Toyota Engine Oil System Cleaner

So, I did a brake job yesterday and snapped off one of the wheel studs. While waiting in line for the new wheel stud, I seen this Toyota version of Seafoam at the dealer and of course, the little tubes of before and after oil samples to justify the $20 price tag..
Being a Seafoam guy, I thought I would give it a try as it is a Toyota product. I was wondering if anyone has tried this Toyota brand and what you thought of it compared to the $10 Seafoam?
Im thinking they are pretty much the same as a pre oil case sludge cleaner before you drop the oil.

Thanks

 

I wonder if Toyota dealerships use this when doing certain scheduled maintenance services. I did not know that toyota had this. Personally, because i baby my truck i would feel safer using toyota brand than seafoam.
The only difference that you'll probably notice is a thinner wallet.

 

There is no need to use a Toyota brand version of something like this unless the Toyota brand is cheaper. Seafoam works fine in everything.

Good find though.

 

Interesting...let us know how it goes.

 

Subaru just recently released this same type of product.. Interesting.

 

I believe this stuff is a market to get your money. Hard crusted on carbon will not disappear. That is done through manually removing it.

With that being said your mileage may very and the above is MY opinion.

 

Did my oil change today and tossed the treatment in the crankcase. Let it idle for 20min (can suggested 15min)...I wanted my moneys worth . I expected to see a clear liquid in the can but it was red and also kinda smelled like diesal. It had me thinking back when guys use to add a few drops of tranny fluid in the case to free up sticky lifters...
I use Mobil 1 full synthetic and it came out pretty black. Being that I change my own oil, springing for the little extra cost isnt that bad I guess for that feel good feeling of knowing its done right.

 

I would agree that this wont dissolve chunks of carbon.. however from my experience it will remove some deposits of carbon and most of the sludge. I wouldn't do this every oil change but every now and then it certainly can't hurt. Its more for people who have been neglected changing their oil for a while, or have been using low quality oil.

 

Quart of automatic trans fluid for a week or two prior to oil change or a quart of diesel fuel and 30 minutes idle time before change.

Problem is those who have neglected their vehicle shouldn't do either they should just run a good HEDO (diesel) oil and it will do amazing things. It won't happen overnight but it won't chunk up things that could really cause a problem if lodged somewhere.

 

I would leave the stuff alone. Change your oil more often if you think you have a sludge problem, or switch to synthetic. Anytime you thin your oil in the hopes of cleaning the engine, you decrease the size of the oil film on the crank and rod bearings.
To each his own, but you won't catch me using it.

 

Saw this crap and a fuel system treatment in last issue of Toyota marketing magazine. Sad they have sunk so low.

Just snake oil to increase profits at the dealership. Toyota hasn't had a sludgy engine since the late 1990's/ (although those ones resulted in a class action suit against them) Regular oil changes are all you need.

As for Seafoam, if you've got a coleman camp stove/lantern, rubbing alcohol for your sore back and a kerosene heater for your ice fishing shed, make your own. Naptha, isopropyl alcohol and kerosene are the three ingredients. (check their WHMIS sheet)

 

If you take apart an engine with 100k miles that has seen reg changes with good quality synth oil you will see how clean it is. Putting this sort of "cleaner" stuff in your oil is at best snake oil and at worst could do some damage. Waste of time and money....

 

I'll take some of that

 

On my 93 Toyota Xtracab Pickup with the 3vze 3.0 V6 in 4x4 I used to run Mobil 1 synthetic 10w30 (not the EP stuff, just the regular synthetic) for the longest time. I used it for regular 6000 to 7000 km oil changes for about 70,000 km's or so (about 40,000-ish miles or so give or take). For some reason I did a change in there with some Amsoil 10w30 just to try it but then switched back to Mobil 1 again. I noticed the engine on Amsoil started slightly better/smoother, and it seemed to run slightly better. But I didn't give too much thought it after that. Then I made the decision to switch over to Amsoil entirely. I got a bottle of their Engine Oil Cleaner and dumped it in with a previous Mobil 1 10w30 change, and let it idle as per the instructions, then changed it out for some Amsoil 10w30 (their top tier stuff). When I took the truck for a drive it was noticeably more responsive and slightly more powerful. I really couldn't believe the results. It ran so much better. This stuff honestly made a difference. And this was in an engine that had had detergents from Mobil 1 synthetic working on it for quite a long time. Overall I think a crankcase cleaner might be worthwhile for some applications, and in that one it worked like a hot damn.

 

If you actually take an engine like this apart you will see that all the parts that matter in the crankcase are pretty much like the day they left the factory. And I fail to see how cleaning some varnish off the oil pan and galleries can make a motor "run better". Just makes no sense. And if the oil ports were clogged you would already have failed bearings and/or valve train. But if it seems to work for you, that's all that counts I suppose. As they say, YMMV.

 

After reading the replies on this thread I had to make an account. After working on numerous different makes and models of cars for 30 years I can assure you that running a detergent in your engine is the best thing you can do it less a full tear down. The ignorance displayed by some of these snake oil posters is absurd. Spreading ignorance is the something I cannot ignore. Where someone can come up with this garbage is beyond me. And please do not run detergents or thinners in an engine under load. Another completely ignorant post. All of my tear downs that have run detergents every second oil change came out with immaculate results. Even on engines with sludging issues like ALL BMW motors or even some of the 1mz motors. Good luck and don't listen to people online with zero experience, knowledge, or heck even theory of the subject. The Internet sure is a wonderful place to share wrong answers!

 

on the 1gr that has shown to easily live to 400k miles.... i plan on just doing regular old oil changes with quality oils at proper intervals.....

 

I'm sorry, but that is called a placebo effect. Without real numbers the ass dynomometer results are not worth anything. When ever you hear words like "it feels like ...", it is usually just Bologna.

And when people are talking about removing sludge... Well if you have sludge to begin with you have already screwed up. The last thing you want is to have it break loose in a chunk and block an oil passage or the oil pump.

 

Yeah man, made the switch over to amsoil as well not to long after purchasing the truck. Prior to switching over, during cold morning startups it had a hard time. Switched over to amsoil and no hard start ups. Not really what I would call a performance gain, but more of a operational gain

 

TOYOFOAM