Your theory makes sense to me JohnBrowning. You have to wait quite some time to get a good reading on the dipstick after shutdown. I believe the book even addresses this (wait at least 7 minutes after shutdown?). Because of this, I usually wait 30-60 minutes after shutdown to pull the drain plug on an oil change, and I usually let it drain for an hour or two. When I think of all the times I got the oil changed at a quick lube or dealership, I'm sure that the residual oil just remained in the galleries and heads cooking while they got me in and out in 30 minutes.
I probably never would have even suspected that there was varnish/presludge occurring until I pushed a PCV grommet through the valve cover while trying to replace it. I took it to my local shop to have them retrieve it for me by removing the valve cover. I didn't realize that there was a catch can under the cover for this exact malady. But it did give me an opportunity to see what was really going on inside the engine.
The ARX treatments seemed to be cleaning the varnish, because the clean phases turned the oil dark reddish brown very quickly. The rinse phases weren't so remarkable, but did turn blackish and thick like used oil should when you're done with it. Even with the maintenance doses, the oil changes and appearance of the oil on the dipstick makes me think there is a lot more cleaning going on now than before using ARX throughout the entire OCI.
Terry is a fan of both LC20 and ARX. I have not discussed varnish formation on this vehicle with him yet, but I probably should. I just thought that was all behind me now. At this point, he just wants to see how LE8130 does all by itself.