Engine Flush ? Recommended or not ?

[Kevin mathews]

Hey guys

Ive got an Audi A3 2007 2.0 fsi and has 171k kms on the clock.

Its been a while since i have driven the vehicle id say roughly around 6 months. Id drice it once in a while only

Im thinking to do a engine flush before i get the oil changed

What do you guys think?

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[A19quattro]

It doesn't tend to be recommended nowadays but I wonder about the wisdom of this. there are a lot of products that used to be used regularly and their reputation has been wrecked by the internet; Copper ease, K&N filters and so on. It's hard to work out what's real and what may be product assassination started presumably by competitors. Add t that there are more chemical cleaning products and services out there than ever leading to massive confusion, I am aware I am not helping mush to this point
Personally I have used all of them in the past and given the right circumstances and taking into account the publicised potential shortcomings I would still use them, unless anyone has proven beyond a shadow of doubt that they are detrimental to tour car/engine whatever.
I have a K&N on my Diesel A3 never had a issue. I don't use copper-ease on brakes now as there are better product but I do use it. We bought a low mileage 10 plus year old VW campervan, so sat around a lot and not serviced much (long life, hah) and I ran an engine flush through it the first time I serviced it. It took al the gloopy black oil out of it and generally cleaned up the engine as far as I could see and we had it for a good few years and I never regretted it.
I would ,say with the kind of mileage yours has done it wouldn't go amiss. just follow the instructions to the letter and you should be fine, maybe read them first before you buy and make sure you would be happy doing what it says and if not very possibly a straight forward oil change with good quality and correct oil for the vehicle would do the trick, also regular changes thereafter
That's my 2p worth, someone will now likely shoot me down, gotta catch me first...………………………………………………………………...

 

[samisnake]

Do another oil change within a short period, say a month or so. Oil contains detergents thatll clean the engine. I wouldn't be putting in random chemicals

 

[prt57]

Just finished replacing the cam chain tensioner on a Mk 4 1.8T and you can see where there are lots of places oil accumulated under the cams etc. If a flush is used these are the sort of areas where the liquid will sit and not drain out when the flush is drained out. Also you need to be careful that the gloop on the inside of the oil ways is not loosened and then breaks off at a later date. You certainly do not want the oil strainer blocking up. I would be happier doing an oil change with an excellent quality oil and then as suggested change it again at a reduced mileage compared to normal.

 

[Daveyonthemove]

It's the age old argument really.
My Dad (mechanic for 35 years) says not to use an engine flush because it could remove a thick glob of oil and it could block an oil vein somewhere else in the engine (as Peter mentions above).

Others say that there may already be a build up causing oil veins to be clogged and you are on borrowed time before engine failure, so using an engine flush could unblock things and remove the issue.

There is also the risk that you don't get all of the engine flush out when you drain it, so any fresh oil put in afterwards would now be 'diluted' slightly by the remaining detergent, which will break down it's properties faster... It's a minefiled!

A few years back I found a company that offered a service where they drained your oil out of the engine and used a machine to pump hot mineral oil in and suck that oil out through the sump and into a filter in a continuous loop so the engine gets flushed through thoroughly with an oil based product, and then when it's complete they top up with the correct engine oil again.
I was booked in to use them, but the car I had back then (Volvo V50) had a few issues that needed sorting first and in the end I gave up on it and sold it, so I never got to try this engine cleaning service.
I can't remember the name of the company otherwise I'd book my S3 in for it.