Engine Oil Flushing Discussion Approved

Thanks for the quick approval ken da Now waiting for the experts to open up!

your bike is resting in peace AFAIK!!

what do i did in my old pulsar1500 classic is i got a can of cyclo engine flush just poured half of the bottle (50-70ml) in engine, kept engine running for 2-3mind(in idle state), then shut off engine and drain the oil, fill in new oil that's it.

regarding other techniques like diesel flushing,... i donot know about them, and would not try atleast on my bike untill any expert advices me to do that..

simplest method is what you have mentioned, (running bike for 5-10 kms and then flushing)

My bike is very close to Resurrection Work in progress!!!

How far is cyclo engine flush efficient??? cost of the cyclo can??

there are many other flushes available, you may try them out, the one i got costs around 160-200bucks..

well about it cyclo being efficient, its only purpose is to flush out remaining oil AFAIK so just use it for that only donot expect huge performance addition.. as you are changing the oil that's why it is suggested.

but you can switch to synthetic without flushing too...

one more method i remembered is that,

purchase 2 cans of recommened oil you are wishing to pour into your bike(which you will bw buying as it needs 1300ml of oil), just drain old oil, pour new synthetic oil(only 200-300ml) in engine run it idle for 30sec to 1min and drain out the oil... this is another way you can try out which doesnot needs flushing BTW flushing is best method i know to try

Just enquired about Cyclo locally, costs 200 + taxes. Is the price ok??

price may vary depending upon state govt. taxes.. but in my city you will get almost all things very cheap...

I feel, the second method he suggested would be fine. But 300v is quite expensive to buy 2 bottles at a time I guess.

Why dont u try draining the oil from a hot engine OVERNIGHT. it should drain properly.

I too have switched form mineral to full synthetic. Just run engine till engine is warm/hot enough. How long? Im not sure, maybe 10-15 minutes. If your bike is still young, flushing is not required to make the switch. If you still want to flush anyway as I did. Here's what I did..
1. Got a can of engine flush (Don't remember the brand).
2. Let out a little bit of engine oil from bike (about 200-300ml)
3. Poured engine flush about 200-300ml into the bike
4. Run engine for approx 10-15 mts
5. Shut engine & drained oil as much as possible (including tilting the bike and slowly turning the engine with kick starter ). Watched TV for the next 2 hours.
6. Filled with fresh fully synthetic oil.

Synthetic oils are reputed to last for at least 4k +. However I drained and refilled with fresh oil @ 2k. The first time switch to synthetic is contaminated with "mineral + engine flush + synthetic" as oil cannot be completely drained. There was no problem at 2k, everything was running smooth and nice. Changed them Just for my piece of mind.

What I practice is.... while getting the oil changed, open the oil flush bolt.... leave the bike idle for 3-5min till all the oil drains out, now start the engine (yes, without any oil in it) and keep running for 8-10sec (not more than that), so that the oil deposited in the oil-cooler is drained. Now after the engine is off, tilt the bike 45 degrees to the right first.... keep in this position for a min... then tilt it to the left side.. hold it again in that position for a min. This is a conventional way of draining the engine oil properly. I agree that there might be a little amount of oil sticking to the engine parts, but what the heck.... you cannot wash the engine from inside right !!
My bikes are running good with this kind of a practice.

The additives for engine flush are mere diesel-kerosene-petrol mixtures AFAIK, which will just make the oil thinner and let is drain freely. But using solvents in the engine is not recommended.

Most of the mechanics put some petrol after the oil is drained, and run the engine for close to a minute, but I did not like the idea, nor did I feel any use.

I did not flush the oil and the bike runs good. I see no difference in running the bike without flushing. The oil left in the bike is hardly 20-30 ml (less than 5% of new oil) and would make no difference in 1.2 ltr of new oil.

But don't u think mineral oil would contaminate the synth oil???

Engine / Engine Oil Flushing is not really required unless you probably want to clean the internals of an old engine (especially for sludge) without opening it up. For switching between oils it isn't really needed. In fact, it might not be that a good thing to do. Here are my reasons:

1) Engine oils are compatible with each other. Everything is lubricating material although with different properties. Every oil comes with standard additives & stabilizers that make sure different types of oils, when mixed, are compatible with each other and there won't be any odd reaction or sort of.

2) Even when you drain the engine oil or flush the engine oil, there would be 200 to 400 ml of engine oil or engine oil + flushing agent left in the engine that will not come out of the engine unless you open it up. When you add new engine oil, it mixes with the existing oil in the engine.

Now, I'd better let the new fully synthetic engine oil mix with the burnt mineral oil than letting it mix with a flushing agent.

FYI - most bikes 150cc & above have 1.2 liter as engine oil capacity but only 1L as required refill. 200 ml stays in different compartments in the engine that are purpose built to store minute quantities of engine oil for lubrication during cold start - like at the timing chain tensioner, the rocker roller arms, the clutch case that I know of.

The Karizma's Engine oil capacity is 1.3L and refill is 900ml. The P200/220 won't be very different with oil remaining not just in the engine but also in the radiator. Pls check the manuals for correct details.

3) Various parts in the engine need the carbon deposits on them to be there for good functioning. Like the Valve heads need the carbon deposits for better lubrication. Various oil seals and gaps in the gaskets/packing have carbon deposits in them (in engines that have seen some life). Flushing agents clean all that away and that can cause problems.

4) Every engine oil has detergents whose purpose is to clean the engine internals. In fact, the top three functions of an engine oil are 1) Lubrication, 2) temperature control, 3) cleaning the internals. A good engine oil does its cleaning job well. Maintaining the engine with timely oil change with good oil is good enough to maintain the engine well.

Do you get a hint on why the Pulsars leak oil when Motul 300V is used? It uses Double Ester technology. The Esters are the best cleaning agents. In the process of cleaning they eat away the dirt and some engine packing material.

I haven't used the correct technical terms but tried to give the gist of it in my own words. Now you guys decide what you want to do.

^^ i agree. if you really wanna flush your engine, its more to do with cleaning the insides and removing the sludge deposits. you can buy STP engine flush, and it will do the purpose. but mixing of oil wont have any problem.