Whats with this Auto-Rx stuff??

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I have a 2002 Envoy with the 4.2l DOHC engine I bought in Oct 03 with 64,000 miles. The past owner provided me with every receipt of oil changes every 3k miles at the dealer with semi-syn oil.
I am currenty running Castrol Syn-Blend 5w30. I keep reading about people recommending flushing with "Auto-rx" every blah blah miles. Should I do this? what purpose does it serve? I feel that my Envoy, with its 7qt oil capacity, has a clean engine (from what I can see in the oil fill cover and dipstick). When I change my oil at 4,000 miles (or when the OLM reaches 50%) the oil still looks great (dark honey color). Should I use "auto-rx"? Where can i get it? What does it do?

 

[ALS]

It is an engine cleaner the disolves the crud that builds up over time inside the engine.
If you do a search for Auto-RX you will find lots of info from users of the product. Here is a link to the web site.
Auto-RX

 

[Gary Allan]

Chriznat20

Sure your engine is probably pretty clean ..on par with most maintained engines ..acceptable amount of varnish and such.

..but do you want it to look JUST like that for the rest of its life?

If so, you can use Auto-Rx prophylatically. One decent clean/rinse ..and then a maintenance dose ..and your engine will probably look just like it does today 10 years from now.

It's a cheap investment for complete cleaning.

 

[michaelc80]

It's one of the few products that really does perform like it promises. You may notice few if any spectacular results because you're starting with what should be a fairly clean engine to begin with. However, I had incredible results with a much neglected engine.

I would have no problem echoing what Gary said. AutoRX really does deliver what it promises.

 

[wavinwayne]

Would you guys recommend using it on my wife's '97 Expedition 4.6L V8, 107k miles?

It has had 5-6k OCI's using 5w30 dino oil since we bought it used w/65k miles.

Would I just be asking for trouble by using the Autorx, or is this something that I should consider? We want to keep the vehicle until it hits 200k miles.

Thanks in advance.

 

[robbobster]

My Expedition (5.4L V8) had 4-5K dino oil changes for much of its life. The oil wasn't really too dark when it was drained.

At about 80K miles, I switched to Mobil 1. My first change with M1 happened at 3K miles, because the oil on my dipstick was pretty dark. When I drained it, it was quite dark/brown. Subsequent changes (every 4-5K miles) revealed oil that wasn't really too dark anymore.

Ran AutoRX at around 100K miles, two treatments because of my mileage. After the cleaning phase (1200 miles), my oil was a bit dark. After the rinse phase, my oil was pitch black. And this with only about 1200 miles on the "rinse" oil and a brand-new Mobil 1 oil filter.

My truck runs hard and alwayds has, so I don't notice any performance difference. But it seems to me that a lot of crud was cleaned-up within my engine, based on the condition of the oil that came out after the ARX treatment.

 

[robbobster]

Sorry I mis-stated my dino oil changes above. I changed the dino oil every 3K - 4K miles, usually closer to 3K.

 

[michaelc80]

quote:

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Originally posted by wavinwayne:
Would you guys recommend using it on my wife's '97 Expedition 4.6L V8, 107k miles?

It has had 5-6k OCI's using 5w30 dino oil since we bought it used w/65k miles.

Would I just be asking for trouble by using the Autorx, or is this something that I should consider? We want to keep the vehicle until it hits 200k miles.

Thanks in advance.

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I would have no problem doing an Auto RX treatment. With 5-6K dino OCI's, you might have some cleaning that needs to be done.