Not another Valvoline R&P thread

[goblin]

I have the same engine with currently 136k miles on it.

Thread 'Valvoline Restore and Protect - 2017 Hyundai 3.3 V6'

Feb 25, 2025

Hi All,
Occasional lurker, first post here. Was planning on crashing @Avery4 's excellent thread about the two VRP tests, because I don't have that much info to share to justify yet another thread, but well, maybe it's not polite to crash other people's threads.

Anyway. I'm an oil snob. There's no other word for it. I'm like that British gentleman who got stuck on a desert island and built three identical huts. When he was eventually found he was asked "Why three huts ?", and he said "Well, the first hut is my house. The second hut is my club. And the third hut - that one...

• goblin
• Replies: 29
• Forum: Passenger Car Motor Oil (PCMO) - Gasoline Vehicles

• 

I have used Royal Purple full synthetic since the very beginning - yet the car started consuming 1qt/1000 miles around 70k miles, and the dipstick and bottom of my oil filler cap have always been chocolate colored.

I agree with everybody else here:
- Change your oil following the severe use interval. 3k to 5k miles. Any oil would be fine as long as it follows the requirements.
- Also follow the severe use interval for the transmission fluid. Don't go above 60k miles no matter how you use it.

Your best friend is the user manual. On the Hyundai, it's actually very, very correct. They don't BS you with extended OCI's and whatnot. They advise tightly spaced intervals for severe use, and severe use is anything involving city driving.

I believe most issues with these engines occur from not checking the oil level. An engine that goes through 1qt per 1000 miles and starts with 6qts will be down to 1qt at 5k miles. Space that 5k, and you end up with barely anything. I suspect the oil consumption will not be proportional, so maybe past 3k miles it will no longer be 1qt per 1000 miles and there will still be something left, but in the long term it is not good. So stay on top of your fluids and you should be fine.

Also note that these engines don't have hydraulic valve lifters, it's all shims, and those need to be checked at 100k miles or so. I haven't on mine, as the procedure scares me crapless.

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

I have the same engine with currently 136k miles on it.

Thread 'Valvoline Restore and Protect - 2017 Hyundai 3.3 V6'

Feb 25, 2025

Hi All,
Occasional lurker, first post here. Was planning on crashing @Avery4 's excellent thread about the two VRP tests, because I don't have that much info to share to justify yet another thread, but well, maybe it's not polite to crash other people's threads.

Anyway. I'm an oil snob. There's no other word for it. I'm like that British gentleman who got stuck on a desert island and built three identical huts. When he was eventually found he was asked "Why three huts ?", and he said "Well, the first hut is my house. The second hut is my club. And the third hut - that one...

• goblin
• Replies: 29
• Forum: Passenger Car Motor Oil (PCMO) - Gasoline Vehicles

• 

I have used Royal Purple full synthetic since the very beginning - yet the car started consuming 1qt/1000 miles around 70k miles, and the dipstick and bottom of my oil filler cap have always been chocolate colored.

I agree with everybody else here:
- Change your oil following the severe use interval. 3k to 5k miles. Any oil would be fine as long as it follows the requirements.
- Also follow the severe use interval for the transmission fluid. Don't go above 60k miles no matter how you use it.

Your best friend is the user manual. On the Hyundai, it's actually very, very correct. They don't BS you with extended OCI's and whatnot. They advise tightly spaced intervals for severe use, and severe use is anything involving city driving.

I believe most issues with these engines occur from not checking the oil level. An engine that goes through 1qt per 1000 miles and starts with 6qts will be down to 1qt at 5k miles. Space that 5k, and you end up with barely anything. I suspect the oil consumption will not be proportional, so maybe past 3k miles it will no longer be 1qt per 1000 miles and there will still be something left, but in the long term it is not good. So stay on top of your fluids and you should be fine.

Also note that these engines don't have hydraulic valve lifters, it's all shims, and those need to be checked at 100k miles or so. I haven't on mine, as the procedure scares me crapless.

Totally agree with you about how most of the engine problems are caused by owners not checking the oil quantity.

 

[WobblyElvis]

Common sense has to used when determining OCIs. At times the severe OCI is not often enough. Other times surpassing the normal OCI is appropriate. You may, over a period of 5,000 miles, drive 1 of those miles on a dusty road, this does not mean you should follow the severe OCI. Following the severe OCI is not going to make a poorly made/designed engine last a long time when it's driven in reasonably good conditions. What good is changing engine oil using the severe OCI schedule when the car is driven under normal conditions? The oil is simply not worn out.

 

[goblin]

...What good is changing engine oil using the severe OCI schedule when the car is driven under normal conditions? The oil is simply not worn out.

Oil gets dark in 1000 miles on these engines.

 

[Decreppo]

according to the manual, normal use is 7,500mi OCI and severe use is 3,750. Some people say you must change the oil on this vehicle every 3,000 miles but I think that is a waste unless you are using cheap oils. With good synthetic, VRP has good UOAs, I think I am playing it safe at 5k miles.

Goblin, you bring up a good point about the transmission, how have you done the service work for your transmission?

 

[GSCJR]

I just saw a TV advert for R&P

 

[ChrisD46]

Common sense has to used when determining OCIs. At times the severe OCI is not often enough. Other times surpassing the normal OCI is appropriate. You may, over a period of 5,000 miles, drive 1 of those miles on a dusty road, this does not mean you should follow the severe OCI. Following the severe OCI is not going to make a poorly made/designed engine last a long time when it's driven in reasonably good conditions. What good is changing engine oil using the severe OCI schedule when the car is driven under normal conditions? The oil is simply not worn out.

You must not have driven a Hyundai 2.4 L GDI Theta II engine in mixed driving conditions : After 4K miles / 6 month OCI the oil is pretty well trashed as this engine is hard on oil (UOA’s confirm this as well - going up to 30 weight oil helps)… Severe service is 3,750 miles and is about right for an OCI for this engine . Better , cleaner running other brand engines can run longer OCI’s but I wouldn’t even run a 2.4L Theta II 5K miles on a good oil . Even running 4K mile OCI’s on good M1 EP oil resulted in stuck rings in the 2.4L Theta II which I will address beginning next fill with VRP 5W30. Lastly , I can pretty well say that Hyundai / Kia GDI engine vehicle owners should just go ahead now and switch to VRP 5W30 for the life of these vehicles running <4K mile / 6 month OCI’s . Besides the needed ring pack cleaning there is a lot of moly in the VRP oils to help with wear reduction as well in the Hyundai 2.4L GDI Theta II engine.

 

[WobblyElvis]

You must not have driven a Hyundai 2.4 L GDI Theta II engine in mixed driving conditions : After 4K miles / 6 month OCI the oil is pretty well trashed as this engine is hard on oil (UOA’s confirm this as well - going up to 30 weight oil helps)… Severe service is 3,750 miles and is about right for an OCI for this engine . Better , cleaner running other brand engines can run longer OCI’s but I wouldn’t even run a 2.4L Theta II 5K miles on a good oil . Even running 4K mile OCI’s on good M1 EP oil resulted in stuck rings in the 2.4L Theta II which I will address beginning next fill with VRP 5W30. Lastly , I can pretty well say that Hyundai / Kia GDI engine vehicle owners should just go ahead now and switch to VRP 5W30 for the life of these vehicles running <4K mile / 6 month OCI’s . Besides the needed ring pack cleaning there is a lot of moly in the VRP oils to help with wear reduction as well in the Hyundai 2.4L GDI Theta II engine.

How is the oil trashed? Are the additives depleted? The viscosity out of spec?
If the wear metals are high in a short time, fresh oil is just going to do what the previous oil did. You can't fix a stupid engine. I know, I have one. A piston soak or VRP can help but the 2.4 Hyundai engine is doomed and changing oil isn't the answer.

 

[goblin]

I give kudos to Hyundai/Kia for providing a realistic user manual with realistic numbers, rather than 15k then Ooops OCIs.

Manhattan in summertime is stop and go with constant 6k rpm pulls between red lights - even with the V6. Major Deegan or Cross Bronx are parking lot gridlock level sitting for several minutes then darting like a maniac to pick up a hole in traffic then sitting still again, when you're not merging into them when traffic flows, hitting the rev limiter all the way till 3rd gear. It IS severe conditions driving. Not the noble "I'm attacking a mountain pass" severe conditions, where everything is loaded severely but evenly, but in a dirty, nasty "idle for an hour then hit it like there's no tomorrow, rinse, repeat" kind of way.

I am not saying other engines are not better, but if Hyundai has taught me anything, it's that when you have low expectations you have nothing but great surprises.

We kept the Santa Fe when the lease ran out in 2019 because as we were looking for something to replace it, expecting EVERY car to be better because hey - I drive a Hyundai - it tourned out that only the then quite new CX9 came close to it. Everything else you needed to go to the brand above to get what you were used to (Honda to Acura, Toyota to Lexus). Little things, creature comforts. Again - to get features we already had on a car built in 2016, which were not out yet on competitors from 2019 (that were more expensive and supposedly way better).

In 2017 the car was one year old - a friend from Europe was visiting and after I merged on a parkway in Long Island his reaction was "Wow. This thing revs, pulls and I love the sound". In Europe he owns an E39 M5.

I drove a friend's Pilot last summer - really wanted to try it, because the Pilot used to win all the comparative reviews as far as nimbleness and engine power went (and fuel economy too).
YES - it was fast, probably faster than mine, yes, it was serene, but boy, did it sound, feel and rev like a tractor. I was shocked. So much engine inertia, felt like it had a Cadillac's chrome rim for a flywheel.

I am still a Honda guy deep down, used to own a DOHC CRX back in Europe - not even a a VTEC, just a simple DOHC ZC - that thing was like an angry bee. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

 

[zogg]

I recently bought a 2019 Raptor with 52,000 miles. I reviewed the FordPass after I bought it, and it looks like the previous owner did OCI of 8-10,000 miles. Ugh
So I immediately changed the oil with VR&P and a Motorcraft filter. I intend to redo this process every 3,000 miles, at least for a while.

 

[tired]

I recently bought a 2019 Raptor with 52,000 miles. I reviewed the FordPass after I bought it, and it looks like the previous owner did OCI of 8-10,000 miles. Ugh
So I immediately changed the oil with VR&P and a Motorcraft filter. I intend to redo this process every 3,000 miles, at least for a while.

Why the Motorcraft filter?

 

[TrainDancer]

I recently fell down the oil/filter rabbit hole when I heard about VRP on a youtube video. I've got a 2020 Toyota Avalon Hybrid with 62k on the odometer which had the Toyota Care service until 45k when I switched over to letting the neighbor do the oil changes at a 5k OCI. The neighbor has a car shop and used M1 with Premium Guard filters. At 62k I changed the oil/filter myself, cheaper and faster. Then I heard about VRP!

So at 64k I switched to VRP 0w-20. That Toyota calls for 0w-16 is another deep thread. I also used a Toyota YZZN1 filter, which I then found out is a Rock Catcher, but that's yet another deep thread. When I drained the M1 at 64k I sent a sample off to Blackstone. The report was good, with low wear metals. I'll send another sample off when I drain the VRP after 5k and make sure things don't get worse.

I then heard about Chevron Techron fuel additive from Lake at MOG. It was apparently tested by AAA really cleans valve carbon deposits and injectors. So, I know I shouldn't have done this, too many variables, but I added Techron 75-miles after I loaded the VRP.

But here is where it gets interesing. When the car was new I'd get about 42.5 mpg, which slowly dropped off to about 40.5. I attributed the change to different tires. But after changing to 0w-20 VRP and adding the Techron, I'm now getting about 44.5 mpg! Today it touched 45.4 for a bit. I'm now on my second consecutive tank treatment. I'll run two tanks at each 5k OCI going forward.

So I have no idea where the extra milage came from. I'd like to think it's the VRP, but it's probably mostly the Techron. Who's to complain in any case?

Also, after falling down a REALLY DEEP filter rabbit hole I settled on Purolator One PL14610 filters. That's yet another deep thread.

 

[kschachn]

I recently fell down the oil/filter rabbit hole when I heard about VRP on a youtube video. I've got a 2020 Toyota Avalon Hybrid with 62k on the odometer which had the Toyota Care service until 45k when I switched over to letting the neighbor do the oil changes at a 5k OCI. The neighbor has a car shop and used M1 with Premium Guard filters. At 62k I changed the oil/filter myself, cheaper and faster. Then I heard about VRP!

So at 64k I switched to VRP 0w-20. That Toyota calls for 0w-16 is another deep thread. I also used a Toyota YZZN1 filter, which I then found out is a Rock Catcher, but that's yet another deep thread. When I drained the M1 at 64k I sent a sample off to Blackstone. The report was good, with low wear metals. I'll send another sample off when I drain the VRP after 5k and make sure things don't get worse.

I then heard about Chevron Techron fuel additive from Lake at MOG. It was apparently tested by AAA really cleans valve carbon deposits and injectors. So, I know I shouldn't have done this, too many variables, but I added Techron 75-miles after I loaded the VRP.

But here is where it gets interesing. When the car was new I'd get about 42.5 mpg, which slowly dropped off to about 40.5. I attributed the change to different tires. But after changing to 0w-20 VRP and adding the Techron, I'm now getting about 44.5 mpg! Today it touched 45.4 for a bit. I'm now on my second consecutive tank treatment. I'll run two tanks at each 5k OCI going forward.

So I have no idea where the extra milage came from. I'd like to think it's the VRP, but it's probably mostly the Techron. Who's to complain in any case?

Also, after falling down a REALLY DEEP filter rabbit hole I settled on Purolator One PL14610 filters. That's yet another deep thread.

Can't wait for all those repeat deep threads, you have time to get them all posted I'm sure.

No way to ascribe the MPG changes to the oil, sorry. Real world fuel consumption readings are fraught with uncontrolled variables and many of those are highly significant - much more so than the oil.

 

[Glenda W.]

I recently fell down the oil/filter rabbit hole when I heard about VRP on a youtube video. I've got a 2020 Toyota Avalon Hybrid with 62k on the odometer which had the Toyota Care service until 45k when I switched over to letting the neighbor do the oil changes at a 5k OCI. The neighbor has a car shop and used M1 with Premium Guard filters. At 62k I changed the oil/filter myself, cheaper and faster. Then I heard about VRP!

So at 64k I switched to VRP 0w-20. That Toyota calls for 0w-16 is another deep thread. I also used a Toyota YZZN1 filter, which I then found out is a Rock Catcher, but that's yet another deep thread. When I drained the M1 at 64k I sent a sample off to Blackstone. The report was good, with low wear metals. I'll send another sample off when I drain the VRP after 5k and make sure things don't get worse.

I then heard about Chevron Techron fuel additive from Lake at MOG. It was apparently tested by AAA really cleans valve carbon deposits and injectors. So, I know I shouldn't have done this, too many variables, but I added Techron 75-miles after I loaded the VRP.

But here is where it gets interesing. When the car was new I'd get about 42.5 mpg, which slowly dropped off to about 40.5. I attributed the change to different tires. But after changing to 0w-20 VRP and adding the Techron, I'm now getting about 44.5 mpg! Today it touched 45.4 for a bit. I'm now on my second consecutive tank treatment. I'll run two tanks at each 5k OCI going forward.

So I have no idea where the extra milage came from. I'd like to think it's the VRP, but it's probably mostly the Techron. Who's to complain in any case?

Also, after falling down a REALLY DEEP filter rabbit hole I settled on Purolator One PL14610 filters. That's yet another deep thread.

R&P and Techron definitely have their place. I’d revisit the oil filter hole though.

 

[TrainDancer]

R&P and Techron definitely have their place. I’d revisit the oil filter hole though.

Here's my thinking on the Purolator One. I've waffled on this several times already and wouldn't mind revisiting.

Application is for two Toyota A25A-FXS hybrid engines in a 2020 Avalon and a 2025 RAV4.

I started this journey when I discovered that the OEM Toyota filter made in Thailand (90915-YZZN1) has abysmally poor filtering efficiency. I've studied lots of YouTube channels, web sites, and even cut apart 14 different filters, both new and used. I know, it's an obsession.

For a while I favored the Fram Ultra Synthetic, but their claimed filtering efficiency didn't match independent testing. Who do you believe? Then I noticed the poor metal-to-metal seal between the bypass valve and the filter end plate. I could see light through the seal! Further investigation revealed that this is a known problem. Some quantity of unfiltered oil continuously bypasses the filter. So I looked at the filters I have on hand. There are three basic types of bypass valves, in-filter coil spring, in-filter flat spring, and valves mounted on the bottom leaf-spring with a coil spring for the valve. All the leaf-spring bypass valves rely on the metal-to-metal "seal" that doesn't seal well. Here's the breakdown of the ones I physically examined:

External leaf-spring: Fram, STP, Nissan, Toyota
Internal coil-spring: Premium Guard, Pronto
Internal flat-spring: Wix, Purolator Boss Purolator One.

In my way of thinking, filters with a built-in always-on bypass should be avoided. So Fram, STP, Toyota, and Nissan are out. There was one on-line example of an internal coil-spring bypass jamming open, so let's throw out Premium Guard and Pronto. That leaves the good-sealing and reliable flat-springs on the filters made by Mann Hummel and company. Wix seems to be lacking in efficiency and I also saw the drain-back valve all jammed up in the center tube of one I examined in the store.

That leaves Purolator. The Boss was #1 for efficiency on Brand Ranks, but that's in contradiction to M&H's published specs. Did BR mess up? The One has better efficiency as published by M&H, maybe not quite as good as the Fram US, but do you believe Fram when they tested an average of three of their filters, or something?

Further, I ordered Fram US filters twice at two different times, yet the delivered filters were physically different. One had a plastic tube, the other the regular steel tube. Huh? The width of the filter media was also different.

I know that Purolator had an issue with tears, but they apparently fixed that problem years ago. The Boss has mesh backing on the filtering material, the One doesn't, but I think that tears would never be a problem with a 5k OCI anyway.

So the recommended Puro filter is PL14476, which is a short little filter. It turns out that the PL14610 is identical except that it's 7/16-inch longer, so more filtering surface area, so that's my choice.

Granted the Boss has higher build quality, the One's glue end-plate glue application is a bit messy, but it doesn't come off under use, and is on the outside of the filtering material in any case.

I'd be happy to continue cutting filters apart, can anyone recommend one. Is there any way of buying an Amsoil filter without having to buy the whole kit?

 

[KnappAttak]

I recently fell down the oil/filter rabbit hole when I heard about VRP on a youtube video. I've got a 2020 Toyota Avalon Hybrid with 62k on the odometer which had the Toyota Care service until 45k when I switched over to letting the neighbor do the oil changes at a 5k OCI. The neighbor has a car shop and used M1 with Premium Guard filters. At 62k I changed the oil/filter myself, cheaper and faster. Then I heard about VRP!

So at 64k I switched to VRP 0w-20. That Toyota calls for 0w-16 is another deep thread. I also used a Toyota YZZN1 filter, which I then found out is a Rock Catcher, but that's yet another deep thread. When I drained the M1 at 64k I sent a sample off to Blackstone. The report was good, with low wear metals. I'll send another sample off when I drain the VRP after 5k and make sure things don't get worse.

I then heard about Chevron Techron fuel additive from Lake at MOG. It was apparently tested by AAA really cleans valve carbon deposits and injectors. So, I know I shouldn't have done this, too many variables, but I added Techron 75-miles after I loaded the VRP.

But here is where it gets interesing. When the car was new I'd get about 42.5 mpg, which slowly dropped off to about 40.5. I attributed the change to different tires. But after changing to 0w-20 VRP and adding the Techron, I'm now getting about 44.5 mpg! Today it touched 45.4 for a bit. I'm now on my second consecutive tank treatment. I'll run two tanks at each 5k OCI going forward.

So I have no idea where the extra milage came from. I'd like to think it's the VRP, but it's probably mostly the Techron. Who's to complain in any case?

Also, after falling down a REALLY DEEP filter rabbit hole I settled on Purolator One PL14610 filters. That's yet another deep thread.

Funny that every vehicle I've put VR&P into has had a really nice improvement in fuel mileage. Running it in my 2018 Audi Q7 3.0t, and my 2014 Chev 1500 double cab 5.3 V8 and both these engines run noticeably smoother at idle and better at low revs to boot. Going to put into my 2013 Audi 3.0t and see if it too does better for fuel mileage here as well, this 2013 Audi A6 is not using oil and it not notorious for sticking rings either, but figure it sure cant hurt as good as this oil does in the newer 3.0t in 2018 Audi that has low tension oil control rings and want to stick them in the pistons with miles. VR&P showing real good wear metals on the UOA's that have been posted too, so what's not to like.

 

[tired]

Here's my thinking on the Purolator One. I've waffled on this several times already and wouldn't mind revisiting.

Application is for two Toyota A25A-FXS hybrid engines in a 2020 Avalon and a 2025 RAV4.

I started this journey when I discovered that the OEM Toyota filter made in Thailand (90915-YZZN1) has abysmally poor filtering efficiency. I've studied lots of YouTube channels, web sites, and even cut apart 14 different filters, both new and used. I know, it's an obsession.

For a while I favored the Fram Ultra Synthetic, but their claimed filtering efficiency didn't match independent testing. Who do you believe? Then I noticed the poor metal-to-metal seal between the bypass valve and the filter end plate. I could see light through the seal! Further investigation revealed that this is a known problem. Some quantity of unfiltered oil continuously bypasses the filter. So I looked at the filters I have on hand. There are three basic types of bypass valves, in-filter coil spring, in-filter flat spring, and valves mounted on the bottom leaf-spring with a coil spring for the valve. All the leaf-spring bypass valves rely on the metal-to-metal "seal" that doesn't seal well. Here's the breakdown of the ones I physically examined:

External leaf-spring: Fram, STP, Nissan, Toyota
Internal coil-spring: Premium Guard, Pronto
Internal flat-spring: Wix, Purolator Boss Purolator One.

In my way of thinking, filters with a built-in always-on bypass should be avoided. So Fram, STP, Toyota, and Nissan are out. There was one on-line example of an internal coil-spring bypass jamming open, so let's throw out Premium Guard and Pronto. That leaves the good-sealing and reliable flat-springs on the filters made by Mann Hummel and company. Wix seems to be lacking in efficiency and I also saw the drain-back valve all jammed up in the center tube of one I examined in the store.

That leaves Purolator. The Boss was #1 for efficiency on Brand Ranks, but that's in contradiction to M&H's published specs. Did BR mess up? The One has better efficiency as published by M&H, maybe not quite as good as the Fram US, but do you believe Fram when they tested an average of three of their filters, or something?

Further, I ordered Fram US filters twice at two different times, yet the delivered filters were physically different. One had a plastic tube, the other the regular steel tube. Huh? The width of the filter media was also different.

I know that Purolator had an issue with tears, but they apparently fixed that problem years ago. The Boss has mesh backing on the filtering material, the One doesn't, but I think that tears would never be a problem with a 5k OCI anyway.

So the recommended Puro filter is PL14476, which is a short little filter. It turns out that the PL14610 is identical except that it's 7/16-inch longer, so more filtering surface area, so that's my choice.

Granted the Boss has higher build quality, the One's glue end-plate glue application is a bit messy, but it doesn't come off under use, and is on the outside of the filtering material in any case.

I'd be happy to continue cutting filters apart, can anyone recommend one. Is there any way of buying an Amsoil filter without having to buy the whole kit?

I'd check out the filters subforum. Many have already plowed the path you're on. Premium Guard (e.g. Carquest Premium) filters are thought now to be the best. And we would by all means appreciate whatever you have to contribute as well. Cut filter photos are always appreciated.

 

[tired]

Here's my thinking on the Purolator One. I've waffled on this several times already and wouldn't mind revisiting.

Application is for two Toyota A25A-FXS hybrid engines in a 2020 Avalon and a 2025 RAV4.

I started this journey when I discovered that the OEM Toyota filter made in Thailand (90915-YZZN1) has abysmally poor filtering efficiency. I've studied lots of YouTube channels, web sites, and even cut apart 14 different filters, both new and used. I know, it's an obsession.

For a while I favored the Fram Ultra Synthetic, but their claimed filtering efficiency didn't match independent testing. Who do you believe? Then I noticed the poor metal-to-metal seal between the bypass valve and the filter end plate. I could see light through the seal! Further investigation revealed that this is a known problem. Some quantity of unfiltered oil continuously bypasses the filter. So I looked at the filters I have on hand. There are three basic types of bypass valves, in-filter coil spring, in-filter flat spring, and valves mounted on the bottom leaf-spring with a coil spring for the valve. All the leaf-spring bypass valves rely on the metal-to-metal "seal" that doesn't seal well. Here's the breakdown of the ones I physically examined:

External leaf-spring: Fram, STP, Nissan, Toyota
Internal coil-spring: Premium Guard, Pronto
Internal flat-spring: Wix, Purolator Boss Purolator One.

In my way of thinking, filters with a built-in always-on bypass should be avoided. So Fram, STP, Toyota, and Nissan are out. There was one on-line example of an internal coil-spring bypass jamming open, so let's throw out Premium Guard and Pronto. That leaves the good-sealing and reliable flat-springs on the filters made by Mann Hummel and company. Wix seems to be lacking in efficiency and I also saw the drain-back valve all jammed up in the center tube of one I examined in the store.

That leaves Purolator. The Boss was #1 for efficiency on Brand Ranks, but that's in contradiction to M&H's published specs. Did BR mess up? The One has better efficiency as published by M&H, maybe not quite as good as the Fram US, but do you believe Fram when they tested an average of three of their filters, or something?

Further, I ordered Fram US filters twice at two different times, yet the delivered filters were physically different. One had a plastic tube, the other the regular steel tube. Huh? The width of the filter media was also different.

I know that Purolator had an issue with tears, but they apparently fixed that problem years ago. The Boss has mesh backing on the filtering material, the One doesn't, but I think that tears would never be a problem with a 5k OCI anyway.

So the recommended Puro filter is PL14476, which is a short little filter. It turns out that the PL14610 is identical except that it's 7/16-inch longer, so more filtering surface area, so that's my choice.

Granted the Boss has higher build quality, the One's glue end-plate glue application is a bit messy, but it doesn't come off under use, and is on the outside of the filtering material in any case.

I'd be happy to continue cutting filters apart, can anyone recommend one. Is there any way of buying an Amsoil filter without having to buy the whole kit?

AMSOIL filters are made by Champion. They are identical to the Fram Synthetic Endurance available at Walmart. Many here have noticed QC issues like you did on the Fram and have gotten away from them.

 

[perkz]

Hi BITOG,

This is my first post so I thought I would share how I ended up here!

Just bought a 2019 Kia Sedona LX with the 3.3L Lamda GDI engine 27,000 miles. These are not known as the most reliable car, but my hope is that with correct maintenance it will last. After reading up on these engines I went down a rabbit hole on here trying to find the best oil to use with these.

I had narrowed it down to Mobil 1 5W-30 ESP after obsessing over VOA/UOA reports. I also thought about spending the money to use HPL oil but I don't have a place to store oil so I couldn't buy it in bulk to save on shipping.

After my oil research journey I heard about Valvoline Restore and Protect. whoops! Now a whole new rabbit hole has opened up. I have now thrown all the reasons why I should choose one oil over another out the window and have fixated on the VRP oil.

Why use this oil on such a low mileage car? to prevent the sludge and build up from ever occurring. Valvoline says this is fine to use as a regular oil. Also, I can get it for $5 a quart at Walmart right now.

I plan on changing the oil on a 5K mile OCI. How does this sound to you guys on here? Any thoughts on the KIA GDI engine?

I have a 2019 LX with 86,000 miles. I have been using Restore and Protect for the last 4 oil changes. It seems to be fine for the engine. I have read that some of these engines start using oil due to ring issues, and then it is a slow downhill until failure. Given the very few engine complaints on the NHTSA database for the 2019 models, it appears they have solved the issues. I have been changing the oil every 3500-4000 miles due to short tripping (family car in a small town), and I have zero oil consumption. I think the key to Kia's is frequent oil changes. This is my second Kia with 3.3l engine and I have had no problems thus far. Also, use only the Kia/Hyundai filters. They issued a Technical Service Bulletin on this.

 

[Durdude]

Here is my filter with a first 5k R&P run. 5w30. 2000 V6 Camry. ST3614.