Quick summary: 2 bottle test freed up lots of gunk on a volvo turbo and stopped oil consumption. On a Subaru, 2 bottle test freed up what I think was carbon and increased power somewhat.
Post about fast track treatment method got me to thinking maybe I should post my observations if anyone is interested in fast track or 2 bottle test. This was done for fun and my own curiosity not sanctioned by Frank. Check out Barkerman's posts on 2 bottle tests if you haven't seen those yet. My "test" has only qualitative observations.
Car #1: 98 Volvo 2.4 l turbo, 6 qt sump, about 100k miles. 2 bottles ARX used with walmart dino 5W30 for about 1000 miles, then two rinses with walmart dino for about 1200 miles each.
My objectives that I wanted Auto-RX to do in order of priority (I know, it's asking a lot):
Objective1: Reduce oil consumption
Before - used about 1.5 quarts in 5000 miles
After - hasn't used any (currently running GC)
Objective 2: Reduce engine noise/increase smoothness of engine
Before - noisy (but I'm really picky on this)
After - no change, noise could be combo of 5cyl naturally unbalanced engine and/or motor mounts (they look ok from outside but did not remove to inspect)
Objective 3: Oil appearance
Before - nasty brownish-red color to oil fairly early on after changing but used redline so possible that redline started the cleaning process liberating some gunk (oil looked fine not reddish brown when I got the car but who knows if it was recently changed or not, immediately used redline soon after purchasing)
During - reddish-brown "sludge" visible during rinse phase
After - GC looks normal now with 6k on it
Objective 4: Reduce varnish under valve cover
Before - tan/gold varnish, probably normal
After - no change
Objective 5: Improve gas mileage
Before - 26 mpg
During - 28 mpg in clean phase only
After/now - 26.5 mpg
I also should note no noticeable difference in power as measured by the finely tuned butt-dyno
Car #2: Subaru 2.2l 180kish. 2 bottles ARX used with walmart dino for about 1000 miles, then two rinses with walmart dino for about 1200 miles each
Before - Car really didn't have any problems and oil looked fine, no consumption or other issues, just figured at 180k miles it could possibly use some clean up
During - Noticeable fine black particles in both rinse phases (looked like carbon to me), noticeable increase in power and exhaust noise (probably due to more compression I assume). 2.2l is pretty low hp/torque so increases are pretty noticeable. Did not pay attention to mileage.
After/now - Same observations listed in "During" above, but no black particles any more. Butt-dyno is happier than before
Post about fast track treatment method got me to thinking maybe I should post my observations if anyone is interested in fast track or 2 bottle test. This was done for fun and my own curiosity not sanctioned by Frank. Check out Barkerman's posts on 2 bottle tests if you haven't seen those yet. My "test" has only qualitative observations.
Car #1: 98 Volvo 2.4 l turbo, 6 qt sump, about 100k miles. 2 bottles ARX used with walmart dino 5W30 for about 1000 miles, then two rinses with walmart dino for about 1200 miles each.
My objectives that I wanted Auto-RX to do in order of priority (I know, it's asking a lot):
Objective1: Reduce oil consumption
Before - used about 1.5 quarts in 5000 miles
After - hasn't used any (currently running GC)
Objective 2: Reduce engine noise/increase smoothness of engine
Before - noisy (but I'm really picky on this)
After - no change, noise could be combo of 5cyl naturally unbalanced engine and/or motor mounts (they look ok from outside but did not remove to inspect)
Objective 3: Oil appearance
Before - nasty brownish-red color to oil fairly early on after changing but used redline so possible that redline started the cleaning process liberating some gunk (oil looked fine not reddish brown when I got the car but who knows if it was recently changed or not, immediately used redline soon after purchasing)
During - reddish-brown "sludge" visible during rinse phase
After - GC looks normal now with 6k on it
Objective 4: Reduce varnish under valve cover
Before - tan/gold varnish, probably normal
After - no change
Objective 5: Improve gas mileage
Before - 26 mpg
During - 28 mpg in clean phase only
After/now - 26.5 mpg
I also should note no noticeable difference in power as measured by the finely tuned butt-dyno
Car #2: Subaru 2.2l 180kish. 2 bottles ARX used with walmart dino for about 1000 miles, then two rinses with walmart dino for about 1200 miles each
Before - Car really didn't have any problems and oil looked fine, no consumption or other issues, just figured at 180k miles it could possibly use some clean up
During - Noticeable fine black particles in both rinse phases (looked like carbon to me), noticeable increase in power and exhaust noise (probably due to more compression I assume). 2.2l is pretty low hp/torque so increases are pretty noticeable. Did not pay attention to mileage.
After/now - Same observations listed in "During" above, but no black particles any more. Butt-dyno is happier than before
