Hi, I have a 99 Mercury Cougar 2.5L V6. I have a leak from the front main seal. I ran Auto-Rx treatment in clean phase for 3000 miles. Now I am on the rinse phase for the last month and the leak has gotten much worse. Should this clear up quickly??? Should I switch to a HM oil?? What if I add a seal stop leak product?
We clean the seal material front & back Auto-Rx will always cause the seal to leak more as we make it extremely pliable as well as clean and making the seal material like new. We don't SWELL seals.
When you get to the rinse mode using non solvent non high mileage oil oil. the additive package in this oil will restore pliability and your seal leak will slow down and probably stop.
Do not add any seal leak product. Follow the application.
-- Edited by Frank Miller on Tuesday 3rd of November 2009 10:19:32 AM
I am using Supertech 5w-30 oil, non-sythetic. I will continue to follow the rinse and see how it goes. The car does seem to have more power since the cleaning. I know there was sludge because I had the valve covers off last summer. I cleaned up what I could, but relied on Auto-rx to do the rest.
How many miles until the leak will slow down on the front main? Any typical results??
I had a Mercury G/M and it took 2 oil changes of 3000 miles each before it stopped. I sold the car 5 years and that person is still driving it with no leaks but he is using the ARX maintenance dose of 4oz.
Well I determined that the huge leak that developed was the oil pressure switch. I was wondering if Auto-rx had anything to do with it. I had it replaced before just 3 years ago, probably with a cheap aftermarket component.
Now that that leak is fixed I can assess the state of the other leak, the front main seal.
When I changed the oil pressure switch I had to change the filter to get access. I also noticed that the filter seemed pretty heavy. More so than a normal oil change and the car was just at 1600 miles since starting the rinse phase. I will try to cut it open to see what I find.
The other thing I noticed is that the tone of the engine changed. Before I replaced the filter the sound of the engine was throaty and different sounding. Now with the new filter the car is back to its old free revving sound. Anyone had this experience with a saturated filter??
Auto-Rx would have nothing to do with an oil pressure switch (except clean the solenoid located in the engine)
Your posts make me think you have sludge issues . I hope not. Anytime your engine sounds unusual and your cleaning the rotating parts stop and change the filter its full.
Auto-Rx 99% of the time do its removal of dirt,contaminants,sludge during the rinse phase.
If you going to try and fix a front seal leak please go to www.auto-rx and print out instructions.
I am aware of the procedure to follow. I am actually following the sludge application. I noticed I had some sludge build-up on the heads in the spring when I had the valve covers off. I haven't cut open the filter to look at what's inside yet. Just curious as to why the filter saturation would cause the engine to sound different.
After another 1500 miles, I will start my second auto-rx clean phase.
I've used arx on many cars that I bought with over 100,000 miles and unknown history. Most of the time I start treatment the car has no leaks, but then a leak develops during clean phase, and then the leak stops somewhere in the 1st or 2nd rinse phase. Its a little unnerving, but patience pays off.
Forgot to reply to this. It turned out that I had developed a leak at the oil pressure sender. I corrected this in December and haven't had any major leaks since. Maybe a slight weep from the front main seal, but it seems to be diminishing as time goes on.
Sounds like you're well on your way to a clean engine. The sludge build up was probably the only thing preventing the sender from internally leaking.
It's good to hear that the front main is doing well.
You may see more heavy filters. If you have the opportunity, cut them open. I've seen some that were totally plugged with softer sludge.
On your last rinse filter, if it's still showing material accumulation, then you may consider another treatment. There are limits to what can be physically suspended and captured in one or two treatments.
