Maybe I'm jumpin' the gun here but I thought I'd report it. It's a bit long but I like to provide complete information.
At the last oil change (Dec 30th) I did something I'd never done before : I tried a solvent-type engine flush. Two of them actually. Since then, my oil consumption has dropped 50%, and there's no question about it.
I bought this car (2001 Intrepid with 2.7L V6) 5 years ago with 50K miles on it. It's now approaching 208K. I've done nearly 60 oil changes on this thing. I track oil and gas consumption constantly. When I got the car, it used just about 3/4 quart per 3K miles. This has gradually increased to 1 quart per 3K miles EXCEPT when I use Amsoil 0W30 or Mobil 1 HM 10W30 - in which case the oil consumption increases to 1 quart every 2400 miles. If I switch back to straight dino, like I did during the previous oil change, consumption drops back down to about a quart per 3K miles. Don't ask me why - I don't have any answers. It isn't leakage related, I can tell you that much.
I've done three (3) full ARX cycles on this engine, starting in 2006; ARX #2 and #3 clean & rinse phases were extended to 3K miles each based on my own observations, long before Frank came out with similar recommendations recently. I never did find any real significant deposits or sludge in any of the filters, although there certainly were small amounts (crumbs) at times. But, neither oil consumption or compression changed during this year-long process of 3 ARX cleanings. What I'm establishing here is that I basically had a reasonably clean and mechanically sound engine probably before I ever used ARX, and still did when I tried the solvent flushes 3 weeks ago. So I wasn't worried about sloughing large quantities of deposit and pluggin oil passages.
The previous oil change was a run of Pennzoil 5W30 - my annual run of plain dino just to promote removal of any deposits that maintenance doses of ARX might have loosened during the previous year. Before I changed it out, I ran some solvent type engine flush ('Revive' - made in Canada). Instead of running it for the measly 5 minutes called for on the can, I idled it for about 15 min until it was up to temp. I let it cool for an hour, then did another 15 minutes idling. Then repeated that again. This was to increase the contact time to improve any cleaning activity (if there was any). I then drained it, filled with plain cheap Esso dino and a new filter and ran that for a day as a post-flush flush (about 100 miles). Then, since I had a part can of Seafoam sitting around, I added that to crankcase according to the instructions. I ran that for a few days (another 200 miles), dumped all that, drained the filter, then did one more one-week flush with more virgin Esso 5W30. Finally, I drained it, added 5.5 quarts of Amsoil TSO 0W30 and a new filter, and I'm all set for the cold months ahead. That was on Dec 30th.
As of today (Jan 25th), I've put 3200 miles on the new oil, and I've used just under 1/2 quart of make-up oil ! The last time I used Amsoil TSO, 1/2 quart was getting used every 1200 miles !! Same for Mobil 1 HM 10W30. This is the first time in 5 years - the entire time I've owned the car - that the oil consumption has ever been that low. And it's not just a little bit lower, it's been cut in half. The Amsoil TSO is all the same batch; I bought 40 quarts of it last year all at the same time (real good sale).
Anyhow, for what it's worth, those are the results of my latest 'experiment'. The much maligned solvent type flush appears to have done far more than the BITOG-approved-favorite product ever did - in this particular engine.
At the last oil change (Dec 30th) I did something I'd never done before : I tried a solvent-type engine flush. Two of them actually. Since then, my oil consumption has dropped 50%, and there's no question about it.
I bought this car (2001 Intrepid with 2.7L V6) 5 years ago with 50K miles on it. It's now approaching 208K. I've done nearly 60 oil changes on this thing. I track oil and gas consumption constantly. When I got the car, it used just about 3/4 quart per 3K miles. This has gradually increased to 1 quart per 3K miles EXCEPT when I use Amsoil 0W30 or Mobil 1 HM 10W30 - in which case the oil consumption increases to 1 quart every 2400 miles. If I switch back to straight dino, like I did during the previous oil change, consumption drops back down to about a quart per 3K miles. Don't ask me why - I don't have any answers. It isn't leakage related, I can tell you that much.
I've done three (3) full ARX cycles on this engine, starting in 2006; ARX #2 and #3 clean & rinse phases were extended to 3K miles each based on my own observations, long before Frank came out with similar recommendations recently. I never did find any real significant deposits or sludge in any of the filters, although there certainly were small amounts (crumbs) at times. But, neither oil consumption or compression changed during this year-long process of 3 ARX cleanings. What I'm establishing here is that I basically had a reasonably clean and mechanically sound engine probably before I ever used ARX, and still did when I tried the solvent flushes 3 weeks ago. So I wasn't worried about sloughing large quantities of deposit and pluggin oil passages.
The previous oil change was a run of Pennzoil 5W30 - my annual run of plain dino just to promote removal of any deposits that maintenance doses of ARX might have loosened during the previous year. Before I changed it out, I ran some solvent type engine flush ('Revive' - made in Canada). Instead of running it for the measly 5 minutes called for on the can, I idled it for about 15 min until it was up to temp. I let it cool for an hour, then did another 15 minutes idling. Then repeated that again. This was to increase the contact time to improve any cleaning activity (if there was any). I then drained it, filled with plain cheap Esso dino and a new filter and ran that for a day as a post-flush flush (about 100 miles). Then, since I had a part can of Seafoam sitting around, I added that to crankcase according to the instructions. I ran that for a few days (another 200 miles), dumped all that, drained the filter, then did one more one-week flush with more virgin Esso 5W30. Finally, I drained it, added 5.5 quarts of Amsoil TSO 0W30 and a new filter, and I'm all set for the cold months ahead. That was on Dec 30th.
As of today (Jan 25th), I've put 3200 miles on the new oil, and I've used just under 1/2 quart of make-up oil ! The last time I used Amsoil TSO, 1/2 quart was getting used every 1200 miles !! Same for Mobil 1 HM 10W30. This is the first time in 5 years - the entire time I've owned the car - that the oil consumption has ever been that low. And it's not just a little bit lower, it's been cut in half. The Amsoil TSO is all the same batch; I bought 40 quarts of it last year all at the same time (real good sale).
Anyhow, for what it's worth, those are the results of my latest 'experiment'. The much maligned solvent type flush appears to have done far more than the BITOG-approved-favorite product ever did - in this particular engine.