Hello,

                 I was checking out a couple of independent VAG garages round here to see if one of them could service my Fabia tsi SEL with the coronavirus closing all the Skoda garages in the area. I say at the  outset that this isnt critical, I could wait it out, I know that. This particular independents quote included an engine flush. Now I am wary of having that done , I think it can do mare harm than good. I know there will be Briskodians out there who will say I am overreacting and that its fine to have this done and that it benefits the engine. Its the thought of lots of dross and clogging stuff  being ejected messing up the valves and the timing but as I say I fully expect there to be other views on this.

 

                  The handbook says not to use engine additives but I know thats not exactly the same thing.  I have never done an engine flush myself nor has any garage that had serviced my many cars done one either. I dont think Skoda garages do an engine flush as standard but I could be wrong. This particular independent does it as standard apparently which surprised me a bit .

 

              Thanks for reading.

Pointless on such a recent car, or any car really.  Just something else to bill the customer for; how would you know whether they really did any flushing or not?

I would take this as a possible reason to avoid that garage, if there is a choice.

 

7 minutes ago, hetty1 said:

 Hello,

                 I was checking out a couple of independent VAG garages round here to see if one of them could service my Fabia tsi SEL with the coronavirus closing all the Skoda garages in the area. I say at the  outset that this isnt critical, I could wait it out, I know that. This particular independents quote included an engine flush. Now I am wary of having that done , I think it can do mare harm than good. I know there will be Briskodians out there who will say I am overreacting and that its fine to have this done and that it benefits the engine. Its the thought of lots of dross and clogging stuff  being ejected messing up the valves and the timing but as I say I fully expect there to be other views on this.

 

                  The handbook says not to use engine additives but I know thats not exactly the same thing.  I have never done an engine flush myself nor has any garage that had serviced my many cars done one either. I dont think Skoda garages do an engine flush as standard but I could be wrong. This particular independent does it as standard apparently which surprised me a bit .

 

              Thanks for reading.

i dont use engine flush, i just use the oil i use. 

I don't believe in an 'engine flush' either.

 

been doing it with just oil for about 7 years.

 

drive car round the block to heat the oil up then drain it out then fill up with clean oil. i like to drain it twice to be sure so i drive it round teh block again then drain out, put fresh oil in then leave it as that.

What a horrible waste of oil!

Just now, Wino said:

What a horrible waste of oil!

you saying drain it once then that will be enough?

Absolutely. 

ive never asked about that, i just did it on my own accord but thank you for telling me this. will drain it once from now on.

Quote

Is it wise to carry out an engine flush on Fabia 3?

No.

51 minutes ago, xman said:

No.

don't you mean 'NO' 

3 minutes ago, SuperbTWM said:

don't you mean 'NO' 

No.

@froggy8

I do not use engine flush, i just use the oil i use.

 

It is in the engine, the car gets taken for a run, the engine oil gets taken to over 90*oC, then it gets sucked out.

First time with a used car the sump plug then gets replaced, that lets me see what is what,

from then on just oil and filter changed and no sump plug.

No dont flush it

I would be wary of anywhere that suggests it on lower mileage car

 

But if it has 100,000 miles, and the oil looks horrible, and servicing history is patchy, then yes

 

 

I've added Comma Petrol Flush to a few of my previous cars after they have done a few miles, maybe after 6 years old and so 50K miles, and repeated that prior to every other oil change, leaving the Comma Petrol Flush in for a working week's normal use which was roughly 100 miles.

 

Did it do any good, I certainly can't say, did it do any harm, I certainly can't say - but it was just what I wanted to do to help keep the engine internals as clean as possible to prolong the fault free service life - I usually sell cars after I've had them for about 13 years 100K miles.

 

So far I've not started doing that to my wife's 2015 Polo 1.2TSI or my 2011 S4 and probably will not, especially the S4 as that car only gets used for longer journeys and only runs about 3K miles a year, for the 1.2TSI 110PS 2015 Polo, still a maybe.

 

Edit:- years ago, Forte used to what Ford dealer tried to "upsell" me and some time later Vauxhall dealer was trying the same, I never took them up on it, but 10/10 for trying!  I might even have seen something added to the service bill for the one service Audi did on my S4 or maybe it on a service for the Polo - but that was prepaid, so why would any VW workshop try upselling to its self?

 

Another Edit:- on thinking more about this, it would have been on the service records for daughter's previous car a late 2009 Ibiza, not a requested extra, just something that was needed it seemed!

Edited 6 April, 20206 yr by rum4mo

9 hours ago, SurreyJohn said:

 

 

But if it has 100,000 miles, and the oil looks horrible, and servicing history is patchy, then yes

 

 

 I think if anything you definitely shouldn't flush an old engine. you loosen up all the crap inside a high mileage engine and your asking for trouble.

 

2 hours ago, rum4mo said:

I've added Comma Petrol Flush to a few of my previous cars after they have done a few miles, maybe after 6 years old and so 50K miles, and repeated that prior to every other oil change, leaving the Comma Petrol Flush in for a working week's normal use which was roughly 100 miles.

 

 

Don't these engine flush products usually involve running the engine at idle for a short period rather than driving it? Sounds like a recipe for engine wear to me. The point being that the cleaning products compromise the lubricity of the oil

19 minutes ago, SuperbTWM said:

 I think if anything you definitely shouldn't flush an old engine. you loosen up all the crap inside a high mileage engine and your asking for trouble.

 

 

Don't these engine flush products usually involve running the engine at idle for a short period rather than driving it? Sounds like a recipe for engine wear to me. The point being that the cleaning products compromise the lubricity of the oil

 

Some of these conc flusher brews are quite aggressive and can only be left in the some for a short period and the engine run heated up at a slightly raised idle or just normal idle - that suits service workshops as time is of the essence, that Comma flusher that I use can be used like that or preferably left in the sump over a roughly 100 mile period - so seems to work a lot slower, certainly I would never "tank" a car while even that flusher was in the sump, just in case.

 

The cleaning action in the new oil will come with the same slight but acceptable slight reduction in lubricity, by that I mean an oil that is free of any cleaning products would probably provide slightly better lubrication than one with cleaning products - but they are needed.

3 hours ago, rum4mo said:

Forte

Forte administer 'The Good Garage Scheme'

https://www.goodgaragescheme.com/about-us

I think this means you are only a good garage if you sell Forte products? 😉 😮

 

Never done an engine flush.

Last two cars left me with 135 K and 165 K miles and both still running well.

 

Thanks AG Falco

Agree with all on here - if you use decent oil that is to the correct VAG spec then no need for a flush additive.

I have had my car from new 2015 when its 3rd service was due just before my warrenty finished I took it to an independent I used to use when I had my old skoda. Without asking they used Forte engine flush and added a petrol addative this was on a car with only 18k on the clock I was not a happy bunny as it specifically states in the handbook do not use petrol addatives I dont think I ever had an engine flush on my old Skoda estate with 100k on the clock. Have moved to a different independent garage they have been really good. They fixed a problem with my turbo charger, I think the main dealer would have fitted a new unit Joe