Valvoline Restore and Protect piston cleaning: IIIH test vs. normal driving

[pasadena_commut]

Valvoline Restore and Protect has lovely before and after pictures of pistons on the bottle label. One is dirty and the other looks nearly new. The text says:

Removes up to 100% of deposits with continuous use*

*With continuous use. In adapted sequence IIIH testing piston deposit removal

While I'm not questioning the results of that particular test, I do wonder how relevant they are for cars which are driven normally. That sparkly clean piston would presumably have free rings, particularly oil control rings. A lot of people with cars burning oil are using Valvoline Restore and Protect now. Yet the number of claims of "my car no longer burns oil" are very scarce. Search for:

"Valvoline Restore and Protect" stopped oil burning

and there are a couple of claims of complete success, a few of partial success, and a whole lot of "well, let's keep trying." It doesn't inspire much confidence that Valvoline Restore and Protect can resolve an existing oil burning issue, although it may surely help in preventing one from developing.

People might argue that oil burning is mostly due to other causes, and some of it surely is. However, that stuck rings is the primary issue is pretty well established. Fixing that is hard. The most complete saga I have seen on that is a very long string of videos where a person tried pretty much every sort of chemical repair possible, including Valvoline Restore and Protect, to stop oil burning in a Corolla, and then finally fixed the problem with new pistons and rings:



Nobody questions that Valvoline Restore and Protect pulls the varnish and other such carbon based yuck off many parts of the motor. For instance, it definitely cleared the varnish off out 2007 Prius's dipstick. However, I have yet to see a change in oil consumption, and it is now at the the end of the 2nd Valvoline Restore and Protect interval. As noted above, releasing stuck oil rings chemically is a hit and miss, mostly miss, proposition.

All of this makes me wonder if the pistons in that IIIH testing are that clean because the test itself is ideal for the functioning of Valvoline Restore and Protect. However it is a poor model for the piston environment inside typical engines. Consequently expecting Valvoline Restore and Protect to clean that well around the rings in a typical car may be unrealistic.

The IIIH test is described here (this may not be the "adapted" form used by Valvoline):

https://www.swri.org/sites/default/files/sequence-iiih-test.pdf

Most cars at 3900 RPM would be moving at 80 mph (or more) on a flat straight road, and in this test, that "speed" is maintained for 90 hours (almost) continuously. This is essentially an Italian tune up on mega steroids - equivalent to sustained continuous 80 mph for 7200 miles. Vanishingly few cars are driven anything like that. Consider the motor's duty cycle. It is hard to imagine many cars go more than 4 hours or so before the motor is turned off for at least 10 or 15 minutes (gas and/or bathroom stop). In the test that duty interval is 20 hours, and then off only briefly (for lubricant level checks). Most cars are turned off and at ambient temperature at least 12 hours a day, with many, perhaps most, being off for 22 or 23 hours a day. Our Prius is probably about as far from the IIIH test as possible, since even when the car is moving the ICE motor shuts off periodically, sometimes even in highway driving, and it only rarely ever sees RPM that high, like when climbing a steep hill or passing.

I think Valvoline should employ a test which at least bears a plausible relationship to what most cars see. Starting with a motor which has significant deposits on the pistons and especially in the ring grooves and on the rings, something like: 240 hours total in cycles of 1 hour at 2000 RPM, 1 hour at 2500 RPM, then 2 hours off. Based on the (lack of) reported cases of Valvoline Restore and Protect curing oil burning, I predict that cleaning around the rings would not be nearly as complete as in the IIIH test. I propose that this be designated the "Put up or Shut up" test for cleaning piston deposits, PUOSU for short.

Thoughts?

 

[Hohn]

This test is the industry standard. Valvoline Restore and Protect is proven to remove deposits. Not just by the adapted Sequence IIIH, but in countless "real world" cases as well. One of which was my own experience.

In DiY Dave's case, he cured his oil burning with new rings (fast forward to the most recent video in that epic series.)

No oil can put metal back or undo wear. Wear is why Dave's Corolla burned out, and it was the rings more than the bores. So with just new pistons and rings, he was able to kill off his oil burning problem.


NOt all oil burning is due to deposits. A deposit-removing oil can only remove deposits, it can't undo the damage caused by them.

 

[GI_GRIFF]

There is no engine oil made that I am aware of, including the high dollar boutique oils that replace worn out engine parts. Some of the people also only do 2-3 OCI at say at 2000 miles each, and then complain their engine still uses oil. The instructions as far as I know are a minimum of four OCI at 4000 miles each. Doing that doesn't mean Valvoline Restore and Protect will solve your oil consumption issue. It is possible the engine needs an actual overhaul. There is no oil that replaces worn out parts for you. However, it does clean with proper use better than most engine oils out there. That is pretty well established by now. Will Valvoline Restore and Protect do an out of frame engine overhaul for you when that is what is actually causing the oil consumption issue, no.

 

[buster]

They also proved it in the field as well:

"For instance, a Ford Mustang was subjected to extensive testing with Restore and Protect, showing significant reductions in wear and deposit formation. The testing extended to various engine components, including the timing chain cover, oil pan, and valvetrain, demonstrating the comprehensive benefits of the oil. The team also ran Restore and Protect in a Ford Explorer with more than 500,000 miles.

“And we also did a chassis dynamometer test where we put a vehicle on rollers basically and ran it 300,000 miles,” Warholic says. “Restore and Protect actually cleaned up the entire engine.”

“We want to exceed the API specifications and excel in all categories,” Warholic says. “We also wanted to do something different than everybody else.

https://www.enginebuildermag.com/2024/06/dealing-with-deposits-to-boost-engine-life/

 

[CleanSump]

There are several threads already with people's post on the effectiveness of lack of it for stopping oil consumption in their engines. The video posted above was done with a worn out engine that needed an overhaul. As others already posted, worn out is worn out and Valvoline Restore and Protect won't fix that.
It works where the problem is clogged oil control rings. As in the my first line there are threads on this and your question was previously answered and is redundant.

 

[AdmiralYoda]

90hours at 3900RPM. For me that would be 100mph. 100mph sustained for 90 hours is 9,000 miles. Call that two OCI's...but they were able to get that done in 90 hours, not 6 months like it would take me.

I wouldn't call that an Italian tune up. An Italian tune up has lots of full throttle, high RPM runs (pressure) followed by zero throttle, high RPM engine braking (vacuum). For their test was it performed on an engine or chassis dynometer? Was the engine loaded at 100% load, 90%, 50% for the entire test? Or was it essentially in neutral holding 3900RPM indefinitely? Or was it varying loads? Probably 3900RPM with no load.

3900 revolutions per minute is the same as 234,000 revolutions per hour. Over their 90 hour test they had 21,060,000 revolutions.

My truck at a steady 65mph, at 1900RPM I'm running 123,500 revolutions per hour. It would take me 170.52 hours to accomplish the same 21,060,000 revolutions. That is 7.1 days of continuous use.

Would they really want to wait 7.1 days to see the results of the test? Including having a bunch of engineers ($$$) and dynometers, test equipment, etc ($$$) tied up for that long? Overtime? I think not.

They could also hold the engine in neutral at 6500RPM for 54 hours and have the engine ready for tear down on Wednesday if they started Monday AM.

3900RPM for 90hours is a good compromise. Start the test Monday AM, shut it down Thursday afternoon and get it off the test stand and let it cool down. Disassemble and inspect on Friday.

 

[buster]

I've always wondered if it works better under heat, considering the fact that it's taking away carbon in the most difficult part of the engine.

 

[dnewton3]

And such is the discussion regarding HALTs ... (highly accelerated lifecycle tests). They are good at showing relative performance of one product or process to another. But they do NOT assure that such disparity will be present in "normal" use. Hence, what happens in the lab does not always translate to the garage at home.

That doesn't mean Valvoline Restore and Protect can't do what it claims. It does, however, elude to the fact that not all lubricant volume which disappears can be stopped by a thorough cleaning.
- if wear is present, clean rings and lands won't fix consumption due to a scored bore
- if leaks are present, Valvoline Restore and Protect isn't going to fix a bad crank or cam seal, or leaking valve covers
- if the PCV is not functioning properly, Valvoline Restore and Protect can't stop excessive vapor consumption
etc ...

 

[pasadena_commut]

No oil can put metal back or undo wear. Wear is why Dave's Corolla burned out, and it was the rings more than the bores. So with just new pistons and rings, he was able to kill off his oil burning problem.

I do not recall him saying in that video that the rings (or pistons) were worn. He just said they were replaced. As I recall the total extent of the work done on that motor was new pistons and rings. Specifically, they did not even hone the bores. If there was enough friction to wear the rings down wouldn't that also have damaged the cylinder bores?

Why the assumption by you and others that his original rings were worn rather than just stuck? Did he actually say that?

With respect to the article buster posted:

https://www.enginebuildermag.com/2024/06/dealing-with-deposits-to-boost-engine-life/

please note that the one thing it does not say is that Valvoline performed a test in which stuck oil rings were released solely by using Valvoline Restore and Protect. Although I can believe they might be able to get that result after driving for 90 hours at 3900 RPM, since those are extreme operating conditions.

 

[RaymondP]

So the question I have is....if following the manufacturer recommended oil change intervals and the oil being used is on spec (talking a common quality FS oil like Mobil 1) should you periodically substitute it for the Valvoline Restore and Protect, say every 30K miles, given there are no identified problems? Understand the answer may be vehicle and age dependent, but curious to hear perspectives, particularly on BMW, Mercedes, VW vehicles.

 

[panthermike]

I do not recall him saying in that video that the rings (or pistons) were worn. He just said they were replaced. As I recall the total extent of the work done on that motor was new pistons and rings. Specifically, they did not even hone the bores. If there was enough friction to wear the rings down wouldn't that also have damaged the cylinder bores?

Why the assumption by you and others that his original rings were worn rather than just stuck? Did he actually say that?

With respect to the article buster posted:

https://www.enginebuildermag.com/2024/06/dealing-with-deposits-to-boost-engine-life/

please note that the one thing it does not say is that Valvoline performed a test in which stuck oil rings were released solely by using Valvoline Restore and Protect. Although I can believe they might be able to get that result after driving for 90 hours at 3900 RPM, since those are extreme operating conditions.

I haven't watched his video on this; but did new rings/pistons fix his issue? If so, pretty clear evidence that the problem was there. I wonder if he kept the old parts to check and see if the rings were in fact stuck when they were replaced; that could be the smoking gun.

This generation of Corolla was notorious for excessive oil burning that no chemical/oil could touch. I personally had a '00 corolla many years ago; that by 167k miles was using 1qt every 4-500 miles. I tried flushes, AutoRX, MMO, etc. None of these improved the issue.

 

[buster]

So the question I have is....if following the manufacturer recommended oil change intervals and the oil being used is on spec (talking a common quality FS oil like Mobil 1) should you periodically substitute it for the Valvoline Restore and Protect, say every 30K miles, given there are no identified problems? Understand the answer may be vehicle and age dependent, but curious to hear perspectives, particularly on BMW, Mercedes, VW vehicles.

The better oils do a great job at mitigating piston deposits. If you're following reasonable drain intervals, there is a chance an engine never develops deposits significant enough to cause oil consumption. The way it was explained in the Valvoline LSJ video is that traditionally deposits have been kept at bay through the use of polar molecules (esters) which offer improved cleanliness and solvency. However that doesn't mean deposits won't form.

I think if your engine only calls for an API oil then Valvoline Restore and Protect is a great choice to stay with. If you want an oil that offers a higher level of spec performance go with something like Mobil 1 Euro / Mobil 1 ESP etc.

 

[ka9mnx]

So the question I have is....if following the manufacturer recommended oil change intervals and the oil being used is on spec (talking a common quality FS oil like Mobil 1) should you periodically substitute it for the Valvoline Restore and Protect, say every 30K miles, given there are no identified problems? Understand the answer may be vehicle and age dependent, but curious to hear perspectives, particularly on BMW, Mercedes, VW vehicles.

I don't think it's necessary. And why are folks with 2-3 year old vehicles using Valvoline Restore and Protect?

Case in point. My 33 year old F150 is on it's original pistons, rings, and cylinder bore, for 300k miles, with whatever synthetic oil at 5k intervals. From what I can see through the oil fill hole in the valve cover it's clean as new. Oil level barely drops from the full mark between oil change intervals.

Regarding our DIY guy. In the very beginning of his videos he claimed not to be a mechanic. Just curious if he could stop/slow oil consumption chemically. He probably couldn't tell if a piston, ring or cylinder bore was worn looking at them.

 

[GI_GRIFF]

So the question I have is....if following the manufacturer recommended oil change intervals and the oil being used is on spec (talking a common quality FS oil like Mobil 1) should you periodically substitute it for the Valvoline Restore and Protect, say every 30K miles, given there are no identified problems? Understand the answer may be vehicle and age dependent, but curious to hear perspectives, particularly on BMW, Mercedes, VW vehicles.

The short simple answer here might be "yes", or maybe "no", however, if you want an opinion, I love doing that. Valvoline doesn't actually make an actual European spec oil in their Valvoline Restore and Protect line yet as far as I know. Also, Valvoline is not an Extended Performance long drain engine oil at least in their API rated oils. I don't know about their European ACEA oils. This is over my head here, but I think certain BMW and even Mercedes specs allow for really long oil drain intervals if you meet all the asterisk points in the fine print. If you are going to use, say a Valvoline 5W-30 Valvoline Restore and Protect in a Euro engine it would clean it up, but I would do at least their recommended four OCI, 4000 miles each. The Valvoline Restore and Protect 5W-30 has a HTHS of 3.2. The Euro 0 or 5W-30 have a ACEA C3 rating, giving them an HTHS of >3.5. After that maybe I would switch to a Euro ACEA rated oil with the lowest NOACK you can find, because I think lower NOACK numbers translate into fewer piston ring deposits in the long run. Euro ACEA spec oils are made by Mobil, Castrol, Liqui Moly, Motul, Valvoline, Kendall and each of your boutique oils. There are more out there too. I assume your lowest priced Euro would be Mobil 1 ESP, bought off the Walmart shelf, but I don't know. If you are not concerned with the HTHS film strength, you could probably keep using the Valvoline Restore and Protect forever, but I wouldn't go over a 5000-mile OCI and also not do "track days".

 

[Gus_Mahn]

I’ve a flew places that recommend a 10 minute drive at 4000+ rpm to help sling the crap out of the oil control rings. I did Valvoline Restore and Protect and the 4000 rpm ring fling on a Q3, and it the oil burning was reduced drastically but not stopped. I know I introduced too many variables to know how the improvement happened. Could Valvoline’s testing method be part of their success in testing?

 

[Nessism1]

The real proof is real world usage. There are dozens of threads here where people switch to Valvoline Restore and Protect, then experience less oil burning. One guy on youtube trumps dozens here with positive person experiences?

 

[dkryan]

And such is the discussion regarding HALTs ... (highly accelerated lifecycle tests). They are good at showing relative performance of one product or process to another. But they do NOT assure that such disparity will be present in "normal" use. Hence, what happens in the lab does not always translate to the garage at home.

That doesn't mean Valvoline Restore and Protect can't do what it claims. It does, however, elude to the fact that not all lubricant volume which disappears can be stopped by a thorough cleaning.
- if wear is present, clean rings and lands won't fix consumption due to a scored bore
- if leaks are present, Valvoline Restore and Protect isn't going to fix a bad crank or cam seal, or leaking valve covers
- if the PCV is not functioning properly, Valvoline Restore and Protect can't stop excessive vapor consumption
etc ...

And with that being said, I am guessing that is why Valvoline recommends four consecutive OCIs.

It’s more likely “normal” use will be achieved consistently over that mileage period versus “one and done.”

 

[NITester]

One of the benefits I saw using Restore and Protect was an improvement in compression. Specifications for compression on the Toyota 2AZ-FE is 196 PSI. The before Valvoline compression was right at 180 across all four cylinders. I did the compression test again into the second oil change with Valvoline and compression was still equal but had gone up to 200 on each cylinder. I should do that test again, now that it's almost due for the fourth interval.

The improvement in idle was night and day. Oil consumption improved, but I saw variability when I took a long trip. In local mixed driving, no short trips, it hasn't used any since December. I suspected a leak on the long trip when I smelled oil with the hood up, but I only see a weepy valve cover. It had been using 1/2 quart every 800 miles and that stopped.

 

[bryanviper]

So the question I have is....if following the manufacturer recommended oil change intervals and the oil being used is on spec (talking a common quality FS oil like Mobil 1) should you periodically substitute it for the Valvoline Restore and Protect, say every 30K miles, given there are no identified problems? Understand the answer may be vehicle and age dependent, but curious to hear perspectives, particularly on BMW, Mercedes, VW vehicles.

So I have a 2016 Golf R about 128,000kms on it. I started using Valvoline Restore and Protect Spring/Summer 2025 to see if I can help reduce oil burning which I'm not sure if its from stuck piston rings? But it could also be valve seals/guides or even turbo seals. Since Valvoline Restore and Protect is the cheapest solution I'm trying that first. I have done about 2x oil changes so far & while I think I recently noticed it not burning as much its only slight and I cant say for sure however I still have another 2 oil changes to go as Valvoline Restore and Protect says I need to do to see results.

Now I know it does not meet VW specs for oil but really I dont care because I have been using their specd oil (Liquid Moly/Motul) for the lift of the car and clearly that has not helped assuming my issue is related to stuck piston rings. I also race my car in AutoX in the summer while using the same oil and no issues just have to keep it topped up.

For reference I check my oil every weekend and I feel like I'm burning around a quarter of a full dipstick which is probably a quarter of a Liter or so.

 

[tired]

So I have a 2016 Golf R about 128,000kms on it. I started using Valvoline Restore and Protect Spring/Summer 2025 to see if I can help reduce oil burning which I'm not sure if its from stuck piston rings? But it could also be valve seals/guides or even turbo seals. Since Valvoline Restore and Protect is the cheapest solution I'm trying that first. I have done about 2x oil changes so far & while I think I recently noticed it not burning as much its only slight and I cant say for sure however I still have another 2 oil changes to go as Valvoline Restore and Protect says I need to do to see results.

Now I know it does not meet VW specs for oil but really I dont care because I have been using their specd oil (Liquid Moly/Motul) for the lift of the car and clearly that has not helped assuming my issue is related to stuck piston rings. I also race my car in AutoX in the summer while using the same oil and no issues just have to keep it topped up.

For reference I check my oil every weekend and I feel like I'm burning around a quarter of a full dipstick which is probably a quarter of a Liter or so.

How long of OCIs have you used for it?

Over how many miles do you burn a quarter liter?