Valvoline Restore & Protect Oil

[john in la]

So valvoline restore and protect oil has been on the market for about a year that I know of.
I wrote it off as a snake oil gimmick at first but from what I am seeing from friends and online this seems to be the real deal.
Has anyone here tried this oil and care to share their real life results.
My only complaint I can see is it is not Dexos1 approved so I can not use it in my wifes car.
I think I may try it in my Hemi next oil change.

 

[stdsch40]

After 4 oil changes it says in the ad. Always liked Valvoline especially in motorcycles.

 

[Sberry]

Nickles worth of extra gunk in a gallon and different label on the jug, 5$ more.

 

[Hobo,NC]

So valvoline restore and protect oil has been on the market for about a year that I know of.
I wrote it off as a snake oil gimmick at first but from what I am seeing from friends and online this seems to be the real deal.
Has anyone here tried this oil and care to share their real life results.
My only complaint I can see is it is not Dexos1 approved so I can not use it in my wifes car.
I think I may try it in my Hemi next oil change.

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Are Your friends knocking the pistons out before and after? Asking for a friend.

While we are on gimmicks Dexos1 comes to mind.

 

[Ray,IN]

Only burn Tier 1 gasoline and pistons will look life the right half of the picture. That's my opinion, that and $6 will get you a cup of coffee anywhere.

 

[Gambles]

While we are on gimmicks Dexos1 comes to mind.

Just so everyone knows, in order for an oil to be Dexos approved, money for each quart sold goes to GM. No money to GM, not Dexos approved.
So there ARE some good oils out there, but if they decide not to pay GM, there is no Dexos approval.
In theory, you could use the best oil on planet earth, but if it’s not Dexos approved, GM could deny warranty work. Just something to think about.

 

[Mule Meat]

Just so everyone knows, in order for an oil to be Dexos approved, money for each quart sold goes to GM. No money to GM, not Dexos approved.
So there ARE some good oils out there, but if they decide not to pay GM, there is no Dexos approval.
In theory, you could use the best oil on planet earth, but if it’s not Dexos approved, GM could deny warranty work. Just something to think about.

No they can't. That argument was settled through the court system many years ago.

An automobile manufacturer cannot force anyone to use a specific brand or brands of products in their cars and trucks.

If the engine calls for SAE 0W20 synthetic oil. It does not matter if it's Mobil, Valvoline or Popeyes pee water. As long as it meets The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) specs for the engine it can be used without voiding the warranty.

Again that argument was settled in the courts years ago when manufacturers were trying to force vehicle owners into buying manufacturers branded products at highly inflated prices.

 

[Texasmark]

Well Wally World must be paying GM as their full syn. oil is now Dexos approved and has the best price. I used to use Rotella T syn. 5W-40 in my newer tractors, and 15w-40 dyno in my old ones. Been using WW oil for a few years now and it makes things slippery just like Rot T did.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

No they can't. That argument was settled through the court system many years ago.

An automobile manufacturer cannot force anyone to use a specific brand or brands of products in their cars and trucks.

If the engine calls for SAE 0W20 synthetic oil. It does not matter if it's Mobil, Valvoline or Popeyes pee water. As long as it meets The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) specs for the engine it can be used without voiding the warranty.

Again that argument was settled in the courts years ago when manufacturers were trying to force vehicle owners into buying manufacturers branded products at highly inflated prices.

They can't force anyone to use a specific BRAND. Dexos is not a brand. It's a "standard." They can and will deny warranty coverage.

 

[Gambles]

An automobile manufacturer cannot force anyone to use a specific brand or brands of products in their cars and

Again that argument was settled in the courts years ago when manufacturers were trying to force vehicle owners into buying manufacturers branded products at highly inflated prices.

You’re probably thinking of the Magnusom Moss lawsuit/law from the ‘70’s. Basically, that law says if a manufacturer demands you buy THEIR product, and their product only, the manufacturer has to supply that product for free. GM skirted that law by setting the Dexos standard and then allowing other manufacturers to manufacture Dexos oil, as long as GM got a couple pennies per quart of oil when they make a Dexos-standard oil. The standard isn’t super tough to meet, as noted you can get Supertech oil that meets the Dexos standard.
I don’t drive a vehicle that demands a Dexos oil, but if I did, I’d probably play their little game and use Dexos oil, because GM has their lawyers on retainer and I don’t.
One last comment/question here: Anyone can say “lawyers and the courts settled that years ago.” Perhaps they have. But be specific and cite the exact court case that supports your statement. Give me a “Joe Blow vs. General Motors” specific case that I can research. Because I know that GM still harasses people that have had their engines expire under warranty even when they have been well maintained.

 

[NDIHC]

We have vehicles that specify Dexos oil and they aren't GM vehicles.

 

[sotxbill]

So valvoline restore and protect oil has been on the market for about a year that I know of.
I wrote it off as a snake oil gimmick at first but from what I am seeing from friends and online this seems to be the real deal.
Has anyone here tried this oil and care to share their real life results.
My only complaint I can see is it is not Dexos1 approved so I can not use it in my wifes car.
I think I may try it in my Hemi next oil change.

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I'm guessing they have a "high ph" additive like diesel oil... and that will naturally clean the engine... And probably added anti clumping to keep the dirt in suspension.... again just like diesel oil... but in a gas oil... No magic there.

 

[scootergmc]

When I heard about this coming out a year or so ago, I too was skeptical. But I became more interested after one of the Youtube oil guys I've watched did a piece with Valvoline and how they likened it to one of their older similar discontinued products. So I bit. I have a couple higher mileage Hondas, an Accord and Pilot. They have both burned oil, likely due to stuck rings, which is common on the older Hondas. The 3.5L in the Pilot also suffers oil consumption as a result of the cylinder management system, which I had deactivated a couple years ago, but that's another story.

So I've been running it for about a year in the Accord, a couple months in the Pilot. I can absolutely say that it has reduced oil consumption and the results were evident during the first oil cycle. Whereas the Accord was burning about a 1/2 quart every 1-2k miles, the oil level is still in the safe zone in this current period, and it has been currently about 3k miles. The Pilot is sitting at 3.5k miles on the current oil, and it is only on its first cycle of restore and protect, and as of yesterday's random oil check, is still perfectly in the middle of the dipstick's safe zone. I would've had to at least put a 1/2 quart in by now.

The snake oil debate is always strong with any product like this, but for me it's definitely working. That's all I can say.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

I was in buying tubes at the tire supplier and saw the same add on the table for it with that same fun picture of a clean piston. Only 99 dollars for an oil change…didn’t sign up for that. At the 236000 the pickup has I don’t know what would bust loose for deposits if you used that but I don’t figure the gas engine is making 400000 miles. Even if it did loosen stuff up you will go a lot longer keeping the engine alive by making sure it has enough in it and change it regularly. Cheap oil or if it makes you feel better buy the expensive stuff the instructor at school always said oil is like peoples religion and unless their engine blows up or their wallet is empty they will rarely contemplate doing anything other than they already do. I had just said I use the cheapest crap the farm store sells…he said “you don’t do you? And he will use that stuff until he is in the ground!”…he didn’t happen to be right but the only reason was I got busy enough it was cheaper to buy almost any even reasonably expensive oil by the drum not even the bulk delivery. Except that super tech stuff that came in a bag but that gets old using the bag fast maybe it’s gotten better or there’s a trick. Not sure what you would do with a partial half leaking bag. I put it on my wife’s grocery order on the computer a couple times it literally showed up in her trunk with the gallon of milk and cherry Coke for grocery pickup. if you are smart buy vehicles that take the same viscosity oil it will make your life much easier.

 

[scootergmc]

I was in buying tubes at the tire supplier and saw the same add on the table for it with that same fun picture of a clean piston. Only 99 dollars for an oil change…didn’t sign up for that. At the 236000 the pickup has I don’t know what would bust loose for deposits if you used that but I don’t figure the gas engine is making 400000 miles. Even if it did loosen stuff up you will go a lot longer keeping the engine alive by making sure it has enough in it and change it regularly. Cheap oil or if it makes you feel better buy the expensive stuff the instructor at school always said oil is like peoples religion and unless their engine blows up or their wallet is empty they will rarely contemplate doing anything other than they already do. I had just said I use the cheapest crap the farm store sells…he said “you don’t do you? And he will use that stuff until he is in the ground!”…he didn’t happen to be right but the only reason was I got busy enough it was cheaper to buy almost any even reasonably expensive oil by the drum not even the bulk delivery. Except that super tech stuff that came in a bag but that gets old using the bag fast maybe it’s gotten better or there’s a trick. Not sure what you would do with a partial half leaking bag. I put it on my wife’s grocery order on the computer a couple times it literally showed up in her trunk with the gallon of milk and cherry Coke for grocery pickup. if you are smart buy vehicles that take the same viscosity oil it will make your life much easier.

What are you trying to say?

 

[Fixingfarmer]

I’m saying that the 4 oil changes it would take to get those pistons that shiny clean you are 3/4 if the way to buying your own drum of non snake oil. Or you can buy essentially the 5 gallon pail of this stuff. I certainly don’t fault anyone for paying more if they want to try to keep something the best they can but the dollar bills here have become 100s. A bit of quick math and it’s 7600 bucks or 5100 more with this new stuff to change the oil in my case for the life of the vehicle. I could buy a whole new engine and have money left over if I use the old standard normal cheap stuff.

As someone who would probably have the most in the engineer and marketing teams mind to benefit from this product a high milage vehicle long past any sort of warranty that based on the last time I was in the oil pan had significant deposits everywhere I still chose to not purchase the expensive oil. My pickup burns the same quart it has every oil change since I’ve owned it. Cleaning up the rings and pistons might help but might cause harm long term as well as you have just loosened this crud up to float around hopefully mostly get filtered out but certainly it’s getting busted loose above the crankshaft and connecting rods probably somewhat crispy yet and I was always taught if you don’t do anything else when cleaning up an engine cover the crank with a rag and clean it when you are done. So we have the covered part kinda done with the rod and cap in place while operating but what if something gets in the edge? There’s just alot on faith of what’s in the bottle here for a gain of??? And anything less than 200000 miles what on would it help especially regularly? The guy that came in to the shop just after me had a truck just out of warranty it had 50000 on it and wanted it done so I’d say marketing is working. I’m not saying fantastic things don’t happen chemical companies can work a lot of magic but some are not worth it even if they occur.

In your specific case I’d be more concerned that it stopped using oil right away. It takes some amount of time for that to work its way in there especially to loosen up rings. Did the pressure stay the same? Did you do it yourself and know it was the right viscosity and not 5w30 where 0w20 was supposed to be? That’s the easiest way for the customer to see drastic improvement quick. I’ve seen a lot of things happen and the wrong stuff put in the wrong place. Api rating match or exceed what it’s supposed to have? That rating hasn’t changed pick your letter. I do agree above that dexos is as big a scam you can argue gm is trying to control their supply. It’s has always been an easy out on their end to deny if someone other than the dealer changed the oil and that is absolutely rediculous. But the world we live in.

 

[GChief]

 

[scootergmc]

I’m saying that the 4 oil changes it would take to get those pistons that shiny clean you are 3/4 if the way to buying your own drum of non snake oil. Or you can buy essentially the 5 gallon pail of this stuff. I certainly don’t fault anyone for paying more if they want to try to keep something the best they can but the dollar bills here have become 100s. A bit of quick math and it’s 7600 bucks or 5100 more with this new stuff to change the oil in my case for the life of the vehicle. I could buy a whole new engine and have money left over if I use the old standard normal cheap stuff.

As someone who would probably have the most in the engineer and marketing teams mind to benefit from this product a high milage vehicle long past any sort of warranty that based on the last time I was in the oil pan had significant deposits everywhere I still chose to not purchase the expensive oil. My pickup burns the same quart it has every oil change since I’ve owned it. Cleaning up the rings and pistons might help but might cause harm long term as well as you have just loosened this crud up to float around hopefully mostly get filtered out but certainly it’s getting busted loose above the crankshaft and connecting rods probably somewhat crispy yet and I was always taught if you don’t do anything else when cleaning up an engine cover the crank with a rag and clean it when you are done. So we have the covered part kinda done with the rod and cap in place while operating but what if something gets in the edge? There’s just alot on faith of what’s in the bottle here for a gain of??? And anything less than 200000 miles what on would it help especially regularly? The guy that came in to the shop just after me had a truck just out of warranty it had 50000 on it and wanted it done so I’d say marketing is working. I’m not saying fantastic things don’t happen chemical companies can work a lot of magic but some are not worth it even if they occur.

In your specific case I’d be more concerned that it stopped using oil right away. It takes some amount of time for that to work its way in there especially to loosen up rings. Did the pressure stay the same? Did you do it yourself and know it was the right viscosity and not 5w30 where 0w20 was supposed to be? That’s the easiest way for the customer to see drastic improvement quick. I’ve seen a lot of things happen and the wrong stuff put in the wrong place. Api rating match or exceed what it’s supposed to have? That rating hasn’t changed pick your letter. I do agree above that dexos is as big a scam you can argue gm is trying to control their supply. It’s has always been an easy out on their end to deny if someone other than the dealer changed the oil and that is absolutely rediculous. But the world we live in.

Gotcha. As for my specific experience, it's always been the same viscosity for me, 5w-20. Is the pressure the same- I don't know as I don't have a manual oil pressure gauge hooked to either vehicle. Don't hear what I'm not saying- I never said consumption stopped right away. All I know is that consumption has been reduced. If my pistons are getting clean as shown in the image, I don't care. I know Hondas deal with stuck rings and burning oil (I also took my last Civic to 400k+ miles before it burnt a valve), and I want them to stop sending oil out the tailpipe, because that also leads to downstream problems with catalytic convertors, etc, which did have to be replaced on the Accord, thankfully under the 150k emissions warranty. As for long term costs, I buy my oil during rebate periods which does help a little, but an extra $5 on oil changes isn't going to hurt my bottom line. I feel your math is using some very abundant/generous cost valuations to equate to 5100 dollars over the "life of the vehicle," so I can't begin to extrapolate those numbers.

Again- for me, it's working.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

Gotcha. As for my specific experience, it's always been the same viscosity for me, 5w-20. Is the pressure the same- I don't know as I don't have a manual oil pressure gauge hooked to either vehicle. Don't hear what I'm not saying- I never said consumption stopped right away. All I know is that consumption has been reduced. If my pistons are getting clean as shown in the image, I don't care. I know Hondas deal with stuck rings and burning oil (I also took my last Civic to 400k+ miles before it burnt a valve), and I want them to stop sending oil out the tailpipe, because that also leads to downstream problems with catalytic convertors, etc, which did have to be replaced on the Accord, thankfully under the 150k emissions warranty. As for long term costs, I buy my oil during rebate periods which does help a little, but an extra $5 on oil changes isn't going to hurt my bottom line. I feel your math is using some very abundant/generous cost valuations to equate to 5100 dollars over the "life of the vehicle," so I can't begin to extrapolate those numbers.

Again- for me, it's working.

The numbers were based on the 30 bucks which is on the high side with filter it takes to change my oil and the 100 they were charging at the shop then divided total miles by the amount of miles mine has per oil change. I understand your experience and cost may vary.

 

[will-max dairy]

So valvoline restore and protect oil has been on the market for about a year that I know of.
I wrote it off as a snake oil gimmick at first but from what I am seeing from friends and online this seems to be the real deal.
Has anyone here tried this oil and care to share their real life results.
My only complaint I can see is it is not Dexos1 approved so I can not use it in my wifes car.
I think I may try it in my Hemi next oil change.

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I.... I don't know man... with how expensive oil is getting... the cost of replacing a battery in an electric car is looking better and better every day.

As for engines needing Dexos approval... can't the additive in this Valvoline stuff be bought as some kind of oil treatment? Use the Dexos oil... add the treatment... wipe your hands and walk away.

And... as far as keeping warranties up... if I can afford a new car at today's prices, I can afford oil changes at the dealer. That's what I've done with vehicles purchased new, under warranty. As soon as the warranty is up, I do whatever I want.

What I DID always refuse was, any additional work that they would "recommend" during the oil change. They would often point out that the brakes were getting close, or maybe I was due for winter tires... or whatever. I would always humor them and allow them to quote. I mean, if the brake job or tires were reasonable, I would love to not have to climb under the car to do a brake job.

But, alas, their prices for this routine maintenance were astronomical, so I would pass... and just get the oil change.