I am having last minute second thoughts. The engine had dino oil for the first 18000 miles and synthetic since. It's a turbo as well. Well, it can't harm it anyway, so why not do it (kind of pricey on the other hand)?
30000 miles on the engine. Should I even bother with Auto-RX
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What do you want from it?
I did an ARx cycle on on engine with bit under 50,000 miles. It made no noticable difference in cleanliness as viewed through the oil fill in the valve cover (the engine looked like new when I started), no difference in fuel economy, no change in oil consumption (it was about zero before ARx)
Also no difference in seat of the pants running or performance.
UOA showed some improvement, but I had fixed an air cleaner system leak while running the same oil I used for the clean cycle, shortly before I used ARx, so may have been seeing the results of the fixed leak.
If you don't have a problem, don't expect to notice anything.
[ October 07, 2004, 11:40 PM: Message edited by: XS650 ]
I did an ARx cycle on on engine with bit under 50,000 miles. It made no noticable difference in cleanliness as viewed through the oil fill in the valve cover (the engine looked like new when I started), no difference in fuel economy, no change in oil consumption (it was about zero before ARx)
Also no difference in seat of the pants running or performance.
UOA showed some improvement, but I had fixed an air cleaner system leak while running the same oil I used for the clean cycle, shortly before I used ARx, so may have been seeing the results of the fixed leak.
If you don't have a problem, don't expect to notice anything.
[ October 07, 2004, 11:40 PM: Message edited by: XS650 ]
I would recommend it. I ran an RX treatment on my TDI golf at around 43k miles. The previous owner used, against the recommendations of the manual, dino oils. The RX phase seems to have made the turbo spool quicker and eliminated some oil consumption issues.
What kind of car is it?
--Matt
What kind of car is it?
--Matt
Audi A4 1.8T. Runs just fine as far as I can tell but dealer used dino oil on it at first and prevention of any possible turbo failures later is the only reason I am doing it (as I'll chip it soon).
There are filter pics in this section from a Volvo turbo that ran on AMSoil from day one and was ARXed. Search it out. The filter was full of turbo turds and it was a low miles car. Turbo turds are even more of a concern than sludge. I have seen sludge-dead engines at 40k. ARX + dino oil is as cheap as fool synth, inexpensive insurance for 1.8t. I would ARX and then use good synth, you'll be set. I did not find sludge in my filter but ARX did wonders for my compression and ringpack. If you were at 50k you would have already waited too long, 30k is fine.
Well, you persuaded me as usual. The oil is on it's way. Junkie, I have a question for you: the instructions on this site say that you can add the Auto-RX to any oil. I am meaning to add it to the Mobil1 I have in right now and switch to dino for the rinse. I don't remember exactly but I think you said I should go dino even for the first phase, not just for the rinse. Is it really necessary? Also, you said that mixing the Mobil1 0W40 and 5W40 is not a good idea. I am thinking of switching to German Castrol 0W30. Is mixing of the remainder of Mobil1 0W40 I have with that still a bad idea and why??? Thanks.
My wife's previous car, she bought used with 29k on it. Nothing but Mobil 1 ever 5k after she got it, for 30k until I did an Auto-RX for fun at 60k. Rinse oil was black looked like tar. OTOH, I think 30k is too soon since you're using synthetic, I'd wait until 50k, but it's your money. It wouldn't hurt.
That 18k on dealer dino-in-a-drum worries me. You can add ARX to any oil, even old oil, but a new filter is a must. Just do a "normal" dealer service and put the ARX in yourself. You can do the same thing for the rinse. It does not matter the brand of dino oil the dealer uses & no need to even BYO. You could do the same thing at a quick lube or WalMart. I would follow-up with whatever (Mobil) synth oil you have the most of. The SUV is prefered, maybe use the 0w-40 for topping up. After this, you are done. The best synth oils will keep your engine clean for good. GC is good, but I would not use it unless you are willing to buy enough for a few changes and store it. No benefit from constantly changine oil types and the Mobil is very easy to get.
I'd A-Rx it if it had 9-miles or 90,000.
Just because you can't "feel" it, or "tell a noticeable performance improvement", etc doesn't, in itself, mean much.
Knowing that the ring packs (alone) have been gently cleaned out is, IMO, worth more than the price.
The immediate benefit may seem small, but one is -- I believe -- making the commitment to return the engine to the state it achieved at break-in.
And keeping it there.
Many, many years ago -- goes an apocryphal tale --FORD ran one of its motors for, I dunno, a million miles. Constantly fresh oil. Engine was no different than new at end of test. Oil never had time to coke and choke motor.
A-Rx when brand-new, as I recall Frank posting, is beneficial in getting assembly junk, casting sand, other, out of motor.
And, then, keep that state by cleaning every 25-30k.
Just because you can't "feel" it, or "tell a noticeable performance improvement", etc doesn't, in itself, mean much.
Knowing that the ring packs (alone) have been gently cleaned out is, IMO, worth more than the price.
The immediate benefit may seem small, but one is -- I believe -- making the commitment to return the engine to the state it achieved at break-in.
And keeping it there.
Many, many years ago -- goes an apocryphal tale --FORD ran one of its motors for, I dunno, a million miles. Constantly fresh oil. Engine was no different than new at end of test. Oil never had time to coke and choke motor.
A-Rx when brand-new, as I recall Frank posting, is beneficial in getting assembly junk, casting sand, other, out of motor.
And, then, keep that state by cleaning every 25-30k.
That's what's goona happen. I'll have the dealer service because it's too late to add ARX now (~1200 miles to service). They'll put a new filter so it's perfect. Then I'll do a rinse with a non - synthetic and they back to my synthetic. I'll report everything here (including pictures of an open filter). Thanks.
i'm with you Tan. 30,000 miles you need to do it and use Rx maint dose after. Big difference in my turbo engine.
Sounds good. If only 1200mi until service, a change is a must. If you were only 12000 miles into the oil cycle, maybe I'd just add it.
Seeing how it has a turbo and had dino oil of unkonw quality go for it. Normaly I would wait until a vechile to have 50,000-70,000 miles to make it worth my while. Turbo seals get coked up preety easily so auto-rxing it is a good idea. I would not expect to see any thing in the way of improvments but it surely can not hurt.
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