Engine additive and cleaner

[mackat]

What are peoples thoughts on engine additives and cleaners?

Gonna be taking a long run up to Scotland and thought this might be a good time to drop some in.

[lolsteve]

Give the Forte stuff a shot. seems to be pretty much the only brand people can agree on

[mackat]

Is it worth it though?

[Piggy]

Forte again gets a vote here.

Redex avoid imho

[bashbarnard]

Forte. Use at work regular.

[mackat]

Forte. Use at work regular.

Does it make an difference on the engine?

[Jonny81191]

Meh. Is there any reason why you should do it? I'd put an oil flush through an engine that had stood a while or was long overdue a service. If you have a healthy engine then why bother?

[silverzx]

My boss at work swears by the stuff and has a turbo mini GP running 500+ bhp... Does that help?

[powerandtorque]

My general attitude is that if the engine has had servicing neglected for so long that you need to use such products then damage / excessive wear will already have occurred, and no end of cleaners or additives liberally added to the oil will undo that.

I know that there are certain engines that suffer oil sludging even with regular servicing (eg certain Saab turbo engines) but an XU isn't one of them - providing that it's had some vaguely regular servicing carried out over the years then it'll soldier on into high mileages quite happily. Certain XU variants don't take neglect as well as others - eg XU5JA's wearing cams and XU10's wearing blocks - but again all the additives in the world won't help that once it's happened.

In addition to that, quite a few additives are little more than snake oil.

[RetroPug]

Rather than waste money on additives just change the oil more regularly and use good quality oil.

[lolsteve]

Are we talking flushes or injector cleaners? him saying he's taking a run to up to scotland sounded like injectors to me as you wouldnt drive up the country with a flush in

[mackat]

Was thinking on a whole what peoples thoughts on the engine additives and cleaners where.
As I'm doing a run up to Scotland I suppose this would be a good time to add a product?!?

My injectors where cleaned and oil changed less then 1000 miles ago, but was planning to change the oil/filter before heading up anyways.

I understand from the replies it's not worth it.

[Redordead89]

Do it man! Why not? Always worth maintaining and cleaning your engine!
Do it before you go and clock your mpg and guage the performance before and after and let us all know how you get on with it and which one you used!

[adam b]

Use good oils and proper filters instead

[lolsteve]

When I first got my silver ZR I used some wynns stuff fro halfords to flush the oil. It's the only time i've seen physical chunks come out during a change. Car had been sat for 18 months previous to me getting it though

[silverzx]

Meh, I'll use some on my S14 next time I change it.

They wouldn't sell it if it was really that bad for your car.

[RetroPug]

Meh, I'll use some on my S14 next time I change it.

They wouldn't sell it if it was really that bad for your car.

And if it was really good for your engine and manufacturers could significantly extend the life of an engine with a 5.99 bottle of fluid instead of millions on research and development they'd probably start using the 5.99 fluid in servicing schedules.

It's probably not that bad for your car, it's just a waste of money that could be spent on more frequent oil changes and better oil, both of which are objectively better for an engine.

[mackat]

When people say better oil - I'm currently using Total Quartz 9000 Energy 5W40 from the Peugeot dealer.

[silverzx]

Meh, I'll use some on my S14 next time I change it.

They wouldn't sell it if it was really that bad for your car.

And if it was really good for your engine and manufacturers could significantly extend the life of an engine with a 5.99 bottle of fluid instead of millions on research and development they'd probably start using the 5.99 fluid in servicing schedules.

It's probably not that bad for your car, it's just a waste of money that could be spent on more frequent oil changes and better oil, both of which are objectively better for an engine.

It's £5.99. Anyone unwilling to spend an EXTRA £5.99 on there car must be one of the tightest gits going! 

I don't disagree more regular oil changes is better but for £5.99 you have nothing to use.

"THEY DON'T WANT US TO USE ENGINE FLUSH!*"

*(because it's awesome and will make your engine like new so you won't buy / pay for a repair).

[insomaniac45]

And if it was really good for your engine and manufacturers could significantly extend the life of an engine with a 5.99 bottle of fluid instead of millions on research and development they'd probably start using the 5.99 fluid in servicing schedules.

is it not honda that have produced an engine made of ceramic, and will last over 1,000,000 miles. where is that engine in production cars 

[RetroPug]

Meh, I'll use some on my S14 next time I change it.

They wouldn't sell it if it was really that bad for your car.

And if it was really good for your engine and manufacturers could significantly extend the life of an engine with a 5.99 bottle of fluid instead of millions on research and development they'd probably start using the 5.99 fluid in servicing schedules.

It's probably not that bad for your car, it's just a waste of money that could be spent on more frequent oil changes and better oil, both of which are objectively better for an engine.

It's £5.99. Anyone unwilling to spend an EXTRA £5.99 on there car must be one of the tightest gits going! 

I don't disagree more regular oil changes is better but for £5.99 you have nothing to use.

"THEY DON'T WANT US TO USE ENGINE FLUSH!*"

*(because it's awesome and will make your engine like new so you won't buy / pay for a repair).

I'm not unwilling to spend £5.99 if I think I will get £5.99's worth of benefit from it.

I can maybe see the point if an engine has been sat for years, but other than that regular oil changes would keep it clean anyway and I'd rather put that money towards more regular maintenance.

[Dazecoop]

I use Wynn's injector cleaner / clean burn products form Halfords, maybe once every couple months. Have done for years, on almost all my cars. Never had any bad effects from them.

The only thing I have noticed is my Land Rover got noticeably better on fuel on the tank that I used the clean burn, so its gotta count for something. I haven't used on my Peugeot yet though, but might treat it over Xmas 

[Jonny81191]

I'm not unwilling to spend £5.99 if I think I will get £5.99's worth of benefit from it.

I can maybe see the point if an engine has been sat for years, but other than that regular oil changes would keep it clean anyway and I'd rather put that money towards more regular maintenance.

/thread tbh.