Restore Experiment

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I changed the oil today in my 1990 Chevy K1500 truck with 350TBI.

4.5 quarts Rotella 15w40, and 30oz. total of Restore. You know, the silver can that comes in 4, 6, and 8 cylinder sizes.

It's supposed to even out and increase compression in old, tired engines.

Truck can burn a quart of oil in 200 miles on the highway!!

Cylinder #1 burns a TON of oil....fouls new plugs in 500 miles. 100 psi compression.

Cylinders #2-8 burn hardly any oil, plugs clean and tan after 30k miles. Compression between 148-155 psi in these cylinders.

I will post updated compression readings, and any changes in oil consumption, after 4000 miles.
 
Originally Posted By: Phishin
I changed the oil today in my 1990 Chevy K1500 truck with 350TBI.

4.5 quarts Rotella 15w40, and 30oz. total of Restore. You know, the silver can that comes in 4, 6, and 8 cylinder sizes.

It's supposed to even out and increase compression in old, tired engines.

Truck can burn a quart of oil in 200 miles on the highway!!

Cylinder #1 burns a TON of oil....fouls new plugs in 500 miles. 100 psi compression.

Cylinders #2-8 burn hardly any oil, plugs clean and tan after 30k miles. Compression between 148-155 psi in these cylinders.

I will post updated compression readings, and any changes in oil consumption, after 4000 miles.


I heard an interesting comment on CarTalk on Saturday with respect to oil consumption. They said that the oil ring can be worn or stuck but the compression rings can be fine. So you get good compression, but the oil ring does not scrape all the oil off it should and you burn oil. They also said you need to burn more than 1 QT every 500 miles before you will see the smoke. (I think that was the ratio).

Besides Auto-Rx that says it cleans the ring packs, what else would clean a stuck or gummed up oil ring?
 
Given the rate of oil consumption (in the form of burning) and suspect that cyl1 oil control rings are the culprit, I bet ya the oil control rings are so "stuck" that nothing can penetrate, cleanse and restore the function for the control rings anyways.

And those who put their faith into the use of things like AutoRx and even Kreen will definitely be disappointed.

*yeah, I've torn enough oil burning small Japanese engines to come to that conclusion*

Q.
 
Discussing this on another thread just now..Different aftermarket suppliers sell PCV valves with different sized openings. Depending on the design of the valve cover oil can get sucked right out - probably when the engine is revving and sloshing it around.
 
Originally Posted By: MolaKule
Is it stuck rings or worn valve guides?

I have seen LC20 unstick rings using the Molasoak routine.

I'm always jonesing for a new additives to try
20.gif
Its reasonably priced. Nothing in the MSDS, are they all bio products? Whats the PEA equivalent for gas deposit cleaning? Looks like there are a couple, not sure.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Or an intake gasket is leaking on the bottom and sucking oil in that way.pretty common on 350's


Truck drank oil like this when I bought it 18 months ago. Intake manifold gasket replaced 8 months ago, no change in consumption.

Originally Posted By: MolaKule
Is it stuck rings or worn valve guides?

I have seen LC20 unstick rings using the Molasoak routine.


Hard to say Molakule. I'm not tearing this old engine apart to fix anything. A new crate with 3 year warranty from GM is only $1600 shipped. Not gonna tear it apart and spend $500-$1000 fixing one or two problems when there is a laundry list of repairs to be made.

I'll look into your LC20 method for stuck rings. So far I've tried Kreen, MMO, kerosene, and Regane for piston soaks. No results.

I guess I could pop the valve cover off and see if there is abnormal play in that Cylinder #1 rocker....but if the valve seat is worn, I'm not gonna replace the head anyways.
 
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Does it really need 4000 miles to know if it is working or not? If you already have the old compression readings, why not take the new compression readings in couple of hundred miles?
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
Does it really need 4000 miles to know if it is working or not? If you already have the old compression readings, why not take the new compression readings in couple of hundred miles?


I've read from a few people (one on here) that they didn't really notice any difference until a 1000 miles of it being run.

It's cold here in Indiana. Doing 8 compression readings by myself takes time I usually don't have. I don't want to do this twice. Why do it once after 400 miles (possibly getting no improvement) and then have to re-do the compression test again at 2000 miles, to see if anything has changed?

I'd rather just do the compression test again once....see if it worked or not. I'm not really interested in how fast it works, just if it works.
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
Does it really need 4000 miles to know if it is working or not? If you already have the old compression readings, why not take the new compression readings in couple of hundred miles?


From my very limited experience with the product,Restore works in a very short period of time, if it works at all. What it is supposed to do is fill voids and scratches in the cylinder walls. In a beater we added it to it reduced oil use and improved the idle quality. As soon as you change the oil all benefits are gone in a short period of time. So it "Restores" for as long as its in the sump, if it "Restores" at all. Some engines are just beyond repair. This is another product that has a use in certain applications. I would not add it to a good running engine, and it certainly will not clean an engine. Some Oil burning beaters with lousy compression might benefit.
 
That is surprising Dermapaint....

From what I've read from others on-line, a few people have claimed to have torn apart engines treated with RESTORE and they said they could see some kind of material "plated" into scratched bearing, and into cylinder walls.

One guy on here proposed that after putting it in his Civic, that the "metal" in this product screwed up a sensor and caused his CEL to come on.

I'm under the impression that the voids are being filled with something other than a polymer. But then again, maybe the "metal" that is filling the voids is constantly being sloughed off and replenished and this is causing any benefit to disappear after fresh oil is installed. Not sure.

Maybe I'll give RESTORE a call.....

Just got off the phone with RESTORE. Their "active ingredient" is a patented product called CSL....which stands for Copper, Silver, and Lead.

They are 10uM particles. They should pass through an oil filter just fine....like MoS2.

So, CSL actually is "plating" inside these scratches and voids. I can see material would wear/slough off fairly easily...and requiring RESTORE to be present in the oil to replenish the material that has filled the voids.

Technical services at RESTORE said that every engine is different and a lot of times, people add restore every other, or every third oil change to maintain the benefits of increased compression.

I'm driving my truck 400 miles this weekend down the interstate. I'll check compression. Usually my truck would burn almost a quart in the 200 mile on way trip going 75mph. We'll see. By the time I get home, you'd think most, if any, of the plating would have already ocurred. I'll check compression soon. 1000 miles, let's say.
 
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IIRC Restore is very soft metals [don't panic additive haters, it won't clog anything] that gets swept into scratches and voids in the cylinder walls from the action of the rings. It doesn't really fuse to the surface so it constantly has to be replenished. Visualize spackle filling a dimple in a wall, being swept onto the void with a taping knife, only the spackle washes out with time in this example. It sticks around for a while and needs to be replenished again. So when you change the oil what ever residual plating will soon wash away. That was how it was explained to me, and my experience with the product indicated it stayed around for a short period of time after the oil was drained. Keep me posted in your findings!!!!!

I believe LM MoS2 might react in a similar manner, because in my lawn mower it stopped it from puffing blue smoke upon start up. When the MoS2 is not added to the oil shortly after the oil change it starts the blue puffing on starting again. Please note Restore is the better product for an engine on its way out. I believe it also fills very small voids as an added unadvertised benefit. Yea guys that is JMO!
 
I used it once in an old nissan that burned oil. It pepped up some and slowed down on oil consumption but that stopped a month or so after I changed the oil.
 
I used to use it on my Jeep and I used a can in my Accord once. The Jeep loved it, the Accord not so much. Then again, the Jeep was happy with anything in the crankcase, and that Accord was a picky b***h, so I'm not sure that really adds anything to the discussion. Either way, both were sold in better condition than when bought (well, the Accord's engine was in better condition, but 20 years of Ohio road salt took its toll on the body) and the Accord moved my ex and I 2500 miles to California in the middle of August with no issues. I'd say, at a minimum, no damage was done by using it.
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
The can is pretty cheap to use at every single oil change if it has no bad effects.


Eventually the stuff will build up in the ring packs....
 
Only notice so far, is my oil pressure seems to have dropped a few PSI when fully warmed up at idle and going down the road....which is usually the same OP....about 28psi. Now it's running about 23-25psi. Hmmmmm....
 
Originally Posted By: Phishin
Only notice so far, is my oil pressure seems to have dropped a few PSI when fully warmed up at idle and going down the road....which is usually the same OP....about 28psi. Now it's running about 23-25psi. Hmmmmm....


It is possible it thinned the oil slightly? I honestly can't tell you what effect it had on the OP when I used it, it was a long time ago and the car had an idiot light.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
It is possible it thinned the oil slightly? I honestly can't tell you what effect it had on the OP when I used it, it was a long time ago and the car had an idiot light.


When I called RESTORE yesterday, technial support said that the carrier was virgin straight 50 weight oil. So, No....it didn't thin my Rotella 15w40.

Perhaps all the Copper, Silver, and Lead is plugging my filter slightly? That would cause a decrease in OP, right?
 
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