Auto-Rx Customers Questions & Answers

chevrofreak · Veteran Member

Smoke burp on startup normal?

brent olsen · Senior Member

This sounds like a plausible explanation, but I have a few concerns, why on earth are you putting 2 cycle oil into your fuel, do you want to clog your fuel injectors and ruin your spark plugs, what is the reasoning for this. The other concern is the 10W-30 oil, stick with a 5W-20 or maybe a 5W-30, 10W-30 is too thick for that motor.

chevrofreak · Veteran Member

Running 2 stroke oil has been pretty popular at BITOG for a while http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1107478#Post1107478

I've seen fuel mileage increases and my engine also idles smoother. It's a very thin oil even before mixing, so I don't see how it could plug anything. I've used it for thousands of miles so far with no ill effect.

I used 10W-30 because that's what my dad recommended that I use. I listened to him since he has a lot of mechanical knowledge having been working on cars for 60 years, and owning a farm with a lot of very well maintained machinery. He kept trying to tell me that as many miles as my engine has on it that it's probably worn enough to use 10W-30, but I've found that these 4.6's have such long lives that it probably isn't true.

I plan on using only 5W-20 from now on.

In the last 50 miles or so my oil has started to darken a bit, now being visible on the dipstick. I can tell by looking though the oil filler hole in the cam cover that things are cleaner now than they were before.

-- Edited by chevrofreak at 00:21, 2008-08-09

brent olsen · Senior Member

I have the 4.6 in my Marauder, it is speced for 5W-20, probably the original oil spec on your engine was 5W-30, you want a thinner oil because you have an overhead cam in that engine, just like my Marauder. You want the oil to get from the pan to the top of the engine as fast as possible. I have read about guys using 10W-30 in these engines and then having problems. 10W-30 is what is speced for my 1983 Chevrolet El Camino and that engine has the camshaft below the cylinder heads. Thank goodness your Dad did not recommend 10W-40 or 20W-50, good luck.

chevrofreak · Veteran Member

If he had recommended anything thicker, I wouldn't have listened to him. He used to have Conoco or Cenex 10W-30 in drums, and that's what I started using. When he retired and that oil got used up we bought several cases of 10W-30 Trop Artic at Dollar Tree, and I used that.

My car is much happier on 5W-20 than it ever was on 10W-30.

-- Edited by chevrofreak at 01:27, 2008-08-09

brent olsen · Senior Member

It is very important too look at your owner's manual, it will tell you what weight oil too use. Going to a thicker oil is old school, you can loose gas mileage, and since almost 85% of your engine wear is on startup a thicker oil than what is recommended is going to cause more engine wear in my opinion. The tolerances on engines today is definetly tighter than it was on engines 25 or 30 years ago.

chevrofreak · Veteran Member

Ford recommended 5W-30 when they were new, but now says to use 5W-20 in them.

I'll be using Motorcraft 5W-20 synblend (group III) for the rinse cycle, unless there's a reason that will make it less effective?

After that I'm going to run Pennzoil Platinum 5W-20 group III synthetic.

chevrofreak · Veteran Member

I didn't really feel like starting a new thread for this, so I'll just add it here.

A couple days ago when I had my head under the hood and the car was running I noticed that there is some really nasty rattle in the engine, which I believe might be in the valvetrain. I had just short of 2500 miles on the Auto RX clean phase, so I decided to wait a few days to change the oil. Well, yesterday i hit 2502 so I changed the oil out for some Motorcraft 5W-20 synthetic blend. The rattle is still there, but will hopefully go away before too long. I doubt I could give the car away with the noises my engine is making right now.

Frank Miller · Guru

The noise your hearing is oil finally lubricating metal that has been starved for lubrication. Oil won,t lubricate through dirt. Have you read the FAQ ? don,t expect noise to go away completely till rinse phase is over.

We advise you don,t use synthetic oil-synthetic blend-high mileage oil till your done with the application. Now you have created another set of dynamics to work through.

The Auto-Rx application instructions and this board were done with the solw purpose of making sure that Auto-Rx customers have the information to have a successful application and results.

Post again and i will try and help you undo this problem. (no need to dump perfectly good oil )

chevrofreak · Veteran Member

The Motorcraft synthetic blend is just a mix of Group II and Group III oils, and isn't a high mileage oil. It shouldn't have any negative effect on the rinse phase.

-- Edited by chevrofreak at 12:29, 2008-10-11

-- Edited by chevrofreak at 12:52, 2008-10-11

Frank Miller · Guru

I just read the MSDS on Motorcraft Synthetic Blend the additive package is not conducive to rinsing off contaminants in 3000 miles. Run your rinse mode 3500 to 4000 miles. All will be well.

chevrofreak · Veteran Member

Would it help if I added a bottle of CD2 Street Legal oil Boost? http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/667204-memo-to-tallpaul-valvoline-synpower-oil-treatment.html#post5270547

dbdeland · Senior Member

chevrofreak,

I would not add anything and follow Franks instructions and you should be ok.

Daryl

TurboJim · Moderator

ARX works best when it has the least amount of competition to do it's job. If you are adding another product in with the oil it makes ARX's job that much more difficult. Avoid competing chemestry and use oil with the least complex additive package for best results.

bmwtechguy · Senior Member

We have a 93 Marquis in our extended family and I would not use 5W-20 in this car, seeing how quickly the MC 5W-30 has disappeared from this engine due to consumption. We have settled on Maxlife 10W-40 for year-round use after several rounds of ARX that have drastically reduced consumption from 1 qt every 300 miles to 1 quart of ML 10W-40 every 1500 miles. The MC 5W-30 had more startup rattle cold and was burning off a qt every 800 miles, even after ARX 3rd complete cycle using SuperTech oil. These earlier 4.6's are known for valve stem seal issues. Using the maintenance dose with the Maxlife may also be helping keep consumption under better control. Engine looks very clean down inside oil filler hole nowadays.

Car has very good power now and is more fun to drive, according to the owner. Gets about 19 around town (mixed driving) and 26ish on the hwy. Trans and diff were both treated with the ARX as well, before lubricants were changed out. With 170k miles this vehicle is running very well and the owner hopes to drive it another 10 years if it will keep going. At this point it looks possible.

We just recently installed a large aux trans cooler and inline filter with a complete flush of Mercon V fluid and LG Platinum additive. I hope that this will nurse the trans along and keep the converter clutch shudder from coming back so soon. (She can actually use OD now again). So far so good. She is very happy with how it's running. Next project is PST fluid, when time and money permits.

chevrofreak · Veteran Member

Thankfully my car is a 96 with the improved valve seals, so oil consumption isn't a problem anymore since I have a PCV oil separator installed.

With this Motorcraft 5W-20 synblend that I have in it now there is less start-up rattle (apparently piston slap) than I've had with any other oil in the last few years.

I have 15 quarts of Valvoline synthetic Mercon V on standby, and I'm thinking about doing an Auto RX flush before I put it in. My dads car could stand to have some Auto RX put through the engine, so I might order a few bottles this time around since I'm convinced that the product works.

chevrofreak · Veteran Member

I figured I would update this thread.

The rattle my car has turned out to be the serpentine belt tensioner going bad.

There was still a slight amount of startup rattle, so I added a bottle of Shell Rotella T Synthetic 5W-40 to the sump. That oil made a drastic difference in valvetrain noise on my dads car, and it also eliminated the rest of the startup rattle that my car has. The Rotella T synthetic is Group III oil, and has a lot of detergents added. The Motorcraft rinse phase oil had not been darkening very quickly, but after adding the Rotella, it started darkening much more rapidly. I figure I'll still do 3500 miles on this oil anyway, just to be sure.