scottone92

I bought a 1999 RX300 a month ago with 98K on it. It had great maintenance records with most of the oil changes accounted for. I know this engine is prone to sludge/gelling so I am going to be pro-active and do an Auto-Rx treatment. I figured I would document the progress every 400-500 miles or so. I took pictures of the varnish on the dipstick and it is rock hard. It will interesting to see if the treatment removes any of the varnish because it probably represents the situation inside the engine. I would pull the valve cover if I felt comfortable enough doing so, but I do not. I also posted on the Auto-Rx board and BITOG. Should be interesting.

Here is a link: http://auto-rx.activeboard.com/index...picID=33599536

scottone92

Alright to update: I changed the oil and added the Auto-Rx. I also changed the PCV valve. I understand why people are getting the K & N filter with the nut on it. What a booger to change out the filter. Going from underneath is almost as bad as trying to get it from the top. I went by the DIY in this section and it helped out alot.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Wow, in my 40+ year of car ownership, I've never seen a dipstick like that. I really don't know if Auto-Rx works but I guess it can't do any harm. I'll be interested to see your reports.

Thanks!

JohnLX300

iTrader: (2)

I just ordered my Auto-RX today. I get an occasional blue smoke only after the car sits overnight, sometimes, it usually happens about once every other week. Sometimes more.

lexus114

your not putting in two RX applications at once are you??

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Just looked at your post on the AutoRx site. The dipstick still looks awful but I've seen a lot of RX100 Oil filler caps (and the plate inside the oil filler hole in the valve cover) that have that crust on them like your - thought to be due to high temperatures where the oil tends sto splash and/or sit and gets burned. Not thought to be a problem.

scottone92

No, but it is suggested that vehicles with mileage of 100k or more do two treatments.

picomode

Scott,
Any updates on your AUTORX treatment ?

JohnLX300

iTrader: (2)

I recently finished up the sludge treatment for AutoRx. I just completed the "rinse" cycle. The vehicle is running great. More power better gas mileage. I have not seen any blue smoke yet. It seems to have totally been resolved. Also, I haven't burned ANY oil in the last 1,500 miles. I am running Mobil 1 0w30 synthetic now too. Car has never felt any better.

Iluvlexus

My RX300 has 135K and has seen infrequent oil changes over the last 50K miles (with synthetic fortunately), has seen primarily highway miles, and has a dipstick which shows no varnish. Go figure!

hypervish

The dipstick may or may not ever show signs of sludge or varnish. But, since you used synthetic you should be fine, just do a few quick oci's of a good synthetic oil with a high tbn such as pennzoil platinum or ultra (About 3.5k oci, to clean out any sludge or varnish).

lexus114

Good oil choice! I`m using Valvoline Conventional oil in mine,and it works great.

TriniLex

Is it necessary to use Synthetic? I just changed mine to Castrol GTX

hypervish

Not necessary, but a cheap way to ensure that you won't get sludge. Keep your OCI at 3.5k, and you should be good.

Lexmex

Today, I am supposed to get from Amazon my Lucas 0W30 and my K&N HP-2009 filter. I had planned to use either a Lubro Moly Engine Flush or perhaps a Gunk Engine Flush, but instead I am going to use about 1/2 a quart of Mobil 1 ATF to help flush out the system (something I used to do in Mexico before I used other Engine Flushes).

I think AutoRX is the best product out there though (though it does take some time).