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engine oil additives

I just got some leaflets through the post from Millers Oils this morning, one of the leaflets is rattling on about a couple of new products.. 'stop leak' and 'engine flush' both are oil additives and I'm sure they intend to do what the names imply, my questions are:

when I change the engine oil on the wifes saab, when checking the level on the dipstick the oil is new-oil coloured. when doing the same on my land rover it's black like the old oil, a little disappointing, would using some engine flush help get more of the old oil out and thus be better for my engine at oil-change time? and may it do any harm to an old high-milage engine?

stop leak, it stops leaks, is this like radweld where it foes faborous when it hits the air and plugs a leak or is it like that power-steering stuff that swells the seals? and is it a good idea?

my engine doesn't noticably use oil when the 20w50 was in, now I'm using 15w40. there is a damp block below the head that seems to be oil very very slowly seeping out, would stopleak safely solve this very minor leak?

Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)

Reply to
Mr.Nice.
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dont ever use engine flush on modern engines .

it wont do them any good if you run an engine without proper oil .

just change the filters and change the oil and thats it .

modern engines dont get sludged up like they used to and modern oils will have cleaning agents in them anyway to stop this .

Reply to
M0bcg

the leak around youre cylinder head is due to the rocker cover gasket leaking .

get new gasket, clean off metal mating surfaces with thinners[ gunwash etc] so they are nice and dry , fit new gasket to rocker cover and use some hylomar compound on both sides of gasket.

refit rocker cover and tighten up holdown nuts a bit at a time , but dont overtighten them and make the gasket squeeze out from under the rocker cover .

Reply to
M0bcg

I was under the impression that diesel engines always turned the oil dirty whereas petrol ones dont. Cant remember exactly why but i once read a good argument for it. My landy turns the oild black pretty quick (took about 2 or 3 trips when i rebuilt it to turn it black again). The v8 in my 101 keeps the oil nice and clean looking.

Reply to
Tom Woods

Would you call 1984 a modern engine for the purposes of this?

Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)

Reply to
Mr.Nice.

Righty ho.

Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)

Reply to
Mr.Nice.

On or around Sat, 27 Nov 2004 15:07:17 +0000, Mr.Nice. enlightened us thusly:

yes, but the key to this is "modern oil". In petrol terms, API SG was the first standard to specifically address the anti-sludge issue. I forget which diesel one applies, but I daresay there is one.

if the engine's been run for a long time on cheap crap oil, as old ones often are, then you could look for evidence of sludge, in the rocker cover is a likely spot. Sludge is typically black stuff a bit like soft tar...

Reply to
Austin Shackles

On or around Sat, 27 Nov 2004 14:50:47 +0000, Tom Woods enlightened us thusly:

diesels make the oil black quite quickly, but that's dues to soot in it. Petrols take longer to do this. However, they both wear the oil out. 's disappointing, though, when you pull the dipstick out of something you changed the oil on a week ago, and it's black as the ace.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

Could it be all that sooty carbon rubbish?

Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)

Reply to
Mr.Nice.

I'll be having the rocker cover off to change the gasket soon, I might fiddle with the tappets while I'm in there.

Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)

Reply to
Mr.Nice.

or the three ringed rubber collar around the filler/breather, which wears to be a slack fit every now and again.

Huw

Reply to
Huw

Whatever you do with this engine the new oil will be pitch black within five minutes of a change. If you are really fussy and the oil has been in the engine that bit too long, add a quart of diesel to your oil and run at idle for a minute or two before draining. This will thin the old oil so it drains better. Very occasionaly, and if another diesel vehicle happens to need changing at about the same time, I drain both and refil the Landrover with the used oil from the other vehicle which will have oil that is relitively much cleaner. I'll run it on this for maybe five miles before draining again and refilling with fresh oil and changing the filter. After this the new oil will appear resonably clean for an extra ten minutes :-)

Let it be. These engines seeped oil from new. Not badly. Certainly not worth bothering with. If it doesn't leave a pool under the car or cause a bother passing MOT, leave well alone. It's a Land Rover not a Lexus.

Huw

Reply to
Huw

Once again the voice of reason. change the oil regularly, put good stuff in, stop fannying about. point taken ;o)

Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)

Reply to
Mr.Nice.

Aren't they self adhesive on one side?

Reply to
George Spigot

The oil in my engine is still a nice golden colour.. i've been thinking of taking the van back to the place that re-built the engine and complaining :)

(it's a 2.8 TDI fiat engine in my Iveco motorhome, was totaly re-conditioned when it ate an exhaust valve at 70mph 2 weeks after buying the van.. that was a year and a half ago now, done about 10k miles since, and changed the oil once.. last change was 5 months/3k miles ago.. still golden and like new)

Reply to
Hairy Arse

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