I have a 92 Mitsubishi Eclipse with the 1.8 SOHC non turbo engine. It has 165,000 miles on it. Looks good inside and out but has begun to show its age in the engine performance department. Lots of blow-by that forces oil and lots of crankcase gasses past the PVC valve and into the intake manifold. This somtimes results in a missfire when starting in 1st gear; particularly after a run at interstate speeds when the oil gets hot and thin. I’m not normally in favor of putting anything into the crankcase except fresh, clean 10W-30W oil, but out of desperation I tried a can of Engine Restore that I picked up at my local Walmart for about five bucks. It claims to restore compression by filling in the wear marks between the piston rings and the cylindar walls. After driving the car for about 50 miles the “blow-by problem” appears to have been solved (read reduced) to the point where I no longer experience the missfires when starting off the line in 1st gear. My question to you professional wrench-heads out there is … is this suff too good to be true? The manufacturer recommeds that a can be added at each oil change. Does anyone have any long term experience with this product? Do you know of any problems that can be caused by the long term use of this product if it’s used in accordance with the manufacturer’s recomendations?
OldArmy
You seem to have the situation well understood and in control.
I do not know if you are old enough to remember stp, My understanding of it all is that it basically increases the viscosity of the oil, to pretend the problem is not there, basically worn piston rings. The engine will eventually wear to the point the stuff will not work as it does now. I saw their site and can make no firm conclusions but I would try switching to a heavier weight oil and know I control the situation, Heck that could be making your oil similar to a 90 w for all we know but it is a stop gap measure that may loose you miles in the long run.
I personally never have had to use those products, but I believe it is probably get as thick as molasses and that will just about seal just about everything.
A worn engine is just a worn engine.
I’ve used RESTORE in many engines where oil consumption/blow-by reached unacceptable levels, and where rebuilding of the engine wasn’t an option. And in each case, the RESTORE yielded positive results. The Son has an 85 Jeep where blow-by became an issue. He added the RESTORE to the oil, under my recommendation, and has reported that the blow-by was reduced consideribly.
So, if there was ever a product that deserved the title, “Mechanic In A Can”, this is one of them.
Tester
Would the same results be achieved by switching to a higher viscosity oil or does it in fact "fill and seal microscopic leaks in cylinder walls"?
Using a higher viscosity oil in an engine that has cylinder wear only causes more cylinder wear during cold starts. So going that route is only going to make the condition worse. Products like STP are just viscosity index modifiers that causes the oil to become thicker. Might as well use a thicker oil to wear the engine out faster during cold starts.
RESTORE contains silver, copper, and lead which is used to fill in the fine scratches in the cylinder walls which reduces oil consumption/blow-by. But it doesn’t contain viscosity index modifiers to effect the engine oil.
Tester
Sounds like this RESTORE stuff might also be good for helping out with the 165,000 miles of wear on the main bearings. Got any idea what it does to the oil filter? Any other possible areas it might clog? I might mention that this is not my only car. It’s my leftover commuter, and since I retired it’s normally just used as a second car for trips to stores around the neighborhood. My wife has frequently told me “don’t call me when it goes belly up and leaves you stranded somewhere - call AAA”. Maybe this RESTORE will allow me to have a few more years with my faithful old friend before it goes to car heaven.
Main bearings are not a area I would expect to see RESTORE help in. The data for cylinder walls looks possible. I don’t see issues with the oil filter.
HUH! Nowhere does the product claim to help with bearing wear. It’s formulated for engine cylinder wear.
Tester
Right you are! Even their web site doesn’t say anything about working on bearings - only cylinders. If this stuff does what it claims for fixing blow-by I will be a well satisfied customer. Thanks for your sage advice, particulary the comments about the false concept of fixing problems by simply increasing oil viscosity.
it appears some inaccurate comments being made…? for over 20 years i have used RESTORE to quickly cure worn cylinders and fledgling big end knock.
So I AM AN ACTUAL USER of RESTORE for over 20 years in over 8 vehicles: Ford Econoline V8 van (noisy hydraulic tappets), Volvo 740 (blue smoke on acceleration), AUDI 5000 (fledgling big end knock due to catastrophic oil loss on I80), even used it in the lift hydraulics on an old hyster forklift (stopped lift cylinder galling instantly), plus a lumpy Johnson 35hp twin two stroke outboard (50ml down the spark plug hole balanced the compression).
here is some more info from their (uk) site:
RESTORE is a SAE-30 high performance motor oil containing billions of micro-particles of the proprietary formula CSL (Copper 60%, Lead 40%, Silver trace) in suspension. RESTORE is suitable for any engine, whether petrol, diesel, dual-fuelled or lpg and is safe to use in turbo-charged engines and vehicles with catalytic converters as it does not enter the combustion cycle…
http://www.americantechnology.co.uk/customer-testimonials-4-w.asp
http://www.americantechnology.co.uk/index.asp
http://www.americantechnology.co.uk/faqscommon-problems-3-w.asp
just my 2cts worth. i have used RESTORE and it worked everytime unless something is broken.
What innacurate comments are being made? There is group agreement that restore could be benefical in helping with cylinder wall issues. There is also group agreement that restore will not help with issues involving main bearings.
Apparently the manufacturer claims that RESTORE can help with some bearing problems as long as they are not too far gone. See extract, below, from their web site …
"Worn small end bearings. Small end bearings are fed by oil splashed up from the sump or by direct oil feed from the crank oil supply. By splash, the oil rebounds off the underside of the piston (cooling the piston in the process) and then drops into countersunk holes in the top of the connecting rods. This lubes the bronze small end bushings by gravity (assuming the countersunk is not ‘sludged’). Expect a repair in 500 miles or 10 hours of operation. The other type of conrod is lubed by force-feed, where there is an oil-way drilled up through the connecting rod so the small end is force fed by oil coming through the crankshaft from the oil pump. Expect repairs with RESTORE in under 20 miles or 30 minutes of running the engine. We would recommend a flush just in case the conrod oil-ways are clogged up with black sludge, then add the RESTORE with new ordinary supermarket oil and a new filter and drive normally.
Fledgling big end bearing knock. This is a tough one as we need to catch the damage as quickly as possible before the main and conrod shell bearings rotate on the crank. We have had very good results if the damage is caught quickly i.e. the instant the knock is first heard. Most conrod shell bearing damage results from zero oil supply (a red oil light) or from a cracked cylinder head where the coolant water washes the oil off the metal surfaces; shell bearings silver and lead are the first to go, and the cylinder walls then heat up due to friction and eventually the engine can seize solid. So if a bottom end knock, which sounds like a constant thud, thud, thud, is heard (caused by either lack of oil or coolant water in the oil) stop immediately and do not drive the vehicle again until the problem is fixed. Then use RESTORE to try and repair the damage by running the engine very gently at first until some improvement is heard. If the parts are too far gone the noise will inevitably get worse and the parts will need to be replaced."
proprietary formula CSL (Copper 60%, Lead 40%, Silver trace) in suspension. RESTORE is suitable for any engine, whether petrol, diesel, dual-fuelled or lpg and is safe to use in turbo-charged engines and vehicles with catalytic converters as it does not enter the combustion cycle…
This caught my eye. With all of the emphasis on removing sources of lead from everything these days, I am surprised that lead as an intentional additive is still in use. The percentages quoted are certainly not absolute, they must be related to some fraction of the overall quantity. I wonder what that is? For example if the additives comprise say 0.1% of the total and lead is 40% of that, it gives you an idea of how much actual lead is in a can of this stuff.
The second red flag is that “it does not enter the combustion cycle”. All engines burn some oil. An engine that needs this product is likely to be worn out enough that it is even MORE likely to be using some oil. Somebody has been breathing too many tailpipe emissions if they think that statement will put rest any fears of cat or environmental pollution from their product. Again, I wonder exactly how much lead is actually in this product. It may be so miniscule as to not be a concern. But saying it doesn’t enter the combustion cycle is fallicy IMHO. And then when you recycle the oil, are they able to recapture the lead and other metals? IDK the answer to that either.
If Tester says it works, then it works…I have a 4000 watt portable generator with a VERY tired 8hp Briggs engine. It burns almost as much oil as gasoline. I don’t use it very often, so Restore might be just the ticket…It will sure be a good test…
“Copper 60%, Lead 40%, Silver trace” means lead is 40% of the total metal additives.
Leaded gasoline used Tetra-ethyl Lead. In each molecule one atom of lead is surrounded by 38 other lighter atoms (H, C, etc.). Not too difficult for a brief fire to break that apart, freeing individual lead atoms.
OTOH a fine particle of metallic Lead consists of “billions and billions” of lead atoms tied together. 28 trillion atoms per nanogram. There’s considerable cohesion in a metal particle.
So will these metal particles, which I’m guessing are each an alloy of copper-lead-silver, remain intact and pass harmlessly by the cat converter?
I don’t know about Restore, but the OP sounds like he did a good bit of regular maintenance . . . and this type of engine problem at such low mileage . . . only 165,000 . . . seems a bit strange to me. Anybody else? Interesting discussion on Restore though . . . maybe I’ll give it a try sometime. Rocketman
So if this stuff contains over half lead, doesn’t it stand a pretty good chance of destroying a catalytic converter? (albeit slowly)
If you need “Restore” the converter is more than likely inactive anyway…