Will Auto-Rx eliminate engine pinging?

[Quest]

My fit runs smoothly/quietly cruising down the highway @ 100kms/hr @ 3000rpm and still gets excellent fuel economy to date.

If you are afraid of wearing out your engine due to excessive RPM (depends on your definition of too high of an RPM), I can tell you one thing:

Unless you constantly hovering around your engine's red line from the get-go, or consistently imposing excessive yet unnecessary loads to your engine (e.g. jack-rabbit runs, etc.), otherwise, so long as your engine is properly tuned/timed, running on proper engine coolant tempurature, thoroughly warmed up, etc. your engine shall last as long as the designer/manufacturer intended it to lasts (typically in excess of 200,000kms), much longer than your car's body panel could hold up to...

Equally devistating is the "lugging" of your engine by keeping it running overly low rpm for you are imposing exessive yet unnecessary load on the lower end bearings (mostly on rod bearings, but also on main bearings) and by doing this constantly, your engine is going to wear out in a short period of time.

Cheerios.

Q.

 

[biomed_eng_2000]

Is there a name for a car-hypochondriac?

 

[sifan]

Gary Allen posted a thread a while ago with photos showing a clean engine after putting ATF into the gas tank. That was where I got the idea.

Since my daily driving only involves very little highway, the engine only need to rev around 1600 RPM to maintain 45 mph on flat ground. I rarely need to rev above 2000 RPM on crusing unless for accelerating from stop or climbing steep hills.

 

[sprintman]

This car needs to be taken on the highway for a good flogging. You have babied it to near death. Change pcv every 10k, I've never heard such nonsense. If you can't drive it hard get somebody ese to do it. First add a bottle Redline SI-1 to the fuel tank and a bottle of RX to the oil if reasonably clean then go out and DRIVE IT!!!!!!

 

[Quest]

lol sifan!

Save me all those slightly used PCV valves (I'll pay shipping) so that I can "recycle" them for you...

*evil grin*

Q.

 

[Gary Allan]

Originally Posted By: sifan
Gary Allen posted a thread a while ago with photos showing a clean engine after putting ATF into the gas tank. That was where I got the idea.



You should have also read my repeated "do NOT attempt this at home, folks" disclaimers. My use of ATF, although innocuous in apparent effects (it was primarily a MMO experiment) was objected to due to ash issues from those of superior knowledge. This was not apparent in terms of deposits when I had cause to remove the heads, but that doesn't mean that it was a good idea.

All that it showed is what didn't happen. The whole exercise was to show, one way or another, whether MMO would hurt anything. My massive dosage was to trump any "I saw no problems" stuff that we typically take with a grain of salt. It basically said "if there was going to be an issue, it surely would show up now". It wasn't intended as a "Hey everybody!! DO THIS!!".

Also keep in mind that I did this on an OBDI engine with 170k on it ...so just what did I have to lose? Now it still passed the sniffer dyno emissions test with the original catalyst ..but again, it's not a procedure that I would recommend for anyone who didn't think it out in terms of potential issues that may arrise from doing it. I haven't done this on either of my OBDII engines ..and see no need to either.

A shock dosage of some agent can surely reduce your deposits on valves and the combustion chambers, but it's not something that you do on a perpetual basis. If you're into perpetual (as in every chance you get) fuel system maintenance, there are a few products that make sense. FP (I've never used it) or RLI's injector cleaner seem to work well. Otherwise, it's something like Amsoil PI or Regane or a few other products that seem to do the job well.

My ATF/MMO experiment will continue to haunt me.

 

[sifan]

Replacing PCV valve every 10-12K miles or every year is suggested in an Echo forum and this forum. PCV valves are emission related parts which will foul up the engines if get restricted. Besides, they are cheap to replace.

No, you do not want my "slightly used" PCV valves. When I installed the oil bypass filter, the clean oil was returned thru the oil filler cap which resides at the opposite end of PCV valve. Toward the end of my 30K mile OCI I needed to clean the TB more often like every 1K miles to improve engine performance. I suspected this was caused by excessive dirty filtered oil entering the TB thru the PCV valve. To prove my suspicion I installed a PCV catch can, which collected a lot of oil. Later I redirected the returned oil to the oil pan. The amount of oil collected in the catch can was reduced by more than 50% as the result. Those so-call "slightly used" PCV valves are all fouled up by the dirty filtered oil.

I have heard a lot of opinions on this forum that returning oil thru the oil cap should not cause excessive oil to pass thru the PCV valve. But, how many of them have actually installed bypass filters on their cars/trucks not to mention with identical setup on the same type of engine as mine? Maybe the Echo engine design happens to be an exception.

 

[Quest]

k, so no "slightly used" PCV valves for me then (grin)?

No, of the 2 echo engines I service regularly, PCV catch can is (IMHO again, ever get sick and tired of it from me?) or bypass filter is not necessary for I don't see any oil ingestion problem due to PCV feedbacks.

Gary Allan's ATF in gas for the said experiment will indeed forever haunt him but then again: he was only doing it on a less technologically-sophisicated OBD-1 car with significant mileages on it so the outcome, no matter how detrimental it may have to the engine, is not as bad as your echo OBD-II engine (O2 sensors cost less in OBD-1 engine too).

We understand your enthusiasm on keeping your engine run healthy and forever, so take it out on an extended cruise to burn out all the carbon accumulations. Adding Redline fuel injector cleaner or Techron/Regaine in the gas tank will aid the process so long as you can give it a 4~6hr run. Repeated hiway run maybe necessary depending on how bad your engine is.

The 2 echo engines I service are own and operated by 2 avg joes (good friends of my family), with on already past 200,000kms to date and the second one quickly approaching 150,000kms. Both are several yrs old ones (A/T) and other than regular air filter/oil filter, oil change (PP 5W30, the higher mileage one uses GTX) tuneups, etc. no additional stuff added to them. Avg city commute car where 80city/20%hiway and they are healthy and doesn't burn oil or consumes oil at all (we have to pass provincial mandatory emissions inspections before you can buy next year's insurance).

My point is, no need to be overly ambitious on cars (unless your car is defective to begin with). Just drive, oil/air/gas filter changes and tuneups in a conservative manner and drive happy.

Q.

 

[sifan]

Quest,

Thanks for sharing your story about those two Echos. I wish I have had heard it before buying all the Gizmos. It makes me wonder what this forum is all about. What is the point to talk about some products in great extend that seem to improve car longivity but actually do not. It's like someone opens a fast food restaurant that sells greasey but tasted food to customers in one hand while selling diet plans or exercise machine next door in the other to the same customers.

Befor owning the Echo I had to use credit cards to pay the mounting car repair bills such that I could never have saved enough money to buy a new car. That was why my parents bought me a brand new Echo after picking me up on the roadside so many times. Now I have spent my saving on these Gizmos hoping to keep my Echo last longer that I end up in the same situation now (no saving for another new car).

It is below freezing outside now. I will have to take out my portable Honda generator in the trunk to power up the engine block heater and heat pads, so, my pre-luber won't blow its 10A fuse while sitting in the car in frigid temperature for half hour before driving 1 hour home. Or should I sleep in my office tonight? Sigh...

 

[ConfederateTyrant]

Quote:
I agree with the water decarb idea. But forget the Auto Rx? Auto Rx addresses a completely different problem. You bough some Auto Rx, use it and enjoy the benefits!

But it would not prove a fair comparison if he did both and the pinging went away. He'd need to try one, then the other.

 

[Quest]

sifan-

It's below freezing outside here and not only do I not have a block heater (too cheep to pay for that as an option when I first purchased my car), I don't even have a trickle charger or squat on my car. I just jump in, crank it and then drive slowly during the first 15 mins to warm up.

Am I worry about premature/excessive wear on my newly bought car? Nope! I've done the same thing to my previously owned 91' 323 (first owner until I sold it 1.7yrs ago with 185,000kms on the clock) which had endured -36C avg windchills w/o blockheater (just have to remember to raise the coolant concentration to 70/30, and add a pizze flap to cover the rad to keep blowing snow away). Last time my car passed emissions testing, it was just as good as new, only with my cat a bit on the lazy side due to side effects on ESSO's mmt additives in their gas). Reason why I have to rid of it is because of factory paint starting to peel like crazy, and a repaint job costs more than my car currently worth.

Why worry? Drive happy! Don't forget to take it out on a highway spin every now and then to burn out all the carbons you have ....

Q.

 

[INDYMAC]

I'm not too sure what you are hearing is actually pinging, especially after reading how well and regularly you douche your entire fuel system and have already tried higher octane gas. Since the noise you hear only happens at 1800 RPM, I would have your most competent and trusted mechanic test drive it and inspect for any evidence of an exhaust manifold leak. I suspect that you have a very small crack somewhere and you will be able to see some sort of discoloration to varify it. You won't be able to hear this type of leak with a stethescope on an idling engine. Good luck and hurry up and start your ARX clean phase!

 

[Gary Allan]

I would suspect some resonance in the exhaust or something of that nature. Some harmonic in the engine finding an outlet on a loose heat shield or something

 

[Frank]

This looks like a case for "CerMax" (sifan use the Auto-Rx this board is running out of help ) your not Spitty's Canadian neighbor?

E-Mail me you get my help free when your a customer.

Your case is a "Sprintman Special" we are talking terminal here do something even if it's follow the good advice these bitogers posted.
Best Regards
Frank Miller
Inventor

 

[rangerdood]

A block heater and pre-lube pump in MARYLAND?!? It's no wonder you're broke! Up here in PeeAy it gets a little bit colder... Cranked my truck up the other morning in the single digits, drove right off to work, less than 5 minutes away. Temp gage barely moved off the pin. I think, as someone else hinted, you are a car-hypochondriac.

To add my 2 cents toward the actual problem, my old '94 Ranger started pinging badly around 110k miles. The MAF was bad. Replaced it, everything went happy-time again! Not saying that's for-sure what your problem is, but it's as good a guess as any. I tried cleaning mine, too, but it was done for. Never threw a CEL, either... just pinged like mad under acceleration or any load.

 

[Gary Allan]

Auto-OCD hasn't been define as a disorder yet. Autoanality is still okay.

Sifan - ROCK ON, DUDE!!!

 

[oilboy123]

Auto-rx helped get the ping out of my engine. I was not expecting it to.
The pinging would start to come back when I did not do maintenance doses. Not saying it would help you, but I would use it.

I agree you are over dosing (big time) and under reving your engine, let it rev a little...............and do a dose of RX.

If you are so worried about your engine being clean run a synthetic.

Please step away from the additives................

 

[Spitty]

I have to wonder about the oil filtration system? If it's plugging the PCV you are ingesting oil into the inlet manifold! not sure how much, but oil will leave a deposit and may cause pinging (motor does not have a high octane rateing)
And Really, is all these Gizmo's going to extend the life of the Car? Look in your local wreckers yard, Are the cars there because of blown engines or because they are rusted, smashed or just ugly after years of hard use?

 

[Frank]

Did you know that the Auto-Rx® product added to your crankcase, not only works slowly and safely to dissolve contaminants, it also does not disrupt the host oil chemistry. It does provide for a lower coefficient of friction, it improves oil film Auto-Rx® does a lot more than clean.

Auto-Rx® does this by capturing blow-by combustion by-product contaminants, so the ad packs don't get depleted by the contaminants.

 

[Rick20]

I don't think that a bypass filter constitutes 30K oil change intervals. I would think that is evident by the PCV valves fouling every 12K and mass air sensors needed to be cleaned very often.

Regarding running the auto-rx in this vehicle, I don't know that running the bypass filter is a good thing. I would think that merely running conventional oil filtration with a cleaning dose of ARX is the way to go. My thinking is that the bypass filtration may impeed the maximum oil flow. The better the oil flow the better the effectiveness of the ARX cleaning application.