OzSTOC
Honda ST1100 Section => Oils, Oil Filters & Servicing ST1100 => Topic started by: spanner on July 14, 2016, 05:34:43 PM
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About to do the oil change .... Overdue ..... On the ST11.
Does anyone have any comments surrounding the use of something like the winners oil flush/treatment.
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Here's a little bit of reading on the subject that does not appear to be published by an oil company.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/5-benefits-of-an-engine-flush.htm (http://auto.howstuffworks.com/5-benefits-of-an-engine-flush.htm)
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If you do regular changes (10-20K Ks) using a good oil, the a flush shouldn't be needed.
Its only engines that have realy old abused oil that need a flush compound to loosen the carbon build up and gluey oil.
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I haven't come across a piece of equipment which doesn't benefit from frequent oil changes using a high grade oil. In my ST1100 I did oil changes and filter changes at the same time, oil and filters is relatively cheap compared to engine overhaul.
Use as high a service classification engine oil as possible, that's the API "S" rating, anything from API SH onwards, higher the second letter the better, also use an oil with the JASO MA or MA2 spec for wet clutch performance, use an SAE 10W-40 or 5W-40, synthetic or semi-synthetic is OK but mineral oil with regular oil changes is OK too.
Low performance oil, API SE, SF and some SGs, should be avoided. In the days of those API classifications, each new classification meant almost double the engine cleanliness, ability to hold soot and other contaminants in suspension, anti-wear performance and oil thermal stability (longer life). Low performance classification oils can let sludge deposits settle out on engine components like in oil galleries and in piston grooves, these lead to reduced or stopped oil flow and engine failure and blocked oil rings and increased oil consumption.
I remember Castrol GTX back in the 80s. People used to say it stayed so clean but that's not what an engine oil has to do, it has to hold contaminants in suspension so they're drained with the oil, the oil has to get black. Once saw a car whose engine oil was clean but when the drain plug was taken out nothing flowed out. The apprentice was given the job of sticking a screwdriver up the oil plug hole and engine oil ran out and went right up the sleeve of his overall. They took the sump pan off and it had a thick layer of sludge similar to the skin on top of a tin of old paint right across the base of the oil pan. The oil hadn't been able to hold the soot and sludge in suspension so it had dropped out, don't know what had settled in the oil galleries and ring grooves.
So, I totally agree with Brock, if you do regular oil changes and use a good quality oil then there's no need for an engine flush. In fact, if you're looking at a bike and the engine needs flushing then you shouldn't touch it, someone has abused the engine using low performance engine oil and leaving it in for too long and some damage has been done to the engine. Check the oil filler cap, run your finger down under the casing through the filler hole, if it comes out sludgy, walk away.