Valvoline Restore and Protect in Toyota Prius with 291K miles
- Thread starter TwoC400s
- Start date
Whew! Cue up the Molly Hatchet, 'cause we are "flirtin' with disaster!"
I knew that my decision to leave a SuperTech filter in the car for the longer interval was risky, but I had NO IDEA how much crud was still waiting to be dislodged by the Valvoline. Much longer and this filter would probably have just been in bypass mode full time. The R&P seems to be REALLY rolling now, and breaking up a ton of junk from this tired old motor.
Anyway, enough bloviating, here are the pics.
I knew that my decision to leave a SuperTech filter in the car for the longer interval was risky, but I had NO IDEA how much crud was still waiting to be dislodged by the Valvoline. Much longer and this filter would probably have just been in bypass mode full time. The R&P seems to be REALLY rolling now, and breaking up a ton of junk from this tired old motor.
Anyway, enough bloviating, here are the pics.
Notes: the supertech end cap glue got MUCH WEAKER after 4 months and ~2000 miles. I basically just popped them right off with the utility knife. The glues is also much more brittle. Definitely not a long OCI filter.
A FRAM Synthetic Endurance FE3600 went back in.
A FRAM Synthetic Endurance FE3600 went back in.
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2022
- Messages
- 309
Wow, that’s a lot of dislodged crud. Definitely goes to show that R&P does what it says it does, not just snake oil. I’m actually surprised at how well that filter held up for the price and quality. It would probably serve well for 5k OCI on non R&P oil. Thanks for the C&P!
OK, so now that we can see that VRP is definitely dislodging major amounts of crud, I'm going to start keeping a much closer eye on the oil consumption.
Checked oil today, barely below the halfway point between the dipstick markers. added 250ml of VRP, 297, 031 miles.
Checked oil today, barely below the halfway point between the dipstick markers. added 250ml of VRP, 297, 031 miles.
Nice work. I’d use a ENDURANCE filter or Premium Guard filter
Very good sir. Thank You
Some follow up measurements on oil consumption.
APR 20, 2025: 297,031 miles, added 250ml
APR 25, 2025: 297,100 miles, no oil added
May 3, 2025: 297,265 miles, no oil added
May 26, 2025: 297,924 miles, added 475ml of oil
Since overfilling these cars seems to be a perennial problem, I always aim to be around the halfway point of the two divots on the dipstick. Today (the last entry above) it was barely above the lowest notch on the dipstick and 475ml seems to have gone slightly above the halfway point, so next time I'll try adding ~350ml or so.
Regardless, this is less than half a quart of consumption in about 900 miles, almost entirely short trips. This is definitely an improvement over what I saw during the winter months. I'll probably pull and cut open the Fram endurance that's in there in another month.
APR 20, 2025: 297,031 miles, added 250ml
APR 25, 2025: 297,100 miles, no oil added
May 3, 2025: 297,265 miles, no oil added
May 26, 2025: 297,924 miles, added 475ml of oil
Since overfilling these cars seems to be a perennial problem, I always aim to be around the halfway point of the two divots on the dipstick. Today (the last entry above) it was barely above the lowest notch on the dipstick and 475ml seems to have gone slightly above the halfway point, so next time I'll try adding ~350ml or so.
Regardless, this is less than half a quart of consumption in about 900 miles, almost entirely short trips. This is definitely an improvement over what I saw during the winter months. I'll probably pull and cut open the Fram endurance that's in there in another month.
Update time!
I changed the oil and filter yesterday. Out came VRP 5w20 and in went VRP 5w30. Also out came the Fram Synthetic Endurance FE3600 (pics below) and in went the last Super Tech filter of the batch I bought.
Notes: there really isn't much to see. I don't know if it's the black color of the filter media, or the fact that there's a lot more of it, but I definitely didn't see as much crud as the last filter, maybe the engine is starting to actually get cleaned up?
There's a few select pleats I took close ups of, that seem to have a bit of crud, but nothing like the previous filter.
I lightly scraped the razor and a clean paper towel down a couple of pleats and while there were definitely some smaller carbon-looking granules there, it wasn't much.
Total mileage at time of change: 298,201
I changed the oil and filter yesterday. Out came VRP 5w20 and in went VRP 5w30. Also out came the Fram Synthetic Endurance FE3600 (pics below) and in went the last Super Tech filter of the batch I bought.
Notes: there really isn't much to see. I don't know if it's the black color of the filter media, or the fact that there's a lot more of it, but I definitely didn't see as much crud as the last filter, maybe the engine is starting to actually get cleaned up?
There's a few select pleats I took close ups of, that seem to have a bit of crud, but nothing like the previous filter.
I lightly scraped the razor and a clean paper towel down a couple of pleats and while there were definitely some smaller carbon-looking granules there, it wasn't much.
Total mileage at time of change: 298,201
Nice work sir.
just an update on VRP, and another possible metric I'll need to keep an eye on.
Today I changed the plugs/coils on the Prius and all 4 plugs had a considerable amount of oil on the threads, and one cylinder had a considerable amount of oil on the coil boot and the ceramic part of the spark plug.
SO basically this thing is fueled as if it were a 2 stroke... onward.
I can post pics later if anyone wants to see.
Today I changed the plugs/coils on the Prius and all 4 plugs had a considerable amount of oil on the threads, and one cylinder had a considerable amount of oil on the coil boot and the ceramic part of the spark plug.
SO basically this thing is fueled as if it were a 2 stroke... onward.
I can post pics later if anyone wants to see.
