I own a 1998 Toyota Sienna XLE model mini-van.  The van is equipped with a 3.0-liter, V-6 motor and automatic transmission. I originally purchased the van used in July, 2001 with 46,343 miles.  I noticed that, during a test drive, white spoke would come out of the tailpipe on startup.  I didn’t think much of it and thought that it was an easy repair for a mechanic.  I even went so far as to purchase an extended warranty just for this purpose.  After my purchase, I researched the internet and to my horror, I realized that after looking at some very similar descriptions of the problems I was having that my engine was sludged up.

I took my van soon after the purchase to my local Toyota dealer.  They removed the front valve cover and immediately saw sludge on the valve train and caked up in the valve cover itself.  The dealership then informed me that sludge terminates the factory warranty and that the only way to fix it would be to rebuild the engine at a cost of $4,600.00.  I didn’t really want to hear that especially right after I had bought the van!

One evening, I was researching other Toyota people who are currently having the same problem when I ran across someone asking if anyone else had used a product called Auto-Rx.  I went to the website and did some personal research on the product.  My research consisted of contacting some of the testimonials listed on the website to make a determination as to whether this product was a legitimate answer to my sludge problem.  After discussion with one person who had used the product, I felt assured that I had nothing to lose (especially when a money-back guarantee is being offered).

I ordered a bottle of Auto-Rx and when it arrived, I took some pictures of the front valve cover and then added the product to the engine.  Prior to my adding the Auto-Rx to my engine, I had just changed the oil approximately 150 miles earlier.  Therefore, the engine oil was relatively clean.  I have driven a total of 550 miles with the Auto-Rx in the engine.  I decided to change the oil filter at the 300 mile mark with the treatment rather than going the full 500 miles as Auto-Rx suggests.  The reason for this is the fact that I felt that my engine was sludged up to the point that one filter would not hold all of the liquefied sludge and consequently backup the filtering process.  After the initial 300 miles, I removed the first filter and cut it open to take photos as proof that the product works.

After an additional 250 miles (550 miles total driving), I removed the second filter and took additional photos of this filter by itself and next to the first filter.  Both filters were totally black and there were small particles of sludge in between the pleats of the filter!  I could not believe what I saw!

Needless to say, this is a work in progress and I am currently in the process of changing the oil to run the engine on oil and oil filter only for 1,000 miles.  After that, I am going to add an additional treatment of Auto-Rx per the websites instruction.  I feel that this last treatment will completely clean the engine and rid it of all the present sludge.

Frank, I really appreciate what your product does!  I sincerely hope other Toyota owners who have the same engine (and same problem as I do) will find this product and start to use it.  It is really an inexpensive way to detoxify your engine and help restore the engine back to it’s factory state.