Injector cleaning Hot Shot's Secret

[kenbowman]

Hey, all,

Been a while since I posted, work and all, dontcha know.

Well, my truck now has ~130k miles on it, still wildly love my truck, but don't we all!

Been having some sluggishness and black smoking for a little while now, getting worse and worse, so, of course I'm thinking injector(s) are having issues. Thought to myself, "Self, why not try this additive that some love, and some say isn't all that it is cracked up to be before spending gods know how much on injectors." So, ran up to my not-so-local Rural King store and picked up a bottle of Hot Shot's Secret. Out with a half-gallon of about 1000 miles old Rotella 15-40, and in with the snake oil.

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with, have no personal knowledge of the company, people, etc, nor do I officially endorse the product (yet).

After 15 minutes of idle and first run out around the block the engine's sluggish response was fairly significantly improved. After a 100-mile round trip to a friend's place, mostly rural highway, smoking has decreased (not sure if I'd say "significantly", but definitely noticeably, and sluggishness is continuing to further improve.

Now, I'm not a big oil additive guy.. never added anything to my crank case except new, clean oil (every ~4000 milesish with Rotella (mostly... actually, the time before this most recent change I used the nifty 5-gallon Motorcraft bottles, at which time the smoking and sluggish response significantly increased...grrr.), and probably wouldn't have given this product a second thought, except that the manufacturers express that it was designed specifically to address the issues experienced in our 6.0L engines.

I'm about to send my wife out with my truck on a ~600 mile round trip next week, so, that should give the product plenty of opportunity to do its magic. I'll be sure to keep this thread updated with the success or failure I experience.

Anyways, I'm also looking for any suggestions on oil for my next 130k miles. I tried out Royal Purple, and while it was great once warmed up, the engine would sound like it was flying apart when it was first started up and for the first about 2 minutes, so, I decided to skip that and go back to Rotella. Any ideas would be welcomed!

Have a great rest of the weekend!
--Ken

 

[Crumm]

If Rotella has been good to you I would stick with it. Switching oil brands midway up the stream never seems to have good results. Consumption among other things seems to become a issue if you switch. As far as the snake oil you can't knock it if it is working.

 

[DaveBen]

I have been using Rotella T syn oil without any problem in my 6.0. I have about the same miles as you do. I have been using the 5W-40 oil.

Dave

 

[Dogman]

I have been using Hot Shot for about 2 years and run it every third old chance. Before I have had all 8 inj. replaced and last time the dealer looked at my truck they said I was going to have to replace 2 inj. I tried the Hot Shot and no more inj. problems so far. I did notice a change with in the first 100 miles and the longer I ran the stuff the smoother the truck ran and started.

 

[Dirtleg]

I have been using Rotella T syn oil without any problem in my 6.0. I have about the same miles as you do. I have been using the 5W-40 oil.

Dave

x2 on the synthetic Rotella. I am at 115k and have no injector problems. Fresh oil at 5k and fuel filters at 10k.

 

[kenbowman]

Only one short trip yesterday, at night, hard to tell on the smoking yesterday, but, today on the way to work this morning it is now appropriate upgrade "noticeably" reduced to "Significantly" reduced. Even when getting on the pedal it barely let out any visible smoke.

The kinda really neat thing is the engine currently sounds the same when it first gets started as it does when I turn it off on the previous trip...

 

[snicklas]

I have been running the Motorcraft 15w-40 in my 6.0 and it seems to like it, better than it liked Rotella.

I would also say, one thing to look at with the black smoke is the EGR and/or Turbo. I know the if the EGR is dirty and not functioning it can cause increased smoke. I turbo could also, if it is not moving correctly. I have almost no smoke at all, and if I do it is after I have been driving slow/easy/in-town and after I am hard on the throttle a couple of times the smoke clears up and the resopnce comes back. One thing to remember, the 6.0 does not like extended idle times, and does not like being babied. Run the engine "hard" once a week or so, that seems to me to be the best thing to keep them happy, or at least mine does, it likes to be worked......

P.S. I see you are near me here in Central Indiana.

 

[JohnBoyToo]

I guess I'm the exception to the rule then....

With a remote starter and 100 degrees here in Texus and a sweaty body
I idle a LOT.... and so far, 110k miles, no worries....

Now I DO "excerSOREsize" the engine extensively, so maybe that short circuits any potential issues....

YRMV, but that's my experience so far...
We LOVE this Ex, and doing everything we can to keep it running right until they start making it again

 

[snicklas]

JohnBoy,

I have/do idle for extended periods also. We have 5 kids from ranging from 3 to 15 and at times if the "baby" is asleep and we need to run into a store, I will leave the 15yo and the asleep 2yo in the truck. Idle in winter to keep the heat running and summer for the A/C. I do, however, when I take off, I try to make sure I am heavy on the throttle from the next couple of traffic lights to make sure the EGR opens up and the turbo veins move. This is how I have treated is since I bought it 3 years ago and read up on the 6.0. Another thing is like is a good, long, hard accel towing the TT, that really helps it breathe better afterwards. I am happy with the 6.0 and it is not the "junk engine" everyone claims it to be.....

 

[02Oilburner]

Rotella makes bubbles on your dipstick and my 7.3 noisy as hell! Bubbles in your oil is not good! I changed to amsoil and have a quieter bubble free truck!