Welcome to Auto Repair Guide
Online Car Repair Estimator Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
Inventor Comes Up With Dream Product
from: Susan D. Brandenburg
While his natural curiosity has often led inventor Frank Miller of Ponte Vedra Beach to research and development, his diagnosis of prostate cancer six years ago added another kind of R&D to his repertoire -- resolve and determination.
"I had no insurance when I was diagnosed with cancer," he recalled. "I was dead broke and nearly dead when I picked myself up off the floor and started researching an idea that had been in the back of my mind for years. I had nothing left but time on my hands and the intense desire to leave something of value behind me."
Frank's idea? Inventing an environmentally safe, non-solvent metal cleaner that would work in engines, gear-boxes, transmissions and any type of oil-lubricated equipment.
An application engineer who worked in the printing industry for some 30 years, Miller said he spent much of his career "knee-deep" in petroleum-based solvents used to clean printing presses. He's convinced that his close proximity to those solvents brought on his cancer.
"I found out that my fellow in-plant technicians nearly all had the same cancer," Miller said. "It's the constant eight hours a day, five days a week of solvents getting into your skin and pores that does it, and it's in the air that we breathe. Solvents do not disappear. When they drift from the printing plant or through the emissions from your car, they hang onto leaves and drop into the grass. They are there forever."
Physically weak and financially strapped, Miller spent hours at his computer, searching the Internet for the newest non-solvent, non-petroleum chemical technology.
"I was determined to find a formula that would clean metal and not poison me," he said, "and I found it in Natralube 1006, a natural occurring ester chemical formula developed by the Fanning Corp. With that formula as a base, we developed the pourability that would make the product viable."
After independent field and emissions tests and receiving U.S. application patent No. 6,544,349 for the cleaner, which he named Auto-RX, Miller arranged with Haviland Consumer Products in Grand Rapids, Mich., to produce and bottle it, set up his Web site and began marketing it over the Internet.
"It was a stroke of genius to sell it only over the Internet," said Miller's friend, Michael Camar of Jacksonville Beach. "Frank has complete control over his invention. He answers his phone and his e-mails, fields questions and gives advice one-on-one to customers. That kind of service is rare these days. Frank's invented the most ecologically safe product I've ever seen, and it's working in engines everywhere from California to the People's Republic of China."
Camar and Miller met recently to add a 12-ounce bottle of Auto-RX to the oil in Camar's 1994 Ford Taurus.
"After 35 years in the operations end of the oil business, I was a skeptic," said Camar, now retired, "but I've watched Frank market Auto-RX and seen the e-mail testimonies pour in, so I had to try it. This old car had some transmission problems, but since Auto-RX went into my transmission fluid, the results have been remarkable. Now, it's going into my oil. As Frank says, a clean engine is a healthy engine, and since better combustion equals better gas mileage, that's for me!"
On Miller's Web site, www.auto-rx.com, and other Web sites frequented by auto enthusiasts, such as www.bobistheoilguy.com, the buzz about Auto-RX is predominantly positive.
"I have noticed an increase that went from 18 miles per gallon to 21 miles per gallon," wrote Daryl Baines of DeLand. "On my daily commute, coming home tonight, I did tank top up and got 27 MPG versus my normal 24.5! .. . Woo Woo ... Snake oil, I think not," wrote Steve On from Palmdale, Calif.
Frank Nipper of Jacksonville said a lubrication specialist recommended that he try Auto-RX for the rear main seal oil leak in his 1987 Mitsubishi pickup truck.
"It just absolutely stopped the leak," Nipper said. "It seems Frank has a really effective product."
"It cost me less per bottle than the present-day cost of a tank of gas, and my engine in my 2002 Chrysler Sebring is worth $6,000," said John Marchant of Jacksonville's Northside. "The dealership told me I had sludge in the engine and they couldn't do anything for me. I put Auto-RX in my oil. My engine is now quieter and running smoother. It's working."
After about five years of marketing on the Internet, and the addition of new lines including 3-RX for printing presses and Cycle-RX for motorcycles, Miller recently incorporated his business.
"I just need a couple more years to make my dreams come true and leave a legacy for my four kids and four grandkids," he said.
"I've devoted myself to staying alive and getting this thing off the ground," he said. "I go in for treatments every four months, work out twice a day, eat a lot of healthy green stuff like broccoli, and take a battery of strong nutrients over and above the chemo. I'm not afraid to die. I just want to die well, knowing that I've done something good. I'm praying to God that my kids inherit a company they can be proud of or the money from the sale of that company. Either way, I'll be in the history books as the guy who did this."
About The Author
Susan D. Brandenburg is a free-lance writer who lives in Ponte Vedra Beach. Contact her at 543-0730 or e-mail susand1@bellsouth.net.
Online Car Repair Estimator News
Penske Automotive Group, Inc. - Value - NASDAQ
Penske Automotive Group, Inc. - Value NASDAQ Penske is the second largest auto retailer in the United States measured by revenue. As of Jan 12, 2012, it operated 335 retail automotive franchises handling 42 different brands and 29 collision repair centers. Headquartered in Michigan, it sells new ... |
RepairPal Launches "Top Shop" Auto Repair Network to Ease Consumer Worry About ... - MarketWatch (press release)
RepairPal Launches "Top Shop" Auto Repair Network to Ease Consumer Worry About ... MarketWatch (press release) EMERYVILLE, CA, May 01, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- RepairPal ( http://RepairPal.com ), the leading online destination for auto repair and maintenance information, today announces its new Top Shop network of trusted repair shops. |
Cash For Trucks Making the Car Selling Process Easy - PR Web (press release)
Cash For Trucks Making the Car Selling Process Easy PR Web (press release) Cash for Trucks is a new innovated service that makes selling a car easy. They are a reputable company that makes selling your car or truck fast when you bring your vehicle to them. They can also come to your location, provide an estimate, ... |
Lower summer car rental costs and be sure you're not paying double for coverage - kjrh.com
 kjrh.com | Lower summer car rental costs and be sure you're not paying double for coverage kjrh.com Include a statement from your insurance carrier showing the costs for which you are responsible and any amounts that have been paid toward the claim. * Include a copy of the accident report form, the auto rental agreement, and the estimate or repair ... |
AutoZone 3rd Quarter Same Store Sales Increase 3.9%; EPS Increases 18.6% to $6.28 - MarketWatch (press release)
 Proactive Investors USA & Canada | AutoZone 3rd Quarter Same Store Sales Increase 3.9%; EPS Increases 18.6% to $6.28 MarketWatch (press release) AutoZone does not derive revenue from automotive repair or installation. AutoZone will host a conference call this morning, Tuesday, May 22, 2012, beginning at 10:00 am (EDT) to discuss its third quarter results. Investors may listen to the conference ... AutoZone Management Discusses Q3 2012 Results - Earnings Call Transcript |
KARACHI CHRONICLE: Auto-repair racket - Business Recorder (blog)
KARACHI CHRONICLE: Auto-repair racket Business Recorder (blog) But rarely do we notice the massive auxiliary support system that keeps traffic on the move: the auto-repair workshops however, the question is do, we really need those thousands upon thousands of small and large wayside garages? |
Show will go on for tonight's Lion King at Arsht Center - Palm Beach Post
Show will go on for tonight's Lion King at Arsht Center Palm Beach Post Arsht executives announced Monday afternoon that the show would go on as workers scrambled to repair the damage left by untold gallons of water pouring into the Miami theater's lobby, walkways, staircases and bathrooms in the middle of Sunday's The ... |