Question on Auto Rx...is it working?

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I just got doen with my 1st cleaning cycle and ready to start my rince cycle. I bought a 2004 Volvo XC70 with 45,000 miles with the 2.5 turbo and the filler cap showed lots of build up and the dip stick is stained pretty bad. These pictures are before the Auto Rx cleaning but the filler hole and dip stick are totally unchanged. They still look exactly like they did before Auto Rx.

I thought they would be a little cleaner at least! I followed the directions to the "T". I'm still going to do the 2nd cleaning cycle after the 3,000 mile rince. Hopefully this will be a little cleaner soon!
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We bought the car used from a Volvo dealer. I have no idea what this car used before I bought it. I looke up the warranty history and it had one bad motor mount and that was all so I figured it was not a lemon. Saw the nasty oil cap after I bought it. Now I'm using Castrol GTX and after the Auto Rx cleanings I will used German Castrol 0w30.
We do 50/50 Highway/City driving and always get to full operating temp.
 
Those places dont get a whole lot of oil, and thats why its sludged in the first place, since there isnt any refreshment the oil that is there just bakes.
 
Originally Posted By: Onmo'Eegusee
Those places dont get a whole lot of oil, and thats why its sludged in the first place, since there isnt any refreshment the oil that is there just bakes.


The dip stick is in hot flowing oil the whole time. It should be cleaned! The filler cap I can see your point though.
 
That's NOT where it does its job. Oil filler cap in the valve cover is a splash fed area and gets little cleaning. Would have been better if you did a compression test first. What is your sump capacity and how much RX did you use?
 
You'll have remove the valve cover to get an accurate idea of how Auto-RX did. The oil filler area doesn't get much oil flow. As for the dipstick, I have no idea.
 
Originally Posted By: sprintman
That's NOT where it does its job. Oil filler cap in the valve cover is a splash fed area and gets little cleaning. Would have been better if you did a compression test first. What is your sump capacity and how much RX did you use?


Do you have any idea on the dip stick? It sits in hot flowing oil the whole time.
 
I have been reading these boards for months, and from what I understand the majority of the real "cleaning" happens during the rinse phase. Auto RX loosens up the stuff, the rinse phase "rinses" it away. Don't give up yet.

Also, just from what you see there, you may want to take the sludge route and change the oil filter according to the Auto RX web site. That stuff looks nasty.

Did you change your filter at any time during the clean cycle?

From what I understand once the oil is saturated with that melted liquid goo and the filter goes into bypass Auto Rx cant do it's thing.
Changing the filter during the clean and or rinse phase will allow for the larger filtered particles to get thrown out and the oil to be topped off. (sludge cycle only)

I am about 500 miles into my first Clean phase. I have a Ford Taurus with 131,000 miles on it and will also be doing 2 cycles before maintenance dose. I am doing the same for both my Father's and Sister's Taurus's.

I hope the rinse phase goes better for you.
 
That part of the dipstick is above the fill line it looks like (I cant see the top of the level indicator). The varnish on the dipstick is harder for arx to remove than sludge, too.
 
Here is another XC70 that is much cleaner. This kind of contridicts the idea that oil just splashes on cooks there:
100_1446.jpg
 
Oh, it does get a little splash.
Reguardless, it is not instant new engine in a bottle. In fact the first clean is where the least amount of gunk gets removed. But IT is working, its got to set up camp and penetrate the enemy defenses first. :p
 
Originally Posted By: Onmo'Eegusee
Oh, it does get a little splash.
Reguardless, it is not instant new engine in a bottle. In fact the first clean is where the least amount of gunk gets removed. But IT is working, its got to set up camp and penetrate the enemy defenses first. :p


Good to know.....maybe I jumped the gun a bit. Tried to edit the title but it won't let me.
 
I did jump the gun and wish I could edit my title because I just got the filter off and it is loaded! It seems Auto Rx is doing it's job.....I'll give it more time!
 
Originally Posted By: Chris B.
I did jump the gun and wish I could edit my title because I just got the filter off and it is loaded! It seems Auto Rx is doing it's job.....I'll give it more time!


Chris you can change the title of your recent posts.
cool.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Chris B.
The edit button is gone.


I should have said future posts. Now when it appears in the Active Topics it will have a different title. The original will stay the same.

What oil are using with the AutoRX?
 
There is very little if any direct contact in the top end area you show. More of a misting or vapor I bet. But the dipstick looks very clean where it would have constant contact with the oil.

Give the rinse phase a chance.
 
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Originally Posted By: Chris B.
Here is another XC70 that is much cleaner. This kind of contridicts the idea that oil just splashes on cooks there:

No it doesn't. All it proves is that one of your engines had sludge and the other one didn't.

IIRC you posted a while back about one of these engines having sludge and the other one appearing clean. You wanted to know why and we couldn't really tell you for sure, but you got a number of possibilities, most of which related to usage by the previous owner. The point is that nothing is conclusive when the car is used and you don't have complete maintenance records.

One of your engines got sludge on the cap and varnish on the dipstick because of... something. AutoRX didn't clean those things because those aren't where it does most of its work. The other engine has a clean cap for the same reason the sludge on the first cap didn't go away: there isn't much oil flow there, if any.

If you really want to know what's going on, do a UOA.
 
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