Carbon Treatment

neals1820

Our 98 DeVille is using 3qts. of oil every 6,000 miles. Dealer wants to perform a "Carbon Treatment" Has anyone had any experience with this procedure?

alcan

They're going to use GM Top Engine Cleaner to get rid of the carbon deposits on the piston crowns and combustion chambers. It's an excellent product for what it's designed but I'm not sure it will reduce oil consumption unless the oil rings are gummed up. Suggest you read the instructions on a can at any GM dealer parts dept and decide whether you can do it yourself.

lucky20

Carbon treatment: I might add to Alan's comment that according to information given to me by a GM rep., as well as an after market product rep., this carbon treatment will also treat the soft black carbon like build up that collects in the intake plenum. This is a problem I have been noticing in higher milage vehicles.
An added note about oil consumption: I have a customer who had a new (not rebuilt) 4.3 v-6 installed in a 94 S-10 blazer by the dealer. After about 8,000 miles on the eng., They were experiencing oil consumption of 1 qt./1,000 miles. I confronted the instaling dealer as to warranty, & I was shown written statment that oil consumption had to exceed 1 qt in 700 miles befor it was considered warrantable.

Mr_Shiftright

Sounds like Dealer Voodoo Nonsense to me....oil is consumed because some clearance is increasing or perhaps valve stem seals or guides are wearing a bit. Nothing in a can is going to fix it.

On the other hand, there is nothing really wrong with a car that burns a quart of oil every 2,000 miles. I think the dealer is just pacifying you, and I would suggest you don't worry about it unless the consumption radically decreases. Many expensiveEuropean cars burn as much or more. In some ways, it's actually good for the engine to throw a little oil up into the upper cylinders.