I'm done with ARX

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jun 2, 2003
Messages
23,591
Vehicle: 1996 Audi A4 Quattro, MT (5 speed)
Engine: 2.8l V6 12 valves
Current mileage: 138k


Pre ARX:

Fill: M1 5W-40 T&SUV
Consumption: ca 0.5 qt/1k miles
UOA (8k mile OCI): http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y108/moribundman/myUOA.jpg

Cleaning Phase:

After consulting with Terry, I added one bottle of ARX to a new fill of M1 5W-40. I ran this concoction for 1600 miles. Oil consumption was ca 0.5 qts during the ARX cleaning phase. I used FP during the cleaning phase, and there was a 1-2 mpg gain.
I cut the filter open, and if you care to search, I lost the URL, you will find a picture of the filter medium. The filter medium was possibly a little darker than normally. I can't say for sure, because I've never before cut a filter open. There were no globs of gunk or anything like that to be found in the filter. The drained oil was dark.

Rinse Phase:

2500 miles with DELO 400 15W-40
Oil consumption was about 0.6 qt/2500 miles, or about half of the M1 5W-40 fill.
The drained oil was very dark and I cut the filter open. Compared to the ARX cleaning phase filter, there was no discernible difference in filter medium appearance, hence I did not bother with taking a picture.

Did ARX work? I don't know. Today, I put in M1 5W-40 and will run this oil for 8k miles and have a UOA done. The numbers may give us a hint.

Before anybody asks why I didn't have a compression test done:

1. I trust no local mechanic.
2. The results are often questionable. The 12 v engine shows commonly good compression at well over 200k milkes, which does not necessarily indicate the rings are still good.
 
Was there a problem moribundman? I guess consumption could be a bit lower, but on a 200k mile engine with the TBN = 4.4 after that interval, I personally would suspect a PCV issue more than anything as the root cause of the oil consumption. Either that, or a pattern of driving that is either very high revs or very low revs, and reasonably compression braking. Live near any mountains or big hills by any chance?

If the rings were leaky, then you would see more TBN depletion overall. Needless to say, the numbers you posted are excellent.
 
pitzel, my car used to need essentially no oil until I hit about 70k miles. The car then developed in Audi-typical fashion a multitide of oil leaks that neither the dealer ("It's the head gaskets) not my trusty mechanic (It's a problem car") could track down. At that time I did not maintain my car myself due to space and time limitations. It was only by the time the engine had 120k miles on it that I myself finally eliminated all oil leaks (biggest one was valley pan gasket). Due to the leaks I really lost track of actual oil consumption over time. For teh record, the oil I used for teh first 100k miles was Syntec 5W-50.

The 12 v engine with this mileage (138k, not 200k like you said!) consumes commonly between 0.5 and even over 1 qt per 1k miles. Audi allows 1 qt/700 miles (1l per 1k km).

Why does everybody always blame the PCV system? First of all, if I ever again have to point out that the 12v doesn't have a PCV valve, I will scream. I promise!
wink.gif
The PCV system on my car works fine. No clogged mesh filters, no ripped or cracked PCV hoses, no PCV valve to go bad. The plenum-to-throttle body line is not clogged and in working order, too.

Driving style: Yes, quite likely my high-revving driving style and engine braking cause high oil consumption. Again, I've said in previous posts in previous threads that I can cut my oil consumption in half simply by driving a bit more tame, which is something I really can't do. Old dog, new tricks, you know. Sure I drive on hills, I live in SF. I'm not visibly trailing smoke, but I assume oil consumption will go up just because of that. I intend to check next weekend how much vacuum my engine pulls while engine braking.

Valve stenm seals are probably shot. Common issue with the 12v engine. How are the rings? I wouldn't know, but they are low-tension rings and kinda small for that type engine. I have a bad feeling about the rings.

"Was there a problem?" I really can't comment on why Terry suggested ARX. All I can say is that he did notce a few things and suggested a COA, which involved ARX. As you know, I can't share how Terry interpreted my UOA. I hope that the next UOA after another 8k miles will be interesting when compared to my pre-ARX 8k mile UOA with the same oil.

I suspect that after the next 8k miles I will switch to a Group III oil, as I would expect less consumption compared to using a fully synthetic oil. I'm toying with the idea of using a VW 505.01 spec oil, which is certainly overkill in my normally aspirated engine. The 12 v is Audi's most detuned engine to begin with, and hard to kill.

So for now, I'll be keeping an eye on oil consumption and I'll be looking forward to my next UOA.
 
I am sure Terry suggested Auto-Rx because Auto-Rx cleans ring packs .Auto-Rx in a maintenance amount keeps ring packs clean (don't have to do another Auto-Rx application) Auto-Rx is not a flush (Draino is a flush ) Auto-Rx is a NON HAZARDOUS metal cleaner. Sure numbers from oil analysis will bear this out.

No other product does what Auto-Rx does. The Auto-Rx Guarantee says it all.
 
Because he asked me not to:

"I ask that you not post my comments or share
them with others for proprietary reasons."
 
quote:

Originally posted by GROUCHO MARX:
"As you know, I can't share how Terry interpreted my UOA"
-----------------------------------------------------------

Really, why?


Terry inerpets UOA for a living ..if everytime some were to post up his comments on there UOA , pretty soon I imagine, we would have gleened a great deal of his knowledge for free and he might be looking fo another job
frown.gif


I f you want Tery's interpitation unload with the $ 10.00 or $ 20.00 that he charges if you want the free advice, for what it is worth , read the stuff on this forum
smile.gif
 
quote:

Originally posted by deepsquat:
Terry inerpets UOA for a living ..if everytime some were to post up his comments on there UOA , pretty soon I imagine, we would have gleened a great deal of his knowledge for free and he might be looking fo another job
frown.gif


I f you want Tery's interpitation unload with the $ 10.00 or $ 20.00 that he charges if you want the free advice, for what it is worth , read the stuff on this forum
smile.gif


For those of you who haven't used Terry's services, Terry provides you witha pretty detailed interpretation of your UOA and is generous with his time in answering your questions related to the UOA and his analysis. He is a definite bargain compared to buying professional interpretaion of anything technical anyplace else.

And I'm not one of his groupies either
grin.gif
 
Moribundman, I wasn't aware Terry prohibited the posting of his interpretation, nor was I aware that one could assume his expertise from reading his interpretation. My understanding is that Teryy has gained his knowledge from looking at thosands of used oil samples, not just a few posted on a message board.

Heck, I could look at the ones posted here all day and have Terry's comments on each one and I doubt I could look at a new one and tell much from it. That's just the type of dope I am though.
 
I made a mistake there. That's actually the scream of the least guy who suggested I should check my PCV valve.
wink.gif
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top