Valvoline R&P 5W-30, 5k mi; 2019 Lexus RX 350 with 65k mi
- Thread starter PWMDMD
- Start date
Slight change in topic but what is it with these guys on YouTube doing filter exams with R&P after driving 1000-2000 miles on the oil. You know these guys are probably pretty anal with their vehicle maintenance to start with. So how freaking dirty could their engines be? I want to see the filter media after 4000-5000 miles.
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2025
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They are creating content. Youtube has been pretty disappointing for the past year and it's not showing any signs of improving any time soon.
A whopping 1 PPM COMBINED FE and AL per thousand miles.
Just stunning. I don't care what oil someone is running, you are hard pressed to find a better UOA by iron and aluminum wear metal ppm.
Just stunning. I don't care what oil someone is running, you are hard pressed to find a better UOA by iron and aluminum wear metal ppm.
I'm one of them because there's something to show. When I cut open a 2500 mile filter and find the pleats packed with carbon to more than half their depth, that is notable.
Most YTers who are cutting filters after VRP are doing so on short mileage because they need to. They have noted the effectively cleaning and how it loads the filters. They have generally (like me) going to shorter filter intervals because they need to.
If you don't understand that, that's on you.
Now that it's been mentioned & not to derail the thread, R&P seems to load some filters but not others. I think doing an initial lower mileage interval to check the filter status is wise. You'd certainly not want to run 5k on @Hohn last example.
Now that it's been mentioned & not to derail the thread, R&P seems to load some filters but not others. I think doing an initial lower mileage interval to check the filter status is wise. You'd certainly not want to run 5k on @Hohn last example.
Interesting. Maybe change the filter 2-3k during the first oil change? I’d still run this oil 5-7k , with a filter change halfway through, and let it do its thing.
That UOA looks great. Toyota engine really enjoyed that VRP run.
The video above with the 2nd run on VRP and it filled the filter that quickly. Now granted, my van was especially dirty.
The point here is not that every vehicle needs short filter changes, but rather that those of us doing short filter changes (or even short OCIs) are VRP are not "overmaintaining" or being unreasonable. There is evidence to justify the practice and it is not just an anecdote here or there. Searching youtube will reveal many cases of loaded or loading filters with VRP.
It is not a fault of VRP-- after all, they specifically dialed it back to reduce the tendency to load filters. But rather, it is a function of how dirty your engine is to start with. I'm sure Valvoline couldn't quite have anticipated just how badly sludged and varnish would be some engines that would receive VRP, so they made the calculated risk that some extremely dirty engines would rarely load a filter quite heavily.
I think Valvoline dialed in the cleaning rate quite nicely. I don't consider my filter loading to be a defect in Valvoline whatsoever. They needed to show cleaning effect in a couple oil changes while making the filter unlikely to get totally plugged.
I wonder about how we have been told that certain oils with cleaning properties present fairly lackluster wear metal reports, due to, we are told, “cleaning “ and yet here is an oil that is known to liberate enough junk to load filters halfway through an OCI, and the wear metal numbers are very good to excellent. Can anyone explain this? Not wanting to be combative, but I would like to know an answer if there is one.
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Side note: What a great engine that 3.5 V6 is. It still amazes me that they discontinued that engine and replaced it with a Turbo-4.
/smh
/smh
We have a 2015 Lexus ES350. When looking at cars back then I purposely chose the Lexus because the 3.5L/6 speed automatic was an "ages old" combination at that point. It's my wifes' car so I wanted it to be stupid simple and reliable...and it has been, every step of the way.
I dont want to get into a new car purchase at this point, but them planning on doing away with the V6 in the ES may force my hand.
And on topic: is it customary to *keep* using VRP after a few OCIs? Or is it solely to try and clean up any gunk in the engine, then switch back to a non "restore" type oil?
If the vehicle doesn't require a specification beyond what VRP covers, I'd keep using it. I see no reason to stop.
Thanks. For our Lexus, 0w-20 is the Toyota spec. Ive switched to 5W-20 PP just because I had some that needed using, but VRP is available in both so I could choose either.
I doubt the engine really needs cleaning, 90K miles and we've changed the oil probably every 5K or so (doesnt get driven much, I change the oil twice a year before the extreme temps [cold or hot])
Yes it is good for what it is worth. Got that a few times with an old subaru running approx 9k mi oci. Valvoline Adv. and Magnatec blend.
The UOA suggests that VRP is a fantastic oil that just happens to clean. It's not *just* for cleaning.
I compete agree.
