Oil Sludge?

Ol is a basestock and additive package. Oil basestock type is split into
Group I, Group II, Group II+, Group III, Group IV, Group V. Use RX with anything up to Group III, not IV and V.

Originally Posted by danewilson77

Do I think it will cause damage if you do use it for a short period of time? No. How long does Auto-Rx take to work? A long time. Quite a cunundrum isn't it?

That why it's broken down in phases, ie; clean and rinse. In a larger sump like our cars, you can go as far as 5K on either phase. ANY current crop of group III oil (sprintman makes a good recommendation with a 5W-40) will easily go 5K without, putting it like our favorite forum "expert" would say, blowing up your engine. I will throw in my .02 and say go with any non-syn HD diesel oil. If you're concerned about lots of stuff in there, run another clean/rinse cycle (which is recommended for engines over 100K anyway).

I ran my last lot of RX about 12,000kms from memory. 10,000kms/6,000 miles this time. My shop says it's the best running E46 they see period. RX is my little secret!

Ive been using M1 0W40 every 7500 miles.
http://img232.imageshack.us/g/dsc02119o.jpg/

mine had M1 0W40 every 5,000 miles/8,000kms. RX made it much much better. Rejuvenates seals too (think VANOS)

Originally Posted by sprintman

mine had M1 0W40 every 5,000 miles/8,000kms. RX made it much much better. Rejuvenates seals too (think VANOS)

So you are using RX with the Mobil1 0W40 ?

Originally Posted by antonmn

Well, I don't think the crap in the filter was life or death... here's a pic:


https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

I just wouldn't leave it in for 2500 miles like I did.

looks cool

.

Best not to use M1 0W40 with RX as it has ester content. I use Shell Helix Ultra 5W40, a Group III basestock oil with no ester or PAO content.

Originally Posted by sprintman

mine had M1 0W40 every 5,000 miles/8,000kms. RX made it much much better. Rejuvenates seals too (think VANOS)

Nothing can rejuvinate rubber/plastic/whatever seals after they have been run down over thousands of miles.

Originally Posted by antonmn

Last year I ran with 2/3 of a can of SeaFoam (basically a solvent) in the the crankcase for about 2500 miles. It really loaded up the oil filter with flaky crap, and caused the filter pleats to distort, as though they were under a lot of backpressure.

Long story short, it loosened a lot of garbage and sent it to the filter, which is what we want. But I'd probably only run it for maybe a thousand miles at a time. Maybe do that a few cycles with a cheaper dino oil.

I use SeaFoam as well. I usually dump in about 1/2 a can and then drive about 50 to 100 miles, then pull right up on the ramps for an oil change. Then change the oil while it is still smoking hot, so that it is still real thin. Also using M1 0W-40.

Just changed my valve cover, not a DROP of sludge.

I agree that 2500 miles is too long.

Originally Posted by VECTOR

So you are using RX with the Mobil1 0W40 ?

Did I miss it? What oil are you using? I had the mayo anound my cap with M1. But, after swithching to Castrol Syntec, it's gone!

Drewfus2101 you are wrong about seals. How about posting your data to prove your theory?

Originally Posted by sprintman

I ran my last lot of RX about 12,000kms from memory. 10,000kms/6,000 miles this time. My shop says it's the best running E46 they see period. RX is my little secret!

Hello Sprintman, everyone,
Class of 2011 reporting in...
Bought an 02 330ci zsp 116k miles on it abt 2 months ago.
The it was dealer maintained by a mature previous owner. But he only fixed stuff that broke. (power seat motor, windshield, door seals etc..)
No preventative maintenance done to it.

I can deal with other things that need to be done to it, but it took 1 quart after 700miles!!!
(CCV is clean, no leaks in the valve cover or oil pan. I do get a puff of white smoke on cold start but very little)

Not knowing this as the previous owner neglected to mention it... I've done other obvious stuff such as; 2 front tires, alignment, diff and tranny fluids w/ auto rx.

Now i just started the engine oil. I have castrol gtx 10w-40 dino w/ 2 bottles of auto-rx in the sump.

Sprintman,
can you tell us what the "results" of your treatment/flush cycle did for you?

i will update my findings soon (doing a x country trip tomorrow NJ=>CA)

Originally Posted by antonmn

Last year I ran with 2/3 of a can of SeaFoam (basically a solvent) in the the crankcase for about 2500 miles. It really loaded up the oil filter with flaky crap, and caused the filter pleats to distort, as though they were under a lot of backpressure.

Long story short, it loosened a lot of garbage and sent it to the filter, which is what we want. But I'd probably only run it for maybe a thousand miles at a time. Maybe do that a few cycles with a cheaper dino oil.

tsk tsk tsk. I bet the oil you took out of there was thicker then gear oil. You shouldn't have driven it more then 100-200 miles tops with seafoam, you were just asking for trouble.

Originally Posted by OrientBlau

Ive heard Sea Foam is all placebo.

Sorry to say, you've heard wrong. All that smoke produced with seafoam is cleared carbon build-up. It stabilizes idle, cleans the injectors, and it has personally given me improved gas mileage.

Originally Posted by VECTOR

It was on the internal engine metal I could reach with my finger, not the cap itself. It came off like a paste more than a lite film of oil. I cannot say it looked like mayo, but lets assume for the moment it is. What do you guys use(if anything) to loosen or break it down right before an oil change?

What is there to worry about as you put it if it is more like mayo, and what is typically done to get rid of it?

This sounds pretty normal for the top of the engine cover. Years of build-up will cause that thick muddy grease. Most synthetics actually contain detergents to keep sludge from building up. You can either:

- change your oil more often
- use something like Auto-RX (don't think it's that drastic, but wouldn't hurt)

I suggest opening the valve cover and check to see if it's the entire engine or just the inside of the cover.

Originally Posted by jkahng

Hello Sprintman, everyone,
Class of 2011 reporting in...
Bought an 02 330ci zsp 116k miles on it abt 2 months ago.
The it was dealer maintained by a mature previous owner. But he only fixed stuff that broke. (power seat motor, windshield, door seals etc..)
No preventative maintenance done to it.

I can deal with other things that need to be done to it, but it took 1 quart after 700miles!!!
(CCV is clean, no leaks in the valve cover or oil pan. I do get a puff of white smoke on cold start but very little)

Not knowing this as the previous owner neglected to mention it... I've done other obvious stuff such as; 2 front tires, alignment, diff and tranny fluids w/ auto rx.

Now i just started the engine oil. I have castrol gtx 10w-40 dino w/ 2 bottles of auto-rx in the sump.

Sprintman,
can you tell us what the "results" of your treatment/flush cycle did for you?

i will update my findings soon (doing a x country trip tomorrow NJ=>CA)

VANOS seals rejuvenated, compression up, smooth as silk, zero oil consumption now. Run it at leat 5,000 miles and if you add oil add some RX too.

Originally Posted by sprintman

VANOS seals rejuvenated, compression up, smooth as silk, zero oil consumption now. Run it at leat 5,000 miles and if you add oil add some RX too.

How long have you been running it with AutoRX? I've heard pretty good things but if I'm remembering right its teflon based, and that tends to be a temporary fix.

Originally Posted by sprintman

VANOS seals rejuvenated, compression up, smooth as silk, zero oil consumption now. Run it at leat 5,000 miles and if you add oil add some RX too.

Thanks for the info!!
Very nice to hear that auto rx works on the M54.
I had a pretty severe vcg leak on my maxima that auto rx cured... My auto tranny became silky smooth as well.

The only thing is....
I'm using US spec Castrox GTX 10W-40. Where as the euro spec Castrol GTX 10w-40 dino IS good for A3/B3, US spec is not.
I couldn't get my hands on PP 5w-30 which is group III

I'm not sure I want to leave it in so long.

I'll be changing the oil filter at abt 1,200miles into the treatment and changing the oil at abt 3200miles I don't want to harm the engine.
I'll just do another treatment if i'm not satisfied....

Again, Thanks for the info.

Originally Posted by ac_2007

How long have you been running it with AutoRX? I've heard pretty good things but if I'm remembering right its teflon based, and that tends to be a temporary fix.

Auto RX is a cleaner. It was developed for cleaning printing presses and invented by mistake.
I will slowly dissolve sludge over a 6000mile treatment/rinse cycle.
I don't think there's any teflon in it at all.

There's a religious following on bob's the oil guy forum. I would use it on any car that doesn't require synthetic oils but I had to do some research before I did it on my 330ci.

Originally Posted by jkahng

Auto RX is a cleaner. It was developed for cleaning printing presses and invented by mistake.
I will slowly dissolve sludge over a 6000mile treatment/rinse cycle.
I don't think there's any teflon in it at all.

There's a religious following on bob's the oil guy forum. I would use it on any car that doesn't require synthetic oils but I had to do some research before I did it on my 330ci.

You're right, I must have been thinking of another product.

During the treatment, they say you're supposed to run your car with conventional oil, and attribute oil burn to leaky seals stiffened by synthetic oil. I'm not sure if I believe their information about synth-oils, however I have seen the product work successfully. Guy had an older Honda with ~250k miles, and was burning a quart of oil every 800 miles. After the treatment, which took quite a while, it eventually stopped or slowed to the point where the burn was no longer noticeable.

So +1 for AutoRx. Not sure how many people on this forum would be brave enough to use it as our BMWs call for synthetic.