I have a VW Passat 1.8 Turbo. According to my haynes manual the engine holds 3.5 litres of oil. About the same in US quarts I think? I am about to start the heavy sludge application. Can I tip the whole 12oz bottle in? Or is that too much? Also, will there be any problems running the heavy sludge application, if in fact my engine does not have heavy sludge?
Thanks in advance
steve
-- Edited by scobe on Tuesday 19th of May 2009 10:04:27 AM
Use the whole bottle. Auto-Rx can't hurt anything it uses oil as a carrier only. Sludge Application will not create problem issue if you don't have sludge. Make sure you visit new web site (www.auto-rx.com)
If you don't have any sludge, then you'll have a fine shared boundary and dynamic lubrication layer with the friction modifier that's one of the ingredients in Auto-Rx.
It's kinda like a mucous layer for your engine (big grin)...
Auto-Rx is great for a clean engine. It's about the most economical way to keep an engine clean with co-benefits that are only available in very expensive oils.
Read up on friction modifiers if you have time. They form "whiskers" that cushion lubricated surfaces.
-- Edited by geeaea on Friday 22nd of May 2009 09:21:16 PM
OP: You've got a turbo charged little rocket of a motor with a very small oil sump. Just the shear heat from the turbo would indicate that your motor oil is running hotter than in most motor platforms. If in fact your motor is clean I would suggest running a 3 fluid ounce maintenance dose with a group IV motor oil, with normal oil change intervals. I would think that 4500 to 5000 mile oil change intervals would be about right for this motor. This is not a motor platform that you want to think about any longer oil change intervals. Remember that heat is the number one enemy of oil life.
With respect to the question of is there a limit to how much concentration is healthy, the full bottle concentration in your 3.5 liter system is close to the maximum to run a 3000 mile OCI with the product installed.
There is a fast track application listed on this site, but should be run for only a short distance, I think only 1000 miles. This application uses a double dose of Auto-Rx and should not exceed 17% of the sump capacity. One must remember that ARX is not a fully formulated engine oil and relies on the host motor oil as its carrier. The fast track cleaning method is mainly for auto's in need of cleaning with low operational hours per month or year. With your 3.5 liter system a full bottle would put you at about 11% of sump capacity, plenty for a routine cleaning.
With your motor being relatively clean, as you have stated, a standard cleaning is desireable, followed by the maintainance dose, after rinsing.
Just looked back at this thread after nearly completing the first full phase of sludge treatment, & noticed more replies after Frank had posted!
Firstly, I use a larger filter than standard. So my oil capacity is nearer to 4 litres.
Next, I have a few more miles to go with the rinsing phase, and have purchased another bottle of Auto RX to continue with the full sludge program. My car now shows around 66000 miles. The oil looks pretty clean. I have had no oil light issues. Will it hurt to go ahead with the second sludge application? Or should I finish now & use the bottle to add to future oil changes as a maintenance dose?
Lastly, I haven't looked on the sight for some time. I notice some changes to the treatment phases. I see there is now no mid term filter change during the rinsing phase!
If you saw substantial physical material in the filter on the mid-span cleaning phase, it wouldn't be excessive to do it on the rinse phase too.
I've seen older 70's engines that were mounds of pudding and pulled the filter and found it totally full of the stuff. The difference today is that the the sludge formations have changed a bit and that the engines susceptible to sludge are more exotic in how the oil filter integrates into the mix in causing oil lights to come on and, in some cases, restrict oil flow. A traditional pushrod V8 (or any older school American engine) can operate otherwise transparently with the same filter for its entire life. It won't care. It will wear the engine a bit faster, but it will run just fine. That's not the case with some of the Asian and (perhaps) the Euro's. Sometimes it's just the light that gets turned on with the sensor being fouled.
There are physical limits to the amount of material that a filter can trap. It can be up to 20 grams, but is usually in the 10-12gram range. This is why the preemptive filter change is done. That's in case you've suspended more material than it can hold.
Changing oil filter half way through cleaning & rinsing parts of the application is still good insurance when your removing sludge since you or Auto-Rx have no idea how much sludge you have.
Raising the cleaning mileage to 3000 miles is to save money and do the Auto-Rx Application using normal 3000 mile OCI.
People who don't change there own oil should appreciate the savings over 2500 miles. People who are on a budget should like it to.
We want you to use Auto-Rx to save not spend on oil changes in these days.
I will stick with the full sludge treatment. That way I know the engine is gonna be really clean!
A reason why I think my engine is pretty clean to begin with.... Apart from the oil looking pretty good! I had to replace the turbo. It is also recommended that you replace the turbo oil feed pipe, as this is one of parts that can suffer with sludging. After removing the old pipe I cut it up to see if it was clogged. Turned out to be as good as new.
