Need for AutoRX if no issues & good history?

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TTopJohn

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I used to think all additives were bunk, but research here seems to indicate that if you have a known problem, an appropriate additive may very well be the solution - e.g. if you've got sludge or a sludge prone engine, AutoRX sure seems like it will take care of that. Or let's say I buy a used car with no service records, I might AutoRX it just for peace of mind. Or I buy a sludgy engined car, like a Lexus RX330 or a 4cyl Turbo Saab 9-5 - definitely going to AutoRX that, might even put it on permanent maintenance doses.

But what if you've got an engine with a known good service record(perhaps even an overkill service record - i.e. 3K mile intervals on synthetic), that looks clean as a whistle through the valve cover oil fill hole, and exhibits no running issues.

I'm thinking that there's no need for AutoRX, or any other additive in such a case. I'd like to hear what y'all think.
 
My Ranger with 80K miles on it is running much better halfway through the first rinse phase. This truck has always seen 3-5k dino oil changes in the past. The clean phase oil was quite dirty.
 
I need to cut open my first clean phase filter and my rinse filter which should be done by next weekend.

I've run syn oil at 5k oci from 80k miles to present (210k when I started ARX). My car ran perfectly fine, but I wanted to see if I could improve on that
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So far it runs the same - performance and MPG unchanged. I will be going to longer (7500 mile) OCIs (syn with remaining ARX for maint dose) after ARX cleanings to help offset the cost.
 
"But what if you've got an engine with a known good service record (perhaps even an overkill service record - i.e. 3K mile intervals on synthetic), that looks clean as a whistle through the valve cover oil fill hole, and exhibits no running issues.

I'm thinking that there's no need for AutoRX, or any other additive in such a case."

Now if the car had been run with synthetic as you've described above and the PVC valve changed on a regular basis then there probably wouldn't be much in the way of deposits for Auto-Rx, or any other product, to clean out.

The key word here is "probably". Auto-Rx has done a couple of tests to suggest that a small maintenance dose of ARX is beneficial in allowing the host oil to maintain a longer service life. But both the Explorer and the Passat used for the tests were found to have engines that have fuel dilution concerns. Did the owners of these vehicles know they had a problem before it became apparent after oil analysis? My hunch is that they didn't. Without the benefit of ARX or short oil change intervals it would seem to me that these engines would be prime candidates for internal deposits to build up quickly.

Several companies are marketing sludge prevention oils. Mobil has introduced a high mileage version of it's Mobil 1 oil which claims to clean up deposits left behind by conventional oils. I'm sure some BITOGer will take up the challenge and report back as to how it might compare in that regard to ARX.
 
Quote:

No oil will clean like RX. An oils primary job is lubrication not cleaning. Use the right tool for the job.

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I agree with your statement - but under the situatuion I've set out above, I don't think you need anything to clean like AutoRX.


Because while that M1 5w30 every 3K (what the Camaro has had) doesn't "clean like AutoRX", it does have an additive package with at least some cleaning properties. With the overkill 3K interval, my theory is that level of cleaning alone is enough.

As for the BMW, man it looks great through the oil fill hole, so I can't imagine that it needs anything to "clean like AutoRX", particulary given it's documented history of oil changes.
 
No need unless you have a performance problem. I have a Toyota V6 that has 99,000 and am going to try some Maxlife vs auto rx because it has no issues and I don't wish to create any. If it aint broke don't fix it.
 
Even if an engine seems very clean I don't think it would hurt to do maintenance doses of Auto-RX. There could still be buildup around the rings or some buildup on seals.

Auto-RX seemed to seal a seal leak in the case of a car I owned in the past. I don't think there could be much of a sludge problem with the car because it had received 3 month/3000 mile oil changes using good quality oil. But stuff might still buildup on seals and around rings.

It just seems like good preventive medicine to me to do maintenance doses. Just my opinion.
 
My van had 177,000 miles on it, was clean as a whistle, and ran like a clock. Always ran synthetic motor oil. Just for the heck of it I ran ARX through it to see what would happen. By George the power went up, MPG went up, and it ran even better. My guess is that there was carbon build up in the ring lands and was "robbing" some compression.

My recommendation is to ARX a higher mileage engine, you never can tell.
 
last weekend, i replaced the rusty oil pan on my 92 Galant....NO sludge at all. just got my two bottles of ARX.
she has 140k on the clock and i'm pulling the valve cover tomorrow and taking pictures...then doing an ARX treatment.
 
Quote:

No need unless you have a performance problem. I have a Toyota V6 that has 99,000 and am going to try some Maxlife vs auto rx because it has no issues and I don't wish to create any. If it aint broke don't fix it.

Click to expand...

Im in the same boat as you in my 3.4L although its clean enough to eat off of maintence doses couldnt hurt.
 
You can run maintenance doses with synthetics all day long. The two maintenace dose tests were done with synthetics, the Passat 1.8t on Mobil 1 and the Explorer 3.0 v-6 on Pennzoil Platinum.
 
I thought that I had a real clean 4.3 liter GM motor in an S10 truck years ago. It had faithful 3K oil changes. Ran my first cleaning cycle in fresh oil and was amazed what it looked like in 1000 miles. Much blacker than I'd ever seen it compared to a 3000 mile run.

Emmisions from state inspection showed lower hydrocarbons and CO than ever experienced on the truck as well. Must have helped somewhere.
 
Quote:

...that looks clean as a whistle through the valve cover oil fill hole, and exhibits no running issues.


Click to expand...


One of the benefits of AutoRx is the deposit cleaning around the ring packs.

Even synthetic oils will leave resin-like deposits and AutoRx is the best product for cleaning this area up.

I think any vehicle at 50K miles/4 yrs old can benefit from an AutoRx treatment.

And, yes, don't forget to cut the filter apart to view the accumulations of carbon particles & debris.
 
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