Auto Rx and Marvel Mystery Oil

[otis24]

I am about 100 miles into the rinse phase of my Auto Rx treatment. I seem to have a lifter rattling. It just started. It rattles on start up in the mornings and quits down after about three minutes. I usually run Havoline 10W/30 but am using Super Tech 10W/30 and a ST filter for the rinse phase.
Should I (A) drain the oil and put Havoline in?
(B) Just drain a quart of the Super Tech and add a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil?
(C) Change back to Havoline with a quart of Marvel Myster Oil?
I'm not sure why the rattling started but need to try to fix the problem.
Thanks for your help!

 

[LeeRoy]

When it starts to rattle, shut off engine. Wait few seconds and start engine. Usually does the trick on my Plymouth V-8. Tried MM, CD-2, Auto-RX. No benefit. Lifter check valve is probably gummed-up or speck of grit. Causes intermittent sticky lifter. Worse when cold. Seems less frequent with 10-30 vs 15-40. My $0.02

 

[unDummy]

Change the filter and top off oil with whatever you want.

 

[Rich21]

Has it been colder than normal in the mornings?
Perhaps the dino is thickened up in the cold and is taking a bit more time to pump up to the top end. Or perhaps the rinse oil is starting to remove a lot of deposits upstairs. In which case will likely go away shortly.

Any noise on start up during the day after the motor has been run in the morning?

 

[jonny-b]

I would follow the instruction, for the rinse phase. Then, if the lifter rattling still is present after the rinse phase,I would look at other alternatives. Folloving the instructions(on most products), tends to give the best result. Very often,it is easy to do, as well.

 

[wpwren]

I would follow the instructions of the ARX as suggested. Go to the web site and read posts from other ARX users and you'll see that others have had similar experiences with most claiming that by the end of the completed process that the symptoms such as leaks and noisy lifters go away.

That's not to say you don't have something else going on there but you really should let ARX run its' course, if you can as per the instructions. You didn't say what the mileage is.

I'm currently 650 miles into the rinse of the first of two apps of ARX on my winter car, a 94 Volvo 855T with 173K miles and different things are happening that I can relate directly to the ARX. Overall it's been very good and I'm waiting until it's finished. I had a slight lifter tick on start up before going with the ARX and it's almost gone now and through theses colder months.

 

[Rich21]

What type of motor are we working with here? What kind of mileage and care?

 

[Fastride95]

I would let the ARX run it's course according to instructions otherwise you may be short changing yourself. How long is the rinse cycle? 1500 miles? You're 100+ miles in! The esters in the auto-rx absorb into the sludge and built up carbon and by running a pure conventional you allow those contaminants to be washed away due to it's polarity. Throw something else into the mix and you could change the chemistry behind the process.

I agree with changing the filter and topping off with fresh oil. Complete the cycle and do whatever you like from there. Just my advice.

 

[Gary Allan]

quote:

---

I am about 100 miles into the rinse phase of my Auto Rx treatment. I seem to have a lifter rattling. It just started.

---

Perfectly normal. There are frequently new noises during the rinse phase. I had plenty ..they all passed. Not everything cleans out at the same time. Some things drain that didn't ..then they don't again ..but for different reasons after it's cleaned completely.

Relax and just keep on going through with the treatment. As others suggested, swap the filter out (dump the oil back in) if you feel the need to do something.

 

[otis24]

Only 85000 miles on this 1983 Ford F150 (300 in-line 6 cylinder).It has been well maintained. So far, the rattling only has been in the morning. Start ups later in the day do not produce the same rattling. I will change the filter and see what happens. From there, I will complete the rinse phase. I should mention that while I did not expect to see a lot of sludge from my engine, the filter looked pretty bad after the first phase of the treatment.

 

[andyd]

On a 23 yr old engine with only 83k on it, It should be sludged up, unless the oil was changed verry frequently. 83 k averages just over 3500k a yr.

 

[BrianWC]

Eeek, I wouldn't throw a quart of mmo in my crank! You're going to dilute the oil at first and then when mmo's components evaporate you'll be a bit low!

I have to say...I wasn't all about drinking the arx kool-aid but I gotta admit it's getting things done. Let it run it's course and then see what's going on. It's going to clean better than MMO ever could.

 

[jamesn]

stuck lifter?
sounds like a perfect excuse for a cam/lifter swap.
try this one:
http://tinyurl.com/8eybl
and this:
http://tinyurl.com/3hok

i had the same setup on a 85 work truck. pulled like a mule and got the same mileage as stock.

 

[peterr]

How about

D) Leave it alone, or if you ant to change the filter, go ahead.

Lifter noises and similar things are common during ARX treatment. You will find many posts advising patience. I would not freak out and alter the course of treatment over this. Lifter noise for 3 minutes in the morning is neither too atypical nor alarming in the range of experiences in an ARX cycle.

1. Don't add the MMO to the autoRX rinse phase. It probably wouldn't do anything bad but also probably nothing good and it would be better just to leave alone and not interfere with the ARX chemistry.

2. If it makes you feel better to change the filter, go ahead. If you really want to change the oil mid way through a rinse cycle you could, although i don't think that is your problem and I think 100 miles in is pretty early.

I changed my oil 800 miles into an Auto RX rinse cycle because I had started with a 15w40 HDEO dino and ended up not driving as much as i expected. Since minus 15 degree temps are common here I wanted to put in a thinner oil. At about 800 miles into the rinse I asked the AutoRX guys and they said it would be fine. I changed oil to 5w30 dino and filter and drove the remaining miles, then drained and switched back to 0w40 synthetic.

I have found the AutoRX guys very helpful if you ask a question that shows that you have studied the directions and understand the basics and have a requirement not explicitly covered. eg "I thought I could get 1500 miles in before winter but I am really sketchy about leaving a 15w40 oil in during a canadian winter. Can I drain the rinse oil at the mid point and replace with 5w30 Dino?" will likely receive a more helpful reply than "I am the 100,000th person to notice some lifter noise during AutoRX application. Should I panic and dump some thinner into my oil or change it all out?"