Sneak-peek @ Auto-RX PLUS cleaning after 1,400 mi

[demarpaint]

Let me apologize as well, and commend you for your honesty and efforts! As far as the pics go, A-Rx+ did nothing, but I'm really not surprised. I did however think with all the different cleaners it would have at least put a dent in it. This engine cleanup has me scratching my head. I like Trav's idea of straight PU, he might be right in the low Noack theory. I'd love to see Rotella and MMO, but PU alone might just be the ticket. You can always do that if PU fails. Great pictures and a nice write up!

 

[Mystic]

We have to realize that areas like an oil pan and valve overs or an overhead cam cover get splash oil and other areas of the engine get flowing oil under pressure. So even if the PU does wonders in this engine some parts like the oil pan would probably have to be cleaned by hand. I can't wait to see what the PU does or doesn't do.

 

[Artem]

Originally Posted By: JamesBond

Originally Posted By: Artem

These products are said to be engine safe. I'm not pouring in kerosene along with the oil and going on the highway for a road trip. A recent UOA showed the engine is just fine. No excessive wear from using the oh so powerful Kreen at full dosage for 2,500 miles. I'm not worried about Auto-RX+ causing any damage. The engine is running better then ever, and my butt dyno is telling me that the block is benefiting from all these cleaning products.

So they're said to be engine safe and not showing a problem in the UOA but they also don't seem to be doing much cleaning to the underside of the valve cover, in an already clean engine. Nothing but cleaning by hand will clean that valve cover. Your butt dyno isn't feeling a cleaner block, just a lighter wallet. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I'm an admitted cheapskate that hates to see people spend money needlessly.

I respectfully disagree regarding my butt dyno. After 15 years of driving this thing, I could tell when it needed an oil change just by the way it drove <-- (sarcasm). I feel my butt dyno is calibrated pretty good towards this engine and how she spins. I felt an improvement in performance after the first A-RX cleaning. I felt improvements are Kreen and I definitely felt improvements in engine performance after changing the spark plugs from the rear 3 cylinder banks after they've been in there for 120,000 miles (the front 3 were changed on time, after a 90k interval.) and I also noticed improvements in engine performance after the intake manifold was cleaned along with the throttle body. I'm sure had I done compression testing along the way, I have no doubt that it would have shown improvements, as many have said about A-RX and Kreen but compression improvements is not my main goal during these tests. My wallet is also not any lighter then before as I received a refund for the Kreen I used and got A-RX+ shipped to my door at no cost to me. $1.5 a quart for the PYB I used along the way isn't going to drain my bank account (got the oil during Kmart's clearance sales) and a few Mobil 1 oil filters bought for $6 a piece has been handing filtration duties. Thank you for the concern but my wallet is fine. Besides, I don't mind the credit card points

 

[Artem]

Originally Posted By: Mystic

I want to apologize to you also Artem. I thought you might be in the tank also. Now I know you are on the straight and level. I would say that 1,400 miles and only four days is a pretty short time to try the Auto-RX. Although it looks like the Auto-RX would not have done much anyway. But I am an honest guy and I will try to be 100% fair towards Auto-RX. A 3000 mile test over a period of a few months might have been more effective. But you drive a lot in a short time don't you? This engine does have a lot of miles on it. And this may be one of those problem Toyota engines that Toyota came out with years ago. But the engine has lasted for a lot of miles. It may be hard for any motor oil, Mobil 1 (which you used for a while in this engine), Pennzoil Ultra, or Valvoline conventional, to keep this engine clean. My guess is if you want to keep running this car you will have to physically clean the engine as much as possible. And check for any problems that might exist. Check the PVC valve and check to see if any coolant might be getting into the oil. After that perhaps it would be possible to get more cooling for this engine. And I would do short OCIs with motor oil. I would also say, in all fairness, that testing Auto-RX, MMO, or Kreen in this engine may not be really fair. It might seriously be better to test those products in an engine that has fewer problems. Still, I would like to see what the Pennzoil Ultra might be able to do.

Frank from A-RX told me that "time doesn't matter, it's the miles that count" after I showed concern about A-RX+ showing results after only 4 days and 1,400 miles but he sounds pretty confident in the product... that is until i showed him the results. My understanding is that a cleaner needs time to work on the varnish, while cooling / heating cycles and splashing around help along the way. The way I see it, if a cleaner can tackle the toughest engine and the toughest job, it will be a walk in the park for said cleaner to take on a young engine with say, 60-100k miles and an owner who wants to do a little cleaning after purchasing the car with an unknown service history.

 

[Artem]

Originally Posted By: Mystic

I want to apologize to you also Artem. I thought you might be in the tank also. Now I know you are on the straight and level.

Oh and apology accepted.

 

[Artem]

Originally Posted By: wag123

IMHO I don't see any reason for this 234,000 mile Toyota engine needing ANY kind of cleaning. I don't really see any sludge buildup of any consequence. It looks surprisingly good in there, especially in view of the fact that this engine is a known sludge monster. If I were you I would just leave it alone and continue doing what you have been doing for the last 234,000 miles.

Although I can gladly do that (and I'm sure the valve cover bolts will appreciate it ) I'm on a mission to find an engine cleaner that works as advertised.

 

[Artem]

Originally Posted By: Mystic

We have to realize that areas like an oil pan and valve overs or an overhead cam cover get splash oil and other areas of the engine get flowing oil under pressure. So even if the PU does wonders in this engine some parts like the oil pan would probably have to be cleaned by hand. I can't wait to see what the PU does or doesn't do.

What makes you think that the oil pan is dirty? I imagine that it's spotless in there, along with the underside of the block. I've been meaning to get in there and have a look for a while now and a new oil pan gasket has now built up a nice layer of dust on it. I'll pop it off one of these days...

 

[Artem]

Originally Posted By: Pablo

Just keep at it. It will be clean. Right after it's really clean the car will t-boned in a parking lot. Seriously I would have done the 3K and the magic rinse.

Hahaha, good one Pablo! With the shell at the junk yard, someone else will benefit from the spoils of my labor and enjoy a nice clean engine.

 

[Kuato]

Everything looks promising, and it's nice to have some real-world testing of these products. A little buildup in a 234k engine is a pretty good test bed. Artem I do have a question though -- the deposits you removed with the screwdriver...did you happen to check/test them to see if they were soft or hard deposits prior to the ARX? If not then I'd like to suggest they may have been softened by the first application and will be sloughing off pretty quickly after this.

 

[V8man]

Artem, you have done 2 Clean and Rinses with the old auto-rx, and now you have used Auto-Rx Plus. I found this on the auto-rx website: Auto-Rx Is a specially formulated, all natural metal cleaner designed to thoroughly clean the internals of your engine. Do you feel that this product met this claim? On the FAQ Page where someone had a question about Varnish, this is part of what was said: Auto-Rx does clean off the Varnish, but due to varying engine designs, it is impossible to give an exact timeframe. Your pics tell me that neither auto-rx or Auto-Rx Plus cleans off the Varnish. Thank You for showing us these various pics using auto-rx and Auto-Rx Plus. Good Luck with Pennzoil Ultra, it will be interesting in seeing what happens.

 

[MBS500]

I think t6 did more than arx.

 

[toneydoc]

Hey Artem, that engine looks good to me. Put her back together and run her till she quits. Just do whatever you have been doing because it is working fine. I enjoy looking at good pictures of a naked girl with over 230000 miles on her. Like we say rode hard and put up wet

 

[V8man]

Originally Posted By: MBS500

I think t6 did more than arx.

I think Pennzoil Ultra is gonna show some results.

 

[Artem]

Originally Posted By: Kuato

Everything looks promising, and it's nice to have some real-world testing of these products. A little buildup in a 234k engine is a pretty good test bed. Artem I do have a question though -- the deposits you removed with the screwdriver...did you happen to check/test them to see if they were soft or hard deposits prior to the ARX? If not then I'd like to suggest they may have been softened by the first application and will be sloughing off pretty quickly after this.

I pooked at the goo before doing any cleaning and it was soft and would come off easily with my finger nail. 30,000 miles worth of cleaning and the majority of the goo is still here.

 

[Artem]

Originally Posted By: toneydoc

Hey Artem, that engine looks good to me. Put her back together and run her till she quits. Just do whatever you have been doing because it is working fine. I enjoy looking at good pictures of a naked girl with over 230000 miles on her. Like we say rode hard and put up wet

Believe me, I ride her hard on the daily. She doesn't complain much.

 

[Artem]

Originally Posted By: V8man

Artem, you have done 2 Clean and Rinses with the old auto-rx, and now you have used Auto-Rx Plus. I found this on the auto-rx website: Auto-Rx Is a specially formulated, all natural metal cleaner designed to thoroughly clean the internals of your engine. Do you feel that this product met this claim? On the FAQ Page where someone had a question about Varnish, this is part of what was said: Auto-Rx does clean off the Varnish, but due to varying engine designs, it is impossible to give an exact timeframe. Your pics tell me that neither auto-rx or Auto-Rx Plus cleans off the Varnish. Thank You for showing us these various pics using auto-rx and Auto-Rx Plus. Good Luck with Pennzoil Ultra, it will be interesting in seeing what happens.

The first cleaning cycle with A-RX was 3,000 miles. The second was 5,000 miles. I believe I have it plenty of time to clean. Can't say the same about A-RX+ but again, I was promised results in as little as 1,500 miles.

 

[TuBon_gRips]

Good call putting the PU in by itself. Determine how long you're gonna run it and pull the valve cover 1k before you dump it to see what it's done, then ad the MMO for the last 1k. When I ran PU in my Corolla, it didn't seem to do much in 2k, but I'm sure it was loosening everything up. The oil was still very clean and new-looking at 2k when I added 1/2qt of MMO; when I dumped it at 2738 (or somewhere around there) it was dark and clearly dirty, not just oxidized. I can't put all of that on the MMO, though I've seen it work some miracles I have never seen it do much in less than 1k; I'm confident the PU wouldn't have done much on its own, as it hadn't been doing much visible cleaning in the first 2k. With everything you've tried so far, straight PU might just be the ticket, though; it really is a great oil.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: KeMBro2012

Good call putting the PU in by itself. Determine how long you're gonna run it and pull the valve cover 1k before you dump it to see what it's done, then ad the MMO for the last 1k. When I ran PU in my Corolla, it didn't seem to do much in 2k, but I'm sure it was loosening everything up. The oil was still very clean and new-looking at 2k when I added 1/2qt of MMO; when I dumped it at 2738 (or somewhere around there) it was dark and clearly dirty, not just oxidized. I can't put all of that on the MMO, though I've seen it work some miracles I have never seen it do much in less than 1k; I'm confident the PU wouldn't have done much on its own, as it hadn't been doing much visible cleaning in the first 2k. With everything you've tried so far, straight PU might just be the ticket, though; it really is a great oil.

I doubt MMO will do much in 1,000 or 2,000 miles in that engine. I'd stick with straight PU, and if that doesn't work give MMO a shot following their directions. I have a feeling PU and its low Noack might show some results though.

 

[TuBon_gRips]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint

Originally Posted By: KeMBro2012

Good call putting the PU in by itself. Determine how long you're gonna run it and pull the valve cover 1k before you dump it to see what it's done, then ad the MMO for the last 1k. When I ran PU in my Corolla, it didn't seem to do much in 2k, but I'm sure it was loosening everything up. The oil was still very clean and new-looking at 2k when I added 1/2qt of MMO; when I dumped it at 2738 (or somewhere around there) it was dark and clearly dirty, not just oxidized. I can't put all of that on the MMO, though I've seen it work some miracles I have never seen it do much in less than 1k; I'm confident the PU wouldn't have done much on its own, as it hadn't been doing much visible cleaning in the first 2k. With everything you've tried so far, straight PU might just be the ticket, though; it really is a great oil.

I doubt MMO will do much in 1,000 or 2,000 miles in that engine. I'd stick with straight PU, and if that doesn't work give MMO a shot following their directions. I have a feeling PU and its low Noack might show some results though.

I think we're on the same page. I was only suggesting the MMO if PU didn't do anything in 4k or so.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: KeMBro2012

Originally Posted By: demarpaint

Originally Posted By: KeMBro2012

Good call putting the PU in by itself. Determine how long you're gonna run it and pull the valve cover 1k before you dump it to see what it's done, then ad the MMO for the last 1k. When I ran PU in my Corolla, it didn't seem to do much in 2k, but I'm sure it was loosening everything up. The oil was still very clean and new-looking at 2k when I added 1/2qt of MMO; when I dumped it at 2738 (or somewhere around there) it was dark and clearly dirty, not just oxidized. I can't put all of that on the MMO, though I've seen it work some miracles I have never seen it do much in less than 1k; I'm confident the PU wouldn't have done much on its own, as it hadn't been doing much visible cleaning in the first 2k. With everything you've tried so far, straight PU might just be the ticket, though; it really is a great oil.

I doubt MMO will do much in 1,000 or 2,000 miles in that engine. I'd stick with straight PU, and if that doesn't work give MMO a shot following their directions. I have a feeling PU and its low Noack might show some results though.

I think we're on the same page. I was only suggesting the MMO if PU didn't do anything in 4k or so.

We're on the same page, I just think MMO would need more time in the sump to work if it's going to work at all. I think in this case he's literally tossed everything but the kitchen sink at this engine. I'm not sure even the kitchen sink is going to work though.