Auto-RX and sludge

18 years ago

This oil sludge seems to have become a problem for many autos, NOT just Toyota.

Nor is the reason why accurately known. Some say the oil change intervals are too long; many owners do not care and trade every three -five years..

Too many short runs

Emission controls(high operating temps for better combustion)

This fairly new product "Auto-RX" claims to alleviate this condition.

I am skeptical of any mechanic in a bottle.

Featured Answer

mynutsrturning

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

Yep' this is true its another gimmick like all the rest of so called additives!

Since sludge was mentioned I'll chime in..

Fact is the big problem behind severe sludge problems started with EPA laws being ramped up in mid 90's by the "Go Green Team". Some car makers oil sludge issues reached epidemic proportions on many 1997 and newer
cars, with the following cars greatly affected being these car makers:

Audi - 1997-2004 -

Chrysler -
1998-2002 - Dodge - 1998-2002 -

Hyundai/KIA - 1998-2004 -

Lexus - 1997-2003 - Toyota -1997-2003 -

SAAB - 1999-2003 - Volkswagen - 1997-2004 - BMW 1997-2004 and several GM 1997-2004 models.

Notice the affected vehicles started having sludge around 1997? This happened even though most engines were not new designs? humm?

Then you see it ended around 2004? Why?

See 1997 that's when new EPA laws took effect in the USA and 2004 is when makers caught on and fixed the ~~~~ up.

To follow our new EPA laws the car makers had two choices.

1. They can add more catalytic converters. (costly to all)

2. Simply raise the combustion temp/times inside the engines cylinders to burn off excess gases longer/hotter equaling cleaner emissions. Sounds cheap and easy? Like my sister...lmao This theory is what Backfired!!

The makes who simply added 1-2 more cat converters saw no sludge issues.. Winner!!

The vehicles they raised combustion temps ended up cooking the oil therefore creating sludged. Loser!! Some makes on the list went both directions depending on model so look for more than one exhaust cat it may be a winner?

The fact remains, our government made them do it too soon folks so long term testing wasn't done. Both fixes sounded like an easy plan to makers anyway but it took some time before the sludge problem even showed up in record numbers so all makers blamed owners for the type oil used and/or not changing oil on time like normal. Many had proof of oil changes but many didn't so no papers, no engine replacement for you man. Just a bad ~~~~deal and all affected makers done it to customers btw!!

But' one thing learned for sure is anyone who ran "Full Synthetic" oil not a synthetic blend or regular dyno oil went much further without fail and many still own these listed cars today without any failure due to sludge and following their maintenance schedule. Full Syn oil especially a good grade of syn oil will withstand these higher temps much much better. In fact' my Tundra engine still looks new inside with no engine repairs to date at more than 340k miles. Yes' 340k miles with no engine work, only maintenance hot d*mn it's a winner!!..lol

My neighbor bought an expensive inspection camera with a very long tiny scope he can inspect most anything by sliding it down inside. It's a tiny thing, he was playing around while visiting one day last year and we both were just stunned how clean my Tundra engine looked inside everywhere except my throttle body (now clean). We expected nasty stuff with the miles it has but shockingly it is like new still. fwiw- Still today it leaks/burns no fluids of any kind, it been a remarkable machine to me for well over a decade and I'd jump in & drive it across country today..

Anyway' needless to say It's always had full syn Mobil one oil, changed every 8k to 10k miles. I do 8K during winter due to more moist air so you get more condensation that breaks oil down faster. If you pull any oil dipstick out and it looks brown instead of like new chances are its had regular oil or a low grade syn oil in it. It's buyer beware on oil and that brown residue is on every part inside too, my dipstick still looks like brand new btw.

Don't be fooled thinking synthetic blends are any better than regular oil because they simply aren't. Unless things changed and I missed it there is no legal standard for the amount of synthetic content in any type of syn blend. Meaning' they can have a refinery tank full of regular dino oil and add one thimble full of synthetic and sell it as a blend. What percent of syn is in a bottle of blend? Huumm?

It's a snake oil gimmick imho and without regulation oil companies do what they always do best, that is to make quick easy money off us all until they no longer legally can. Trust them not to sc^#w us all? Looked at price of gas today? I rest my case..

Remember: Look for any brown sludge buildup on your dipstick, you'll know exactly what your oil is/isn't doing for this nasty sludge. It should still look new only using full syn oil!! Switch oil type/brand if its brown.. I personally have seen sludge destroyed engines as low as 75k..

Thanks for reading my book.. sorry...lol

Comments (6)

brianl703
18 years ago
Auto-RX really does seem to work. I assume you learned of it at the bobistheoilguy.com website--if not, go there and visit the forums. Someone did a study of the product and took many pictures of the valvetrain of their engine--yes, it cleaned up the deposits and sludge that was on the valvetrain.
gary__
18 years ago
It might work. There have been engine cleaner type products out for as long as I can remember. It probably just has more detergent or some kind of solvent in it. This one pretty much looses me starting out with "This extreme heat, when combined with engine oil, also creates harmful byproducts such as sludge,...". I used to see engines with sludge. The cause appeared to be the engine not getting up to operating temperature, not extreme heat. There were engines that had crusty spots like on the valley pan where heat probably was the cause though. If people who make a lot of short trips would change there oil @ 3 months or 3k miles and make sure their thermostat works they won't have any problems. I don't think anything a person dumps into the oil will make up for problems related to not changing the oil often enough. jmo
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earthworm
Original Author
18 years ago
"Sludge" is probably the wrong term.
The oil pump screens are being clogged with "baked" oil particles..
Why ?
All turbocharged engines must use a special high heat synthetic oil, changed every 3 months....IMO...
Regular engines should have their oil changed every 4 months....And this is against the industry tide of changing the oil one a year.
Quite a problem.
brianl703
18 years ago
Auto-RX does not use any solvents to clean (I read the patent on it). What it does use is, if I remember correctly, esters derived from lanolin.

I have used Auto-RX. The greatest benefit was in the power steering system on my 1988 Mustang. In cold weather it used to be stiff when first starting up(morning sickness I think). Now that problem has gone away (and I did try changing the fluid; that didn't help). I added 2oz of Auto-RX to the power steering, drove it for 1000 miles, then changed the power steering fluid (by disconnecting the cooler hose and letting it drain).
Brent1969
10 years ago
This auto-rx product is nothing but SNAKEOIL, auto-rx is no longer a sponsor on Bitog, seems they got kicked off back in January 2009 since the product was not working for anybody. This product will not remove sludge, you can GOOGLE a thread called 3ARX cycles, didn't do much, bummer. The owner of arx replies that this guy who saw no results should use more product, give me a break. Arx knew back in 2003 that there product would not clean up aluminum engines, meaning aluminum blocks and aluminum cylinder heads. Frank Miller, the owner of auto-rx said back in 2003 that aluminum is softer and more porous than cast iron so it holds contaniments and the only way to remove these third party abrasives is to have the engine proffessionaly cleaned.

Things are so bad for auto-rx that they have done 2 things, they have gotten rid of there money back guarantee and they have changed the name of there product, when your product has a bad reputation or it is not selling, you change the name. There are a few paid posters for auto-rx on the internet, they are Trajan and sprintman, Trajan will claim that auto-rx worked for Gary Allan and dnewton3, here is the problem, Gary Allan was a paid consultant for auto-rx. He was given free product to post about auto-rx and he ran tests that were controlled by the owner of auto-rx. dnewton3 was given free auto-rx for his tests and his compression numbers cannot be verified. A SNAKEOIL SALESMAN is only going to test his product if he can control the tests. Things are so pathetic for auto-rx these days since they are averaging about 2 new customers a month, this is not good since 99% of arx users are onetime users, this would also show that 99% of arx users are not satisfied with the product and they see no benefit in spending $28.00 for a bottle of auto-rx.

When a product does not live up to its claims, then it is SNAKEOIL.
When the owner of a company uses accomplices to push his product, then it is SNAKEOIL.

When a product claims to take care of many ills, and it does not, then it is SNAKEOIL.

Auto-Rx has alot of claims, but no proof, this product is only sold on the internet, if it were sold in stores, then the FTC would eventually shut them down. Auto-Rx has about 1100 customers in the United Sates after being in business for 12 years, that is not much of a customer base. Even Bob Winters, the original BOBISTHEOILGUY, tested auto-rx and found that this product does not work. Auto-Rx is made up of esters, these esters will do nothing to clean up Sludge or Varnish. This product is a joke just like Slick50 and Duralube. Frank Miller runs this company out of his townhouse, the arx warehouse is actually under the bathroom sink.

Auto-RX and sludge

mynutsrturning

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brianl703

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Auto-RX and sludge

mynutsrturning

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