Auto-Rx Customers Questions & Answers

neidermeyer · Member

Isuzu 3.5l V6 , oil consumption

TurboJim · Moderator

I don't have any first hand experience with this engine, hopefully there is someone else who does and can chime in with the specifics you are looking for.

If it's been awhile since you last replaced your PCV valve I'd put that on the "to do" list.

ARX is going to slowly disolve the built up deposits in your engine. To be sure you've cleaned everything out I'd plan on doing two treatments. After that follow the maintenance plan, to keep the problem from coming back again.

As far as engine oil to use you are always safe in using what the manufacturer recommends. However thinner oil is going to flow better, which is always a good thing. If you haven't read this series of articles on oil before you might find it interesting - http://ferrarichat.com/forum/faq.php?faq=haas_articles#faq_motor_oil_basics

neidermeyer · Member

I bought the car about 10,000 miles ago , seems to have had regular maintenance. Whats really scary is that Isuzu acknowledged the problem but still denied warranty claims for things like running with no oil even though that could occur in as little as 1500 miles when the oil ring lands clogged... after cleaning this up it'll definately need a maintenance program... Too bad GM never allowed Isuzu to sell the Trooper in the US with their fine diesel engine like they do all over the rest of the world, the "duramax" that Chevy/GMC uses is an Isuzu engineered motor.

neidermeyer · Member

I just started treatment last week of this car (98 Isuzu Trooper , 106,000 miles) and another car with much higher mileage (98 Taurus 3.0 , 185,000 miles) ,, The Taurus will be completed much sooner than the Trooper as I put approx 700-800 miles a week on it.. the Taurus has a similar oil burn problem which I believe was caused by a pinhole leak in a coolant hose resulting in a run hot situation which I suspect coked up the rings. I have had a power steering problem with this car in the past where it seemed a valve was sticking shut,,, a fluid change seems to have fixed it but I'll do a quick cleaning of that system just to be sure. The AXOD is running fine and I'll be leaving that alone,, did a fluid/filter change on that 2 years/100,000 mles ago.

neidermeyer · Member

OK ,, it's been a while since I checked in....

First .. no improvement on the Isuzu at this time ... I don't know if it will improve during the rinse phase or not ,, with oil consumption at 1 qt/400 miles or so I think the Auto-RX blew out before it could work it's magic... will report back on this car during/after the rinse..

Second ,, the Taurus had some "difficulties" shortly after the application... a freeze plug developed a small rust hole and the engine warped a head due to overheating.. it is back on the road now with new heads and freeze plugs but I had to change the oil after less than 1000 miles after the ARX application due to coolant contamination... (the water temp guage always read middle temps even when the motor was bone dry!!) ... the good news is that the new heads seal nicely and my vacuum readings are great aww

... more good news aww

... I put some ARX in the P/S and it improved the feel greatly in just the few miles before the engine quit.. I won't be able to give you any good before/after data with this hardware change,, especially as the 2 big oil consumption/leak areas were addressed during the repairs (rear main seal changed while tranny out to change freeze plugs and the new heads have good stem seals..)

If you could hook me up with a replacement bottle or two I'd really appreciate it... If I get the results I expect I would love to market this in Asia ,, especially the poorer countries such as Thailand/Philippines as they run cars there until they die unlike the richer countries of the region.

brian_tracy AT earthlink.net

poppyw · Member

I have a 2000 Trooper with a 3.5 with 105,000 miles. Same problem, same degree. 1qt/ 500 miles. Mileage really sux. 14 to 15 mpg. I bought truck with 34,000 miles and problem really showed up at 64,000 miles. I change oil 3 to 4 thousand miles, always. At 64,000 miles I replaced every pvc, egr, and related item available. No help. The mechanic cleaned a lot of carbon/tar looking stuff out of some hoses and valves. NO CHANGE.

I found this product and am at the half way mark in the rinse phase. Frank said that it would be after the rinse that I would see noticable improvement in oil usage. I hope that he is right there as oil usage is almost the same now.

Since I killed a deer with my work car I am having to put 100 mi a day on Trooper. hmm

I should be finishing up the rinse soon. Gas mileage has been getting better with each fillup since clean cycle. Mileage today at fillup, 19 mpg. About what I got when I bought the truck.

I found the same info on oil drain holes design. Just to re ring the engine will be $500.00 plus so I hope that this fixes up. Love my Trooper, this is my 4th and they all ahve used a LITTLE oil but not like this one. And yes I really want a diesel one but check the UK boards, there are some major issues with some Isuzu diesels too.

neidermeyer · Member

neidermeyer wrote:

the good news is that the new heads seal nicely and my vacuum readings are great ... more good news ... I put some ARX in the P/S and it improved the feel greatly

*******************************************

OK , I now have almost 2,000 miles with the repaired motor ... oil consumption is now less than a qt. in those 2000 miles,, seems like the seals (rear main , valve stems and replacing the dripping oil light sensor) took care of that... what portion of the reduced oil usage is attributable to Auto-RX will not be determinable but I know some of the previous oil consumption was due to oil bypassing the rings as the car USED TO leave some residue on the rear bumper... NO MORE! .. The new heads were quite clean so there isn't much to clean in that critical area .... I can say that the varnish has disappeared from the dipstick so Auto-RX is doing it's job...

HERES THE BIG NEWS... Auto-RX got rid of a transmission problem I was having, I originally wasn't going to treat the transmission but I had about half a bottle left ... admittedly it was small problem that could be avoided by adjusting driving style but it was a real and repeatable problem that simply went away... The AXOD-E in the Taurus used to slam/bang out of and back into gear under high "G" left turns only... usually during "U" turns at low to moderate power settings...

*********************************************

ISUZU Trooper news... no changes ,, starting "rinse" at oil change next weekend..

HeadnSouth · Veteran Member

Any updates?

dbdeland · Senior Member

neidermeyer,

Are you planning on useing the maintenance program?

Daryl

neidermeyer · Member

The only update I can give is that I would now rate the Taurus oil consumption as "not measurable" ... The fuel economy has stayed consistantly high ,, 24.5-26 mpg depending on the city/hwy mix except for one tankful where I had to buy "ethanol enriched 15%" fuel ... always stick with 100% gasoline for best mileage. To answer your question I will NOT be doing the maintenance program with the Taurus as I will not be keeping it much longer... I will however be doing it with the Trooper...

The Trooper is driven much less as it's the wifes car.. I found a stuck PCV valve on that car which immediately helped with the oil consumption.. I'm about 1,000-1,200 miles into the "rinse" on that car using 5-30 conventional oil , I ran the "clean" long, 3-4,000 miles and the oil came out filthy. I don't drive this one consistanty but it APPEARS to be quieter at idle... this is a 4 cam motor with lots of hydraulic lifters and such.. I would love to treat the tranny in this truck ,, It's a GM 4L30e (same as used in the Cadillac Catera and some BMW 5 series) and isn't easy to fill/drain ... there is no dipstick... and the filter is somewhat expensive... I don't have a tranny shop that I trust enough to actually perform a job if I pay for it... after the AXOD/Taurus cleaning/fix I'm sold on this...

I have one other tranny problem that I don't really want to tackle but I have a feeling that ARX would eliminate it completely... It's a 92 Mercedes 300e ,, a 195,000 mile car .. the tranny requires high pressure (minimum 3000 rpm) to do the first shift of the day and then operates perfectly thereafter... The issue is that the car is on loan to a person working a courier job and he can't be without it.... If DBDELAND would like to tackle it gratis to put another "confirmed win" under ARX's belt that'd be fine (car is in Sanford ... I take it you're just up the road in Deland) I can put you in contact.. I personally see ARX as having a big future with transmissions,, with motors you can have all kinds of things "just not right" and ignore them as you go through your day... but the slightest varnish or gum can really put the tranny in focus with a stuck ball valve or servo actuator ... I'm pretty knowledgable but I don't have a tranny shop I trust.. I know most people are in the same boat... a product that saves you from that unpleasantness should really catch on..

-- Edited by neidermeyer at 19:05, 2008-02-12

-- Edited by neidermeyer at 22:33, 2008-02-15

neidermeyer · Member

OK ,, one more update ... The Taurus ran into transmission problems ,, slipping pretty bad and slamming out of gear at stoplights when engine rpm (and internal tranny pressures) is lowest... turns out one of the tranny cooler lines was leaking at the quick disconnect fitting on the tranny...

I changed out the quick disconnect but the leak continued as the line was aparrently distorted... changed the line out ,, problem solved ... I would surmise that the line/disconnect was damaged when the tranny was dropped for the freeze plug changeout...

OK,, so far no ARX news ,, well as it was 100,000 miles since the last filter/fluid change I went ahead and did that service... I have never seen the insides of a transmission so clean smile

... this tranny has been run on the cheaper Mercon3 (not synthetic Mercon5) during this last 100k interval.. in an AXOD-e dropping the pan doesn't give you a view of the valve bodies ,, just a resovoir , the filter and fluid transport tubes... but all were spotless.

poppyw · Member

Almost done with second ARX cleaning. Oil usage still high, 1 qt every 500 to 700 miles. Varies for some reason now. First 900 miles after ARX added no oil usage then back almost as it was. Frank said early on that I might not see much much improvement until after the second rinse.

Thoughts?