Engine Ping - mechanic recommended SeaFoam

That probably is NOT as simple as you seem to think.
And it does not change the fact that mixing solvents with your oil is NOT A GOOD THING TO DO.
Marketing claims (lies) not withstanding.

 

if it removes carbon it has to go somewhere and what damage are the chunks causing as they rattle inside..

 

None. The hope is that most of it burns off.
And carbon that accumulates inside an engine is really not hard, compared to the metal the engine is made of.

 

If carbon damaged our engines that way, we wouldn't drive long.

Youtube and you'll see some examples.

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And you can prove BG Products don't work or are harmful to use? If so, share that info.

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I don't even know what BG products ARE.
And I didn't say that none of them don't work or are harmful.

What I did say is that dumping solvents into your oil is a BAD thing to do.......no matter what brand name the can has on it.

 

BG Products, Inc.

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"sold exclusively through a worldwide network of distributors"........is a dead give away that one of the company's biggest skills is:
DECEPTIVE MARKETING.

I am sorry that you are wasting your money every month but I have ZERO faith in any of this snake oil.

You NEED nothing extra for your car to run for maybe 200,000 miles.

And some things, like diluting your oil with solvents, actually tends to make it wear faster.

 

I began using EPR and 44K after I began to notice oil consumption on our 2010 Prius II at around 120 k miles. After the EPR flush and in the next batch of oil, I began using the MOA and then Extended Life MOA.

Here's what the rep has been saying that I am working with:

[POLL] Excessive Oil Usage

I've been able to reduce oil consumption from a quart every 4500 miles to less than a quart every 10 k mile oil change.

Just another data point.

 

Thats always possible.

One thing I keep going back to is reading many stories of taxis that go 200,000-400,000+ miles with just regular maintenance. I've even seen engine teardowns with little damage after 400,000 miles.

I wish there was a way (or is there?) to know approximately how many miles the engines actually have. One advantage getting it at only 34k miles, I'll know how the maintenance has been done almost from the beginning.

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Those are more than likely the Gen2s that have the VVT as opposed to the egr system on the Gen3s. With this, we have been finding the intake manifold and egr systems clogged with carbon. Here is a thread of an engine tear down at 297 k miles:

Blown Head gasket rebuild....@297k

Some light weekend reading.

 

Does Seafoam gas additive raise octane? Higher octane gas will reduce ping.

 

Well for one tank, try raising the octane, that'll tell you where you stand. Maybe you can even settle on mixing half a tank of regular, and half of mid-octane? A filling hassle though.

I'm pretty sure the one thing that can be causing this would be carbon build-up, reducing volume (raising compression ration) and creating "glow plugs" to pre-ignite.

 

Have something like a BG fuel service done, the complete one. There are similar services, they aren't too expensive.

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Try a tank of the highest octane?

 

A full fuel system service will go beyond whst higher octane. If that doesn't fix it, something else is up.

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I just figure start with the low hanging fruit: a tank of highest octane gas is maybe $5 more than regular? And if it does completely dispel the ping you have a strong clue that there's excess carbon, raising compression and providing alternate ignition sources. And then go to the arsenal, yeah: but it's a cheap first step.