Can You Use Brake Fluid in your Oil before an Oil Change to clean out engine grime? If so, How Much?

Question

I've heard a couple of times that adding some brake fluid to your engine oil act as a detergent and will remove a lot of sludge etc from inside your engine. Is this true? Are there any seals or gaskets that may be affected by the brake fluid?

Answer 1

YES, it will cause the rubber seals in your engine to swell and weaken, then tear, leak weep and cause you to be doing a reseal job. Brake fluid is hydraulic fluid and the seals in your brake system have a different composition than the seals in your engine, just as adding motor oil to your master cylinder will cause brake failure adding brake fluid to your engine will cause seal failure.

Walmart and all auto parts stores sell a product called motor flush, not a bad idea if the oil is very old. If you want a good additive try Lucas Oil Stabilizer which will replenish the additive packet in your oil.

Check the PCV valve, and under the oil filler cap and put your finger inside the inside of your valve cover if it is gritty, sooty etc then you have a sludge problem, if everything looks golden / honey through the oil filler cap then you have a properly maintained engine no real need for flush.

What I find strange is mechanics putting down flush, funny I use flush all the time, when I replace a head / head gasket I drain all the existing oil since it has water in it in many cases and the thinned out / diluted oil will cause bearing failure and doing a crank after doing a head is a buzz kill, then I use fresh oil (sometimes used oil from my personal car since I change at 2,500 mi intervals) and a bottle of flush and run the car 15 minutes then immediately drain the oil, then do a oil and filter change. let the customer drive with radiator flush and water for no more than a week, then I do a flush and fill on the cooling system. I've done it this way for years and never had a problem, where as other shops have gained a bad reputation doing it "their way"

Oil never wears out, the additives, detergents break down which causes an increase in viscosity, which leads to deposits which combine with ash (from combustion) and form sludge.

Also by the OP's name you have a turbo Subaru, keeping up on the service schedule will save you in the long run. Turbo's run very hot and the bearings in the turbo can prematurely fail if you do not perform frequent oil changes with a good quality oil. I would use Mobil 1, Castrol Syntec, or Royal Purple

Bottom line, change your oil/filter every 3K, use a can of flush if it has been a while. Run the flush as directed and NEVER drive with the flush in the car.

Use Lucas, Restore, STP, if it makes you sleep better at night, but the real determing factor on engine life is frequent oil changes, tune up's, basically MAINTAIN IT!

Answer 2

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RE:
Can You Use Brake Fluid in your Oil before an Oil Change to clean out engine grime? If so, How Much?
I've heard a couple of times that adding some brake fluid to your engine oil act as a detergent and will remove a lot of sludge etc from inside your engine. Is this true? Are there any seals or gaskets that may be affected by the brake fluid?

Answer 3

Brake Fluid In Engine Oil

Answer 4

A - Brake Fluid is for brakes, not engines
B - Unless you have an actual sludge problem, you do not need to use a flush. As a matter of fact, at a certain level, sludge could be disturbed and clog passages in the engine. Use a quality oil, it will fight the formation of sludge, especially a synthetic of semi-synthetic oil.
C - If you confirm you have a sludge problem, there are engine flushes available. You drive to a quick-change place, put the flush in, and let it circulate, then get a hot oil change to drain it all out. But only if you confirm you have a sludge problem.

If you want to use an additive to gently clean out sludge before it becomes a proble, use Rislone concentrate, not STP. Even the STP people don't claim to help with sludge in any way. It is good for restoring compression in worn engines. Pick up a bottle of STP Oil Treatment and shake it. Note it doesn't shake. That is thick goo you would be adding to the crankcase, goo that makes "a thicker cushion between moving engine parts". Pick up a bottle of Rislone concentrate, and note it shakes about quite easily. Read the labels on both bottles before you take my word for it.

Answer 5

The best thing for you to do my friend is just to start using STP oil treatment . Put in one bottle at every oil change. The detergents in STP will clean your engine out over time providing you change oil every 3000 miles and that you use a good quality motor oil. It will remove the sludge and varnish while adding a layer of protection to your engine's moving parts. I use it in all my personal vehicles and it is very good stuff. STP oil treatment has been on the market longer than I have been alive. Let that be proof for itself. I have had many machine shop operators that has done work for me in the past tell me that he can tell when someone uses STP on a regular basis. It literally bakes into the metal on the engine. PLEASE DO NOT USE ENGINE FLUSHES. It thins out the motor oil viscosity to a very dangerous level and can cause the rings to scratch the cylinder walls because the flush has taken away the lubricating properties of motor oil. If this happens, then your engine has to be overhauled. I have had many engines come through my shop where the owner says that they used such a product and has ended up costing big time $$$$. . I don't know why the stuff is even allowed to be sold. PLEASE DO NOT USE ENGINE FLUSHES!!!

Answer 6

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HONDA engines are made so VERY WELl with such great specifications and properly tested, that changing the oil once a YEAR would be good enough. THe KEY to engine longevity is having a CLEAN THROTTLE BODY and IDLE AIR CONTROL VALVE. The IACV fine tunes and adjusts your AIR/FUEL mixture several times each second to be as close to PURRRRRfect as possible. The BETTER your air/fuel mix is, the LONGER the engine will last BECAUSE less carbon and acids are being made as your drive. The factory fill oil on HONDA is usually ENEOS oil from JAPAN! You can UPGRADE to GERMAN or FRENCH oil or use MOBIL ONE 0W-20 oil to keep things lasting even LONGER, AMSOIL also makes an oil for HONDA that is good for 25,000 miles or ONE FULL YEAR! IF you WORRY about engine longevity, you can help the situation by checking your oil using PH strips, that detect high ACID content, or just EXAMINE the quality of the oil as it ages. The LESS emissions and carbon made, the LONGER the oil will stay clean, and the BETTER the oil QULAITY will remain. OIL that is VERY VERY dark or thickening is a good clue that it need changing. Using BETTER spark pugs, like DENSO TWIN TIP or IRIIDIUM Plugs will ALSO affect oil change intervals. These PRECIOUS METAL plugs will burn MORE fuel MORE completely at the molecular level, making even LESS carbon and improving POWER and ECONOMY while LOWERING emissions! IF you egnine has a TIMING BELT on it. be SURE to have it changed BEFORE it breaks. Most HONDA engines are interference fit engines, and a broken timing belt will bend vallves and cause MAJOR EXPENSIES on down the road. Expect 300k+ miles from your HONDA IF you follow my advice by keeping the T body and IACV CLEAN! ALL 5w-20 qnd 0W-20 oils are at LEAST partial synthetic oils. POWER WASH engine periodically to keep road grime salt and corrosion from yoru WIRING HARNESS and your STARTER and ALTERNATOR. This ALSO will prevent expensive troubles on downt he road. CLEAN engines with CLEAN trannies dissipate heat BEST and most evenly. Use ONLY genuine HONDA COOLANT and change your BRAKE FLUDI every 2-3 years or when it gets DARK. Most people do NOT do this, and suffer caliper, and master cylidner replacement that a BRAKE FLUID flush and fill would have PREVENTED!

Answer 7

whoever said to add brake fluid to an engine didnt know what they were talking about... if you need an engine flush its ok to use automatic transmission fluid as its a light very detergent synthetic oil and will clean out the engine gently without screwing any seals or bearings. when i bought my probe it was very neglected, so i threw some atf through it for about a thousand miles, then changed the oil... afterwards oil pressure was better and more consistent, and my valve tick went away completely... but if the car has had its proper oil changes and maintinence you shouldnt need to do anything to it.

Answer 8

every 3000 miles is an old guide line. oil makeup has vastly improved over the years. so has design and materials used in engine construction. --------------------- "If you change engine oil by the maintenance minder in a Honda, will the engine last as long?" "...would the engine be able to last 15 or more years or 250,000 or more miles?" in theory, yea!. that's what the reminder is for. to eliminate the human factor. the vehicle tells you when one should do periodic maintenance. thereby increasing it's chances of lasting longer. do not deviate from the manufactures recommendations for type and weight of oil on this.

Answer 9

Brake fluid would cause serious damage to oil seals.
Use a flushing oil.

Answer 10

Sure you can use brake fluid if you want to ruin your engine and end up having to buy a new engine. Use JB Internal Engine Cleaner that is availabel at all auto parts store.