Auto-RX question on high mileage VR6 - Do I really need two treatments?

[VgRt6]

Thanks for the reply. That make perfect sense, but the other reason I'm asking is that I'd like to buy what I'll need in one shot to maximize the quantity discount and limit the shipping costs. Since the VR6 has a 6 qt. sump, I'm going to have to buy 2 bottles to do one treatment and will need a third bottle for a second treatment. Even with all of the discounts, this "experiment" is passing $70. I have plenty of other things to spend that money on!

I'm hoping that people who've used Auto-RX and have more insight into the whole process to give some good advice.

Gary

 

[Frank]

Auto-Rx is not an experiment it works It is guaranteed to clean, suggest you reread www.auto-rx.com lot of factual info from users and
test facilities. Auto-Rx is real chemistry and at 100,000 miles chemistry has pretty well used up the first bottle.(thats why we say 2 bottles with mileage over 100,000 miles ) 3rd bottle is to be added with oil changes to keep performance at max (consistant) with what you realize after you have done cleaning application.How can you lose ?

 

[97tbird]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Frank:
Auto-Rx is real chemistry and at 100,000 miles chemistry has pretty well used up the first bottle.

---

I didn't understand that: he didn't have the Arx bottle for 100,000 miles.

Can you explain that?
perhaps I interpreted something incorrectly...

 

[XS650]

VgRt6, considering that you said your engine is silky smooth and pulls strong in your posts and it looks clean in the pictures, one treatment seems like enough if your compression is up to spec and even.

Your engine looks better than the average guys engine at 100,000 miles. Better than some at 50,000 miles. If it's not leaking and there are no signs that the rings are sticking (low compression or high oil consumption), IMHO, there is no need for a second treatment. I know, heresy

If you can, please do a before and after compression tests to add to our group knowledge.

I am wrapping up the first ARx treatment on my 4.3L GM V6 with 100k+ miles and it made a major improvement in running, so I will continue on with the second treatment just to be sure it's done right. Had I not seen any improvement and it ran good, one treatment would have been it.

 

[VgRt6]

Thanks.

Frank - I know the stuff works. That's why I want to try it. My point was that my engine is not that dirty and because of that, two treatments seems like overkill.

XS650 - There is virtually NO oil consumption (0.5qts max in 10k miles) and compression numbers 12k miles ago were 205-212 psi in all 6 cylinders (new spec is 191 psi, so I probably have a little carbon buildup in the cylinders).

I definitely plan on before and after pics and compression numbers. You don't have to worry about me. I live for data like this!

Gary

 

[JohnBrowning]

I would just run and see what we see. I know a lot of guys are running out to 1500 miles and then changeing the filter and letting the cleaning go on another 1500 with no ill effect. So the engine is getting twice the exposure to the cleaning abilitys of auto-rx.

P.S. Consider useing LC with your Rotell-T and 10,000 miles oil changes. If you use the new modified treatrate you could easily get 90,000 miles out of a gallon of LC. It would help keep your engine clean after the Auto-Rx!!! To date everything I have used LC in seems to run better and cleaner!

 

[Ugly3]

If you want the product to do what it says it will do just follow the directions. It is really that simple.

 

[VgRt6]

In most cases I would agree with you. However, in coming up with directions for a product like Auto-RX, which is to be used on MANY different types of engines in all different conditons, a number of assumptions must be made so that the directions are appropriate for the majority of users. That doesn't mean however that the directions are set in stone and judgement calls can not be made.

I put the directions aside initially and asked the original question because I felt that my engine was not typical for it's mileage and didn't necessarily fit the profile that Auto-RXs high-mileage directions are geared towards. That's why I asked for everyone's opinion and experience. Of course I could just follow the directions, but that would be too easy.

Gary

 

[VgRt6]

After reading all of the hype about Auto-RX on BITOG, I'm very anxious to try the stuff out. There's no real reason that I feel I need to do the treatment, other than a noisy lifter that I'm hoping will quiet down, but the scientist in me wants to see what happens after the Auto-RX is added.

FYI, the engine is a 12v VR6 (2.8L) in a 99.5 Jetta. The engine currently has 174k miles on it and is in EXCELLENT shape. I'm currently doing 10k mile OCIs with Shell Rotella T 5w-40 Synthetic. You may have seen my latest Blaskstone oil analysis that I posted about two months ago - 170k Oil Analysis.

The engine still pulls hard and is silky smooth. It burns very little oil (about 0.5qts in 10k miles) and has no leaks to speak of.

There was no apparent sludge formation on the top end when I had things apart for a timing chain install at 147k miles. Here are some pics from my timing chain DIY which show the condition of the top end.

My question is (finally

)...

Do you think it's necessary for me to use the "OVER 100k MILE" method listed on the Auto-RX website (basically doing the clean and rinse phases twice)? I'd like to save some money and not do the second treatment if it's not necessary. With the engine in such good shape, I thought it was a possibility.

Thanks for any input.

Gary

 

[TEXDOG]

I think you do one and if there is no evidence for needing a second then dont. I still had some room for improvement on my 150k truck after one shot so will do a second.

 

[VgRt6]

Thanks Alan and Gary. I was hoping the two of you would stumble in here.

I'm not positive that the engine needs the Auto-RX treatment either, but I'd still like to try it anyway. That's why I called it an "experiment". No disrespect was meant by that toward Frank or his product. I was just implying that I was interested in seeing if anything happened/improved by using it.

I'm most interested in seeing if it decreases the lifter noise. I'm not expecting any increase in fuel economy or compression since these are already maxed out for the most part.

I think I'll go ahead and buy three bottles, plan on two treatments and use the remainder for maintenance doses.

Gary

 

[VgRt6]

A few more questions.

I currently running Shell Rotella T 5w-40 and am only 40% of the way through my 10k mile OCI. I'd like to do the Auto-RX treatment sooner than later and am wondering if I should add it to the Rotella or drain the Rotella early (way early) and go with something like Castrol GTX for the cleaning phase. Will the Auto-RX clean things out sufficiently in 1500 miles with the synthetic carrier? Also, can the initial cleaning phase go on longer than 1500 miles? I don't have a problem with leaving the Rotella and Auto-RX in longer than that so the Rotella is not wasted. Can anything bad happen from doing this, or is it just a waste of time (and miles).

Thanks.

Gary

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by VgRt6:
A few more questions.

Also, can the initial cleaning phase go on longer than 1500 miles? I don't have a problem with leaving the Rotella and Auto-RX in longer than that so the Rotella is not wasted. Can anything bad happen from doing this, or is it just a waste of time (and miles).

Thanks.

Gary

---

I had a couple of interesting long trips come up and also got lazy. I actually ran the clean cycle 4,000 miles on M1 10W-30 in a low mileage (about 40+k miles) Chevy LT-4 5.7L engine. No harm done. My semi-educated guess is that there is nothing wrong with that unless you have a dirty engine and plug your filter up. My filter element still looked good after 4,000 miles of ARx, no crud or sludge, but my engine was even cleaner than yours to start.

Frank blessed me going a bit over 2k miles when I asked him, but I didn't ask about the 4k. Didn't want to give him a coronary

I think Frank is the only one able to give you a definative answer. A couple of anecdotal experiances like my example of getting away with 4k miles don't really mean anything.

[ January 06, 2005, 04:16 PM: Message edited by: XS650 ]

 

[VgRt6]

LOL. He probably would have a coronary. You can tell he has a lot of passion for his product. It's nice to see that in today's hand off, no responsibilty world.

Gary

 

[Alan]

Hi Gary,

Your engine looks good and clean other than the normal varnish(my 00 VR6 looks similar with 31K miles),I don't think it needs it Auto-Rx personally.

The German Castrol i'm running now seems to be cleaning some of varnish off the internals and is removing some of the harder sludge like deposits visable under the oil filler cap.This is 2100 miles into the interval.

I am happy

with GC so far,no consumption too.

it seems I need to grease the tensioner pully when I swap belts.Your faq/diy is gonna come in handy

.

Alan aka 300B on Vortex.

 

[Gary Allan]

I agree with XS650. Do the first treatment. If your lifter tick goes away ..be happy. If it persists do the second treatment. I had to ulitmately do three treatments on my engine to get the final results I was satisfied with. I had seen enough improvement in the first two treatments (first rinse) to justify eontinued use. When one annoying condition persisted ..I decided to do a third. It relieved it to the point that it was so reduced compared to before treatment conditions that I feel I've gotten all that I can out of it. I'm pleased with the results. Just the stopping of my leaking valve seals was worth the $$.

 

[Eiron]

Add it early & change the filter at 1,500-2,000 mile intervals. I did this on two cars: 6,000 miles in bulk 5W-30 on an '85 Saab 900 with 150,000 miles on it, & 5,000-5,500 miles in M1 15W-50 on a '90 Saab 900 with 165,000 miles on it. Frank said it was OK as long as I kept changing the filters & adding more A-Rx to keep the ratio constant. I pre-mixed 2 oz into each of several quarts of new oil & used those for all top-ups.

 

[VgRt6]

My 3 bottles of ARX arrived yesterday. I ordered it on Thursday and it arrived the following Monday. Not bad. Thanks for the excellent servce Frank.

I'll be starting the cleaning phase this weekend and will take pics and do a compression test beforehand.

Gary

 

[alchu]

Cool, Gary... I started my clean phase a while back, but then again, I don't put as many miles on my car as you do...

 

[VgRt6]

I remember you mentioning on Vortex that you were doing the treatment and am really interested in reading about your results.

BTW, did you read my reply to your "update" question in the grounding kit thread a while back?

Gary