1994 Mazda 626 - running ARX

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Hello:

I have a 1994 Mazda 626 - with a 2.0L engine and 5 speed manual transmission. This car has about 123K miles on the clock. I have bad lifter noise and also dense blue smoke at start up on some days. I am thinking of running the ARX cleaner through my engine. I used a can of engine Restore, when I did my last oil change- but that has not helped anything. Hopefully, ARX helps me!

I exchanged emails with Frank last night and he asked me to follow the Heavy Oil Burning Application in my case. I have ordered 3 bottles(2 cleaning cycles and then maintenance routine) over the weekend. It should be here on Thursday and I will start the Cleanse cycle on Friday. I have a 1500 mile trip to South Dakota sometime this month and that should give it time to work and also give some feedback to other people on here.

I am thinking of using Federated Auto 5w30 dino oil with a Supertech filter? Is this a good oil to use?

Cheers
Sunny
 
Seems like blue smoke @ startup is valve seals; not likely arx will do much for that. Certainly worth a try tho. I had good results with arx, although I did not have a situation such as yours.
 
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yup. bad valve guide seals. The funny thing is - car does not smoke all the time though. My main concern is the lifter noise. It has been getting louder since I owned the car. Hopefully ARX works!

Cheers
 
I would use a better oil like Pennzoil Platinum or maybe Pennzoil yellow bottle or Mobil Clean 5,000. They have a good amount of detergent in them that should help with the process.
 
Will do. I went to Wally world to get me some supertech - They were all out. All they had was 20w50. No 5w30 even in the 5 quart size. Say they have been out for about 3 weeks! So might have to be Mobil 5000.
 
Just out of my own curiosity, what kind of MPGs do you see in that car and at what highway speeds?
 
@badtlc:

I get about 30-33 Mpg on the highway with AC on and doing about 65-70 mph. I have to drive down to West Lafayette this week - and I will post the exact mileage that I get after that!
 
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Alright - an update. I had a 300 mile round trip to West La Fayette this morning about 350 miles. I changed the oil and filter - 3.8 qts of Pennzoil Yellow and Supertech filter. I added 8 oz of ARX as per franks recommendation for the oil burning application. Drove down and back in about 6 hours. I checked the mileage on my way there and back. I was doing about 70 mph most of the way. I got a good 34.8 mpg. The lifter noise is still there though - I still have a good 2200 miles on the cleaning phase and then the rinse phase, so am optimistic that the lifter issue and the blue smoke at startup is resolved.

Will post more updates over the next few weeks/months and keep people posted as to my progress with ARX.

Cheers

Sunny
 
I think you will see more results after the remaining 2200 miles... ARX works great, but it usually takes quite a few miles to see results.

I run it 5K on the clean/rinse phase and see much better results than the directions... But that's just me.
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OK - an update. I have been doing a lot of driving this week - I have put about 600 miles since I added my Auto-RX. Since this morning however the car seems to be a little slow when I take off and also when I go from first to second the car seems a little sluggish. New PCV valve and plugs about 5000 miles ago.

Any ideas?

Cheers
 
Wow, only 600 miles? It sounds like your filter is already loaded. Change the filter, top off, and see if it goes away.

My Taurus did the same thing, but closer to 1500 miles on the first clean phase, then on the first rinse phase.
I am currently on my 2nd clean phase and havent experienced any sluggishness, but am only 1000 miles into it.

Since you are over 100k miles on the car you are cleaning out all the stuff that has been building up and is easy to remove. Keep some extra filters on hand for this very reason.
And keep us informed how it goes.
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Change the filter, top off and see if it's better. Could be releasing all kinds of junk. If it doesn't get better I would skip to the rinse cycle and then do another ARX clean phase again.

Sounds like others have said and the filters are clogging up.
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OK! Will do. I will keep an eye on it and run it till 1200 and then change the filter. I have to go to West Lafayette again this weekend to drop my friend off again. So that is another 300 miles on the clock and closer to 1200 mile mark. I will do the filter change then. I havent checked the color of the oil or looked under the filler cap since i started the ARX treatment. I keep two extra filters in the car.
 
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I would change the filter and top up before going on the trip just in case... Then you can drop the oil if it gets any worse...
 
I drove the car the way it is to West Lafayette and back. It drove great and I checked the mileage again - this time I was driving at 60-65 Mph. I got a good 36.8 mpg on my way down there. The lifter noise is still there. The blue smoke on start up, I have not seen in a few days and it usually happens when it is cold though.

Less than 1000 miles to go on the clean phase! Look forward to the rinse phase!
 
Doing a clean on my Mazda 626 turbo (2.2 FE engine) 270,000 kms. It's been a long time since this engine had an RX clean. 6,000kms clean phase this time but that's governed by onset of tappet rattle, a sure sign filter is blocked/restricted.
 
Originally Posted By: Sunny
The lifter noise is still there. The blue smoke on start up, I have not seen in a few days and it usually happens when it is cold though.

Less than 1000 miles to go on the clean phase! Look forward to the rinse phase!



I got more noises during the rinse phase. I'm glad that I was prepared for it ..or rather warned. I didn't get my fogging Mitsubishi to totally stop smoking. It would still do it if I idled too long, but it sure made it less embarrassing to pick up the daughter at school. It was so bad that any idling would result in a bug fogging event. It cut out 90% of it.

Q: Does you lifter noise vary cold to hot?
 
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan


Q: Does you lifter noise vary cold to hot?


The lifter noise does get just a little less when the engine is hot but it is constantly there.

This morning was a cold one (compared to yesterday) in Michigan and as I started my car up - cloud of blue smoke!
frown.gif


Also - I am about 1600 miles in to the clean phase and I noticed that my oil is still clean and has not turned black - like most other people have reported by this time.
 
Did you change out the filter before your trip to West Lafayette?
A fairly spent filter that becomes real tight can sometimes do a great job in cleaning up the appearance of the oil. But at the same time is restricting flow, however.
 
Quote:
The lifter noise does get just a little less when the engine is hot but it is constantly there.


Then it sounds like there's a flow issue that improves with the oil thinning. That should mean that you've got something to open up.

Quote:
This morning was a cold one (compared to yesterday) in Michigan and as I started my car up - cloud of blue smoke!


If it's shot guides, then there's not much to be done ..but be patient. You've seen change from the norm.

Quote:
Also - I am about 1600 miles in to the clean phase and I noticed that my oil is still clean and has not turned black - like most other people have reported by this time.


Some times you won't see the host oil change much. You may not have a gross amount of stuff to clean up. You may have hardened seals and some restricted passages. You can also have VERY HARD deposits that take much dwell time to penetrate except under forced lubrication (galleries, etc.).

Just play out the application and see what happens. Don't be surprised if there is an onset of new noises with the rinse phase.
 
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