Auto-RX, what’s going on?

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I just changed my oil of the third time after two Auto-Rx treatments. I was using a brew of 4 quarts of Castrol Syntec 5w50 and 2 quarts of Castrol Syntec 10w40 for about 4,500 miles. I will be sending this oil off for a used oil analysis.

I cut open the filter and found the same amount/type of debris (soft small blobs & some harder smaller chunks) that I found in each phase of using Auto-RX twice.

Why is stuff still coming out? Is RX still cleaning or I am seeing just normal debris for this engine.

One factor that could affect debris was that during this fill I changed the plugs and valve cover gasket. Perhaps some debris/sludge/gasket material dropped into the cam area and made its way to the filter. In addition, I found what appeared to be 1/16” or so flakes of the silver valve cover paint in the filter. I was surprised they survived this large. Hope they did not get on the bearing surface.

Thanks in advance
 
I would consider another Auto-Rx Application. All this happened after you were finished cleaning and no Auto-Rx in your oil(as I understand your post) If you deceide to do this use your current oil and extend cleaning mileage to 2000 miles and rinse mode to 3000 miles (sure you would use synthetic for rinse also) do not add any thing else to your oil.
 
Frank,
Just to make it clear, I followed your instructions and used conventional oil during the two RX clean and rinse procedures. I went back to synthetic only after the procedures.
 
Russell, Auto-RX is very persistant and will clean for a long time after use. I would not worry about it if the used oil analysis results are good and operation is normal. Residual RX cleaning will not harm a thing.

As far as you dropping ---- in the engine when changing VC gaskets, well that will show up too if it caused any wear level increases. I doubt the volume would harmful and yes I have see paint make it to the filter being suspended and chopped up flowing through the engine.

IMHO Frank is giving this product away and people don't realize how good it is.

I hope to see the analysis and interpret it for you!
Terry
 
Fascinating. It sounds like even the small amounts of ARX remaining during the rinse phase still carry some degree of cleaning potential, if I understand correctly.

I totally agree Terry that folks don't recognize how good Auto-Rx is. I'm amazed every time I peek at my Civic's valvetrain- she's approaching 80,000 miles and looks like it just came off the showroom.
 
Russell,

What oil had your car been run on before you started the ARX cleaning and rinse, twice? Was that the syntec that you are currently running. And did you run a plain mineral oil for the cleaning and rinse phases? Or did you run the syntec for the cleaning and rinses as well?
 
Slow and gentle is how Auto-Rx works and you can expect it to continue after the rinse phase. I have found this to be true on several cars. You have to remember that slow and gentle does not mean it is not effective against the toughest deposits. Second applications are effective because Auto-Rx is not a solvent and if there is very little to go after it does not start attacking seals and gaskets. That I think is the magic of Auto-Rx. I just would not feel comfortable pouring a solvent, multiple times in an engine knowing that it's going after anything it touches. We poured Auto-Rx into a turbo Audi multiple times that had a blinking oil warning light. It's been at least a year since the clean out and it's running great. In the rinse phase this sludge monster ate up many filters and quite a few extra oil changes. There was a lot going on. And now a year later if there was damage caused by Auto-Rx I think it might have appeared, but nothing on over 10k miles since the declared final rinse.
 
I used synthetic Castrol Syntec and Mobil 1 before the ARX cleanings. I used conventional oil during the cleanings. Followed franks instructions as closely as possible.
 
Quote:


Russell, Auto-RX is very persistant and will clean for a long time after use...... Terry




Russell - I would say that this has been my experience also. Last year I did 3 ARX clean/rinse cycles in a row. The last one finished about 11 months ago. During the past 11 months, very slow gradual deposit removal has continued. That never happened in the 5 years prior to first using ARX. In fact it was just the opposite. Also, I have used a maintenance dose of ARX occasionally but not consistently during the past 11 months.

Since deposit removal happens when ARX is not present (ie. the rinse phase, plus many oil changes after that that do not contain ARX), it appears to me that ARX interferes with or corrupts the attachment mechanisms of the deposits, and the deposits are then physically removed and carried away by hundreds of hours of oil flowing over the loosened deposits. This is just my reasoning based on observation. Hence, ARX does not appear to be a solvent at all (as is sometimes suggested here), but rather something more akin to a surfactant/detergent.
 
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