Comments I am about 500 miles away from finishing the cleaning phase, and just realized that I only added one bottle of Auto RX to 7 quarts of oil in my truck. So I was just curious if I could add the right amount of Auto RX once this cleaning phase is over instead of running 3,000 miles for the rinse phase. Pretty much just start the process over this time with the right amount of Auto RX in my truck. Dear John,
In my estimation you should just finish off your 500 miles to reach the recommended mileage for the cleaning phase. Then go on to the rinse phase, which is nothing more than running a normal 3000 mile run on conventional oil, with a new filter installed. There is fairly good Auto-Rx activity at your current dosage of about 1.7 fluid ounces of Auto-Rx to 7 quarts of motor oil capacity.
Tell me a little bit more on your desires with respect to your truck. Such as, how many miles on the truck, oil burning, valve train noise, noticeable deposits under the valve covers or seen through the oil filler cap, cam or crank seal leaks? With a little bit more information, I can give you must better recommendations.
If possible include the oil change intervals and typically what oil has been run. I am dedicated to make your ARX experience as good as possible.
Rich,
My truck is a 2005 Ford F150 with 67,000 miles. I have always used Castrol Syntec Blend 5W20 and changed the oil at 3,000 miles. I recently developed a slight tapping noise under the hood of my truck, so I took it to the dealer and they said the cause most likely was the type of oil filter I was using. Apparently Fram oil filters are a big no no for these trucks and will sometimes break apart and leave debris in your engine. So they ended up replacing my cam phasers and all my lifters and the tap is still there. They said that the oil galleries could be slightly clogged, but would not do anything else for me. My truck runs fine and I have not noticed any type of performance loss or mechanical failure since they performed the repairs. I am just trying to do whatever I can to clean out the inside of my motor. I understand also that Auto RX might not be able to clean the galleries, but I figured it was worth a shot.
Thanks for the reply. The real folks that are at fault are the Fram folks. I am asking your permission to post our conversation, with your name omitted, on the Auto-Rx question or discussion board to help folks avoid the same pitfall that you are in. What do you think? I will likely take the name Fram out of the equation, from a personal liability situation. I just want to be honest about what ARX can and can not do and make folks aware of what the consequences are for running poor quality filters.
I have heard some horror stories of Fram filters elements caving in and somewhat degrading sending filter element pieces throughout the oiling system. To be honest Auto-Rx will not dissolve the filter element material. However it will dissolve oiling system contaminants that the fibrous filter element might adhere to. This would be beneficial in that the fibrous filter material is much more likely to flow to the new and more desirable oil filter. With that said, I think that I would run a shortened rinse phase in your Auto-Rx application. Perhaps run only a 1000 to 1500 mile rinse phase. I say that because you really need to run a short oil change interval to try and rid the oiling system of fibrous materials from the filter deterioration.
I would suggest running a small maintenance dose perhaps 3 to 4 fluid ounces of ARX with each oil change, after completing your shortened rinse phase of your current application. This will help greatly in preventing the fibrous materials from collecting on and around any fibers that remain in the system. Keep the OCIs short, no more than 3000 miles during the next few oil changes with the maintenance dose of ARX installed. This is my best advise to work this filter element contamination Out of the system, and minimize risk. Obviously the best option would be to dismantle the motor and hand clean and inspect, but for most that is not an option.
No product that you can add to the motor will dissolve pieces of filter element. If they did they would be causing oil filters to fail left and right. So my best recommendation is to try to prevent any pieces of filter element from attracting contaminants and attaching so as to create a bigger mass.
There should be more publicity about these failing filters.
