other contaminants like coolant. I can see adding Seafoam to my own crankcase since I have a pre-owned 97 Saturn with 173k miles on it, but with regular maintenance it shouldn't need it. Engine oils these days supposedly have detergents that should keep sludge to a minimum IF proper maintenance is done.