Lucas Oil

[Charge]

http://www.animegame.com/cars/Oil%20Tests.pdf

-C+

[CAP1]

1 was carbon fouled the rest were just round tipped core and brown crusty...like clockwork...almost like they were too hot.

Not anymore though...    142k and going...    

I am talking about over the counter single contact copper and platinum plugs...Champion, AC/Delco, Autolite, Denso, Bosch. Checked the plug wires, boots, etc...for leaks. The quad platinum/ir haven't had any issue at all.

The Dodge 2.0 SOHC isn't as robust as the DOHC model...but you can tweak it some to make it perform better, the only thing I haven't done is reprogram the puter and swap out the air filter...yet.

brown crusty, i think is a little bit of oil getting on it. it's been awhile, but a good burning plug should look like a white/greyish color with no accumulations.
 if it were antifreeze, the plug would be clean. almost new looking.

 OIL, in small amounts will leave that crusty look.

 now.....some systems, and i think dodges is one of them, can and will fire each cylinder for different lengths of time, and different voltages. so if the system sees a cylinder not firing correctly, it could fire that(or all) cylinder/s hotter, which in turn could/would lead to premature plug wear.

[Masherbrum]

CAP, I was thinking maybe the valve seats were shot, when he originally posted.

[tapakeg]

Ok, here is one for you guys.

A while back I put a quart of "engine flush" in my engine thinking it would clean out the inside of my engine.

I have a 2002 Altima 2.5 with 125k miles.  It was flawless before that.

Now I think it took too much out of my engine around the rings and what not.  It now burns about a quart a week.  I know it is not leaking as there has never been a drop on my driveway.

I have tried misc. "ring seal" and other stuff at local auto parts stores.  Any suggestions?

I am sold on synthetic motor oils, but at $7-8 bucks a quart I'm not forking that out when it is going to burn it as fast as it does.

Tapakeg

[sluggish]

I like playing with the Lucas display on the counter at the parts store while I'm waiting for the guy to get my stuff.  It's a great time waster.

[CAP1]

CAP, I was thinking maybe the valve seats were shot, when he originally posted.

 THE Only thing keeping me from thinking that, is the accumulation.
 had they just been burnt, then i'd think that.

[CAP1]

Ok, here is one for you guys.

A while back I put a quart of "engine flush" in my engine thinking it would clean out the inside of my engine.

I have a 2002 Altima 2.5 with 125k miles.  It was flawless before that.

Now I think it took too much out of my engine around the rings and what not.  It now burns about a quart a week.  I know it is not leaking as there has never been a drop on my driveway.

I have tried misc. "ring seal" and other stuff at local auto parts stores.  Any suggestions?

I am sold on synthetic motor oils, but at $7-8 bucks a quart I'm not forking that out when it is going to burn it as fast as it does.

Tapakeg

 i've never liked engine flushes. it always stirs up crap.
 chances are good, that it "cleaned" your engine too well. it may have caused a momentary "dryness" in the cylinder bores, or it could've actually caused the rings to seize in their grooves.
 one thing to try, if you suspect the rings stuck, is to pour a small amount(VERY small) of tranny fluid in each cylinder...through the spark plug hole. let this set for a day or two, then start her up. she's gonna smoke like the dickens for a few minutes, but often if you have stuck rings, this will unstick them.

 i've had guys that've run that flush crap through their engines, and later seized the engine, as it actually clogged the oil pump pick-up screen.

[gyrene81]

Ok, here is one for you guys.

A while back I put a quart of "engine flush" in my engine thinking it would clean out the inside of my engine.

I have a 2002 Altima 2.5 with 125k miles.  It was flawless before that.

Now I think it took too much out of my engine around the rings and what not.  It now burns about a quart a week.  I know it is not leaking as there has never been a drop on my driveway.

I have tried misc. "ring seal" and other stuff at local auto parts stores.  Any suggestions?

I am sold on synthetic motor oils, but at $7-8 bucks a quart I'm not forking that out when it is going to burn it as fast as it does.

Tapakeg

Did that with a Ford 360 once...after over 100k miles went to flush it using that 5 minute engine flush instead of my usual method of a pint of diesel fuel...ended up having to drop the oil pan and clean the oil pump pickup screen...I got lucky because I had an oil pressure gauge instead of an idiot light. 2 days worth of work under the old oak tree.

Cap1 has a good idea to address the rings issue...just make sure you don't put more than a couple of tablespoons in each cylinder...it could foul your plugs.



Thanks for the tip on the ignition firing Cap1...didn't know that...explains a lot. I do have a sticky lifter now...could be collapsed...recent development. If it was my old big block 428 Ford I would fix it myself but...little 4 banger has way too much environmental electronic crap on it.

[phatzo]

i've never liked engine flushes. it always stirs up crap.
 chances are good, that it "cleaned" your engine too well. it may have caused a momentary "dryness" in the cylinder bores, or it could've actually caused the rings to seize in their grooves.
 one thing to try, if you suspect the rings stuck, is to pour a small amount(VERY small) of tranny fluid in each cylinder...through the spark plug hole. let this set for a day or two, then start her up. she's gonna smoke like the dickens for a few minutes, but often if you have stuck rings, this will unstick them.

 i've had guys that've run that flush crap through their engines, and later seized the engine, as it actually clogged the oil pump pick-up screen.

yep, I bought a second hand engine from a bike wreckers that was apperently reconditioned, it had been flushed with something ( I remember the wrecker telling me this.), all these little bits of what appeared to be loctite 515 blue form a gasket had broken loose and had made a perfect seal over the oil pump pick up grate. This was discovered too late. As for lucas oil, my cousin who owns a crane truck bussiness swears by it and it goes into all his equipment.

[tapakeg]

Sorry,

Define "stuck rings"

I did this flush about 20k miles ago.  The only bad effect is the added use of oil.

Like I have said, I have used a different "sealer" with each oil change.  Motor honey, ring seal, etc.  It seems to be working to slow the leak.

[Masherbrum]

Sorry,

Define "stuck rings"

I did this flush about 20k miles ago.  The only bad effect is the added use of oil.

Like I have said, I have used a different "sealer" with each oil change.  Motor honey, ring seal, etc.  It seems to be working to slow the leak.

The compression rings are glued or sticking to their lands (grooves) in the piston.   As such they cannot accommodate for the expansion and contraction of the cylinder.

It isn't a good thing.

[rpm]

I dated a girl that had a '94 2.0 Dodge Neon. The dealer overfilled the oil (filled without draining) and screwed up just about every sensor on the engine before I drained it. It never ran right again. I tried Berryman's and Lucas to clean off the sensors, neither worked.

[CAP1]

Sorry,

Define "stuck rings"

I did this flush about 20k miles ago.  The only bad effect is the added use of oil.

Like I have said, I have used a different "sealer" with each oil change.  Motor honey, ring seal, etc.  It seems to be working to slow the leak.

stuck rings:
for what ever reason, the compression rings(there's 2 of them) and/or the oil ring may be partially stuck in the ring grooves.

 the piston is smaller than the cylinder bore. it(in theory) never touches the cylinder bore. the piston rings are all that do touch it.
 as the plug fires, creating pressure in the quench area, this forces the piston down. it also forces all 3 ings out against the cylinder wall. or rather, it's supposed to force them out. by doing this, it seals compression out of the crank case(for the most part), and keeps oil from getting into the combustion chamber.
 if during the cleaning, something got caught in one of the grooves, they may have gotten stuck in their grooves. so, if they're stuck, the oil ring won't clean all of the oil off of the cylinder wall, and it'll end up in the combustion chamber, getting burnt.
 

[Flench]

I like playing with the Lucas display on the counter at the parts store while I'm waiting for the guy to get my stuff.  It's a great time waster.

HAHAHAHA Same here HAHAHAHAHA