Valvoline Restore and Protect - 2017 Hyundai 3.3 V6

[Sequoiasoon]

Walmart has it and advertises VRP as an option in the service bays. If it was a concern I'm sure they wouldn't do that there. It was something I noted when I was walking through as an option for many that go to quick lubes

 

[ndarkside93]

Russel's teapot much ?

The burden of proof is on you. He doesn't have to provide proof that oil change shops aren't going to face the wrath of a customer or two - you have to provide proof that they will face that wrath, as you put the assumption that VRP is not offered there because it's higher risk.

- You assign some inherent property of VRP damaging engines (or at least - being MORE damaging, as opposed to any other new oil they release). Fair enough - maybe it does. But it's not proven. Yet you use that property as a categorical argument.
- You assign some imaginary ease on the process of suing a Valvoline shop, as opposed to the process of suing Valvoline itself, or suing any store that sells VRP. How so, and why so ?

If anyone ends up thinking that VRP damaged their engine - they'll sue Valvoline one way or the other. They'll sue Valvoline, the retailer, the amazon delivery guy and the guy's cat. If you obtain proof that your engine was damaged by VRP - will you go file a lawsuit, then suddenly remember that you didn't get it at a Valvoline oil change shop, curse and call it a day ?

So the only basis for any such theory is the current unavailability of VRP at Valvoline oil shops. With a lot of wishful thinking one could deduct from this that:
- Valvoline knows something about VRP and doesn't allow Valvoline shops to sell it to avoid trouble.
- Valvoline shops know something about VRP and don't allow Valvoline to sell them VRP, to avoid trouble.

Nice theory, except it blows to pieces with the mention above that it flies off the shelves in whatever Valvoline shop that was mentioned. Editing my post as for some reason I thought the user is in Canada, but on re-read, I don't see it mentioned anywhere. So some info might be useful on where that Valvoline oil changing place is.

I'm not stating what damages engines and what doesn't, one way or the other. Just that if your arguments and the ones you're dismissing had to tractorpull each other you might get surprised...

Just a note. The Valvoline instant oil change places are not owned by AramCo like the main Valvoline oil business. They split the company.

 

[goblin]

Just a note. The Valvoline instant oil change places are not owned by AramCo like the main Valvoline oil business. They split the company.

Thanks. This would explain that. I was wondering if they could be completely separate entities for this to happen.
Could be Walmart got an exclusivity deal for now ?

So looking at the deal above - if I had a Walmart oil changing place close to me, I would have paid $75-ish (5qts included with the $64 + the extra quart), as opposed to $60 + my oil + filter in my case.
Eh. I'll live

 

[goblin]

Ok, got my second full VRP oil change today. So, to rehash:

- 124k-ish miles to 129k-ish (128961): RP, with adding VRP as the car was losing oil.
- 128961: Full oil change, 6qts of VRP.
- 130200: added 2qts of VRP. Measuring oil level is a nightmare on that car. Ended up overfilling. My guess is the car needed 1qt or less.
- 133014: During a trip to Florida and back, 3k+ miles in a few days, added 1qt somewhere in South Carolina on our way back. Long live Autozone for stocking it. The whole drive was quite "energetic", car was heavy. Adding that 1qt didn't bring it to F, most likely to the middle or less.
- 134293: 2qts, overfilled slightly.
- 135183: 2qts, at this point I can't even say whether I overfilled or not. Measuring the level on this car is a nightmare.

- Today, 136030: Full change, 6qts, VRP, level is at the max. So that's, again, clockwork precision, 7qts in 7069 miles.

Comments...
- Did I mention ? Measuring the oil level on this car is an absolute nightmare. I can't get the same thing twice. I get the dipstick out, wipe it, put it back in, take it out - I get one value. I wipe it again - I get a different one. Every attempt from there on - the dipstick is oily all the way to the middle. It's like I'm bringing oil up the tube, and I have one or two shots at it before it's all messed up. Also, it will be absolutely random depending on engine temp. And worst - measuring at cold seems to not be the right way to do it. It seems to indicate lower on cold engine. And of course, it's also not precise if I pull off on the highway and measure right away.

The right procedure seems to be - bring oil to temp, turn off engine, wait two minutes, then measure. But well. Two minutes seems to be not enough. Chances are it needs five. Not to mention - bring the oil to temp, or the coolant ? Go figure.

I am monitoring all my fluid temps with Torque Pro, so here's the procedure I'll be trying to follow from now on:
- With a fully warmed engine oil (96 degrees Celsius, after a long drive) - I park at the exact same spot in front of my house, and wait 2 minutes. I took a baseline today, right after the oil change. So now I know where my Max is when I stop at that spot.

- While my consumption is again 1qt/1000mi, I feel at least 1.5qts of it went into random overfilling. Not sure how and where the extra went, but I'm not expecting the car took it nicely.

- I tried a new Valvoline oil change center today (Norwalk, CT), and once again - STELLAR service. Nice, polite, professional. We spoke long and large on while they don't stock VRP yet. The guy was quite interested to learn that VRP is making people talk on forums.
EXTRA KUDOS: They used a torque wrench on my filter cap (on the V6 it's on the top of the engine, so I can see what they're doing).

Definitely impressed.
I complimented them on their service, they said that on the East Coast, all Valvoline centers are owned mostly by the same entity, and they have some leeway on improving their practices and training. Mentioned it could be different in parts of the country where the owners are different.

That's it for now, will keep updated. The most difficult will be to schedule the checks every 1000 miles. Same spot, same procedure...
Honestly, if I had a lift - I'd drain the oil every 1000 miles to see how much comes out, then put it back and add the difference

 

[ltslimjim]

Thanks for the update!

Have you tried checking the oil level while cold before starting; on a level place mind you?

I check cold for ease of reading. Would be interesting to compare to hot readings to see how accurate?

 

[perkz]

Ok, got my second full VRP oil change today. So, to rehash:

- 124k-ish miles to 129k-ish (128961): RP, with adding VRP as the car was losing oil.
- 128961: Full oil change, 6qts of VRP.
- 130200: added 2qts of VRP. Measuring oil level is a nightmare on that car. Ended up overfilling. My guess is the car needed 1qt or less.
- 133014: During a trip to Florida and back, 3k+ miles in a few days, added 1qt somewhere in South Carolina on our way back. Long live Autozone for stocking it. The whole drive was quite "energetic", car was heavy. Adding that 1qt didn't bring it to F, most likely to the middle or less.
- 134293: 2qts, overfilled slightly.
- 135183: 2qts, at this point I can't even say whether I overfilled or not. Measuring the level on this car is a nightmare.

- Today, 136030: Full change, 6qts, VRP, level is at the max. So that's, again, clockwork precision, 7qts in 7069 miles.

Comments...
- Did I mention ? Measuring the oil level on this car is an absolute nightmare. I can't get the same thing twice. I get the dipstick out, wipe it, put it back in, take it out - I get one value. I wipe it again - I get a different one. Every attempt from there on - the dipstick is oily all the way to the middle. It's like I'm bringing oil up the tube, and I have one or two shots at it before it's all messed up. Also, it will be absolutely random depending on engine temp. And worst - measuring at cold seems to not be the right way to do it. It seems to indicate lower on cold engine. And of course, it's also not precise if I pull off on the highway and measure right away.

The right procedure seems to be - bring oil to temp, turn off engine, wait two minutes, then measure. But well. Two minutes seems to be not enough. Chances are it needs five. Not to mention - bring the oil to temp, or the coolant ? Go figure.

I am monitoring all my fluid temps with Torque Pro, so here's the procedure I'll be trying to follow from now on:
- With a fully warmed engine oil (96 degrees Celsius, after a long drive) - I park at the exact same spot in front of my house, and wait 2 minutes. I took a baseline today, right after the oil change. So now I know where my Max is when I stop at that spot.

- While my consumption is again 1qt/1000mi, I feel at least 1.5qts of it went into random overfilling. Not sure how and where the extra went, but I'm not expecting the car took it nicely.

- I tried a new Valvoline oil change center today (Norwalk, CT), and once again - STELLAR service. Nice, polite, professional. We spoke long and large on while they don't stock VRP yet. The guy was quite interested to learn that VRP is making people talk on forums.
EXTRA KUDOS: They used a torque wrench on my filter cap (on the V6 it's on the top of the engine, so I can see what they're doing).

Definitely impressed.
I complimented them on their service, they said that on the East Coast, all Valvoline centers are owned mostly by the same entity, and they have some leeway on improving their practices and training. Mentioned it could be different in parts of the country where the owners are different.

That's it for now, will keep updated. The most difficult will be to schedule the checks every 1000 miles. Same spot, same procedure...
Honestly, if I had a lift - I'd drain the oil every 1000 miles to see how much comes out, then put it back and add the difference

I have a 3.3L in a 2019 Kia Sedona, I dont seem to have the dipstick issue. Oil levels look the same if I measure it one day vs the next in the same spot. Also, at 85,000 miles have zero oil consumption at 3,000 mile oil changes. Very happy with my Kia but I would definately sell it when I saw even a half quart of oil use per 1,000 miles. This is my second Kia and haven't yet seen this. Feeling lucky I guess. But I am old and none of my cars get any longer than 3k oil changes. Also, have never had an engine fail. Thank you for your updates, they are very interesting to me. Also, mostly do own oil changes but there have been times that I was too busy, and yes, the local Valvoline shops are very proffessional.

 

[perkz]

Just a note. The Valvoline instant oil change places are not owned by AramCo like the main Valvoline oil business. They split the company.

One thing that may or may not mean anything - when you bring your own oil to Valvoline oil change center, they mark your oil change with a different code if you bring a Valvoline oil, "V-customer suppled" I think they are noticing.

 

[ChrisD46]

Perhaps Valvoline should market R&P for low tension ring applications ? Eventually coked up ring packs are going to need R&P to clean them up to reduce oil consumption .

 

[ChrisD46]

That engine has low tension rings, and they get easily clogged with carbon buildup. Another oddity is that it has tiny rod bearing, so a 5W-40 should be used, but then again, because of the low tension rings, it tends to drink it. Combine VRP with a quart of Techron Concentrate for a couple, or maybe more fillups, and it should unstick the rings. VRP seems pretty awesome.

I have a trial run of M1 5W30 ESP I had on hand in a ‘17 Kia Sorento 3.3 V6 which is a stout SP rated Euro oil known to do some cleaning and carries an HTHS of 3.5 which should help provide better MOFT for those “tiny bearings” if that is indeed a thing with the 3.3L Kia engine . Since this 3.3L Kia engine I just began servicing is now burning about a quart of oil over approx. 2K miles , it will be switched over to a diet of VR&P 5W30 at the next oil change .

 

[tired]

Thanks for the report. Very interesting. I think this is the first report I've seen where VRP cleaned the dipstick with just a quart added to an oil sump otherwise full of another oil.