Why VR-1 as a flush oil?
 

I've seen it recommended here that Valvoline VR-1 be used as a flush oil when changing from Mobil1 to Castrol. Why VR-1 in particular? Any reason why a jug of Motomaster NuGold or any other non-synthetic wouldn't work just as well?

I ask because VR-1 is hard to get and not cheap around here. Don't really want to use fifty bucks worth of oil to do a ten minute flush.

I felt the same as you.

But when I asked Jake Raby the same question, his answer was "use something that has a good detergency pack, it'll do the best job of flushing the polymers and etc from the previous oil."

http://986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26538&highlight=valvoline

VR1 has a great detergency package, it is also pretty much compliant with most any other oil. Using some cheap oil as a flush oil could be worse than not flushing the engine at all between oils.

Please remind me again why you have to flush a healthy engine, with an oil like VR-1, when changing from one quality oil, like Mobil 1, to another quality oil choice like Castrol?

The anti-wear and detergency package characteristics are of concern when swapping between oils. Lots of info on this can be found on Google.

Lots of what I know on the topic has come from direct interchange with Lake Speed Jr of Joe Gibbs Racing Oils as we worked with them to develop "Flat 6 Oil". It is a requirement when we use our oil to flush any existing oil from the system due to it's composition.

This is generally not an issue because we end up using the oil in new engines built from scratch.

If you want to learn more, attend one of Lake's Lubrication Seminars, he is an all-knowing CLS with the API.

Acronyms
 

AI take it API here is American Petroleum Institute. CLS is ???

Jake, I don't see you making these claims, or inciting this "fear" on Rennlist. Why only here on the 986forum? Maybe I'm missing something.

CLS= Certified Lubrication Specialist

This isn't fear, its just plain information, perceive it as you like, but that is not the intent. Sorry I can't sugar coat it for ya and make it taste better.

The UOA we have collected from a test fleet of 14 vehicles, both aircooled and watercooled proves that the engines that saw a flush oil used prior to a major change in detergency and anti-wear packages had much better UOA thereafter.

Trust me, If I wanted to scare someone or a group of people all I'd have to do is share three paragraphs. Thats not my intent, never has been and never will be. I call it as I see it and deal with it every day.

Call it "fear" if you want, I call it reality. Some people can't handle that.

Jake, I don't doubt your knowledge, experience, work ethics and etc., but why do your 986forum post, as compared to your Rennlist post, mainly spell doom & gloom?

I've been wondering this for years.

Maybe you post more here than Rennlist. I don't know.

Or is the question is why do you perceive my posts here in a "doom and gloom" manner?

I don't believe my style is any different on any forums, I do post a lot more here than Rennlist, because I favor this forum and its atmosphere so much better.

I also NEVER SAID that if you did't use a flush oil that the engine would implode, just that the oil samples looked much better after this was done when changing oil.

Thanks for the response, Jake - I was hoping you would jump in here. Can you suggest any other oils that would be acceptable for flushing that might be less expensive and more readily available?

In Canada, tar sand works good. It's cheap from Alberta :D