Valvoline premium blue RESTORE and new updated valve covers for a ls lq4.

Joined
Jul 29, 2022
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This is my first post. My 04 Yukon Denali has 418k miles on it. Been trying a few different oils and things to help with oil consumption and heavy smoke at start up as well as when I get on it. All haven’t helped. Ended up putting both new updated valve covers on. So far I can finally say with success the smoke has stopped. Bought 5 gallons of Valvoline premium blue restore straight from Cummins (79$ a gallon). I knew about this product for a while. Just didn’t know how to get it or if they still made it till now. Gonna try clean up a lot of this varnish as well as if there is any ring deposits.
If the 2 oci changes of this oil doesn’t help with consumption then ima heavily lean towards the valve seals are going out. So far tho it’s looking promising. Just wanted to share this here if can help someone and provide updates along the way.

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She's a beautiful vehicle. Looks as good as new. I'm confident the Premium Blue Restore will do the job and keep you on the road for many more miles to come.
 
So, is this a diesel engine?
Are you in Australia?
Why do you think things under the valve covers appear to have rust on them? Can't be from short trips!
 
This will be very interesting. Will you please provide the website or phone number for Cummins place you bought it from?

Varnish can vary from new and sticky to old and fully cured / baked on. At least some motor oils can dissolve the former but none that I’ve tested have any significant ability to dissolve the latter. I’ve tested VPBR 10W-30, VRP, HPL, and many other synthetic oils on baked-on varnish. Piston ring/groove deposits are different and this oil is supposed to clean those.
 
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She's a beautiful vehicle. Looks as good as new. I'm confident the Premium Blue Restore will do the job and keep you on the road for many more miles to come.
Thank you sir and yeah I’m hoping to catch dads ranger.
 
So, is this a diesel engine?
Are you in Australia?
Why do you think things under the valve covers appear to have rust on them? Can't be from short trips!
No. Gas. There’s no sludge in this motor so I’m not concerned at how aggressive it is. I’ve taken the oil pan off and front timing cover to do the oil pick up tube o ring and there wasn’t any sludge at all. Plus I’m very particular. I’ve used hpl, driven, amsoil, restore and protect, Schaeffers and Mobil 1 in it. The truck was driven mostly highway for about 150 miles a day from 190k till now. Short tripped by previous owner before that. It’s not rust tho. It’s varnish. I didn’t say anything about rust. Completely different. About every motor has varnish unless you run a botique oil like hpl and amsoil ss all its life from the beginning.
 
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This will be very interesting. Will you please provide the website or phone number for Cummins place you bought it from?

Varnish can vary from new and sticky to old and fully cured / baked on. At least some motor oils can dissolve the former but none that I’ve tested have any significant ability to dissolve the latter. I’ve tested VPBR 10W-30, VRP, HPL, and many other synthetic oils on baked-on varnish. Piston ring/groove deposits are different and this oil is supposed to clean those.
Any Cummins dealer should have it or be able to order it for you. Look up a Cummins dealer near you and make sure they understand it’s this oil. The first time when I went there they brought out premium blue and I told them again it had to be restore. Thankfully after that they understood the product I was looking for.
 
No. Gas. There’s no sludge in this motor so I’m not concerned at how aggressive it is. I’ve taken the oil pan off and front timing cover to do the oil pick up tube o ring and there wasn’t any sludge at all. Plus I’m very particular. I’ve used hpl, driven, amsoil, restore and protect, Schaeffers and Mobil 1 in it. The truck was driven mostly highway for about 150 miles a day from 190k till now. Short tripped by previous owner before that. It’s not rust tho. It’s varnish. I didn’t say anything about rust. Completely different. About every motor has varnish unless you run a botique oil like hpl and amsoil ss all its life from the beginning.
How many runs of restore and protect did you do?
 
Any Cummins dealer should have it or be able to order it for you. Look up a Cummins dealer near you and make sure they understand it’s this oil. The first time when I went there they brought out premium blue and I told them again it had to be restore. Thankfully after that they understood the product I was looking for.
Idk how this ^^ part got added. Still getting used to something’s on here for posting.
How many runs of restore and protect did you do?
About 1300 miles on it total. Not enough honestly to make that much of a difference, but I don’t drive the truck as much as I used to with buying a new daily so I wanted to use a much more aggressive oil that’s designed to clean a lot better.
 
Voa of it from 2019. Also lake said he would like to try a new recent sample of it.
Pic was taken from his YouTube channel the motor oil geek on the first video he did of Valvoline restore and protect also mentioning this oil.

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Voa of it from 2019. Also lake said he would like to try a new recent sample of it.
Pic was taken from his YouTube channel the motor oil geek on the first video he did of Valvoline restore and protect also mentioning this oil.

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The above SPEEDiagnostix data is for the original VPB "Restore", not the VPBR Gen2.
I recently went to my local San Antonio, Texas Cummins dealer and they have never heard of the VPBR Gen2, but they did have 10 single gallons of the original VPB "Restore".
I have a stash of VPB "Restore" and have been running a mix of it in 3 of my gasoline powered daily drivers for a yr or more.
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The above SPEEDiagnostix data is for the original VPB "Restore", not the VPBR Gen2.
I recently went to my local San Antonio, Texas Cummins dealer and they have never heard of the VPBR Gen2, but they did have 10 single gallons of the original VPB "Restore".
I have a stash of VPB "Restore" and have been running a mix of it in 3 of my gasoline powered daily drivers for a yr or more.
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I showed them a pic of gen 2 restore after they brought out 5w40 premium blue. They understood after that. I’m surprised your dealer in Texas hasn’t.
I’m hoping lake will have the time to do a new sample. I’m pretty curious about the differences and his thoughts on it. Appreciate that info. I wasn’t sure which restore it was that he tested.
It’s definitely hard to get and more expensive than I thought it would have been. I’m hoping it pays off.
 
I showed them a pic of gen 2 restore after they brought out 5w40 premium blue. They understood after that. I’m surprised your dealer in Texas hasn’t.
I’m hoping lake will have the time to do a new sample. I’m pretty curious about the differences and his thoughts on it. Appreciate that info. I wasn’t sure which restore it was that he tested.
It’s definitely hard to get and more expensive than I thought it would have been. I’m hoping it pays off.
Here's a thread I did w/pics not long ago about VPB Restore in our 07 Denali:
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/t...1k-oci-07-gmc-6-2l.380674/page-3#post-6937626
 
For 400k+ miles, that valvetrain looks fine!
Your gonna have a bit of varnish no matter what with that many heat cycles.
Depends on the oil used and how long honestly. This motor had hpl from 20k miles to currently 200k miles. It definitely looks better than most. I try to take really good care of it.
Mostly what I’m doing with the premium blue restore is if there’s any ring deposits built up I’m trying to get rid of it. Anything else being cleaned up is a huge plus.

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Here's a thread I did w/pics not long ago about VPB Restore in our 07 Denali:
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/t...1k-oci-07-gmc-6-2l.380674/page-3#post-6937626
That looks really good. Hopefully the new formula cleans just as good or better. Depending on how much oil consumption changes is what oil I’ll switch to.
If what I did reduces oil consumption heavily I’ll switch to amsoil premium protection 10w40.
If it still consumes a lot then it’ll be Mobil 1 10w40 hm.
I currently have hpl in my daily and Mobil 1 esp in my fiace car. I may switch my daily over to Mobil 1 esp as well. Really like what I seen out of it and being significantly cheaper.
My daily is a 2010 3.0 v6 ford fusion.
She has a 2015 Honda accord k24.
 
That seems pretty reasonable for a 418,000 mile gas engine ...

Nice looking truck, though. Definitely doesn't show it's mileage!
Thank you. I definitely love this thing. Hopefully I’ll catch dad’s old 1993 ranger. He sold it with 730k. Original engine. 5 speed was rebuilt at about 400k. He bought it new in 93.
My 4l65e was rebuilt at 318k. Original motor as well. Never ever been taken apart for lifters.
 
Thank you. I definitely love this thing. Hopefully I’ll catch dad’s old 1993 ranger. He sold it with 730k. Original engine. 5 speed was rebuilt at about 400k. He bought it new in 93.
My 4l65e was rebuilt at 318k. Original motor as well. Never ever been taken apart for lifters.
Wow, 730k on a ranger? What were his OCIs like and with which oil?
 
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