There's some issues that need to be sorted out a bit more.
For my last oil change I used all 30 wt, some Mobil 5000 10W30, instead of the dino/Mobil 1 T&S blend that I've been using, and the higher than it should be oil consumption really went up. Out of desperation for a quick fix I used a qt of Rislone to top off the oil, and by the time the whole qt was in oil consumption dropped a lot. It's evidently not some 'seal swell/pack stuff around the rings' product, instead it seems to be solvent in light oil. My guess is that it freed up a sticking oil control ring.
I ran across an article by an aircraft mechanic on his observations of MMO and sticking valves, and he noted that MMO appeared to allow valves to keep operating with reduced clearances compared to no MMO, the clearances reduced due carbon/varnish, as opposed to MMO removing all of the carbon around the valves. Perhaps Rislone is merely doing the same thing, I dunno. I don't recall Rislone advertising that it reduces oxidation and such, rather it seems to be used as an oil additive, as opposed to a flush, that can be left in the oil, for cleaning sludge and such, including unsticking rings.
LC seems to be an oil additive that can remove varnish and allow oil to be used for longer periods, but it doesn't seem to be recommended in place of AutoRx for unsticking rings and removing sludge. Thus, LC doesn't like a replacement for Rislone, regardless of how well Rislone may or may not work. Note that soaking dirty parts in such a product for testing should also probably be accompanied by heat and agitation similar to what one would find in an engine.
AutoRx seems to be recommended for removing sludge and unsticking rings, although it seems to have problems with 'hard sludge' and doesn't appear to remove varnish that LC will. Since ring sticking is usually due to 'hard stuff', and AutoRx seems to have a hard time removing 'hard sluge' and varnish, is AutoRx acting similar to MMO and valves as described above, where it 'lubes' the rings, allows them to move and thus mechanically increase some clearances, or does it somehow remove the carbon around rings that it seems to have a hard time removing elsewhere ?
Seafoam is another 'ring unsticking' solvent that is advertised, and can also be left in the oil. Maybe it's good to cocktail the chemical treatments so that they complement one another, as one might be removing stuff that the others aren't. That would be more fruitful than saying that Rislone and other old products don't work, when it's obvious that they do regardless of mechanism or level of effectivenes.
I'm not trying to bust anyone's party here, as I'm considering buying three or four bottles of AutoRx as it appears to be good stuff.
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