I've got a 1992 Grand Am with the 3300 V6, 101,000 miles. We've owned it since new, but my dad never changed the oil himself, and when he payed a shop to do it, it was at 7000 mile OCI's and they used dino oil. Well I've been driving it since about 96k miles and I know at least since then there has been a tapping noise, but only on the highway AFTER the oil has gotten hot (thinned out). This is getting to me, and I want to fix it. So first, I drained out the old oil (lots of sludge floating on the top of the pan) and I put in Castrol Syntec 10W-30. No real change, just good piece of mind. So being the adventurous young man I am I looked in the oil fill hole with a flashlight and saw tons of varnish and some sludge buildup around the valves. This leads me to believe that the lifters are clogged and not lubricating well after they warm up. I dont want to use any strong cleaner like Gunk or Rislone...anything thatll clean in "5 Minutes" because then itll clog up everything. So I figured a quart of MMO might do the trick, its been around for a long time and I've read some success stories. Can anyone provide some insight on my situation? Thanks.
Should I use Marvel Mystery Oil in my 3300 v6?
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I would think the MMO would thin the oil even more. If you do't want to use you know what!!! I would use a an oil llike DELO, Rotella, or Delvac with a heavy dose of detergents.
I have used only 4 ozs. of MMO 400 miles before an oil change on was using Mobil 1 that has good cleaning properties. Between 4-8 ozs. was recommended before an oil change at the Saturn forums I go to. But, since coming here, and following the lead of some other Saturn owners, I am using Auto-RX. My car had some 6,000 mile OCI's according to dealer records and more deposits then I would like. I would think your car would benefit from a few applications of Auto-RX. It is expensive compared to MMO, but very thorough.
JHZR2
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Id say a few things:
1) do a few oil changes with an ester beased oil like redline. That should have good cleaning properties.
2) Use mobil1 which will clean better than syntec, although still quite slowly
3) use lubecontrol/auto-rx to safely remove the stuff without causing excess wear or thinning the oil particularly.
JMH
1) do a few oil changes with an ester beased oil like redline. That should have good cleaning properties.
2) Use mobil1 which will clean better than syntec, although still quite slowly
3) use lubecontrol/auto-rx to safely remove the stuff without causing excess wear or thinning the oil particularly.
JMH
I would not bother using a synthetic just to "clean" out your sludge problem. Although some oils have better cleaning properties the main function of oil is to lubricate and the "cleaning" effect is miniscule. I would use Auto RX and fix the problem the correct way. Since your car has over 100k you will need two bottles. I have just completed cyles on a car and 4 trucks and saw a huge difference in my finaces 97 cavalier with 140k. About 500 miles onto the rinse phase she saw a 1.5 mpg increase and the engine really smoothed out.
i used to use 1/2 qt mmo to 5 qt of 10w30 (pennzoil) in my old '93 dakota every couple of oil changes. i had 125,000+ miles on that engine and it ran strong.
Skip the MMO, I've never seen any proof that it has any cleaning effect. Do a couple short OCI on cheap dino oil and then try a legitimate cleaner like AutoRX or LC. Buying a group III "synthetic" like Syntec was probably just a waste of money if your hoping for a cleaning effect.
-T
-T
I've used MMO to free up stuck old tractor engines. However, I would not put it into a car engine except as a last resort. I think you'd have better luck with an AutoRX treatment. The results won't be as fast, but I think it would be much better for the engine if you want to try to salvage it. MMO can be pretty harsh.
I add about 6 oz of MMO approx. a week before I plan to change the oil. That usually amounts to 400-500 miles. I know on the bottle, MMO recommends adding a quart of it on your next oil change (add no more then 20%), but if I did that, it would be with a thicker/cheaper oil and I would only run it for 500-600 miles to clean things up. Good luck.
Right, I thought about using Auto-RX, but since its so expensive I was going to do that as a last resort. From what I'm reading now I'm not sure how much MMO I'll add, but when I change the oil I'm going to put in Pennzoil 10W-30...I've read that its better to use dino oil with additives?
Use one of the products recommended on here. Like AUto-RX. I don't know enough about them to recommend one or the other. MMO is pretty cheap though; might want to try one treatment of that and see how it works; cheap experiment.
DITTO
A replacement engine or a replacement car is expensive. Auto-Rx is cheap. It doesn't cost much more than the synthetic oil change you did.
What do you mean, "...Pennzoil 10W-30...I've read that its better to use dino oil with additives?" All oils contain an additive package. Pennzoil has a good package, but so does every other good oil. And, do not add 99% of the off-the-shelf snake oils sold in auto parts stores. The best do no harm, the worst do harm, and all do more to lighten your wallet than they do to improve your engine.
For something cheaper than Auto-Rx, contact "Salesrep." See what his cost is to send you some Schaeffer's Neutra. You'll need an ounce per quart in the oil (maybe twice), and an ounce per gallon in the fuel.
Ken
I never touch products such as Marvel Mystery Oil or WD-40 that make a great fetish about mysterious ingredients. If I don't know what is in it, how do I know what to be sure to avoid mixing it with? Will it get along with all possible additives and base stocks?
AutoRX is the cheapest because it acutally works.
I would use Auto-Rx as my first choice! If you decide to use MMO start at 1/2 the dosage the recomend on the label. If after 500 miles it has not solved the issue then add the rest and let it idle for 20 minutes at about 1000 rpms. 1 quart of solvent is a lot of solvent and I would not recomend driveing it with that much solvent in it. Drain the oil and refill with regular dino oil.
A lot of people have been adding a quart of MMO to their oil for over 40 years and have not had an issue. With that said I still do not think it is a great idea to have that much solvent in the oil! I have used MMO as a last resort myself several times and have not had a problem with it. I have noticed though that often the problem would return shrotly after stoping the use of MMO.
Auto-Rx will get that sludge out gently and it will not cause accelerated wear like solvent based cleaners. The amount of MMO needed to clean out your engine is going to be a large amount.
A lot of people have been adding a quart of MMO to their oil for over 40 years and have not had an issue. With that said I still do not think it is a great idea to have that much solvent in the oil! I have used MMO as a last resort myself several times and have not had a problem with it. I have noticed though that often the problem would return shrotly after stoping the use of MMO.
Auto-Rx will get that sludge out gently and it will not cause accelerated wear like solvent based cleaners. The amount of MMO needed to clean out your engine is going to be a large amount.
I used mmo in my mazda protege and it got rid of the hla tick. I'm switching to motorcraft 10w-30 and a champion labs oil filter this weekend.
Also noteworthy was the fact i used it in the gas tank, After about 4 tanks of gas the idle improved from what it had been when i bought the car.
Also noteworthy was the fact i used it in the gas tank, After about 4 tanks of gas the idle improved from what it had been when i bought the car.
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I've used MMO in just about every way that there is. I religously add it to my home heating oil at every delivery. I've used it in oil ..I've added it by the quart to my fuel. Never any ill effects and usually got favorable results.
That being said... Auto-Rx will do a better job of cleaning. It does a splendid job. The worse the condtion ..the more it makes sense to use it. I've got a buddy who's got an older engine in his J20 Jeep. He bought the stuff on my simple recommendation (we met on a jeep message board). I only told him how it stopped my Caravan from smoking and never said much else about it. He just emailed me telling me that his oil filter was plugged with goo ..otherwise he didn't know the stuff was in there. He's naturally doing the two bottle treatment. I did warn him of rinse phase oddities.
Since you've got hot oil lifter tick, I'd say that either your oil pump vanes are worn ..or you've got a stuck relief valve. I'm sure others will add the alternative possiblities.
Use whatever you would like. I'd do the Auto-Rx ..if not first ...eventually if you can't get satisfaction out of your MMO treatments. You're probably just out the few more $$ for the MMO. I can only say that Auto-Rx is the real deal for distressed engines in terms of cleaning.
That being said... Auto-Rx will do a better job of cleaning. It does a splendid job. The worse the condtion ..the more it makes sense to use it. I've got a buddy who's got an older engine in his J20 Jeep. He bought the stuff on my simple recommendation (we met on a jeep message board). I only told him how it stopped my Caravan from smoking and never said much else about it. He just emailed me telling me that his oil filter was plugged with goo ..otherwise he didn't know the stuff was in there. He's naturally doing the two bottle treatment. I did warn him of rinse phase oddities.
Since you've got hot oil lifter tick, I'd say that either your oil pump vanes are worn ..or you've got a stuck relief valve. I'm sure others will add the alternative possiblities.
Use whatever you would like. I'd do the Auto-Rx ..if not first ...eventually if you can't get satisfaction out of your MMO treatments. You're probably just out the few more $$ for the MMO. I can only say that Auto-Rx is the real deal for distressed engines in terms of cleaning.
Yeah, you guys might be right about the MMO. Or you may not be right about it not working at all...but that's all just because 99 percent of folks have great luck with ARX. And I do want to use it, I just have to convince my pop to let me use his card to order it, so I'll "appease" the old man with using MMO first. Sigh, to be 17.
**** car's so fun to drive, aside from the noisy lifters and a lot of rattling. I just get tired of that tick tick tick tick tick...yuck. If it didnt do that, I'm sure I could road trip like crazy and put on at least 150,000 miles.
**** car's so fun to drive, aside from the noisy lifters and a lot of rattling. I just get tired of that tick tick tick tick tick...yuck. If it didnt do that, I'm sure I could road trip like crazy and put on at least 150,000 miles.
Sounds to me like Auto-Rx is the perfect product for your engine.
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