Auto-Rx Customers Questions & Answers

HeadnSouth · Veteran Member

Oil Sludge: The Silent Killer

Richone · Senior Member

Pretty sad video. All the more reason folks should run a cleaning and rinse every 25,000 miles for piece of mind. I have got to believe the results of the Audi in the video are a result of longer than desireable oil change intervals and lack of crankcase ventilation attention.

Alot of folks here and over at BITOG run the maintenance dose after cleaning and rinsing. I still run a full bottle as in a cleaning application in my truck, every 5th oil change. The truck sees only short trips and boat pulling. Works for me.

brent olsen · Senior Member

I think if people changed there oil when they were supposed too and would change the PCV once a year there would be fewer problems or no problems at all, on my 04 Mercury the manual says to change the PCV at 100K, I have not replaced mine yet , I am at 22K, but I will when it gets close to 30K, such a simple little item that does not cost much but if it is not changed can cause serious problems, just because a used PCV rattles does not mean that it is still good, if you want to keep your car for a long time change out your PCV every year or at least in 2 years.

Richone · Senior Member

Brent, I agree with your plan to change out the PCV on a frequent basis. For your manual to state to change out at 100K is quite likely a disservice to you, the car owner. I think in many cases OCI's recommended by owners manuals are over stated as well. Oil manufactureres and Car manufactureres are miles apart in many cases.

The bottom line however is that if you had followed your owners manual you may be still a likely target for sludge or excessive crankcase deposit accumulation. Even if you have early stage accumulation of sludge, it will get worse even with more frequent oil changes. The amount of detergentrs and dispersants in motor oils are only present in an amount to maintain a clean oiling system. There is not enough detergent and dispersants in motor oils to clean deposits in a motor. In fact its a snowball effect. What little sludge fighting additives a motor oil may have, it gets exhausted very quickly when the fresh oil is put into a dirty motor.

This is the beauty of auto-rx. The host oil can do its thing lubricating your motor. At the same time the cleaning dose of ARX will do its thing cleaning up passed sins or deposits in the motor. This can all be done with no swet on the brow. Clean while you drive. How easy can it get.

brent olsen · Senior Member

Richone,with the manual stating to change the PCV at 100K, could this be a ploy by the manufacture to get you too come back sooner to buy a car, on my EL CAMINO I always changed the PCV every year, my Dad has a 79 Pontiac Bonneville that he never changed out the PCV, he said to me one day the car is low on oil and it is dripping everywhere, I was at the auto parts store when he called me so I picked up a new PCV and grommet, when I got his PCV out it was totaly clogged with hard carbon, he looked at it and spent 10 minuted cleaning it and said can we reuses it , I said no the plastic nipple is totaly screwed up, I spent a half hour getting the old torn grommet out and putting the new PCV on with a new PCV hose, my Dad said why are you replacing the hose, I said it has been on here for 28 years lets give it a vacation and send it into retirement, Dad is old school, the problem with PCV replacement is that most people think that if it is not broke don't fix it. What I like about Auto-Rx is exactly what you stated about letting the oil do the lubricating and the Auto-Rx doing the cleaning.

Richone · Senior Member

Brent,

Your car encounters with your Dad sound strikingly similar with me and my Dad. No disrespect to our elders what so ever, but motors have evolved a bunch sinse the 60's and 70's. In fact todays 6 cylinder motors are producing as much horsepower as the better V-8's of yesteryear. Todays motors are much more complex, lighter, and put a heck of alot more demand on oil. Computer controls and the sensors gathering information need to stay clean for the whole system to work effectively in the long haul.

I am not saying that motor oils haven't progressed as well. But I am no so sure that they have kept pace with the newer motor designs. Just with gear driven over head multi valve designs have alone have put pressure on lubricants to resist shearing for example. Add in Super chargers or even more so turbo chargers that tax oil and motors creating mega horsepower out of relatively small displacement light weight motor designs. With compact and light weight motors comes smaller oil passages both from the pumping side as well as the gravity back feed to the sump, its not rocket science that these motors need to be kept cleaner than old technology iron block motors of the 60's.

brent olsen · Senior Member

I should also mention in my Dad's defense that he has always driven this car very gently, I think this is why that a vehicle that is 29 years old is still running, don't get me wrong I know maintenance is important but our cars are not meant to run like the cars in Nascar, I think you can understand my statement.

Richone · Senior Member

I agree with you Brent. If we did the chasis's would fall apart rather quickly. By the same token some highway miles and an occasional run up towards the red line can be helpful in motors that see alot of short trips.

You must be speaking about your El Camino, ala 29 years old. How is that baby doing these days? Take care of her. It's not like it would be easy to find another.

brent olsen · Senior Member

I was talking about my Dad's 1979 Pontiac Bonneville, my car is the 1983 Chevrolet El Camino, it is doing great on the Maintenance Dose, no more oil filter issues, but this winter blended gas sucks, it has hurt my gas mileage by 2 miles per gallon, cant wait for the spring, now that I am writing this the car does seem to like the gas that is out there in the spring summer and fall.