I promised to follow this thread closely, and here is the current status.
At 44000 miles, before doing any chemical treatments, I was down 1/2 qt after 1330 miles for a rate of 1.12 qt/3000 miles.
At the time of my last post, at 44210 miles, I started the treatment with a Gunk engine flush, B'laster SET in the cylinders, and 2 bottles of CD2 Oil Detergent in Citgo 5W-30. There was heavy varnish, but little or no sludge in the valvetrain, and 3 cylinders were carboned while one cylinder was clean.
At 44600 I put 13 oz of SeaFoam in the gas.
At 44940 I put 5 oz Marvel Mystery Oil in the gas.
At 44960 I was down 0.4 qt for a rate of 1.6 qt/3000 miles.
At 45077 I was down 1/2 qt for a rate of 1.73qt/3000 miles.
At 45104 I added 6 oz SeaFoam to the oil and topped off with Citgo oil.
At 46057 I was down 0.6 qt for a rate of 1.9 qt/3000 miles.
At this point I had run nearly 2000 miles on the CD2 Oil Detergent, and 1000 miles on the SeaFoam. I observed that the consumption rate had nearly doubled. Inspection of the valvetrain through the oil fill hole showed that after the initial Gunk flush, the varnish had not noticeably changed, and at this point, I could notice only marginal improvement after the other additives.
I decided to end the trial of the CD2/SeaFoam and start using the AutoRx.
I am an engineer and I decided to make up my own regimen for using the AutoRx. Sorry Frank, you gave me custom instructions for Saturns, but I am experimenting too! I changed the oil and filter, added 8 oz AutoRx, 1 qt 15W-40 Mobil Delvac 1300 SJ formula, and the remainder is Citgo 5W-30. Frank recommends using Delvac 1300, but since I can only get it in 15W-40, I decided to mix it to keep the viscosity closer to Saturn's spec of 5W-30. This is important especially since winter is approaching, and the timing chain tensioner is supposedly very sensitive to lubrication. I already had one fail and it was expensive.
I observed a couple of interesting things about the AutoRx. First, I tried measuring it in a graduated funnel that has a valve and metal screen strainer. The AutoRx flowed extremely slowly through this strainer and I had to quit using it because it just wasn't working. The heavy Delvac 1300 flowed slowly, but fast enough, through the same funnel. Second, I noticed a lot of tiny granules in the AutoRx, and this has been described by other people. I don't know what they are. You have to wonder: some people have observed granules in their oil filter after using AutoRx, are these the same thing? Are they soluble in oil, or soluble at higher temperatures? Are they soft or abrasive? Are they precipitates? Based on other peoples' experience with AutoRx, I have faith that it is normal and harmless, but I think it is something that has not been well explained in these forums.
Here is what is really interesting. After 300 miles of using AutoRx, I have zero oil consumption. I am having a hard time explaining this, I expected at best to see a gradually decreasing oil consumption rate, but right now I cannot see any loss.
I plan to change only the filter at 500 and 1000 miles. I am not sure when I will change the oil completely, but based on Frank and Terry's mail, there is no danger to leaving the AutoRx in for a full 3000 mile cycle. I will make my decisions based on what the car is doing as time goes on.
I think it is too early to come to any conclusions, but two things are clear.
1. I took a chance with the Gunk engine flush and did not have catastrophic engine failure, but I also did not see a visible improvement in the varnished valvetrain or reduced oil consumption.
2. The CD2 Oil Detergent, and later the SeaFoam, did not reduce oil consumption, in fact the consumption rate appeared to dramatically increase.
That leads me to speculate on some hypotheses. I cannot tell where the loss is, but there are no external leaks. For sure these additives were having an effect. Were they cleaning up the cylinders and increasing blowby, or messing up the valve stem seals, or breaking up carbon on the oil control rings to make it easy for AutoRx to deliver the knockout punch? I wish I could be sure.
My short term objective is to stop the oil consumption by chemical means. My long-term objective is to maintain the engine in a normal (extremely low) oil consumption rate after that. And my overriding objective is to share what I've done so others can learn from it. So look for another installment as I continue monitoring the oil consumption. Eventually I'll be able to say if this regimen really worked, and then hopefully I can move to the long-term phase of this case study.