Alex Posted November 20, 2002 Share Posted November 20, 2002 Hmmm...after speaking to PaulE and reading a thread on the SXOC, I'm tempted to take my next oil change to the extreme. Is it worth my while taking off the sump and having a real good poke around and clean up to make sure no crap is not getting flushed out with the oil changes. Or should I give the car a "flush"with proper engine flush? Or both? Is it worth it? Ther car has done 110,000miles and go knows what its been through before I got it (servicing wise). If I take the sump off, do I just need a new gasket to put it back on with? Is it a partucularly tricky job?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Martin F Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 There is no sump gasket, you just use FIPG. I didn't think you could remove the sump on our cars without unbolting the cross member and some other gubbins. In which case it's a lot of work for just a poke around. I'd probably recommend just using an engine flush. Have done this before on the MKIII and no harm came of it. But inversely i don't know if it did much good either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyefi Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Originally posted by Martin F I didn't think you could remove the sump on our cars without unbolting the cross member and some other gubbins. i think yr right, its supposed to be a large pain in the arse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted November 21, 2002 Author Share Posted November 21, 2002 I've got access to a ramp and mechanic...so I'll take a look. But I will probably wimp out and go for the flush routine. What's FIPG stand for? Sorry me a bit thick. Is it that gasket in a tube stuff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Martin F Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Yeah, Form in place gasket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terminator Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Not wishing to hijack your thread Alex but it is related. As you are considering going to those length, a magnetic plug would be a good idea, after the spring clean. I wonder what happened to Gavin’s (I think) quest for magnetic drain plugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian C Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Speaking of which, where is my Red Hermatite you pikey? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Walker Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Alex, Just a word of warning, you may do more harm than good flushing oil in a high mileage car. Quoted "In an old engine you really don't want to remove all the deposits. Some of these deposits help seal rings, lifters and even some of the flanges between the heads, covers, pan and the block, where the gaskets are thin. I have heard of engines with over 280,000km that worked fine, but when flushed it failed in a month because the blow-by past the scraper ring(now really clean) contaminated the oil and screwed the rod bearings." I wouldn't do it... Gaz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted November 21, 2002 Author Share Posted November 21, 2002 Gaz, I too thought that, but ours is a modern engine which is much better. This quote AFAIK can be applied to less modern engines. And at the end of the day what's to stop the crud shifting one day and starting a leak anyway... Either I'll highlight a problem or have nothing to report...you never know my engine could be pretty clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Originally posted by Alex Holdroyd Either I'll highlight a problem or have nothing to report...you never know my engine could be pretty clean. You're a brave man Alex... Or should that be brave Guinea pig? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supra Pilot Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Alex, avoid using an engine flush m8...... Dom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Walker Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Alex, just don't say we didn't warn ya! Gaz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted November 21, 2002 Author Share Posted November 21, 2002 Originally posted by gazwalker Alex, just don't say we didn't warn ya! Gaz. Fair enough, I'll mull it over and look at the options before doing it...or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyefi Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 alex, im not sure what yr gonna gain by using a flush. all i can see is a risk. do u think there is something nasty in there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Not that I'm saying its the way to do it but... The guy that did my first oil change works on Ferraris for a living. I wanted him to flush the engine first and he said it was better to flush it through with some normal clean engine oil. He emptied all my oil, filled it up with Shell Helix, ran it for a while and then emptied it all again!!! - Talk about waste of oil! - Still, I didn't pay for it! I don't know if that's better or not, but apparently that's what they do with Ferraris:conf: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyefi Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 yep, ive heard of this b4, usually with a thin oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted November 21, 2002 Author Share Posted November 21, 2002 The problem as I see it is that I don't know what's happened servicing wise before I got the car.... The oil IMO turns black far too fast. I think the best way to handle this is to remove the sump if I can...see how grotty it is inside. If I can't I guess I'll try multiple flushes...with normal oil...possibly some really thin stuff to get in all the nooks in the few minutes I idle it through the system for. Would it be ok to try and use a magnet on a stick to gently look for metal fragment in the sump (through the sump plug whole)...assuming I can't get the sump off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon F Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Alex To save the agg of ripping the sump off, take the car to someone with a borescope - drain the oil and have a look up the hole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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