5/28/10 Hi everyone, I'm new here. I've been reading a lot about ARX, and have decided to try it out for myself. I recently picked up a 97 M3 with 140k miles that has a persistent oil burning issue(1qt every 400-500 miles).
On startup, the car will often let out a puff of smoke. On WOT, the car produces black smoke, and under mild load produces blue smoke. Going downhill under load does not produce any smoke. A recent compression test showed that I had 85-90 psi on all cylinders(didn't get a chance to try dropping oil in to raise the numbers). This information, coupled with the above leads me to believe that my car has either worn rings, or stuck rings. I'll be getting a leakdown test run next week to see if I can get a definitive answer.
As a side note, I have changed the oil separator(PCV system on a BMW) recently, within the last 1000 miles.
I'm trying a run of auto-rx to see if the rings "unstick" and I see any improvement. I'll keep posting my results as I get them here, and if any of you have any suggestions, I welcome them openly.
141,222 - ARX done with an oil change, previous mileage: 20mpg 141,480 - First gas fillup since switching to ARX, averaging 18.5mpg(have been driving the car at higher rpms to try to raise operating temps). Car "seems" to start up easier, and "feels" like it runs smoother, will continue to push the car a bit to the 500 mile mark, where I will lay off the gas and see if my mpg has improved.
Other things I've noticed: 1) If I lay off WOT for about a week, and then get on it, the car will produce a massive cloud of black smoke behind it. (clearly visible in the rear view mirror) 2) After running the car through WOT and at high RPMs for a week, the car now only sporadically produces smoke at WOT.
3) Motor runs hard and strong, if there is a lack of power, seems the power loss must be in the 10% range, I previously owned an e36 328 and m3 before.
5/30/2010 Mileage: 141,620 Was driving last night and hit WOT, felt the car hesitate, give a jolt, and then languish a bit. Let off the throttle and gave it another go, and the car felt like it was pulling quite hard, not quite sure what the explanation is.
Haven't gotten a chance to do a dry/wet compression test yet.
Noticed there's a ticking coming from the motor now that increases in frequency with RPM, not sure what that is either but seems like its tied to the jolt last night.
Up at 400 miles now and burned about 3/4 a quart of oil, topped it up this morning.
Took a look at the oil filter this morning, nothing there yet that indicates sludge or anything else being cleaned out, just looks like paper dipped in oil.
-- Edited by mrclam on Sunday 30th of May 2010 03:47:46 PM
Black smoke would indicate the engine is running rich. Have the O2 sensors every been replaced?
The ticking you are hearing could be the Auto-Rx causing deposits to break lose and decrease oil flow/pressure to particular areas. Auto-Rx generally dissolves these in a safer way to other chemicals, but it can still happen. At this stage, I would not worry about it and continue on with your Auto-Rx treatment.
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Latest data: 1) The bang last night and the subsequent ticking was caused by a failed spark plug. The electrode in the center blew out of its mounting point in the center and was basically spinning freely separate of the four prongs. 2) Did a dry/wet compression test. Got much more believable numbers this time, 130-140 in every cylinder, with an extra 15-20psi per cylinder when oil was added. 3) Had a friend drive behind me, still observed me burning oil at normal speeds.
Black smoke would indicate the engine is running rich. Have the O2 sensors every been replaced?
The ticking you are hearing could be the Auto-Rx causing deposits to break lose and decrease oil flow/pressure to particular areas. Auto-Rx generally dissolves these in a safer way to other chemicals, but it can still happen. At this stage, I would not worry about it and continue on with your Auto-Rx treatment.
Not sure about post-cat, but the pre-cat o2 sensors were just replaced 1000 miles ago. Figured out what the ticking was and got more data!
Got the leakdown done today, numbers from 5-12 for 5 cylinders, and 22-30 on the last one(depending on the threaded connectiong used to plug into the spark plug hole). My mechanic diagnosed a piston ring as the culprit, and told me that a stuck ring is very unlikely in this case.
