Auto-Rx, no bad news?

[EloManga]

Hey,
Well, I've done some searching on it, and I only see good news about A-Rx. Have there been any horror stories?
Also, I want to use it on my engine as I have developed a bad hla noise. My engine is a 2.5L V6 Mazda J-spec with about 54000Km's, that was sitting for who knows how long in Japan before it got in my car. I see that people say you need the oil to get hot for it to do its job, but right now I'm doing short trips and can't make long trips, unless I drive on the highway to waste gas.
So, will it still do the job even if I go out of my way once a week for a boot on the highway?
Thanks in advance

 

[HardbodyLoyalist]

If memory serves, there are a handful of cases where leaks developed around seals. The issues seemed to revolve around ARX cleaning sludge from around seals that were damaged, resulting in leaks.

Frank has always maintained that ARX will not cause an intact seal to leak. Unfortunately, there's no reliable way to tell if your seals are damaged BEFORE they start leaking.

Keep in mind, however, that we've only seen a handful of such reports out of the hundreds of BITOG members who have used this product.

I have personally used it with great success.

 

[MONKEYMAN]

You may want to check out the Auto-RX forum. I read posts for hours before using Auto-RX. Some people have more oil consumption after using it, but it is usually on high mileage engines/abused engines. I have a 93 Sentra with 172,000 miles. I am on my final rinse. When I changed the oil and filter after the second cleaning, both front and rear main seals were leaking. I am using Auto-RX to hopefully keep the seals from needing replacement. But, it is only a little oil, and none on the ground. Still have 4,000 miles to fully follow Auto-RX directions for seal leaks. Car runs stronger than 100,000 miles ago. There are risks, but I think you will find it increases with the mileage on the engine, engine design, or neglect/abuse. On my oil using Saturn, it never has run better. These cars are notorious for dirty ring packs. This product has been a winner with my vehicles.

 

[T-Keith]

There are several people that have had problems, but no horro stories to my knowledge. The only difference I noticed was leaking seals, the explanation is usually that the seals were damaged or it needed another treatment. The former would be excusible if I saw a big improvement elsewhere, but I did not. The later I was unable to test.

My take is, don't use it on a high mileage vehicle unless you have a sludge problem.

-T

 

[EloManga]

Thanks for the info. Don't have to worry about a rear main leaking on me, as I replaced when I swapped in the engine. So, so far it looks like I should be ordering it.
But, what about short trips, will this cause a problem in the way it'll work, even with the once a week beatdown on the highway?

 

[T-Keith]

I've heard it works better when hot, but honestly I don't know if the style of driving makes much of a difference.

-T

 

[Russ]

Well, this looks like as good a place as any to rant about my A-Rx experience, and hopefully, answer a few questions.
The engine it was used in was a Mitsubishi 2.4L straight 4 (1995, 140,000+miles). Engine was in decent shape, ran fairly strong, but was using about 1 qt. of oil every 1,000 miles. I switched to 10W40 (manual calls for 5W30, I was using 10W30) hoping curb the consumption. Consumption stayed the same. Tried A-Rx next. First thing I noticed - the oil stayed clean for about 800-1,000 miles (usually got dark pretty much right after an oil change, certainly turned black within a couple hundred miles). At the same time (after about 800 miles), the engine became a little bit more responsive, started running just a tad bit smoother (it wasn't bad to begin with). After one clean and rinse cycle the oil is nice and clean 900 miles into the OCI, and I had to add about half a quart so far. I cannot speak for the rest of the engine, but oil filter mounting surface looks unusually clean.
However, the rear main did develop a leak. It is not strong enough to cause any puddles on the ground or affect consumption, plus it seems to be getting better with time. Also, the varnish on the valvetrain seems pretty much unaffected.
Here are the pros and cons of my A-Rx trial:

Pros: stronger, smoother-running engine
cleaner oil
lower oil consumption

Cons: couple of small leaks, which seem to be
going away
no clean, shiny metal under the valve
covers.

All of this on a tired, high-mileage engine, which was probably abused and neglected by the previous owners (had about 2.5 qts of oil in the crankcase out of required 4.5 when I bought the car at 107,000 miles).
Looks to me like the worst-case scenario "Auto-Rx horror story" so far is development of some leaks, most of which seem to go away with time.

 

[crossbow]

Aren't you supposed to run multiple auto-rx cycles on a 100k+ poor maintaince engine? If so, you might want to run another cycle or two...maybe then you'll get the shiny metal you've always dreamed of

.

 

[EloManga]

Well, my problem is that my engine is fairly new, 54000km's ish (33500 Miles?) and after switching to M1 syn, I have no oil consumption (as I did with dino), but my hla's are noisy. Someone else that had the same engine and same problem used A-Rx and it worked. So, I guess I'm going to buy 3 bottles and see what happens, seeing as there aren't really any "horror" stories.

 

[XS650]

quote:

---

Originally posted by T-Keith:
There are several people that have had problems, but no horro stories to my knowledge. The only difference I noticed was leaking seals, the explanation is usually that the seals were damaged or it needed another treatment. The former would be excusible if I saw a big improvement elsewhere, but I did not. The later I was unable to test.

My take is, don't use it on a high mileage vehicle unless you have a sludge problem.

-T

---

It made my unsludgy 100k mile GMC 4.6L V-6 run a lot better. I'm guessing it freed up the piston rings.

Part of the problem with ARx is the two-sizes-fit-all instructions and the myriad of problems an older engine could have.

I think it has value although it only improved 1 out of 3 vehicles I used it on. Lesson learned was that if you don't have a problem, ARx won't fix it.

 

[oilpan49]

I wouldn't consider leaks around seals horror stories. My definition of a horror story is 2 words, SA oil

I know, lame.

Anyway, I find leaking oil when you got something in the engine perfectly normal. If you had a 100,000 used and abused engine. Change the oil with say 5 quarts of Pennzoil 5w30 or something and then add 1 quart of M1 5w30. I did this on our van. Changed the oil in it, dumped in 5 quarts of MC 5w30 and all was fine. Little later down the road or so, I checked the oil in it one day to find it approx 1 quart low. So I had some M1 5w30 laying around. I dumped that in there and within 5 mins that van was leaking oil at a pretty good rate. Overtime though as the engine becomes cleaner, it will stop leaking. Thanks,,,,,,,AR