Auto RX? 2003 XC70

Sparkplug · Post by **Sparkplug** » 10 Sep 2010, 14:45

Hello everyone I am a new member and have question regarding Auto RX. I purchased a new to me 2003 XC70 with 72K miles. Not from a Volvo dealer so the history is vague other than Carfax. I know some of the potential issues with the car and performed the 75K service myself, plugs, air/cabin filter,fuel filter and used the gibbons method to flush/fill the tranny with 3309.
There is some slight varnish build up on the baffle beneath the oil filler cap. There was also build up on the dip stick above the oil fill level. So i decided to do a Auto RX treatment per the instructions. I used dino oil and the recommended amount of Auto RX ran the car up to operating temp before draining the old oil. Filled and ran again for 10 min. and let sit fpr 30 min. and it was right on the full mark. Now after only 1000 miles. (not in the rinse phase yet) the oil level has increased 1/4-3/8" above full. I can only assume that the Auto RX is dissolving sludge that is in the engine.
Has anyone else done this procedure and noticed this? I know there are other products out there like MMO and Seafoam that can also be used.
Regards,
Ted
2003 XC70 Black 73K

Daryl Baines · Post by **Daryl Baines** » 11 Sep 2010, 14:02

Yes if yor engine had more sludge than you thought. just follow the instructions and you should be fine. Thats what Auto-RX will do dissolve sludge slowly just make sure the oil filter is ok.

c3po · Post by **c3po** » 18 Aug 2013, 14:53

Daryl Baines wrote:Yes if yor engine had more sludge than you thought. just follow the instructions and you should be fine. Thats what Auto-RX will do dissolve sludge slowly just make sure the oil filter is ok.

Daryl, I have a question about Sludge, I was reading something on a forum called BITOG and I ran accross a thread titled ( 3 ARX Cycles, didn't do much, bummer...)

This individual did 3 clean and rinses with auto-rx, so he basically spent $75.00 for the auto-rx, and he used about 6 oil filters, so lets say about $9.00. He basically did 6 oil changes, so lets say the car held about 5 quarts of oil, thats 30 quartsof oil, so he may have spent about $60.00 on motor oil.

He basically spent $144.00 and he got no results. I was wondering if you can explain this rinse phase of auto-rx, because I don't think that it is needed, so we have clean and rinse, are our engines like washing machines. It seems that auto-rx may only work under pressure, so since the valvetrain is splash lubed then auto-rx really cannot clean up valvetrains. Actually there are many threads where are did not clean up the engine, including the valvetrain. I also noticed that this product has problems with aluminum cylinder heads and aluminum engine blocks, there is also a problem with this product removing Varnish Stains. I also was able to GOOGLE A Thread called MOBIL 1 CLEANS BETTER THAN AUTO-RX ? What is odd about this thread is that it was started by someone who once used auto-rx.

I also found the thread called ARX & Aluminum Engines to be very fascinating, it seems like motor oil's have evolved and there really is not any need for products like auto-rx.

The thread called SNEAK -PEEK @ AUTO-RX CLEANING AFTER 1400 mi showed that auto-rx did not clean up the Varnish in Artem's head, but neither did any of the other products he used in his engine. Daryl, is the owner of auto-rx doing anything to make his product better, because it sure does not seem to be working.

covert24 · Post by **covert24** » 19 Aug 2013, 17:56

I can vouch for the "snake oil" that is AutoRX. I have an 89 s10 4x4 that has its fair share of sludge. I ran 3 treatments of it following the recommended instructions provided by a representative that I was emailing back and forth. Did absolutely NOTHING. Literally no difference at all. Nada.

It was a big thing on BITOG a while back and was the "cure all" that a bunch of people recommended. It eventually came out that the patent for AutoRX was originally designed for cleaning out industrial hydraulic systems and that's when everyone started losing interest in it and stopped recommending it as the cure all for all sludge problems. Its still mentioned every once in a while but the overall following has died down considerably.

Subbing a quart of MMO (Marvel Mystery Oil) into your oil change every once in a while or even every oil change has provided me greater benefits and results that were actually tangible.

Following regular or slightly shorter OCI's with a quality synthetic will honestly yield better results than anything that you just pour into engine and all is fixed. I've also read from a few places that Diesel oil such as Rotella T6 will also clean out the engine well. The T6 only comes in 5w-40 to my knowledge and I think the T5 syn-blend only comes in 10w-30. Don't quote me on those weights though

Post by **DGM** » 20 Aug 2013, 07:13

Sparkplug wrote: Now after only 1000 miles. (not in the rinse phase yet) the oil level has increased 1/4-3/8" above full. I can only assume that the Auto RX is dissolving sludge that is in the engine.
Has anyone else done this procedure and noticed this? I know there are other products out there like MMO and Seafoam that can also be used. Regards,Ted, 2003 XC70 Black 73K

I used Auto-Rx a few times on various engines and I haven't notice an increase in oil level during the cleaning phase. Personally I find this product expensive for the result. I had better chance with MMO over the years. For an engine treatment, replace one quart of oil with MMO at the oil change.

After the treatment, during normal OCI, someone can add half a quart, 1000 miles before the oil change. I use shorter OCI, 5-6K, with synthetic oil (group III). This works fine for me.

c3po · Post by **c3po** » 19 Dec 2013, 17:10

covert24 wrote:I can vouch for the "snake oil" that is AutoRX. I have an 89 s10 4x4 that has its fair share of sludge. I ran 3 treatments of it following the recommended instructions provided by a representative that I was emailing back and forth. Did absolutely NOTHING. Literally no difference at all. Nada.

It was a big thing on BITOG a while back and was the "cure all" that a bunch of people recommended. It eventually came out that the patent for AutoRX was originally designed for cleaning out industrial hydraulic systems and that's when everyone started losing interest in it and stopped recommending it as the cure all for all sludge problems. Its still mentioned every once in a while but the overall following has died down considerably.

Subbing a quart of MMO (Marvel Mystery Oil) into your oil change every once in a while or even every oil change has provided me greater benefits and results that were actually tangible.

Following regular or slightly shorter OCI's with a quality synthetic will honestly yield better results than anything that you just pour into engine and all is fixed. I've also read from a few places that Diesel oil such as Rotella T6 will also clean out the engine well. The T6 only comes in 5w-40 to my knowledge and I think the T5 syn-blend only comes in 10w-30. Don't quote me on those weights though

This auto-rx was a big thing on Bitog because it was once a sponsor on that board from 2002 up until January of 2009. The owner of auto-rx had many respected board members posting favorably about his product, since a snake oil salesman has no credibility he needs to use paid accomplices to push his product. You are probably wondering why auto-rx was let go as a sponsor, seems the owner of auto-rx got into some trouble when he attacked people who complained that they were not seeing results. He would tell dissatisfied auto-rx users:

1) You did not follow directions
2) You need to use more product
3) Where's your invoice, don't remember you buying auto-rx

Auto-Rx has gotten rid of there money back guarantee, that should tell you something about this product, they also changed the name of there product to Auto-Rx Plus, seems that auto-rx had such a bad reputation and it was not selling well. Do not be fooled, this auto-rx plus is the same worthless product that was called auto-rx, they cannot show any proof that it is a different product. Daryl Baines, who posted in this thread, is an employee for auto-rx, his job is to troll boards like this to get sales for auto-rx. The only thing this auto-rx product will clean out is your wallet, stay away from this product because if you buy it and are not satisfied and you call the so called arx tech line you will not get any help. 1140 people have bought this junk in the U.S.A. not one satisfied customer in this thread.

The ARX Forum is a ghost town with Frank Miller regurgitating old threads that are 5 or 6 years old. All of the tests on the arx website were controlled by Frank Miller, arx has a lot of theories and claims, but none of them can be proven. Remember, a snake oil salesman will say anything to get you to buy his product.

cstallman76 · Post by **cstallman76** » 07 Nov 2015, 20:27

Well shoot…

After less than 300 miles I've blown seals on my 2001 V70 with 137k. The timing belt end exhaust cam seal was weeping oil, very lightly--no measurable oil loss between OCI, prior to starting an AutoRx Plus treatment and then it simply let go. Pop! 4 quarts dumped in less than a mile. Caught it soon enough to avoid engine damage…

Having contacted Frank of AutoRx by replying to his original email regarding my purchase, he and his "chemical consultant" Rich Aukland have both sent me a string of emails. I must say that the tone of the emails started out less than cool-headed, but then again I hadn't exactly approached them with my hat-in-hand either, so fair enough. Anyways, I think I have to agree with their assessment that the AutoRx after just 300 miles couldn't really be the root cause of the cam seal failures. Though they're pointing the finger at PCV, (they are unaware that I replaced the full PCV system before the treatment went into the engine), they are offering to replace the two lost bottles. I can't ask for fairer than that I suppose.

Gotta say I'm nervous as hell to start another treatment. Last thing I want to do with winter coming on is have a crank seal blow, especially the rear.

My theory is that the inside of the seals, where they seat to the engine may have had a film of crud on them. The crud was preventing oil from positively contacting them and had allowed them to dry out. As the crud was worn away by the AutoRx (?) oil seeped into the void caused by seal drying and subsequent contraction and it was simply standard crankcase pressure that popped the dried out seals. Sound plausible? Would anyone here risk continuing the treatment? How about replacing the front crank seal when I do the cams this weekend…will that mean the weakest link and most likely failure will be the rear crank seal?

The engine doesn't show signs of sludge, just a dark glaze on non-contact surfaces. That's why I wanted an engine treatment was to move away from the apparent depositing condition I was trending toward.