1999 Ford Escort 2365 miles on 12 oz. Auto RX

[Scarpa]

This vehicle has previously seen a lot of Chevron Fuel,which is very prolific in LA,CA and recently tried to switch to Mobil/Shell but that is not entirely reflected in this oil analysis, air Filter, Spark Plug Wires, Distributor Coil & fuel Filter were changed 300 miles into this 2365 mi oil Sample. This engine was run for some distance without coolant about two years ago. There are noises in the engine at idle, but after reading up on these engines I hear they can be noisy and that might be normal for over 200k miles. If anything this has been an interesting experiment to see how Auto-RX might help out an engine that is probably pretty dirty.

This vehicle is in desperate need of tires, and after recently paying for a throttle body cleaning, replacing the Idle Air Control Valve, Fuel Filter, Differential Pressure Feedback Sensor, the ERG pressure sensor, ERG Valve, cleaned out the entire EGR System tubing, Thermostat, rebuilding the radiator, spark plug wires, PCV Valve, "Distributor" coil, most of which is not reflected in this current oil analysis. This vehicle averages 50 to 80 miles per day driven in LA, CA where the temperature never goes much below 40. I am trying to see if this engine has enough life left to warrant further repairs, and see how nice a set of tires I should get? The vehicle currently has over 211,000 miles.

I can't post the .pdf because Polaris Labs PDF's are password protected so I cannot open the PDF in Photoshop and when inquiring I could not get the password to edit the document.

1999 Ford Escort

Engine: Engine: 2.0L (1996cc) CVH SPI20000 SOHC 4cyl (Split Port Injection)
Sampled: 21 Sept 2013
Received 18 November 2013
Polaris Labs Severity 2 report, burnt orange/yellow color

Miles on Engine: 201,970 as of Sept 2013, presently over 211,000 along with another full Auto-RX clean/rinse cycle. The next oil report after the two full auto-rx cycles should be interesting.

Miles on Oil: 2365
Oil in use: Castrol GTX 10W-40, currently running Castrol GTX 10W-30,to complete another Auto-RX rinse with plans to switch to Rotella T5 10W-30 with a 4 or 5 ounces of LC20 for the next oil change.

Oil Filter: Pure One

Polaris Labs Comments:
Comments: Flagged data does not indicate an immediate need for maintenance action. Continue to observe the trend and monitor
equipment and fluid conditions. Cylinder region metals (pistons, rings, liners etc.) are at a MODERATE LEVEL; Viscosity is
MODERATELY LOW; Infrared results indicate OXIDATION is MODERATELY HIGH; Your note was taken into consideration;
Lubricant and filter change acknowledged;

If you are familiar with Polaris Labs reports they color code wear metals if they are unusual, the colors, if present are listed after the wear metal, such as "green" or "Orange."

Wear Metals (ppm)

Iron: 16
Chromium: 2 (yellowish color)
Nickel: 1 (green)
Aluminum: 4 (green)
Copper: 5
Lead: 11
Tin: 4 (Yellowish color)
Cadmium: 0
Silver: 0
Vanadium: 0

Contaminant Metals (PPM)

Silicone: 11
Sodium: 48
Potassium: 4

Multi-Source Metals (PPM)
Titanium: 0
Molybdenum: 81
Antimony: 0
Manganese: 0
Lithium: 0
Boron: 51

Additive Metals (PPM)
Magnesium: 19
Calcium: 2314
Barium: 0
Phosphorous: 737
Zinc: 859

Lube Added: 1 Quart

Contaminants:

Fuel Dilution: 1.4% GC
Soot: less than .1%
Water: less than .1% FTIR
Viscosity: 11.6 at 100 C (Yellowish color)
Base Number: 3.44 KOH/g
Oxidation: 24 abs/cm (Yellowish color)
Nitration: 7 abs/0.1mm

Particle count: No data

 

[Donald]

There will be people here that do not believe in Auto-Rx. If it works for you then good. If not, no harm done.

No "e" in Silicon.

The iron looks good. I would check the air intake. With the silicon at 11 and nickel at 1, I would guess some dirty air is coming through the intake valve. The nickel is from the intake valve seat I would guess. The CU is 5 which is higher than normal, with no oil cooler I assume, its some bearing or bushing wear.

I think the engine will outlast the transmission. So worry more more about the transmission. The engine is about average for 200K.

 

[Scarpa]

I do not have much experience with Auto-Rx, I am just trying to see if this Escort is worth the further investment of new tires or if it should be sold right away.

This Escort is a 5speed Manual, and the fluid was recently changed to Castrol Dextron/Mercron ATF. I had reservations about using Automatic Transmission Fluid in a 5 speed Manual Transmission but the Factory Ford Manual clearly states Mercron for both the Manual and Automatic Transmissions.

There was rust in the cooling system from using non-distilled water and having a 30 percent coolant 70 percent water ratio. Used some LC20 in the radiator and flushed it out a few times and there is still some dirt/rust that shows up on the radiator cap.

 

[Ramblejam]

Originally Posted By: Scarpa
Used some LC20 in the radiator


Why?

 

[Scarpa]

LC20 to clean and lubricate the water pump/cooling system.

 

[Donald]

Get some decent but inexpensive tires. Maybe TireRack. There are also some almost new tires on CL where people get a new car and immediately want different tires.

OK, with a manual, the Amsoil website lists ATF for that transmission.

I think you should be good for another 50K miles.

 

[msmoke00]

Originally Posted By: Scarpa
LC20 to clean and lubricate the water pump/cooling system.


Water pump bearings don't touch the coolant, nothing in the system to lubricate. Cleaning the system is better done by polar compounds (molecules that "mix" with water) vs oil (non polar) type cleaning agents. Citric acid is a good one for cooling systems.

 

[Ramblejam]

Originally Posted By: Scarpa
LC20 to clean and lubricate the water pump/cooling system.


Why not utilize a product actually formulated for cooling system cleaning?

 

[Scarpa]

Deleted

 

[Rolla07]

I would try a different motor oil. Personally Id switch over to a good quality HM blend to see if it reflects improvements on future oil analysis'.

 

[Mach1Owner]

Why are you using a 10w-40 in an engine thats Ford says to use 5w-20 or 30 in?

Just get some Motorcraft 5w30 or 5w-20 and a good filter and that will get your engine up. The SPI can run for a LONG time with little work as long as it's properly maintained.

Flush the coolant properly and you will be off. I have seen those engines take over 300k even with a turbo strapped to them for 250k of it.

 

[krismoriah72]

why are you using a pure one for a cleaning cycle? why are you using heavy oil?

This is my opinion.. bad tires can/will get u or someone else injured or killed.

Stop putting money in cleaning the engine and save that money towards tires.

If you are wanting to do an engine clean, go with PYB 5w30 and a purolator classic and drive 5000 miles and dump it then repeat.

Those are 13 inch tires? should be less than $200 to get u a set of safe tires.

Your escort is an economy car..designed to save u money.. stop wasting money on oil analysis and magic in a bottle. make it safe and get your economy back.

 

[Mach1Owner]

more likely a 15in wheel.

 

[Scarpa]

Originally Posted By: Mach1Owner
Why are you using a 10w-40 in an engine thats Ford says to use 5w-20 or 30 in?


This is not my vehicle; someone else is making repairs under my direction and donations. They are not into cars and it is very hard for me to encourage them to make any sorts of repairs on this vehicle.

One trusted mechanic working on the vehicle used 20W-50 because they said it burns oil, and has high miles and makes extra noise at idle. So I tried a run of Castrol GTX 10W-40 and then GTX 10W-30, to migrate away from the heavy oil. The vehicle is now around 211,000 miles and Due to the 2 ARX's clean and rises or other factors such as replacing the PCV valve, the oil loss is maybe 1 to 1.5 Quarts per 3,000 which is an improvement. I think the oil loss is now an oil pan leak with little to no oil burning. I thought about using 5W-30 or 5W-20 but since this vehicle is in Southern California where the temp seldom goes below 40F it seems like 10W-30 should work fine.

Originally Posted By: krismoriah72
why are you using a pure one for a cleaning cycle? why are you using heavy oil?
Those are 13 inch tires? should be less than $200 to get u a set of safe tires.


I am under the impression that a Pure-One Filter is best for using with Auto-RX clean/rinse cycles.

The vehicle is a 5-spd with a broken AC System and it needs a paint job and a little body work, so the residual value very low even next to zero. Local tires shops in the LA Area sold the owner of the Vehicle unknown Chinese Tires of the wrong size, for the same price or more than a decent set of known brand tires.

Original Tires are 14" but, so far, in Los Angeles it cost about the same $400 and up for a 14" set of tires from a name brand or generic. I located a set of 15" Escort ZX2 rims that allow a better selection of tires for $80.00, and thought of getting a set of 4 Summer Performance tires for around $400. If anyone knows where to get a known, safe set of 185/65 R14 Tires in the LA area or online for $200 let me know I might abandon the plan to get the 15" ZX2 rims. If I am forced to spend over $300 for a set its best to get Performance Summer Tires because Summer tires are superior to All-Season Tires in all conditions except for snow. Even on online sites if you want a tire that is less than $50 each plus shipping it is going to be lesser known or unknown generic brand, that’s over $200 to start plus shipping, plus mounting and balancing fees.