My AutoRX Experience Log

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150 miles into cleaning phase.

Valvetrain clatter has been noticeably reduced.

Oil color has darkened by quite aq bit.
 
quote:

Originally posted by srivett:
Is that US miles per gallon?

Steve


Good point, though there is only one actual 'gallon' really still in use in the industrialized world. Hard concept to explain to some Canadians who still think of 'England/Canadian' gallons and 'American' gallons. The UK, of course, converted to metric a long time ago just like Canada.
 
US Miles per gallon

Canadians don't ever use the UK gallon in their measurements.

I am actually not too surprised at the results to date. I have gone out of my way to take the truck on long highway runs to get the engine up to proper temperature and too allow the Auto-RX to do its work in optimum conditions.

Just for the record, I am not a person to subscibe to over-exaggerating my results or my observations.

I call them as I see them. Expect a new pic of the oil on the dipstick tomorrow for a quick update.

If these are the results after 150 miles, I am looking forward to the results after the cleaning and rinse cycle.

As I promised, I will keep you updated.
 
quote:

Originally posted by pitzel:
The UK, of course, converted to metric a long time ago just like Canada.

Not in my experience. All the people from UK I met on other forums and newsgroups still express fuel consumption in MPG, it's just that their gallons are different and it creates a big confusion with the US folks.
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For us Canadians, the lower the L the better the mpg.

quote:

Originally posted by BlazerLT:
Actually, most of us Canadians do the same.
MPG is economy measurement most of us use.
The L/100kms is a little confusing.


 
Ok, so I have the new 150mile photo I said was noticeably darker.

Here is the oil at 0 miles.

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And here is the oil after 150 miles.

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Pretty good difference over 150 miles.
 
Actually, most of us Canadians do the same.

MPG is economy measurement most of us use.

The L/100kms is a little confusing.
 
That's a fair difference. Do you think the change in colour would have happened without the AutoRX?

Now for a quick primer on litres per 100 km for anybody who cares. I'll admit my bias right now and say that I really like the system. First, you look at your gas reciept and write down the # of litres you've used. Second, look at your trip meter and write down the distance in km. Divide litres by distance and multiply the answer by 100.

Cheers, Steve
 
quote:

Originally posted by srivett:
That's a fair difference. Do you think the change in colour would have happened without the AutoRX?

Now for a quick primer on litres per 100 km for anybody who cares. I'll admit my bias right now and say that I really like the system. First, you look at your gas reciept and write down the # of litres you've used. Second, look at your trip meter and write down the distance in km. Divide litres by distance and multiply the answer by 100.

Cheers, Steve


Nah, never get that dirty after 150 miles bro.

Also, can we please keep this thread on topic.
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quote:

Originally posted by the_oil_dealer:

quote:

Originally posted by BlazerLT:
I just LOVE to smell Castrol Syntec.
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It smells like a slightly chemical noted wine or a strong port.


w00t!!! go BLT
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Hehehe!

AutoRX smells like wine, Syntec smells like citrus gummy bears.
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Update:

Don't overfill you crankcase!

I had mine ovcerfilled with the Auto-rx and it introduced air into the valve train.

I had to drain a quart out and drive close to 100 miles to get the air out of the system.

Oil is getting darker, and oil pressure is up seeing that my oil filter is probably getting partially plugged with sludge.
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Welp, the cleaning phase is finished.

I ran 2000 miles seeing I went over the 1500 mile suggested interval while going through a long 7 hour drive and I could not stop to do anything on the highway.

To finish off the cleaning phase, the engine underwent a 850 mile drive within 2 days. Lots of long easy going highway running at 55-60mph on cruise.

Oil pressure is up, and I know it is time to give this baby some new oil and a filter. She deserves it.

So here we go.

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The oil seemed to get dirty earlier on in the cleaning phase and then start to get a little cleaner as the miles piled on. This could be because the initial cleaning of the AutoRX and the filter taking several passes to clean the oil up a bit. Oil looks low here because the truck is up on ramps when the shot was taken.

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For only having 2000 miles on the oil, the oil draining out of the filter was really dark to borderline black and didn't flow very well even with the engine completely warmed up to temperature before the change.

Oil filter was replaced with a Quaker State (Purolator) oil filter and a 4.5qt load of Formula Shell Conventional Clean Engine Formula 5w30. Got it really cheap for a US$17.50 for a case of 12 from Costco. I didn't want to go bargain basement with the oil.

The oil was changed and the engine was fired up and WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

Oil pressure was down by 1/4 and valve train noise was slim to none. I was sitting outside of the truck and could hear the fuel pumping whining like they do on GM trucks and I thought I had a problem but then I noticed that I could hear it now because the engine had quietened down that much. My baby was crying for an oil change.

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So the oil was changed and the Fram Extended Guard Filter was drained and set on the workbench for disection. I used a hacksaw and in 5 minutes it was cut open. It was amazing just how much oil was still in the oil filter. I still had about 250ml drain oil through the new cut and that is after I drained the filter for 20 minutes into the oil drain pan. Sign of a good ADBV.

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First thing is first, this oil filter is built like a brick poop-house. Solid, rigid and heavy. Here is the can, and the filter draining some more. The silicon ADBV was intact and the filter was in perfect order.

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For 2000 miles, the oil filter sure was dirty and dark compared to the light orange color is has in its new and dry stock form. Let's rip it apart shall we.

To do this I took a hammer handle and bashed the metal end caps off instead of wasting time cutting it gently off. It worked and in 20 seconds, I got this.

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The fibrous synthetic filter media is backed by a support screen mesh which was REALLY strong but easily peeled off of the media for closer inspection.

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Although there was no visible chunky sludge, this didn't surprise me at all. The engine has been taken care of. But the filter media was actually pretty well plugged up with fine grit and liquified sludge. Wanna see? Think I am lying, well, wait no longer.
 
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Just scraping the inner seams of the filter media unearthed embedded sludge and grit in the filter. The whole filter was literally plugged with this stuff throughout.

A good sign that the sludge was liquified properly and deposited in the Extended Guard's large filtering capacity media.

To anyone doing a cleaning cycle, USE THIS FILTER! Its' capacity far surpasses and standard paper media filter for cleaning and removing elevated sludge levels in the oil.

I switched to a Quaker State filter for the rinse cycle to lower my oil pressure and allow proper oil flow with my remote oil filter setup. Since the swap, pressure is down for sure.

And now, the other noticed differences

Other than the lower engine noise, fuel economy is higher than I have EVER witnessed in 3 years owning this truck.

With the EXACT same road trip and fuel used, my max fuel economy this time of year was 21mpg.

For this trip, on the way to my destination, I got 24MPG! On the way back, I got 23MPG!!!

The economy difference between going there and coming back was probably from the air temperature being 10c lower than it was when I was going down to my destination.

But still, this is an improvement.....

The Rating for this truck is 18MPG city / 21MPG highway. The truck weighs 4600lbs.

I will keep you updated seeing the rinse phase is still to come.

I will keep you posted.
 
First off id like to say thanks for doing this, although it may not be as scientific as some would like its way better than nothing.

Secondly i thought frams were a big nono? is the EG one an exception.

Third, should i consider doing this on my 98 I30 V6 w/78k, 72k of which are unknown matnience wise, although it seems to be in good condition. It currently runs Mobil 1 5w30 and LC.

thanks for any input and thanks for the documentary.
 
quote:

First off id like to say thanks for doing this, although it may not be as scientific as some would like its way better than nothing.

Hey, I did what most people can do. Listen and look for any differences, and record economy changes.

Better to do something than nothing at all.

I wish more people would take their oil filters apart more. That is one thing I would like to see more of.

quote:

Secondly i thought frams were a big nono? is the EG one an exception.

The Extended Guard is an EXCELLENT filter. The Fram filters you don't use are the Extra Guard, WearGuard or the Tough Guard.

quote:

Third, should i consider doing this on my 98 I30 V6 w/78k, 72k of which are unknown matnience wise, although it seems to be in good condition. It currently runs Mobil 1 5w30 and LC.

Change the PCV valve and go for it.

quote:

thanks for any input and thanks for the documentary.

No problem, I will keep you guys updated as I go along.

People say that the oil will get dirty quickly in the rinsing phase and I would like to see if it indeed does.
 
BlazerLT, FWIW I noticed an improvement in gas mileage with my E150 van after I did an RX treatment as well. Engine was more responsive when driving too. I attributed it to a tighter seal in the combustion chamber, but that's only my speculation.
 
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