Auto-RX...time, mileage or both

[michaelc80]

I'm getting ready to do an Auto-RX treatment on one of my Jeeps and have a question about time vs. mileage.

I know what the various mileages are for each step. Does it make any difference how much time that mileage is done in? For example, step 1 requires a minimum of 1500 miles. With some upcoming trips, I can do that in 2-3 days. So will the short time for the mileage have any negative impact, or should I leave it in longer for each step? I could have the entire process done in 2-3 weeks, but that sure doesn't leave Auto-RX much time to work.

 

[JHZR2]

from having other discussions, it seems that some are adamant about a certain number of miles being kept for auto rx to work.

This doesnt make much real-world chemical sense. it will start doing something from the second that it is put in, mixed and the conditions become right. And itll keep working under fvorable conditions until the active ingredient is used up or an equilibrium is reached.

I believe that it is an issue of time withing a specific temperature range. Obviously the 'kinetics of cleaning' will vary with temperature, mixing, etc.

Probably 1500 miles is what amounts to a normal typical person's driving profile of x minutes (hours) of engine oil at y degrees. time may have something to do with it for the gentle solvent action, but the conditions still need to be right.

JMH

 

[Gary Allan]

I think initially the mileage was lower. Then there appeared to be conflicts with certain oils as they evolved and the additives competing with ARX...so Frank upped the mileage recommendation to fit all of it into one mileage spec. Personally I agree with you that there is probably some thermal/time component to it. I mean an intercity bus would have more than enough idle time ..yet not clock too many miles ..yet the oil would have circulated millions of cycles.

 

[sprintman]

Oil needs to be hot for RX to work

 

[michaelc80]

quote:

---

Originally posted by sprintman:
Oil needs to be hot for RX to work

---

So 6 months of short trips that don't fully heat up the oil would not do as well as 2-3 days of solid driving to achieve ~1500 miles?

I'm just trying to determine the best way to get the best results.

Thanks!

 

[loudist]

Why don't you drop Frank an email?

 

[Gary Allan]

If you do the 1500 miles ...you've done what's required to do what it's supposed to do. You can leave it in longer. Frank has posted on more than one occasion that going longer ...quite a bit longer, is acceptable. I imagine that the only limit would be where your existing oil would begin to promote more sludge/deposits ..which would kinda be a real stretch for that OCI.

For me ..a 1500 mile run in 3 days would be great. The typical Auto-Rx vehicle is advanced in miles (hence the need for Auto-Rx

) and 1500 miles usually requires several months to accumulate. I would just add it ..do your road trip and then change it when convenient ..then move on to the rinse cycle.

 

[loudist]

I would still email Frank.
The question was and still is, time vs flow.
I think its a good question, as Franks stresses that Arx works slowly.
So is it a product contact time thing that Frank uses mileage as a rule of thumb clock (1500 miles = a month), or is it oil flow that uses 1500 miles of oil circulation to do the cleaning?

The previous post assumes its an oil flow thing, with no scientific basis to back it.

Michael, don't rely on the guessing posts for the answer to your question.
Email or even call Frank and he will gladly answer your very interesting question.
Please post Franks opinion on time vs oil flow here ... thanks.

 

[brian]

Because my car sees a lot of long trips, 750 miles in a day is not uncommon, I asked Frank this specific question before using his product and he said MILES, not time.

-brian

 

[loudist]

Cool Brian.
That clears that up.

 

[BlazerLT]

If you go longer than 1500miles, I would swap in a new oil filter after 1500miles and cut it open so we can all see the crud it removes.

 

[Gary Allan]

quote:

---

The previous post assumes its an oil flow thing, with no scientific basis to back it.

---

How about a simple modicum of common sense??

Well ...let's offer the A-Rx in a STATIONARY INSTALLATION


What would you say to that...how many miles would you scientifically prove that it had travelled? Suppose it's a small island shuttle that idles for 6 hours a day ..yet has the oil changed due to time before 500 miles is on the odometer?

So you can't do an Auto-Rx on a stationary engine since hours of operation have no bearing on its use?? Oil flow has nothing to do with it ..dwell time ..cycles through the engine?


How does an engine "know" miles?? How does Auto-Rx "know" miles? It works on a given dwell time in the engine while the engine is operating. This has been "covered" by using 1500 miles for just about all vehicles.

Even the shallow pool dwellers can reasonably assume that miles ..in one form or another equates to "hours of operation".

 

[pitzel]

Exxon System Cleaner's documentation says 24 hours of engine run time is required for the product.

At 65mph, this correlates extremely well with the Auto-RX recommendation of 1500 miles in the cleaning phase.

Both Auto-RX and Exxon System Cleaner make similar performance claims, and both utilize ester-based chemistries.

 

[Mystic]

Exxon System Cleaner? Never heard of this. How does it compare with Auto-RX?

 

[Bio-T]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mystic:
Exxon System Cleaner? Never heard of this. How does it compare with Auto-RX?

---

Exxon System Cleaner is manfactured from High Flash solvents and carefully selected additives.

Auto-Rx is manufactured from natural esters.

 

[greencrew]

quote:

---

Originally posted by michaelc80:

quote:

---

Originally posted by sprintman:
Oil needs to be hot for RX to work

---

So 6 months of short trips that don't fully heat up the oil would not do as well as 2-3 days of solid driving to achieve ~1500 miles?

---

That's the way I look at it.

 

[TooSlick]

You can run it long as you want and it will continue to clean until all the active ingredients are depleted. I've run Auto RX for 10,000 miles and it had no effect on integrity of the base oil.

TS

 

[HerkyJim]

Exxon System Cleaner

Never heard of it, but if its made by the world's biggest (by sales) company it must be good, eh? So I open the acrobat file linked to in this post.

On page one I read: "...Solvent-free, oil-soluble cleaner"

On page three I read under Precautions:

"...manufactured from high flash solvents and..."

So what about it? Anybody know?

My $0.02

 

[Gary Allan]

What's it matter?

Esso, like most of the fine oils that they produce for our Canadian cousins, seem to have a magic line of access called the border ..below which they are non-existant.

One thing I know, if I ever get back up to Canadan ..I'm bringing a few items back across this invisible divide. I wonder if XD-3 oils would be considered contraban or restricted in the amount you can carry across (like cigarettes and such on going into Canada)??

I know the older, larger, toilet tanks were one item smuggled from our fine neighbor up north

 

[michaelc80]

Followup:

I posted my question on the Auto-RX forum as well and Tony confirmed that it's mileage only-the amount of time in which that mileage is done makes no difference.