Technical 1.3MJ Oil Flush

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Technical 1.3MJ Oil Flush

kuliand

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hello, I was looking at doing a full oil flush rather than just an oil change this time. Couple of questions I assume you leave the old oil filter in whilst running the flushing fluid? and what flushing fluids do people recommend?
 
Any rubbish will be trapped in the filer. Drain it when hot and the old oil will wash everything out of the sump. Basically there's not really any advantage to flushing the oil.

There is a huge advantage to fitting a 2 micron bypass filter which due to it's fine pores will take about 10% of the oil flow (normal filters are around 20 micron). That results in the circulating oil being much cleaner for much longer. HGVs and heavy mobile plant use these and almost never change the oil though all filters are changed at what would be the oil change intervals..

Sadly such filters are not offered for the small diesels used in cars.
 
what flushing fluids do people recommend

I'd strongly recommend you don't do this; you may cause more issues than you solve. Diesel engine oils contain a lot of detergent and it's unusual to see significant sludge buildup.


If you are concerned that the oil change intervals may have been neglected, change the oil & filter now, then change both again after 3-4k.
 
Definitely agree - do not flush MJ engines. Unless the flush manufacturer can guarantee that it will not cause the oil-fed chain tensioner to be affected (pretty sure they wouldn't accept any responsibility)

Better to do a couple of "short" oil and filter changes (couple of thousand miles each) if it's got grotty oil, but, if it has, I would be more worried about chain stretch and tensioner failure anyway, and be planning a pre-emptive chain replacement.
 
No flush as said, you can do more damage than good. These engines with chain like clean oil, change with filter 6 monthly regardless of mileage. If you do this your engine will last. Change the fuel filter yearly by the way.
 
Unless the flush manufacturer can guarantee that it will not cause the oil-fed chain tensioner to be affected (pretty sure they wouldn't accept any responsibility)

And timing chain failure on a mJet is relatively common; despite having supposedly sacrificial rockers, catastrophic engine damage is the usual result.

When these cars were new, engine flushing would invalidate the warranty. Fiat have been known to send samples of recovered engine oil for laboratory analysis before accepting engine related warranty claims.

I think there's a consistent message in this thread now.
 
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Yes the message is clear so glad that I asked. I will NOT be doing an oil flush then .

Re the timing chain, The car has done 166k miles now but I have had since new and always done the oil + filter every 8-10k miles. The chain does rattle now but my approach is if it goes it goes as I've got more life out of the car than I had ever hoped for really.

Thanks for advice everyone.
 
If the rest of the car is good, maybe try getting a quote for chain replacement anyway?
Definitely cheaper and less risk than fixing a broken one, especially as you know the cars history.
Doubt you'd get much of a second hand car for the price of replacing the chain.
All depends on what you want/need the car for.
 
Yes the message is clear so glad that I asked. I will NOT be doing an oil flush then .

Re the timing chain, The car has done 166k miles now but I have had since new and always done the oil + filter every 8-10k miles. The chain does rattle now but my approach is if it goes it goes as I've got more life out of the car than I had ever hoped for really.

Thanks for advice everyone.
If you had it since new and everything is in good condition they probably worth a chain as if it's noisy it will soon snap
If rather batted and worn and you can live with the trouble of a breakdown then runn it until it snaps and scrap it
 
Re the timing chain, The car has done 166k miles now but I have had since new and always done the oil + filter every 8-10k miles. The chain does rattle now but my approach is if it goes it goes as I've got more life out of the car than I had ever hoped for really.
A noisy cam chain is a ticking time bomb - literally. If he car is doing well, even the high(?) cost of a new cam chain is cheap compared to a replacement car, which will have its own problems.

A new chain kit complete will cost about £80 plus timing tools. When it fails you will be looking at plus double that for the cam followers plus whatever else is damaged. The sacrificial cam followers are supposed to protect the main engine but there's no certainty they will.

The sump also has to come off before the oil pump cover can be removed so you might find it needs a new sump pan (£25).
 
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A noisy cam chain is a ticking time bomb - literally.

A new chain kit complete will cost about £80 plus timing tools. When it fails you will be looking at plus double that for the cam followers plus whatever else is damaged.

The sump also has to come off before the oil pump cover can be removed so you might find it needs a new sump pan (£25).

Plus several hundred ,£ in labour it's not a easy job even for a home mechanic hence why I said it's worth of on a car in reasonable condition

A knackered old banger with bad paint electrical faults none working air con ect less so
 
Plus several hundred ,£ in labour it's not a easy job even for a home mechanic hence why I said it's worth of on a car in reasonable condition

A knackered old banger with bad paint electrical faults none working air con ect less so

Agree 100%, cars are always a cost. Owner has to decide if the rest of it is worth the expense. But a good car is worth doing because replacement cars are VERY not cheap and will come with their own problems.

The job looks "doable" in the car but having done two cam belts I will be removing my Multijet engine from the car.
 
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