Is Engine Cleaner Necessary for the First Maintenance?
2 Answers
It is not particularly necessary, but the cleaner is not very expensive and can provide some benefits to the engine. Engine cleaning involves both internal and external parts. The external part of the engine is exposed in the engine compartment, so it is rarely cleaned. Therefore, an engine cleaner, or cleaning fluid, is a maintenance product designed to clean harmful substances like sludge, carbon deposits, and colloids inside the engine. It helps maintain engine cleanliness, improves oil flow, reduces wear, and extends the engine's lifespan. Internal engine cleaner is a product developed to address deposits such as sludge, colloids, carbon buildup, varnish, and dirt in the lubrication system. It consists of highly effective cleaning components and acts as an additive that automatically cleans the internal lubrication system. The cleaner is added to the engine's crankcase. When the engine runs, the cleaning process occurs as the oil circulates, dissolving colloids and loosening bonded deposits, which then detach. Varnish, carbon deposits, sludge, and other deposits on piston rings and piston skirts are thoroughly removed. The cleaned deposits are either filtered out by the oil filter or settle in the oil pan, where they are removed when the oil filter and oil pan are replaced and cleaned.
For the first maintenance, I don't think it's necessary to add engine cleaner. A new car that's only been driven a few thousand kilometers still has a relatively clean engine interior, unlike older cars with sludge buildup. The cleaner is mainly a chemical solution for dissolving carbon deposits, but new engines basically don't have carbon buildup issues. Adding it might even affect the oil's performance. The key points of the first maintenance are changing the new oil and filter, which can remove tiny metal residues from the break-in period. Save this money; the cleaner usually costs dozens of yuan, no need to waste it. My friend was upsold into adding it during his first maintenance, only to find no improvement in engine performance, so he learned his lesson. The manual doesn't mandate it either; keeping it simple for the first maintenance is the safest bet.
