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Engine Flush for Scooters

Is flushing a good practice?

If you are thinking about the toilet or washroom, then it is undoubtedly the best practice. But I am here to talk about flushing a scooter engine or any other automobile engine.
(Vespa Image Source: Creative Market)

Before coming to a conclusion, let's understand what is flushing.

Engine flush is process where an aftermarket chemical additive is introduced to the engine and then its allowed to idle for 10 to 15 minutes. This additive mixes with the flows throw each and every corner of the engine, merges with engine oil, dissolves and flushes out all the impurities and deposits that have accumulated in the engine over extended period of usage.

You can then drain the impure oil, change the oil filter and then go on driving your scooter.

Sounds simple isn't it? Considering that engines are majorly closed units, what are these impurities that accumulate inside the engine and how do they accumulate?

Let's take a look at that here.

Over a long duration of usage, harmful sludge and deposits may accumulate inside the engine which in turn result in depreciation in power and performance. Some of the common factors are:

A. Frequent short trips which forbid the oil from warming up fully and evaporates moisture
B. Ingestion of air-borne dirt
C. Dilution of fuel
D. High heat breaking down the oil

Upon settling, sludge can clog narrow oil passages or the screen present on the oil pickup tube. This restricts oil flow to vital components, especially the upper valve train. These deposits can also cause the rings to stick, which ultimately reduces engine compression and horsepower.

Now coming back to the question, is flushing a good practice?

To answer that question, let's take a quick look at the pros and cons of using an engine flush on scooters.

PROS:
  • First of all, a can of engine flush is cheap compared to engine oil
  • The impact of engine flush is drastically positive on the engine
  • It protects the engine from being affected by impurities and harmful deposits
  • Post a successful flushing, your engine will be as good as new
CONS:
  • Usage of flush can corrode the rubber seals and gaskets. This will lead to unwanted to oil leakage
  • Frequent usage of oil flush may result in reduced engine life
  • Using engine flush often decreases the viscosity of engine oil making them thinner than the required specification, which will cause unprecedented short term and long term damage to the scooter engine.
Below you can see the see how an engine flush affects the engine:


So it is a clear that usage of engine flush has the potential to make your engine more productive.

But their are certain usage guidelines that should be followed to extract the maximum benefit from an engine flush.

For a brand new scooter and even a scooter that has clocked close to 25,000 KMs on the odometer, there is no need of an engine flush. After 25,000 to 30,000 KMs, using the engine flush is considered beneficial.

However, you must also make sure that the overall servicing of the scooter during these 30,000 KMs have been up to the mark. As the usage of an engine flush may result is damaged rubber seals and gaskets to leak oil. If the seals and gaskets have been changed duly, then using an engine flush wont have an impact on them.

If you are purchased a used scooter that has clocked 40,000 KMs on the odometer and the overall maintenance by the previous owner does not give you the confidence, you can opt for an engine flush. It should extend the life of the scooter's engine by at least another 20,000 KMs.

Engine flushes are relatively cheaper and easily available across all the major online stores.
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Location: India

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