2008 CX-9 3.7L FWD Engine Bay - Stains

[thomascgty]

Do those accumulated dirt means oil is leaking from those parts?

I already replaced the engine air filter as well as the cabin air filter.

There are other tasks listed by priority on my list but want to make sure if I should bump to prioritize taking care of those shown in the pictures.

EDIT:
This has probably been asked. But can I use 5w-40 on the cyclone engine instead of 5w-20? My other vehicle uses 5w-40 so I can just buy and use 5w-40 on both vehicles.

2008 CX-9 FWD has approx 163,000 miles as of this posting.
2013 Q5 3.0T has approx 144,000 miles as of this posting.

Is it safe to use the Bardahl No Smoke + Stop Leak on the cyclone engine? Or is it just snake oil?

I think Chemtool B12 is good and works. I already used the Chemtool B12 on the fuel tank just recently hopefully to clean up anything that it can clean.

 

[rowlands57]

I would not use any engine additives particularly since you have gone this long without them. That oil you mentioned is European Spec if you're using it in a Q5 so again I'd just stick with what the original spec calls for.

Injector cleaner is a pretty good idea and I use it myself, Techron always gives me good results.

That accumulation does not look like leaks, just pretty normal.If it bugs you clean it up with some brake cleaner.

 

[PTguy]

I agree with rowlands. If you don't have notable oil consumption and don't have oil drip spots of the floor where the car parks, don't worry. I also prefer Chevron Techron Concentrate as a fuel system cleaner. If cleaning is needed, this has done a good job for me. And, stick with the specified oil type and viscosity for each engine. About the Bardahl product, note this description from their web site, "The extra thick formula...." It is probably some very high viscosity oil that serves only to thicken your engine oil. If you want higher viscosity oil, buy higher viscosity, maybe 5W-30 oil for high mileage engines, if that's what you want. It costs the same as what you're using, not something extra for an additive. I wouldn't jump two viscosity grades. You don't list your location, but you really don't want oil 2 grades thicker in cold winter areas.

If you want to safely internally clean your high mileage engine and recondition seals, I've had good results with Auto-Rx. It is an ester cleaner, not a solvent, and it cleans slowly putting the crud into your oil filter. Follow the instructions to the letter. Now, it was a few years ago that I used this product, and I've heard that it has different owners and revised formulation. All that said, if I had a high mileage engine, I'd use it.

 

[thomascgty]

I agree with rowlands. If you don't have notable oil consumption and don't have oil drip spots of the floor where the car parks, don't worry. I also prefer Chevron Techron Concentrate as a fuel system cleaner. If cleaning is needed, this has done a good job for me. And, stick with the specified oil type and viscosity for each engine. About the Bardahl product, note this description from their web site, "The extra thick formula...." It is probably some very high viscosity oil that serves only to thicken your engine oil. If you want higher viscosity oil, buy higher viscosity, maybe 5W-30 oil for high mileage engines, if that's what you want. It costs the same as what you're using, not something extra for an additive. I wouldn't jump two viscosity grades. You don't list your location, but you really don't want oil 2 grades thicker in cold winter areas.

If you want to safely internally clean your high mileage engine and recondition seals, I've had good results with Auto-Rx. It is an ester cleaner, not a solvent, and it cleans slowly putting the crud into your oil filter. Follow the instructions to the letter. Now, it was a few years ago that I used this product, and I've heard that it has different owners and revised formulation. All that said, if I had a high mileage engine, I'd use it.

Southern California.

I'll try Techron next time.

I used my old ODBII scanner late afternoon today. No fault codes.

I don't know if the values on the "Data Streams" are within acceptable limit though. But no fault codes is great news to me.

2008 Mazda CX-9 3.7L FWD Scan Results

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