My experience with Auto-RX (in progress)

[Covert24]

Alright guys. I have taken the Auto-RX plunge and bought 2 bottles on the website. They came in yesterday and I have finally taken the time to install in earlier today. My current oil is Pennzoil Ultra 5w-20 with a bottle of MMO and 6cyl Restore. Hence the reasoning for a little of the gunk flush to help dissipate some of this [censored] before the new oil.

Supplies:
-5 quarts of Valvoline 5w-30 premium conventional oil
-1 quart of cheapie oil
-Pur Classic filter
-2 bottles of ARX (one bottle per phase)
-Gunk HM Flush


Procedure:
-Take Driver side valve cover off and take pictures
-Reinstall VC and run 1/4 bottle of the gunk HM flush for 10 minutes
-Take a picture of the inside of oil filler hole
-Drain oil for 45 minutes and take out old filter
-Pour 1 quart of cheapie oil down filler to get any left over stuff out of pan
-Install new filter and add 3 quarts of the Valvoline, then pour one bottle of ARX in
-Top it off with remaining Valvoline until full


Now like I said pictures would be plentiful and I will try my best not to disappoint.

Pictures with VC removed before I did anything including filler hole:

[img:left]http://yfrog.com/h0fgktxj[/img]

[img:left]http://yfrog.com/h4anexij[/img]

[img:left]http://yfrog.com/h04x1wtj[/img]



Picture of the amount of gunk I put in. Used a coke bottle to 1/4 it since it's a 16oz bottle and the gunk is 32oz:

[img:left]http://yfrog.com/h7q52orj[/img]



Picture of filler hole after gunk treatment. No real change....

[img:left][url=Http://yfrog.com/h2o1efhj][url=Http://yfrog.com/h2o1efhj]Http://yfrog.com/h2o1efhj[/url][/url][/img]



Picture of old K&N filter. Nice and dirty:

[img:left][url=Http://yfrog.com/gy6rzilj][url=Http://yfrog.com/gy6rzilj]Http://yfrog.com/gy6rzilj[/url][/url][/img]



Hope you guys like it. I will be changing the filter at 1500 miles and taking another picture with the VC removed. Also will be cutting open all of my up and coming oil filters to show residual content. Hopefully this ARX will do something helpful to my engine and I look forward to hearing your guys input/suggestions to maximize the ARX's potential.


Here's a link to my other thread:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2180352&page=1

 

[demarpaint]

Why did you use MMO and Restore, then Gunk Engine Flush? MMO and Gunk clean. Restore is going to deposit soft metal to fill scratches, and worn cylinder areas giving MMO, Gunk, or A-Rx more to clean out. If anything IMO you made your cleaning project even more difficult.

 

[chad8]

I was kinda kidding about the screw driver thing , but it has worked for me in the past. Free and it works.
I have also used a cordless drill to drill through the filter and then using a long rod through the filter to wrench it off.
I did see this on amazon while looking at some of the other oil filter wrenches. It says worlds best oil filter wrench.

http://www.amazon.com/Worlds-Best-Universal-Filter-Wrench/dp/B000UD0CTQ/ref=pd_sim_dbs_auto_2

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: chad8
I did see this on amazon while looking at some of the other oil filter wrenches. It says worlds best oil filter wrench.

http://www.amazon.com/Worlds-Best-Universal-Filter-Wrench/dp/B000UD0CTQ/ref=pd_sim_dbs_auto_2


I have one, all I can say is don't believe everything you read. LOL

 

[Sayjac]

I feel like I've entered the twilight zone on this thread.

First, I'm trying to view the OP's pics, a chore, and understand the procedure. The before pictures though, show an ugly engine.

Then a post about a filter removal with a link to the "world best universal filter wrench", not sure the relationship to topic, but I don't believe the moniker is correct. OT fwiw, imo this is a better 'universal filter wrench', and comes in 2 sizes (not quite universal), one for smaller and one for larger filters. The exact same smaller wrench though can be found though at AZ for ~$5, made by OEM tools.

To the OP, for clarity it would be helpful to just post up pics here, rather than linking to every pic. Would be interested in your results though.

 

[hounddog]

I'd be shocked if any thing in a can or bottle removed any gunk you see under that valve cover.Engines need to be disassembled to clean thoroughly. Now stuff in a can/bottle will open up small passageways and oil holes. but not that heavy crud that is shown in those photos.

 

[electrolover]

it really looks like the engine has some blowby to me, judging from looks like hard carbon build up on top of the head. even if you get it cleaned up it will probably just come back.

my opinion would probably be the same as some others here. make sure the pcv system is in good shape and run a good cleaning regiment, then a good oil with short ocis.

hope you can bring it back!

 

[Covert24]

Yea I completely screwed up on posting the pictures. My bad on that lol. I'll fix it when I get back home from dropping my girl off at work.

Also no idea what the deal is with the dudes posting stuff about a filter wrench. I think we have entered the 4th dimension with that one....

I would not have added te Restore if it wasn't for my friend recommending it to me. When I added it I had completely forgot about the MMO that was in there so it was my fault on that one. I figured the gunk flush would be able to get rid of some of the MMO and Restore before I did a fresh oil change with the ARX

I plan on doing the 2 treatments of the ARX and if I don't see any real benefit from that I will proceed to manually clean it out with a shop-vac.

PS: right after I put the ARX in I went to Napa and got a new PCV valve. The one that was in there was clicking louder then the injectors.

 

[sciphi]

You want pictures of a clean engine that used ARX? I'm not saying that the ARX cleaned my engine, just that my engine happens to be clean, last I opened things up and took pictures. I so happened to use ARX according to the "old" instructions along with 7.5-10k oil change intervals on synthetic oils after using ARX.

Take a look at two of my threads, one with pictures of the lifter valley at 67k miles, then the bottom end at 87k miles a year later.

67k miles: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1647235#Post1647235

87k miles: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2009132#Post2009132

Again, not saying anything besides my engine is clean, and it used ARX in the past.

 

[Covert24]

Also what is the exact definition of blowby? And how do I fix it?

 

[electrolover]

its when ur rings let combustion gases threw to the crankcase. they might just be stuck but more than likely they are just wore out. jus do your cleaning and see what happens.

get some pics of the oil coming out with the arx. i bet it will be gnarly looking.

 

[Covert24]

Sorry again for the picture screw up. Here's the fixed post so everyone can see them without splitting atoms. Is there a way to fix the blowby by replacing the rings or something or should I just let it go? I will be sure to take pictures of the oil coming out as I can't wait to see it either. All I want to do is drive thisthing all over te place just to get my 3k miles ya kno??

Also a quick OT question: my I injectors sound like someone f****** tap dancing. Would new injectors quiet it up? I would imagine so as I've heard old injectors click with age


Pictures with VC removed before I did anything including filler hole:

Picture of the amount of gunk I put in. Used a coke bottle to 1/4 it since it's a 16oz bottle and the gunk is 32oz:

Picture of filler hole after gunk treatment. No real change....

Picture of old K&N filter. Nice and dirty:

 

[Mystic]

I would like to find some sort of tiny camera with a flexible line so that (engine off) I could check out the inside of my engine without removing anything. Some kind of inexpensive little device. Looking through the oil fill hole tells little.

 

[electrolover]

those old gm injectors make alot of racket but they last a long time. i would not worry about the noise.
i would not rebuild it either, it may clear up after your cleaning regiment. dont study on the POSSIBLE blowby issue. just finish the task at hand and go from there

 

[ltslimjim]

I agree with recent comments. Clean it first, and by keeping up with the maintenance from here should minimize blow-by from building into carbon deposits and eventually towards sludge.

You don't look as bad as some others I've seen posted, so I figure your setup with ARX will continue the cleaning PU and MMO did start.

After your run with both bottles of ARX, I wouldn't invest more in that product, IMO. I'd then turn to continue your cleanup with HM oil and MMO as 1 of the QTs before we get to the summer, afterward keeping to 3k miles and/or less than 3-months during the summer and continuing with HM oil.

Remember to change your oil filter often with ARX(1500 should be 'okay'). But once it starts coming off you wouldn't want to go long than that amount of mileage, IMO.

After all is said and done, I'd recommend either Rotella T6 or even just T5 or Valvoline MaxLife, with a solid mid-grade filter like Purolator or Wix/Napa Gold for 3-4k mile intervals(4 months max).

EDIT: Oh I forgot to hurl at the sight of the "K&N" filter you claim that was in your filter box, not that I don't believe you it's just disgusting. It's no longer an K&N IMO.

 

[Covert24]

Yea Mystic like the thing they use for colonoscapys (sp?) lol. That would be crazy though. Definitely a good idea for someone to invent for automotive needs.

Opinion noted on the injector noise. I figured it wasn't anything severe just annoying when I pop the hood.


And I definitely don't plan on buying anymore ARX. Not because I don't like it it's just a little expensive for my wallet at the moment. I intend to Use the second bottle of ARX and then switch over to PU 5W-30 with a bottle of MMO. Do you guys think the MMO will thin the 5w-30 out to much or should it be fine?

I figure the PU will also help with the continual cleaning unless there's a better option for cleaning this shizz out

 

[ltslimjim]

Not 'too' thin, but I wouldn't run my normal OCI with PU and MMO all of the time, though. For cleanup intervals it's fine, IMO. The last thing you want, IMO, is thicker oil on top of the already caked on mess you are trying to rid your engine of.

You aren't planning on going longer than 3k/3 months during cleanup intervals anyway.

 

[electrolover]

mmo does thin it a little but as long as it doesnt rattle its good.(even if it did rattle on start up it would not hurt anything)

if you want thicker than 5/30 i would use T6 with the mmo.

btw i have had good results with mmo and PP or PU.

kreen is also a very good cleaner and the price is $13. i have had the most luck with it.

 

[Covert24]

I don't really want to go any thicker than 5w-30. I would love to do 0w-30 but I'm not sure if that would mess anything up. Is there anything wrong with using 0w-30?? I think the t6 would be a little to thick for my application. I wish it came in a 5w-30....



I have heard good things about kreen all over these forums and I'm very interested in trying it. The price is definitely in my range and I think after i get done with te ARX I will switch to that for cleaning along with MMO every once in a while

 

[snowmaker]

I have run 0w-20 in texas for years with issues.