My brother-in-law called a few weeks ago to tell me that while he had the car to the local dealer for front and rear brake work, he had them check his engine because he was getting some oil smoke at times, and the oil pressure light was coming on and off at times. He said his engine was still running fine (not noisy) and not consuming oil, but he was concerned about the smoke and light coming on.
Well the dealer called him back and said he would need a new engine for 7 grand. It seems his engine is completely sludged up and they said there is no way to clean it up besides a complete overhaul or replacement. He called me to ask if he had any other alternatives. I told him we could try some Auto-RX, and he said anything that would help him avoid a major repair soon would be great. I made no promises, but we agreed to try it.
We changed the oil to Supertech 5W-30/FL400s and added a bottle of ARX. I asked him to drive the car in such as way as to avoid short trips when possible and to always run it enough to completely warm up each trip. After one week, he called and said that the oil light going on and off had nearly gone away, but while his wife was driving that it got somewhat noisier and she immediately shut it off and called him. He came out and checked the oil and found it was not even on the stick. He looked under the car for a leak and found it was dry, so it must have consumed all this oil.
He added 2 quarts of oil to bring it into the safe range and was wondering what to do next. I told him to get another filter and change just the filter. So at about 600 miles into this cleaning phase, he changed to a AA3600 filter and topped it back off. But the consumption has continued to be very high. I would like to find a way to lower the consumption if possible. We looked for a PCV valve on this engine and could not find one. On the plus side, it seems the episodes of occasional oil smoke has lessened as well. Now the oil light is not coming on at all while the engine is running.
He wanted to change his oil sooner than recommended. Frank concurred and said to basically start a thorough rinse or 2 before adding any more ARX. Change the filter per sludge directions. So we changed the oil yesterday (Supertech 5W-30 oil and ST 3600 filter) with barely 1250 miles since adding the ARX and about 650 miles on this last filter. (I checked before draining and it was down about 2 quarts again.) The engine is still quiet, and I did not see one puff of blue smoke the whole time. He is now going to keep 3 quarts of oil in the trunk at all times and check it every few days. I told him to try and keep the engine oil as close to full mark as possible at all times.
We figured the oil consumption to be at about 1 quart every 200 miles right now, depending on how much you allow for the minimal oil that was lost when the filter was changed midway through. He is keeping a log of everything that is done and oil added along the way. There is not any blowby coming out the dipstick tube with the engine running, so not sure what's going on with the consumption.
Which is why I am putting this out here on the board. Anyone know if some part of the crankcase vent system can be serviced? Any ideas on how to lower the consumption and/or how to proceed with cleaning this engine wih ARX? Thank you.
Well the dealer called him back and said he would need a new engine for 7 grand. It seems his engine is completely sludged up and they said there is no way to clean it up besides a complete overhaul or replacement. He called me to ask if he had any other alternatives. I told him we could try some Auto-RX, and he said anything that would help him avoid a major repair soon would be great. I made no promises, but we agreed to try it.
We changed the oil to Supertech 5W-30/FL400s and added a bottle of ARX. I asked him to drive the car in such as way as to avoid short trips when possible and to always run it enough to completely warm up each trip. After one week, he called and said that the oil light going on and off had nearly gone away, but while his wife was driving that it got somewhat noisier and she immediately shut it off and called him. He came out and checked the oil and found it was not even on the stick. He looked under the car for a leak and found it was dry, so it must have consumed all this oil.
He added 2 quarts of oil to bring it into the safe range and was wondering what to do next. I told him to get another filter and change just the filter. So at about 600 miles into this cleaning phase, he changed to a AA3600 filter and topped it back off. But the consumption has continued to be very high. I would like to find a way to lower the consumption if possible. We looked for a PCV valve on this engine and could not find one. On the plus side, it seems the episodes of occasional oil smoke has lessened as well. Now the oil light is not coming on at all while the engine is running.
He wanted to change his oil sooner than recommended. Frank concurred and said to basically start a thorough rinse or 2 before adding any more ARX. Change the filter per sludge directions. So we changed the oil yesterday (Supertech 5W-30 oil and ST 3600 filter) with barely 1250 miles since adding the ARX and about 650 miles on this last filter. (I checked before draining and it was down about 2 quarts again.) The engine is still quiet, and I did not see one puff of blue smoke the whole time. He is now going to keep 3 quarts of oil in the trunk at all times and check it every few days. I told him to try and keep the engine oil as close to full mark as possible at all times.
We figured the oil consumption to be at about 1 quart every 200 miles right now, depending on how much you allow for the minimal oil that was lost when the filter was changed midway through. He is keeping a log of everything that is done and oil added along the way. There is not any blowby coming out the dipstick tube with the engine running, so not sure what's going on with the consumption.
Which is why I am putting this out here on the board. Anyone know if some part of the crankcase vent system can be serviced? Any ideas on how to lower the consumption and/or how to proceed with cleaning this engine wih ARX? Thank you.
