Valvoline Restore and Protect skepticism

[gunnellett]

That sounds about as expected. The sad part , just like many businesses today , the name Castrol means nothing special anymore.
The company actually seemed to lose its way with all sorts of abrupt changes without much advertisement or explanation to the customers even well before it was sold.

Even though changes were happening well before being sold by BP, I'm guessing an impending sale was very much related.

 

[EllieMae94]

I’m in the middle of a Quaker State Full Synthetic varnish clean up experiment as we speak. Details by year end. A hint Quaker State Full Synthetic was not up to the task causing the varnish. ESP is the cleaning test subject.

Between Valvoline Restore and Protect and Mobil 1 ESP 0w30, which in your experience did a better/faster job of cleaning varnish?

 

[Japanese]

No

Why don't you try it first for a few oil changes and then express skepticism, if any?

 

[GW.]

Between Restore and Protect and Mobil 1 ESP 0w30, which in your experience did a better/faster job of cleaning varnish?

I’d give the edge to Valvoline Restore and Protect. But Mobil 1 ESP is no slouch.

 

[TomYoung]

Why don't you try it first for a few oil changes and then express skepticism, if any?

I don’t have any cars that require engine cleaning, so not exactly sure what I would learn.

 

[tired]

I don’t have any cars that require engine cleaning, so not exactly sure what I would learn.

You've inspected your piston rings?

 

[TomYoung]

You've inspected your piston rings?

No. I am all over maintainance, but could not possibly see tearing down engines with no discernible issues.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

I don’t have any cars that require engine cleaning, so not exactly sure what I would learn.

You don't have any that require cleaning that you know of.

Not Valvoline Restore and Protect at that time. My sons high mileage Forte, didn't burn any oil, I've cut every filter for last 6 years and 50K+, always clean pleats and can. It used to have a decently loud piston slap type sound when cold (worse in winter). I did BG EPR flush, didn't change anything that I could tell, no junk in filter all the times running Mobil 1 Advanced Fuel Economy and PP. I decided to run some HPL Engine Cleaner 30, about 1/2 way through the OCI it was noticeably quieter at start up to the point my wife asked what I had done. All I can guess is that rings got freed up some allowing proper movement/centering in cylinder. At the end of that OCI this was in the filter with a lot of little carbon specks in pleats. It had a leaking VCG for awhile and when I tackled that right about same time as HPL Engine Cleaner 30, the top end looked like this with about 185k. It always looked clean through fill port prior. It's currently running Valvoline Restore and Protect 5w-30, I'll see it at Thanksgiving for it's first oil change from that. We'll see how filter looks.

 

[busdriver]

I used Valvoline Restore and Protect for 3 oil changes....Did it do anything?.....I have no idea...

 

[Sequoiasoon]

I used Valvoline Restore and Protect for 3 oil changes....Did it do anything?.....I have no idea...

Did you cut the filter? Was it burning oil before? Is it now? Observable varnish before or after.

If none of those checked prior of after then nope, you won’t have a clue if it did anything.

 

[Adambomb7777]

Currently running Valvoline Restore and Protect on a high mileage 1.6 ecoboost (225k miles) that doesn’t burn or use any oil. It runs very smooth. Good stuff

I have no idea if it’ll clean anything out, but it is VERY smooth running (I had to say it twice)

 

[Pablo]

At least no one wrote "butt dyno" yet

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

This oil is pretty solid, but has definitely become a go-to for wishful thinkers and folks who have not faced the truth that their engine is clapped out. Go ahead and use it, but we need to get off the idea that it does more than clean up old engines a little bit. Also, need to call out folks who are suggesting that they should use it on brand new cars. That makes no sense, and, in fact there are better, cheaper oils holding manufacturer specifications readily available. The product has its place, for sure, but also seems to have folks drinking the Kool Ade.

Imo what will be interesting is how Valvoline competitors respond. Shell (aka Pennzoil) and Mobil 1. They have a lot to lose with their bloated product line.

As for what Valvoline Restore and Protect does? Well it does what any other oil does on a 5k oci except it has the added benefit of keeping internals ridiculously clean. Other than possibly price and/or availability I can't invision a reason not to use Valvoline Restore and Protect on a 5k oci. Imo your post implies that Valvoline Restore and Protect is deficient in some aspect because of its cleaning ability so I'm curious, other than a high HTHS application, why chose something else for use on a 5k oci?

 

[goblin]

I don’t have any cars that require engine cleaning, so not exactly sure what I would learn.

Would you express skepticism about being hungry not being that much of a deal, if you've never skipped a meal ?

 

[TomYoung]

Would you express skepticism about being hungry not being that much of a deal, if you've never skipped a meal ?

Not sure you are understanding my point based on your poor fitting analogy. A better analogy would be to ask why I don’t take antibiotics when I am not sick.

 

[goblin]

Not sure you are understanding my point based on your poor fitting analogy. A better analogy would be to ask why I don’t take antibiotics when I am not sick.

I surely am understanding that your thread is about being skeptical of the product. At least - that's how it's titled.

Taking your analogy - if you're skeptical about antibiotics - you'll simply not take them, ever. Because you're skeptical of them.

If you're skeptical about taking antibiotics when you're not sick - then you're not skeptical, you're simply sane - and it's the right choice. But it's also the mother of all "Duh!" moments that doesn't require a thread.

In its current state, the title of your thread is pure clickbait. The nuances revealed further down are dressing. It says skepticism about Valvoline Restore and Protect , not skepticism about Valvoline Restore and Protect when it's not needed.

And I am skeptical of the title being a misunderstanding

 

[Pablo]

I surely am understanding that your thread is about being skeptical of the product. At least - that's how it's titled.

Taking your analogy - if you're skeptical about antibiotics - you'll simply not take them, ever. Because you're skeptical of them.

If you're skeptical about taking antibiotics when you're not sick - then you're not skeptical, you're simply sane - and it's the right choice. But it's also the mother of all "Duh!" moments that doesn't require a thread.

In its current state, the title of your thread is pure clickbait. The nuances revealed further down are dressing. It says skepticism about Valvoline Restore and Protect , not skepticism about Valvoline Restore and Protect when it's not needed.

And I am skeptical of the title being a misunderstanding

To borrow from the antibiotics analogy, this is a better but not great fit. Whatever else you said about hunger is a bit hwackadoodle.

Fit as a fiddle, health good, feel great. Run, jump, play, lift weights. BG, BP, etc all good.

Take antibiotics because - despite all indications - you might actually be sick and not know it. Maybe. You would be nuts just to take them.

This analogy breaks down right about there. Because overuse of antibiotics, bad for gut flora, germ resistance, etc. Whereas Valvoline Restore and Protect is not harmful.

Point being, use a good synthetic oil and avoid this honey trap. Plenty of tests and teardowns show rings and lands are very clean with good synthetic oil.

 

[Carlostrece]

This oil is pretty solid, but has definitely become a go-to for wishful thinkers and folks who have not faced the truth that their engine is clapped out. Go ahead and use it, but we need to get off the idea that it does more than clean up old engines a little bit. Also, need to call out folks who are suggesting that they should use it on brand new cars. That makes no sense, and, in fact there are better, cheaper oils holding manufacturer specifications readily available. The product has its place, for sure, but also seems to have folks drinking the Kool Ade.

Valvoline Restore and Protect is the favorite flavor of Koolaid, but it has its uses.

 

[Japanese]

I don’t have any cars that require engine cleaning, so not exactly sure what I would learn.

Please, tell us what cars do you have and we'll tell you if their engines need cleaning or not.

 

[tired]

No. I am all over maintainance, but could not possibly see tearing down engines with no discernible issues.

The point is that you can't inspect the area that the oil claims to clean. Maybe you don't burn oil which is an acceptable proxy, but there are lots of people here who ran Valvoline Restore and Protect on seemingly clean engines that got a lot of crud out. If you don't want to run it for whatever reason, that's fine, but how can you be skeptical of the myriad results posted here??

Basically it seems like, to further the analogies here, you've never had a bacterial infection, so why should anyone need antibiotics.

To reference your OP, the reason we have a need for this oil is people running "better, cheaper synthetics that meet the specifications" and had issues.