2 Valvoline Restore & Protect tests

Before/After
1731355711434.webp


1731355923213.webp


Looks like very minimal cleaning, just around some of the areas in green.

2,500 miles is not a full OCI. Would have been nice to see more cleaning. You may need to run it 4x. This is not a flush product. It would be fun as an experiment to switch to HPL or Amsoil SS out of curiosity.

Also, it may be cleaning your rings and you just don't know it. Some of the hard carbon may also see minimal oil contact. These are things to consider.
 
Avery4 said:
I ordered a quart of their EC30 on Saturday and plan on trying it as soon as it arrives. I'm hoping to see some kind of results before pulling the engine for a reseal and thorough manual cleaning!

If the EC30 shows some kind of results, I may get a quart for my friend's CRV too.
Click to expand...
Keep in mind the EC30 is a lot milder than the oil, which is why they recommend running it before the oil, as the oil can potentially remove too much too quickly and load up a filter to the point of bypass. So, if you want more aggressive cleaning, you could try the oil, but with that in mind.
 
buster said:
Before/After
View attachment 249458

View attachment 249461

Looks like very minimal cleaning, just around some of the areas in green.

2,500 miles is not a full OCI. Would have been nice to see more cleaning. You may need to run it 4x. This is not a flush product. It would be fun as an experiment to switch to HPL or Amsoil SS out of curiosity.

Also, it may be cleaning your rings and you just don't know it. Some of the hard carbon may also see minimal oil contact. These are things to consider.
Click to expand...
Oh yes. Definitely a difference
 
buster said:
Before/After
View attachment 249458

View attachment 249461

Looks like very minimal cleaning, just around some of the areas in green.

2,500 miles is not a full OCI. Would have been nice to see more cleaning. You may need to run it 4x. This is not a flush product. It would be fun as an experiment to switch to HPL or Amsoil SS out of curiosity.

Also, it may be cleaning your rings and you just don't know it. Some of the hard carbon may also see minimal oil contact. These are things to consider.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the before and after and highlighting the differences! To me, it looks more like the carbon was redistributed than removed in a some of the areas, but those are changes nonetheless. But I don't know the history of the car or what oil was in it when I got it, so for all we know, any other decent synthetic oil may have done the same thing with long highway trips.

I understand, but the plan is to remove the engine for a manual cleaning and refresh likely towards the end of next year and I don't drive very much, so I didn't have time to do 4 oil change intervals. My experience suggests that Amsoil SS is a very clean running oil and does remove varnish gently over time, but it doesn't seem to be overly aggressive either. I haven't used it in any engines with visible hard carbon, so I can't say how effective it may or may not be against it.

I'm not saying you are wrong, but if R&P can't do anything significant to fairly soft carbon, how is it going to clean the extremely hard carbon that builds up on rings with even less oil exposure? I'll post pictures of the pistons and rings when I do the refresh and give my subjective observations of how freely they move, but without a before, that won't be very useful.
 
OVERKILL said:
Keep in mind the EC30 is a lot milder than the oil, which is why they recommend running it before the oil, as the oil can potentially remove too much too quickly and load up a filter to the point of bypass. So, if you want more aggressive cleaning, you could try the oil, but with that in mind.
Click to expand...
Great point! I actually considered adding 1/2 the quart of EC30 to start with so I don't clog something and end up with damage, but from what I've been reading, adding the full quart should be safe as long as the filter is changed regularly and the oil is changed when it gets dirty.

Remember that the point of these tests is just for fun and education since the engine is coming out for a very thorough manual cleaning of everything, all new gaskets/seals, new hoses, a new clutch, etc regardless of the results, so the last thing I'd want to do is cause more damage while experimenting.
 
Avery4 said:
Valvoline's key marketing point is cleaner pistons and rings. The rings and their grooves get caked with carbon MUCH harder than this, so if R&P can't even touch carbon that's soft enough to easily scrape off with my fingernails or any of the varnish, I don't have much hope that it is going to clean the rings.
Click to expand...

I don't want to be a downer on the product. I've been using too, and I'm happy for those who have had apparent success.

Nevertheless, I do wonder how much the piston cleaning is down to the III H test (heat etc). Plus, they're starting with deposits accumulated by a III H test on a baseline oil. What if those quickly accumulated deposits in the IIIH test are easier to remove than daily driving deposits?

I completely believe em that the testing shows this amazing cleaning of the pistons. I just wonder how much of it transfers to the real world.

Time will tell!
 
Although I don’t believe previously discussed : If Valvoline R&P addresses sludge and carbon clean up - can we assume R&P to be equally up to the task for varnish clean up ?
 
ChrisD46 said:
Although I don’t believe previously discussed : If Valvoline R&P addresses sludge and carbon clean up - can we assume R&P to be equally up to the task for varnish clean up ?
Click to expand...
From what I've seen, it doesn't seem like it. Soft sludge is much easier to remove than baked on varnish.

The real question is whether it does either significantly more than other quality synthetic oils. Sure, there was a marginal improvement in a few areas, but are there other off the shelf oils that would have done the same thing or better with lots of highway miles? I bet there are.
 
Avery4 said:
From what I've seen, it doesn't seem like it. Soft sludge is much easier to remove than baked on varnish.

The real question is whether it does either significantly more than other quality synthetic oils. Sure, there was a marginal improvement in a few areas, but are there other off the shelf oils that would have done the same thing or better with lots of highway miles? I bet there are.
Click to expand...
Per ValvolineGlobal website info...
Piston deposits removal is what's advertised by Valvoline. They do not mention or draw attention to sludge and varnish removal with this product.
 
Triple_Se7en said:
Per ValvolineGlobal website info...
Piston deposits removal is what's advertised by Valvoline. They do not mention or draw attention to sludge and varnish removal with this product.
Click to expand...
Good point, but if R&P can't remove relatively soft carbon and varnish with reasonable effectiveness, how is it going to clean extremely hard baked on carbon off the rings and out of their grooves with minimal oil exposure? Those deposits are usually so hard they have to be scraped off with the sharp edge of a broken ring or similar and still usually take several passes to fully remove AFTER soaking in a strong solvent. I've seen rings stuck so badly that they are almost impossible to remove.

Here's a picture from Valvoline's website of the type of cleaning R&P supposedly did in one of their tests. Sure looks to me like they are indirectly claiming varnish removal.
1731779827811.webp
 
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