Hi,

As a few will know I'm going to change the oil and filter on my JTD and wondered if using engine flush is advisable?
This will be the first time the car will have had an oil change since I bought it (4 months ago) It did have an oil change before i bought it, though i am a little suspicious if this was carried out or not?

I would like to use the engine flush but a friend once told me that they can actually do more harm than good-is this true?
If they're ok to use is there any that are specifically recommended for the JTD?

Also-is there anything I should know before carrying this out? Is it ok to use the same washer/seal on the sump plug or do the Fiat ones disintegrate when disturbed etc...?

TIA

Wayne

I've heard stories like that too and never bothered with flushes as such. I usually drain the old oil out and, with the sump plug still out, pour some clean oil through untill it runs clear from the sump.

I used to have a Forte lubricants frenchaise. To test out how the goods are I poured on day the engine flush (added to the oil) in the oil circuit and was purposely caning it for three weeks. After six years the engine lives happily ever after.

I can only vouch for Forte products (despite me falling out with the UK importer). There are a number of other products that seem to be not too bad and some are actually damaging.

The only time the engine flush (again talking about Forte) shouldn't be used if the mileage is extremely high and deposits that keep up the compression are washed out lowering the power output dramatically.

Due to the fact that piston rings are getting sticky after a while because of the additives building up tars, gums and ohter deposits, most of the engines treated with the Forte engine flush will show an increase in performance.

We had one Ford 2.0l Zetec on the RR and had before an extended flush and after measured 11bhp peak power difference. The compression pressure was up between 25 and 65psi getting the compression nearly even again.

Used to have my cars serviced by a guy that swore by Forte Flush & Fortefier (flush & conditioner) and cant say I have had any bad experiences using Forte products... except for the price, used to add about 25 quid to the cost of a service, and that was back in the early 90's Have found in the past some garages will flush as a mater of routine, others offer you the option and some don't bother at all...

If you drain it thoroughly and refill with a good quality oil & filter, that should be sufficient. I usually change at 6000 mile intervals as well, as for about the price of a takeaway, you get piece of mind

I don't have a great deal of experience of flushes. I used a Wynns flush on a high mileage engine (100k+) without any problems although I'm not convinced it did a great deal. I've read good things about Forte and seems to be the one to buy.

I've read a flush shouldn't be necessary on an engine which gets regular oil changes with good quality oils. An oil change every six months or half way through the standard schedule will do away with any need for flushes.

Stilomeister said:

If you drain it thoroughly and refill with a good quality oil & filter, that should be sufficient. I usually change at 6000 mile intervals as well, as for about the price of a takeaway, you get piece of mind

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Sorry to correct you, but I have dismantled many engines and spent countless hours on RR testing of all sorts of measures. I am not just talking theory.

One of the FIRE engines I dismantled I left for a long time in bits. All four pistons suffered from sticky piston rings. On three pistons the rings expanded after three weeks, but were difficult to move in the groove. On the fourth piston the rings never expanded.

The problem isn't the oil and the intervalls of changing. The main problem is the additives in the fuel that leave the nasty deposits.

Oldschool said:

The problem isn't the oil and the intervalls of changing. The main problem is the additives in the fuel that leave the nasty deposits.

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Would this then not be a strong inducement to move to a modern fully synthetic oil (on the assumption the engine's in good order) ?

The problem isn't the oil and the intervalls of changing. The main problem is the additives in the fuel that leave the nasty deposits.[/QUOTE].

I too have serviced, maintained & stripped engines, predominantly diesel for over 22 years.

In the Air Force we changed oils at 200hr intervals or annually. At 400hrs the fuel filters are changed as well. This equipment ran on red diesel often of dubious quality, due to the storage tanks. MOD spec fuels & oils contain many additives but from my experience never caused such problems.

This is true of the airport equipment where I currently work now. Some of the vehicles are over 25 years old but the engines are in excellent condition. They have to be as they are emissions tested frequently. Even the newer vehicles with common rail injection have no issues as yet.

I also changed my own car recently which had 160,000 miles on the clock, and had been run on Morrisons low sulphur for at least 8 years. On its last MOT went through with a 0.8 reading on the smoke test.

So I stand by the oil changes on diesels, not so convinced about the fuel issue.

Ok fella's-jobs now done.

Thanks for the replies-most helpful and much appreciated!

Would you believe after all that I actually forgot the engine flush :bang:
There's a garage local to me that services only Italian cars, and according to their website, can supply Selinia oils. So i gave them a ring and unfortunately don't stock (or supply) the Turbo diesel Selinia only get it in when servicing a diesel etc etc etc....

So I opted for a trip to Halfords and came back with Magnatec GTD. Almost bought Castrol Edge but they only had the 0W-30, and I didn't feel comfortable putting that in.
Whilst online, a moment ago, I checked out the "Shop 4 parts" site. Why i left it until after the oil change i'll never know, but they supply the Turbo Diesel Selinia oils, aaaaaaannnnddddd are priced quite respectably!

Good to know for the future though

Oh, and Argonought-I'm going to take a few pics of the leak I have-I think it could be the cyclinder head gasket....possibly....though I am a bit of an amatuer when it comes to engine components etc so need a little help identifying where exactly its coming from-if you dont mind of course

Thanks once again

Wayne

Hello. I have just changed my oil and filter in my 53 JTD. I cant give you advice about flushing the engine, but the sump plug washer on my car certainly did not disintergrate when I took it off. I did however renew it as a matter of course (they dont cost that much, and peace of mind) Regards.