Time for another Auth-RX ? (3800 V6 )

[lght1]

Hi

I treated the Olds LSS (3800 Series II) when I got it 2 years ago with Auto-RX, since then it has been driven 100k. Previous to me, the car had 3k dino fills at the local GM dealership.

I did 6k oci with M1 and last two fills of GC, with a filter change half way every oci.

With this type of care, is it advisiable to do another Auto-RX again, or is the detergency of M1 and GC keeping the engine clean?

 

[GT Mike]

Speaking as a fellow 3800 Series II owner, you'll be just fine with what you're doing now. Our engines are quite easy on their oil, so I wouldn't get too worried about anything getting too sludged up especially since you've been running a quality synthetic. I just had the lower intake manifold off of mine to replace a leaking end seal on the manifold and one of those pesky 90° plastic coolant elbows, and the internals look great. Been running either Schaeffer's or M1 and have no complaints about either oil. I now have 133,xxx miles on the car and it runs just as good as the day I bought it if not better.
Give the injectors a good treatment with something like Fuel Power or Schaeffer's Neutra #131...That was the one thing that made my car run so much better than every other 3800 was even flow rates on the injectors. I had mine sonic cleaned and flow matched, and since then have been meticulous about keeping them clean. It makes all the difference in the world on these engines, as they tend to run a bit on the lean side anyways, anything that might make them run leaner still will absolutely kill performance.

BTW, I've found mid-grade gas gives me much better power than regular, but premium is gross overkill unless I'm racing.

Need more 3800 advice than what's available here, check out www.clubgp.com/newforum/ We're the undisputed gurus of this engine.

 

[T-Keith]

When I got my 88 with 210,000 miles the oil was 2 quarts low and black, obviously poor maintenance. After a couple OCIs it looked like this:

Unless you have a problem your looking to solve I'd skip the Auto-RX. Did you notice a difference the first time?

I know some will disagree but I just don't think it's needed in some engines. 3800s don't seem to ever have sludge problems.

-T

 

[Shaman]

I don’t think that there have been many people with 3800’s who have had good luck with ARX. This means that it doesn’t work, or it isn’t needed. There have been success stories, but only with those vehicles that were run on SAE 30 ND for 10K miles OCI’s(stretch), or sludge engines.

Short answer. If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it. If you are really worried about it, get a UOA done and decide from there.

 

[chas3]

i have given my 87,000 mile 3800II the double treatment.

during the cleaning/rinse phases i used mobil 5w30 drive clean and noticed some seeping from the rear main seal. after switching back to M1 0w40 no more seeping.

my goal was to try to reduce consumption a bit. i was loosing 1qt/3000 miles (no, that's not that bad but it could be less/better). i dont have enough data yet to know if the auto-rx made a difference. it did seem to clean the ring packs (the idle is definitely smoother).

 

[lght1]

hi

strange how things work out, but in the almost month since originally posting this question, I find myself in the position of having to re-power my car due to a bad valve.

i am looking at a replacement engine from a local yard with 80k on it. i plan on replacing the plastic UIM with an aluminum one from the L26.

Is it advisiable to run Auto-RX once the thing is up and running?

I will go back to GC for oil if the supply holds. If not, then M1.