56 Buick Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 After thoughts on adding seafoam to the oil of the 56 in order to clean the engine internals. Seen others do this to clean lifters to stop them ticking for example. But these have been modern engines. Anyone done this and any dangers? Thanks, Drew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 How dirty is the engine inside? Back in the day I had a sludged up 352 Ford with a noisy lifter. I put Rislone in it to "clean it up". It knocked loose a bunch of sludge. Then I had 16 noisy lifters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 10 hours ago, Bloo said: How dirty is the engine inside? Back in the day I had a sludged up 352 Ford with a noisy lifter. I put Rislone in it to "clean it up". It knocked loose a bunch of sludge. Then I had 16 noisy lifters. Turn up the radio... Lesson: stay out of the additives isle at the parts store! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 If the engine is running well and emitting the usual noises I would not bother. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
56 Buick Posted January 5, 2020 Author Share Posted January 5, 2020 Thanks all. I will not bother as there is nothing horrendous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 Do a couple of 1,000 mile oil changes and drive it! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 I knew an old-school mechanic (who was very good) who swore by the stuff, especially for cars that had sat some time. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTX5467 Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 BEFORE there was Seafoam, there was Berryman's B-12. Gasoline, motor oil, or atf. Basically a varnish remover. AND people used to add a quart of atf to help clean things up, claiming it would get into more places, to increase oil supply, due to its lighter viscosity than motor oil. Personally, I'd not use Seafoam just because it's sold in a lot of parts stores (which can mean it has a good profit margin, more than anything else) when Berryman's is still around. What I used to do was to get some Stweart-Warner Alemite CD-2 Oil Detergent. A product designed for use in motor oil, that could be left in the oil for a while. With a fresh oil change, I'd add a pint can. When the oil got to 1/2 quart low, I'd add a second pint can. At about 4000 miles, I'd do an oil change. From what I could see through the oil filler cap hole, it cleaned things up really nice (at least the rocker arm shaft area). In more modern times, doing an oil change with Mobil 1 ester-based synthetic motor oil is supposed to clean things up. The ester-based oils dissolve sludge and such, but normal synthetics might not, although ANY modern oil has a lot of detergents/dispersants in them anyway. MAKE SURE you have several extra oil filters before beginning this procedure, for good measure. IF all you're doing is chasing a "lifter tick", might try using a multi-vis oil with a lower "low" viscosity number. Like 5W-30 rather than 10W-30, for example. To me, that plus the Ester-based synthetic motor oil would probably be the better long-term "fix". Nothing's going to work overnight, by observation (been there, tried that on our '69 Chevy pickup!!). Enjoy! NTX5467 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadhog1951 Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 I have a '56 Buick special with the stock 322 2 bbl engine, roughly 125,000 miles, engine internals are all original. It developed a "tick" on cold start up after sitting for a while so I changed the oil and that didn't help. I then added a can of Slick 50 and the tick went away, it has been over 10 k miles since then with more oil changes and the tick has not returned. I tried the slick 50 from the advice of my brother who owns a vintage GM product who used it for the same reason to cure his cold tick problem,,, Well it worked for us and I would not hesitate to do it again if the problem arises! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadhog1951 Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 PS, don't know if you are trying to clean up sludge or stop a lifter tick but I have put auto trans fluid to clean up sludge, I inherited an old 4 cyl. tractor that had set for many years and a valve was stuck. I removed the valve cover, freed it up and changed the oil. It did have some build up in the valve train, but not too bad. It ran fine all summer but the next spring, after sitting all winter the valve was stuck again. This time I freed it up, changed the oil and added 1/2 qt. of auto trans fluid and it ran great for several years after! I added the trans fluid at every oil change...Ed 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 On 1/5/2020 at 10:21 AM, old-tank said: stay out of the additives isle at the parts store! ...and don't put into the engine other concoctions like trans fluid, brake fluid, kerosene, diesel. Fresh oil/filter and a high speed 200 mile drive will fix it if it can be fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 3 hours ago, old-tank said: Fresh oil/filter and a high speed 200 mile drive will fix it if it can be fixed. If you can't get a high speed run just drive at the regular speed but in second gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KongaMan Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 Everyone has their favorite Jesus Juice, but I've always been partial to Marvel Mystery Oil for accelerated cleaning of a possibly gunked up engine. One quart along with fresh oil and a new filter, then (this is important) drive the crap out of it. Nothing's going to work in a cold, stopped engine; repeated extended runs at high revs and hot temps are the key. If the oil turns black, drain and redo. Of course, it also helps to manually remove sludge if needed and possible before treatment. You can clean out your pan and rockers a lot faster with a spoon than with detergent oil or additives. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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