y oil light started to come on after about 4 months since my last oil change. Since it was suggested I stop using the product and just use Castrol oil for I forget how long. Since then I have for the time stated. I was getting my oil changed every 3 months to make sure that what ever sludge was in my car was being drained out. Since then I have not had the check engine light come on. I have not been driving across town much lately but did today and my oil light came on. I have been using about 4 ounces in each oil change of the auto-rx product to make sure that it was doing all that it could for my engine. When my oil light came on I brought it in and was told that I had plenty of oil and I should since I just had it changed on December 1st. He said it may not be able to list the oil up and this is why the oil light is coming on. He said it may be the oil pressure gage that needs to be replaced. I do not know if I should go through a whole treatment again as I believe I have already gone through 2. I just want my car to get rid of the sludge and not have issues like this again. This is why I was doing the maintenance dosage again.
For starters it would be helpful to know what type of vehicle and mileage you have. The maintenance dose is only to be used after doing a clean and rinse cycle. Depending on how many miles you have you may need more than one clean and rinse cycles.
You are right I did not put down any of this. I have posted before and Frank had me go through a full treatment and rinse cycle. I was having other problems so I went through another phase but I think at the time it was an experimental phase that used 2 bottles or some thing like this. After I went through the rinse phase and was getting the check engine lights Frank suggested that I do not do the maintenance dose but just use plain oil for I think 3000 miles and then go back to the maintenance dose. I have 92.000 miles on a 2000 Toyota Corolla.
Well I'm not going to get into a "what you should do" discussion if Frank has already advised you. In one part of your post you mention "check engine" light and at another place you mention "oil pressure" light. Are you having 2 different problems or what? My suggestion would be to take it to a trusted mechanic and see if indeed your oil pressure is actually low and yes oil pressure sending units do go bad and get if replaced if defective.
-- Edited by onthefritz8 on Monday 28th of December 2009 09:13:00 PM
Thanks for the advice. My original problem was sludge so I went through the program. I later had problems with the check engine light coming on and could hear noise then as it seemed like the oil pump was getting stuck. I think then Frank suggested I do just a rinse phase again. After following this advice I had no problems with the check engine light for a long time. I started getting the oil light flashing off and on and some times staying on but only for long trips kind of like last time with the check engine light. I think I might still have a little bit of sludge sticking. I do not get any loud noises like last time though so it is possible that the sending unit is going bad or that I still have sludge build up.
Please go to using the Auto-Rx Maintenance Plan (4 ounces of Auto-Rx every OCI) this will take care of the remnants of sludge and keep your engine clean and out of the shop.
Thanks for the information. That is what I have been doing. I just noticed the oil light coming on recently. My check engine light came on as well and is staying on but just noticed it on the way to work. I will probably hook this up tomorrow to read the code and see if it is the same as it has always been. It may just be the air flow sensor needs to be cleaned as I do not hear the noise like I used to.
My engine light came back on and I was able to test it before it went out again. I got the P1349 code again. I was getting that before but the car was very noisy. It is not noisy now but I am having the same problems. On another board for this problem they suggested cleaning the oil control valve control filter which I have never done. This problem went away for a good 6 months if not longer. It is a shame that every now and then the oil sludge problem seems to come back. I know for a while I was using an oil from Meineke oil that was semi synthetic and this seemed to help. The one closest to me has closed down and only one in town pretty far away but I guess close enough. I will have to see if they use the same oil as this other place. I do not remember the oil light coming on before as I just had the check engine light coming on. I thank you for a great product and for all the help you provide. Hopefully these problems will go away soon.
Your car has the same engine as my 2001 corolla, and p1349 is so common that Toyota issued a Technical Service Bulletin about it and will repair it under warranty, but unfortunately you are past that. Your oil control valve filter is clogged or partially clogged, like many other corolla owners', and it sounds like arx is able to help that problem somewhat.
I suggest you clean the ocv filter. If you go to the dealer to buy the filter's o-ring (cost maybe $1) they will give you an exploded view printout that shows where the filter and its o-ring is located. autorx may help with this problem but if p1349 is coming back you really should clean the filter.
As far as noises go, arx often reduces engine noise but it very much depends what the noise is from. For your car, the serpentine belt tensioner is know to get weak over time and causes various noises that are annoying.
Thanks for the information. I had called the local dealer about a year ago and he said that what I wanted never goes bad. He also said that in all the years he had been doing the job that he never had to order this part. He wanted me to print it in and to have them examine it. I did not want to bring it in for a $1 part that I could take care of myself. I guess I will just have to find a place that I can order this from. Last night the oil light and check engine light were on at the same time. Just the fun of dealing with an engine that gets sludge.
I do not know why I did not think about this originally or even looked at the FAQ's section. When looking at it they mention that lights may come on such as oil light and engine light during the cleaning phase as sensors are being cleaned. I had the check engine light on at times during the cleaning phase or maybe after as it has been a long time since I have done one. It is possible that since this is at normal temperatures for my car that it is just cleaning a sensor. I guess this can happen during the maintenance phase as well.
It can because maintenance program which IMO is the heart of the Auto-Rx benefits. Does not seem to get the understanding and benefits by customers. Maintenance dose cleaning up remains of contaminants.
I guess some people forget about the FAQ's section as well. I know that I read it before I started the program and just forgot about it as I went through the process. I found out that after doing more research that the problem is with the oil pressure but it could be a bad switch but more then likely I still have some sludge that is left over that is causing this issue. I wish that on my car I had a gauge to show me this information but I do not. I guess I will just have to bring it in like suggested to find out what is causing the oil pressure drop. I will give it some more time to break things up as I do not hear the noise like I used to when this happened so the car is getting the oil it needs.
