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Been lurking here for a few months and have learned more than I ever thought I needed.
I got directed here by a post over at one of the Volvo boards.
Well I fired an order off to Frank after reading a years worth of posts concerning his Auto-RX.
I have a 1987 Volvo 745 Turbo Wagon 5 spd with 282,500 miles on her. She has seen 3000 mile oil changes since new. Although the oil was dino it was always name brand and the good stuff. I have always used Volvo Factory oil filters which are made by Mann in Europe. A very high quality oil filter. Over the last year or so my oil usage has increased. I replaced all the oil seals which helped a lot. I also keep the car maintained above and beyond the factory manual. The plugs, wires, belts, cap, rotor, fuel filter, belts and air filter are changed once a year. The AMM and timing are checked at the same time along with the radiator flushed.
The car ran ok but not great. You would kick in the Turbo and there would be a lag or stumble just before all **** would break loose. The car has been modified and boost pressure was raised from 7.5psi to 14.psi. The power was no longer coming on smoothly but holding back for a second or two then bang, slam you in to the seat acceleration. The boost was up there but the engine felt like it was eating up more and more power just to keep running. There was a noticeable increase in valve train noise. The Vacuum was running at 22 inches at idle. The rpm's were running 950 at idle. The oil temp stayed at 180F to 200F and the oil pressure was running a little low under normal driving conditions. Also when you went into high boost at 4000 plus rpms it would throw out a large cloud of Black smoke for a second or two.
Well I took the plunge with the Auto-RX and after 850 miles there has been some impressive improvements. I ran the car with the Auto-RX as prescribed the initial 750 miles. I changed the oil 100 miles ago with dino. Well the vacuum has stayed at 22 inches at idle. The engine is idling much quieter. Valve train noise is almost nonexistent. The big changes were the oil temp has dropped 20 degrees to around 160F under normal driving and the pressure has jumped at least 10 psi across the board. The biggest change was the idle. It dropped to 750 rpm's. 750 is where it should have been in the first place. I could never find a way to get the idle rpms to the factory spec of 750. On my throttle body there is no adjustment for the idle. It is factory set and should never need to be adjusted. The boost now comes up so smoothly like the car did when it was new.
I did get a real scare around 350 miles into the treatment. I started the car and it felt like something was really wrong in the motor. I drove it a few miles and my vacuum gauge was running 10 inches of vacuum at idle not the normal 22 inches. The thought of a bearing going or a Turbo hose came loose ran through my mind. There was a major drag on the motor at idle as well as under power while driving. Lots of Black smoke under even light throttle. Pulled into a parking lot and checked my Turbo hose system. You will get the same effect if a hose came loose or has a hole in one of the hoses. I found nothing wrong, everything checked out ok. I pulled back onto the road and being a typical guy I slammed the throttle to the floor and ran it to 5500 rpms shifted into second and ran it back up to 5500 rpms. Pulled up to the stop light and it seemed to have solved the problem. It was running a lot better. I don't think the people driving behind me were too thrilled. You should have seen the huge cloud of black smoke that was settling on the road behind me. When the light turned I jumped on it again in first gear and very little smoke appeared out of the tail pipe. I figured that the Auto-RX had just unstuck a ring or two. I would have never thought about the rings if I hadn't read it here first. Since then the smoke problem has been deceasing to almost nothing. The one thing that hasn't happened YET is the varnish on my rockers that can be seen through the oil cap opening has not decreased. They are the same color they were when I started. But I still have 1400 miles to go with the dino and a second treatment still to come. I will keep you advised on the continued soap opera of the Auto-RX and the Volvo.
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