Auto RX results.. Rated R. Graphic images.

[Volvohead]

quote:

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Originally posted by mburnickas:
What I do not get is that if anyone states something other then positive on ARX, some people go nuts. This forum is to speak what you have done right? It is as bad as like Mobil vs Amsoil threads here or LC vs ARX. My *** people, the guy is just stating his experience on it.

We do not know what it looked like before but after (2) application ($50), I personally would expect it to look much better (based on visual inspection only). Even using the RSM13 (sp??) website as ref here. Then again playing the “other” role, it could have looked 100x worse too.

Not saying ARX is bad by any means but where does this guy stop? 3 applications, rip apart the cover again (just to see), spend more $$$ just to do it all over again? Then what is to blame next?

kickster – Just get ready to take a beating here. You could have finished round/application #7 yesterday and people would still say this and that.

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I trust that kickster did everything to the letter. And I'm certainly not beating him up for not seeing the results he expected, especially after spending $40 on the stuff. But without a starting reference, it's hard to say what ARX, or any treatment, actually accomplished.

I think the reaction was based on that lack of baseline. You can't really conclude anything good or bad when you don't know what you started with. I am curious how the compression is reading, however.

But his engine really doesn't look that bad. What he has left looks like heavy varnish to me - like someone was running too much '80s vintage Castrol GTX 20W-50 in it at one time. ARX is not the best on varnish. But there are things that are more effective on varnish. LC in sufficient concentration can be.

That was the point of my response: that ARX may not be the best for what's left. ARX appears to have done all it can.

But make no mistake, sometimes you get an engine that for whatever reason doesn't clean up as expected no matter what you do. Some Volvo white blocks fall into this category. No matter what you do, they still display a dark patina. But they're squeaky clean and run forever anyway.

 

[sprintman]

Another idiot post from another idiot. "I'm not impressed with the rsult a year later but I don't know what it looked like before I started". Give me strength, where do these people come from?

 

[dbdeland]

I agree with Frank, after taking a close look at the photos it appears the engine did not get properly rinsed.

Daryl

 

[chrome]

There are a few reasons why the engine looks the way it does still, after 2 ARX treatments.

1) Is the adequate oil pressure and flow to the top of the heads? If you ain't got sufficient oil flow, how would ARX work well? Some engines are well known to have low oil flow to the top of the head.

2) It has been stated before that varnish removal is not one of ARX strong points. Especially on aluminium heads. It will remove it eventually, but it does take a while.

3) After 1 year, while the engine is on synthetic, was the PCV valve inspected and changed? A faulty PCV valve will cause a lot of the vaporised oil to simply cook on the hot surfaces, and form the varnish you see.

 

[Rodbuckler]

To add to chrome's comment, I hope there is more ventilation to the cam chamber than just those two little oil drainbacks I see in the photos.

 

[Mystic]

There seems to be something missing from this discussion. Auto-RX does more then remove sludge from the engine and help to keep the engine clean. It also can stop seal leaks as long as the seals are not physically damaged. This saved me a lot of money on a Saturn I used to own that had an engine seal leak. The Auto-RX stopped the seal leak. Nothing else worked. Synthetic oil used on a car that had a seal leak would probably just cause even more leakage.

Now, if you use a good quality synthetic oil from the time a vehicle is new and change the oil at adequate intervals you may never need Auto-RX, asuming that you never have a situation where a seal leak develops. And there is some stuff that could be used instead of Auto-RX, such as Neutra. But Auto-RX does not cost that much and I don't think it would hurt cleaning an engine every 25,000 miles even if you are using synthetic oil.

There probably is less of a tendency for synthetic oil to develop sludge. But I like to use conventional oil because I like to change the oil more often. I do use synthetic oil in the wintertime. I personally know that Auto-RX will work and it makes me feel more comfortable knowing that I am probably keeping my engine cleaner and avoiding problems in the future.

 

[Bio-T]

This is going off topic and is now getting personal. Time to close.