I own an old 1994 Ford F150 XLT 5.0L and it has just over 199,xxx miles on the engine. I would like to run an oil additive to kind of clean up any and all gunk that may be in the engine so that it will all run out when I change my oil next week (or sooner of needed).I have thought about using Seafoam since I have heard some good stories about it, but with all stories; there are bad ones too. I am just looking to clean up the gunk wherever the oil touches without having to tear apart my engine and clean it by hand (did that with my old Honda and that sucked).Does anyone have any expertise on this subject? If so could you possibly refer me to a preferred product? Any and all help is greatly appreciated.P.S. Money is not an issue so I don‘t care if it is $20 a bottle.
Oil additives sold separately are a scam. They are known to sometimes counteract the additives within oils (the only ones that really work) because an additive maker has no way of knowing which additives are already in your motor oil, and there is no such thing as one-additive-fits-all-oils. Various wonder effects are also unsupported by independent evidence. Normally engines shouldn't be flushed since modern oils keep most particles in suspension. The closest you can get is to drive the car until it is very hot and then drain the oil - it will remove 99% of all debris from the engine (you don't care if some remains in a remote angle of the crankcase - no problem there. Replace the oil filter, fill with new oil to the top dipstick mark. Replace regularly both oil and filter (no use to do it sooner than recommended by the Manufacturer, another way of wasting money), occasionally the air filter and the engine will be fine.
Don't use any additives on old engines. There is nothing in a can that can compensate for 200K of wear and tear. they cannot restore compression. They cannot improve fuel economy. They cannot give you faster start ups and smoother idle. Modern engine oils have all the additives and detergents you need. Don't waste your money. If you have severe oil gelling or massive amounts of gunk in the engine, clean out the valve covers and oil pan.
ya paid $700 for a brake line, I cant wait to see how much ya pay for a booster
I wouldn't try any kind of additive to dissolve anything. There's really nothing out there that can dissolve 200K miles worth of oil deposits completely, so if you put something in there that dissolves some but not all of it you could unintentionally loosen and free deposits that don't dissolve. The last thing you want is to clog oil passages that aren't currently clogged with deposits that didn't fully dissolve and cause yourself all kinds of other problems. Engines don't have to be sparkling clean inside to work. I'd say leave it alone and just change the oil and filter regularly. It's gone 199K miles so the oiling system has worked fine to this point.
