I have found that ARX used with LC20 following in the rinse phase truly delivers the goods, as far as cleaning goes.
My Dad and I have used ARX with great results over the last year or so... I only wish I would have taken "before" photos so I could give some evidence of how well this stuff works. Here's an example:
A year ago I bought an '83 Ford F250 4x4, 97K miles, original 460 in it. It was leaking oil very badly from the valve covers, so we removed them to replace the gaskets. What we saw under there was not terrible, but it was typical for a vehicle that was 22 years old and had sat around a lot - baked on grunge coated everything, including the inside of the valve covers.
Plus, it ran rough and got 5mpg.
Between ARX and LC20 in the oil, a number of fuel system cleaners (and perhaps also from MASSIVE doses of MMO in the fuel, mixed with ATF) it now has been transformed. It runs very smoothly and normally hovers around 10mpg (normal for a healthy carbureted 460 w/o overdrive and 4.10 gears), depending on how I'm using my throttle foot. The point is, I can really tell a difference in the way it drives, compared to a year ago when I first bought it.
But here's what really blew me away: two weeks ago we again changed the valve cover gaskets (this time to rubber ones) and when the valve covers came off, everyone at my shop was stunned... everything was completely spotless, and I mean COMPLETELY! Not even varnish. Guys who had seen it when we first had the valve covers off a year ago simply were amazed, and two of them immediately snagged bottles of ARX from me to try in their own vehicles. It literally looked like it had just returned from being hot-tanked, or was a new engine.
Now this came after three ARX treatments, and some experimenting with LC20 in the rinse phase, but regardless, I now have a truck that runs like new, and essentially all I did was drive it for a year. Can't beat that!
As far as the ARX/LC20 combo, here's what I've found about using them together (not at the same time, but in sequence): I run the normal ARX clean phase for 1,500 miles and then begin the rinse phase as indicated in the ARX instructions, but at a point somewhere between 800-500 miles before the rinse phase is completed, I add LC20 to the rinse oil (in the LCD recommended dosage).
The first ARX treatment I did on this truck was completely according to the ARX instructions, with no LC20 added during the rinse phase. It was in the rinse phase of the second ARX treatment that I added LC20 and very quickly noticed further improved running and mileage, so I suspected that I was on to something.
After the second ARX treatment was completed, we changed the timing set and water pump, and noticed that there was still some crud on the old timing set, but that it was very easily rinsed away... it was as though the crud had been well emulsified, but a little "help" was needed to remove the remainder. So I decided to run a third ARX treatment, and after that was when the valve covers came off the second time and the results were as I described above.
One final note: in a number of places around here at BITOG I've seen it recommended to use ARX and LC20 separately, but I have come to believe that this is more so users can clearly see the benefit of each on an individual basis, and NOT because they are incompatible. Perhaps ARX and LCD are being careful to avoid stepping on one anothers "toes," or competing, but I believe there ought to be more experimentation with using them as a one-two punch to clean engines very thoroughly and completely.
I wish I had photos from the first time I had the valve covers off so you could see the improvement, but I didn't think about it at the time, and I haven't taken photos of the second valve cover removal because of time constraints and a dead camera battery, but perhaps soon I'll get my tech to take the covers off again, and I'll get some photos to post.
Last, I now have Chevron Delo 400 Synthetic 0W-30 in the F250 and a Baldwin B2-HPG filter on it, and I'll have a UOA to share with you on this combo in about 5,000 miles.
Sorry this is so long!
My Dad and I have used ARX with great results over the last year or so... I only wish I would have taken "before" photos so I could give some evidence of how well this stuff works. Here's an example:
A year ago I bought an '83 Ford F250 4x4, 97K miles, original 460 in it. It was leaking oil very badly from the valve covers, so we removed them to replace the gaskets. What we saw under there was not terrible, but it was typical for a vehicle that was 22 years old and had sat around a lot - baked on grunge coated everything, including the inside of the valve covers.
Plus, it ran rough and got 5mpg.
But here's what really blew me away: two weeks ago we again changed the valve cover gaskets (this time to rubber ones) and when the valve covers came off, everyone at my shop was stunned... everything was completely spotless, and I mean COMPLETELY! Not even varnish. Guys who had seen it when we first had the valve covers off a year ago simply were amazed, and two of them immediately snagged bottles of ARX from me to try in their own vehicles. It literally looked like it had just returned from being hot-tanked, or was a new engine.
Now this came after three ARX treatments, and some experimenting with LC20 in the rinse phase, but regardless, I now have a truck that runs like new, and essentially all I did was drive it for a year. Can't beat that!
As far as the ARX/LC20 combo, here's what I've found about using them together (not at the same time, but in sequence): I run the normal ARX clean phase for 1,500 miles and then begin the rinse phase as indicated in the ARX instructions, but at a point somewhere between 800-500 miles before the rinse phase is completed, I add LC20 to the rinse oil (in the LCD recommended dosage).
The first ARX treatment I did on this truck was completely according to the ARX instructions, with no LC20 added during the rinse phase. It was in the rinse phase of the second ARX treatment that I added LC20 and very quickly noticed further improved running and mileage, so I suspected that I was on to something.
After the second ARX treatment was completed, we changed the timing set and water pump, and noticed that there was still some crud on the old timing set, but that it was very easily rinsed away... it was as though the crud had been well emulsified, but a little "help" was needed to remove the remainder. So I decided to run a third ARX treatment, and after that was when the valve covers came off the second time and the results were as I described above.
One final note: in a number of places around here at BITOG I've seen it recommended to use ARX and LC20 separately, but I have come to believe that this is more so users can clearly see the benefit of each on an individual basis, and NOT because they are incompatible. Perhaps ARX and LCD are being careful to avoid stepping on one anothers "toes," or competing, but I believe there ought to be more experimentation with using them as a one-two punch to clean engines very thoroughly and completely.
I wish I had photos from the first time I had the valve covers off so you could see the improvement, but I didn't think about it at the time, and I haven't taken photos of the second valve cover removal because of time constraints and a dead camera battery, but perhaps soon I'll get my tech to take the covers off again, and I'll get some photos to post.
Last, I now have Chevron Delo 400 Synthetic 0W-30 in the F250 and a Baldwin B2-HPG filter on it, and I'll have a UOA to share with you on this combo in about 5,000 miles.
Sorry this is so long!