LSJr. The TRUTH About Valvoline's BOLD Engine Cleaning Claims

If totally real, great to show results of the possible and I do believe to be true.

I just cringe for an oil/car guy to have that amount of varnish on the dipstick as well as dirty motor and faded headlights. Maybe that's just my OCD. None of my high mileage vehicles had or have it that bad. I totally get the convenience/benefits of dealer changes. When I'm gone unless my kids do it for themselves or my wife, their vehicles will probably wind up the same.

I also like the nice shiny all metal dipstick in a BITOG x-rated adult movie way. The stainless cable, orange plastic end in the Tucson is just wrong. My Pilot at least the stainless cable and metal end but still don't like it.

I'm doing the VRP in a hopefully "protect" way in FIL's Renegade with new motor. Hopefully keep everything free from the scored cylinders the old one got. It will also go in my Pilot next OCI since VCM is active and probably in Tucson just because.

Kids cars and my Accord will get what I have for stash (PP Euro L and M1) enhanced by a quart of HPL. My Accord is the only vehicle that seems to use any but that is a 6MT and probably beat more as well as most daily mileage. I had to top off with a 1/2 quart yesterday with 1800 miles on the OCI. Daughters CRV with 2600 on OCI has needed nothing. I might need to swap my PCV again after 60k just because it's easy and not expensive. Heck maybe I need to do a couple VRP OCI's in the Accord to try it. That gets about 3 OCI's per year and has been using probably about that rate since I got it with 49K on it, 4 years and 62k ago.
Hard to believe a dude with an oil testing company has a family vehicle that appears that neglected! I know he's busy, but that's not a good look...
 
My interest in R&P will be to see if it can slow oil consumption in my Theta II 2.4L GDI to be better than continued M1 5W30 EP + Rislone oil treatment regiment . If R&P is shown to help after a few of my normal 3,000 to 3,500 mile OCI’s then great . If little to no improvement using R&P , then I’ll just chalk it up more so to the Theta II 2.4L engine design.
 
I watched this in full last night. The only thing I didn't like was where he was saying things like higher levels of manganese is definitive proof of better cleaning. Really?

Are we sure the oil itself doesn't contain any manganese, either as an additive or as a trace element?
Are we sure the testing procedure is 100% accurate every time? Was the manganese level verified with multiple tests?
Are we sure the gasoline used in the vehicle contained manganese?

Lots more steps to go through to prove anything. This video is absolutely nothing more than a commercial for Valvoline and LS's testing company.
He has VOA of each.
 
Does anyone know which engine Valvoline used in testing this oil?
Looks like LS Jr. has proven that 10K OCIs on TGMO 0W20 is WAY TOO LONG! I wouldn't even go that long on company vehicles that aren't mine-7500 is the limit.
Tend to agree w/you. Toyota's seem to be reliable for many miles though. Not sure how much his wife's van burns oil. 180k not too bad but it's not 250k either on TGMO. That cleaned dipstick pic does look good. 😄
 
I bought a few of the gallon jug R&P 3-pack cases Amazon was selling awhile back for around $60. I'm on the second run of it on my 2021 Traverse and 2021 Equinox 1.5T. I changed both between 4500-5000mi. Both of these vehicles were purchased as lease returns with ~34K miles on them. I didn't find anything unusual in the filter pleats or on the dirty side of the filter can on either vehicle.

I keep a spotless dipstick regardless, in case anyone wanted to know..
 
So what exactly is the magic ingredient(s) in this oil?
Remains a mystery. I read a comment that it could be OSP but that was shot down as they can't handle the high temps of the IIIH test.

Aniline point may be something to consider based on their prior patents.

But in that Engine Builder article, the Valvoline guy said it's something he's never seen before so it's not any of the below IMO.

1732813568013.webp
 
Do you think you're the exception or the rule?

Which part are you referring to, exactly?

That I'm:

A - A BITOG member, that buys oil at Walmart
B - A BITOG member, that buys new cars
C - A BITOG member, that services his own car
D - A BITOG member, that buys oil at Walmart, and buys new cars
E - A BITOG member, that buys new cars, and that services his own car
F - A BITOG member, that buys oil at Walmart, and that services his own car
G - A BITOG member, that buys oil at Walmart, and buys new cars, and that services his own car

Or is it more of this last one:

H - A Human Being, that buys new cars, and that services his own car, and that just happens to buy their oil at Walmart?

Going with just the number of new cars sold every year, I bet the last one is fairly common, when you take into mind that thread a couple weeks back about the different types of generations, and their willingness to perform their own services on their vehicles.

If you're capable of changing the oil on your car, and you buy new vehicles, and you're doing your own servicing to save money, save time, or to ensure the job is done right (all three apply to me), then yeah, I would imagine there are probably tens of thousands of people like me, who buy new cars, or low mileage cars, and then will buy the engine oil and even oil filters, at Walmart, and then service the cars themselves.

Sure, there are WAY more people who buy mid to higher mileage used cars (30k to 90k miles), service it themselves, and buy the oil they need at Walmart, but that's just because of total numbers of used cars versus new cars on the market.

I would say that there's less people who buy really high mileage cars (I'm talking over 200k+ miles when they first buy it), who buy oil at Walmart, and then service it themselves, than the first two groups combined. This group of people tend to buy cheap, heavily used vehicles near the end of its lifespan, and don't care about maintenance in the first place. They just care about getting from point A to point B, as cheaply as possible, and tend to send cars to the junkyard after the neglected repairs and maintenance items pile up.

I would say the number of people who have bought new and low to mid mileage cars, serviced the vehicles themselves, bought oil at Walmart for those services, and then driven the cars to high mileage are higher in number than the number of people who buy high mileage used cars, and then start self servicing those cars, and buy their oil at Walmart.

People are smarter and more thrifty in this country than you give them credit for.

Or maybe I really am that cheap, and that I'm not willing to pay many hundreds of dollars for an oil change at a dealership when I can do that same work for well under $100. Feel free to call up a Porsche, Alfa Romeo, or Ducati dealer in the Denver area, and ask them how much they charge for a typical oil and filter service. I'm also not going to custom order HPL or Amsoil products, because Mobil 1, Pennzoil, and Valvoline offer great oils at the nearby Walmarts and random nearby auto parts stores that I can put my hands on today, for less.

Think of how many vehicles are in my signature, and how much it would cost me to pay someone else to service all these vehicles once or twice a year.

Then again, you are right.
I am unique.

Not that many people in this country buy as many vehicles as I have new, service them themselves, and buy their oil at Walmart, because there just aren't that many people who have their **** together in this country, and do things that make sense, and allow them to have nice things.

Thank you for the compliment.
 
But again, one test of each. That does not prove anything.
I feel this way for all VOAs posted here.

There's batch variation. There are tolerances on everything. Two VOAs of different batches of the same oil will not be identical. "This oil has more calcium, this oil has more ZDDP" can't be generally confirmed from sample sizes of one. All it means is that those particular samples had those specific levels.
 
I feel this way for all VOAs posted here.

There's batch variation. There are tolerances on everything. Two VOAs of different batches of the same oil will not be identical. "This oil has more calcium, this oil has more ZDDP" can't be generally confirmed from sample sizes of one. All it means is that those particular samples had those specific levels.

It's like blood testing with high cholesterol and your doctor declaring you have a blocked arteries. It can possibly be a factor in that, but to straight up declare it without further testing is ridiculous.
 
Last edited:
I feel this way for all VOAs posted here.

There's batch variation. There are tolerances on everything. Two VOAs of different batches of the same oil will not be identical. "This oil has more calcium, this oil has more ZDDP" can't be generally confirmed from sample sizes of one. All it means is that those particular samples had those specific levels.
I really don't trust VOA's from other countries. Who knows even where the oil actually came from or specifically made or whatever.
 
Most people go the distance for oil intervals with their vehicles ( save 💲) , so good example with the van . Up to $100 for O.C.s' these times . :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
I feel this way for all VOAs posted here.

There's batch variation. There are tolerances on everything. Two VOAs of different batches of the same oil will not be identical. "This oil has more calcium, this oil has more ZDDP" can't be generally confirmed from sample sizes of one. All it means is that those particular samples had those specific levels.
It depends on quality control. I strive for consistency across the board.
 
Could just be Valvoline R&P is average or worse than average in terms of other things like oxidation resistance, shear stability etc, but can overachieve in cleaning. I think that's kind of what this product looks like to me so far.
As a GDI engine owner other specifications would be of interest such as NOACK and amount of VII’s used in the oil (with lower being better to prevent intake valve deposits) . I do not believe R&P is D1/Gen 3 approved either , so just a SP rated oil as of now for normal (no long drain) intervals . Perceived cleaning aside , how would R&P stack up against close in price oils like M1 5W30 EP or M1 5W30 ESP ? Probably nothing short of a before and after tear down will give us the information we want to see.
 
As a GDI engine owner other specifications would be of interest such as NOACK and amount of VII’s used in the oil (with lower being better to prevent intake valve deposits) . I do not believe R&P is D1/Gen 3 approved either , so just a SP rated oil as of now for normal (no long drain) intervals . Perceived cleaning aside , how would R&P stack up against close in price oils like M1 5W30 EP or M1 5W30 ESP ? Probably nothing short of a before and after tear down will give us the information we want to see.
IMO besides cleaning dirty pistons I don’t believe R&P is on par with ESP, EP or FS Euro(Mobils top offerings). More on par with plain old M1.
 
Last edited:
IMO besides cleaning dirty pistons I don’t believe R&P is on par with ESP, EP or FS Euro(Mobils top offerings). More on par with plain old M1.
Yeah the only benefit this oil has, at the moment, over others is that specialized cleaning ability. Everything else about it appears to be very average.
 
Back
Top Bottom