Reading through the replies in this thread makes one think that Engine Restore has something special to it - above and beyond what other bandaids like thick oil or STP can do.
I never happened to use Engine Restore, but I have squelched the smoke from many a tired smoking engine with extra thick oil or STP.
Is anyone willing to assert that the copper and lead make it stand out above the rest of competing thick-oil products?
Iām feeling about the same as you Joe . . . one of my current daily drivers just turned 490,000 @ 20 years old. I use about a 1/4 of a quart between the 3000 mile oil changes, but have been using 20W50 in the āwarmerā weather (April through October) since about 250,000 or so. Using 10W40 seems to smoke a little in the morning, but I donāt mind that and it goes away in less than a minute, the time I let it idle until I drive away. The 10W40 uses a little bit more between oil changes, maybe as much as a 1/2 quart between changes. I still might give Restore a try, but have had good luck with the āheavierā 20W50. Rocketman
The car still has the original cat converter on it and it has always passed the rigid Virginia emissions inspection (every two years). Possible damage to the cat is one of my primary concerns about using this product. I was hoping to find some responses from long term users. If I destroy the cat - this car is toast!
Hereās the 2-stroke engine procedure discussed on the manufacturerās UK web site ā¦
āTwo stroke quick repair. This is the same way we cure worn two stroke cylinder bores quickly. Pour approximately 100ml down each empty spark plug hole and allow to drain down and settle the CSL particles down around the piston rings. This is just the same as doing a dry/wet compression test - any mechanic knows how to do this. Then use the starter to turn the engine over a few times before replacing the spark plugs and starting the engine. It will smoke for a while then hopefully it will cure the compression leakages and improve emissions and power.ā
To the guy that, for some reason, say itās over half lead. No, 40% is not half. also, itās a percentage of the additives. Youāre not pouring molten metal out of a can.
Yup. It is too good to be true.
It cannot replace material lost due to wear, it cannot restore the āsprnginessā to your rings (your compression rings push against the cylinder walls to control compression and your oil āwiperā rings wipe the excess oil off of the cylinder walls), it cannot take the conical shape out of your cylinders that occurs from wear (most wear occurs at the top of the cylinder, making the shape conical), and it cannot replace the āhoningā that retains sufficient oil on the walls after the āwiperā rings pass to allow the pistons and compression rings to slide by.
It also cannot correct the problems inherent in worn out bearings; lost material and transferred material from a process called āgallingā. In addition, it cannot strengthen tired old valve spring, or correct valve seating issues due to wear and/or unwanted materials deposition.
The one thing it CAN do, MAYBE, is get an additional year of function (I use the term loosely) out of a totally shot engineā¦ if youāre willing to accept excess oil use, low power, and perhaps risk a spun bearingā¦ which probably wouldnāt matter anyway.
But Iām sure itās succeeded in making a whole lot of money over the years.
STP was thick no matter what the temp was. I used it to nurse my Vega engine until I had time to rebuild it. I wouldnāt use that stuff in cold climates though.
I have installed that product in several old worn out cars for customers despite my discouraging it and an old Ford LTD and and old Ford pickup supposedly saw significant improvement but none of the others seemed to see any improvement. On the old LTD a trail of smoke followed the car and the rear of the car was coated with an oily film but a week after adding the snake oil the smoke was reduced to barely noticeable and the car was sold and never was heard of again. On the old truck the owner seemed happy with the reduction in oil burning that was fouling the plugs. The owners of those vehicles sent several of their friends in with their beaters but the results werenāt good. A few engines immediately smoked worse after adding the stuff.
That was many years ago and I didnāt know that the product was still available.but just searched it and thatās what I am familiar with
My 1998 Toyota Corolla (325,000 miles) has been using about 1 qt of 5w30 oil every 500 miles for the past 100,000 miles. It seems to run fine, passes emission tests but uses all of that oil which is a pain. I put in a can of Restore with my last oil change and got over 1000 miles before I was a quart down. Its no big deal but appears to have significantly cut the oil usage.
I can vouch this snake oil actually works. I had a 4.3 mercruiser that lost compression in two cylinders. Both in about the 35psi range. I ran a bottle of this stuff and the compression was in the 165psi range for both cylinders. I put probably 10 hours or so on it before getting a new engine as 15 miles offshore is not where you want to find it gives up. It never lost compression.
What is your problem? The motor froze because it hadnāt been drained in the winter and damaged two cylinders. I pulled the heads after getting the new engine and the damaged areas were filled in. Donāt really care if you believe me or notā¦
In the interest of science, I am going to purchase Restore and give it a shot in my 27 year old lawnmower. My first experiment using full synthetic 10W-30 in place of regular 30; weight heavy detergent bought me two more seasons of use from the mower. The synthetic oil cut the oil consumption by 75% until the end of this past mowing season when it again started belching blue smoke and the oil consumption increased. I paid $200 for that mower back in 1992 and I donāt want to throw it away if I can make it last a few more years.
Iāll report back next summer as to whether or not the Restore saved the mower.
Wow! Report me as spamā¦thatās pretty low. Can you show me it has high viscosity like a lot of people are claiming and thatās why it increases compression? Absolutely not because itās about like 10w30. Sheesh. Not my video but similar results.
This may be late but my story is below and hard to believeā¦
I had P300 Random misfire on a couple cylinders. Replaced or eliminated Air Manifold Gasket/Leak, Air Pressure good, Smoke Test Pass, Fuel Pressure good, NOID Test Pass, Fuel Injectors replaced, new Plugs and Cables, new Coils, new Throttle Body, new MAF sensor, new CAM Position Sensor, new cable harness to coils, cylinder pressure tests all passed (C1 slightly low). Basically everything except O2 Sensors, CAM, Lifters, or Computer.
UPDATE 11/26/19 - over summer I kept testing and purchased new CAM, Lifters, Spings, Head Gaskets, from 1AAuto. Was waiting on cooler temps (now) to do work but in August added an oil treatment called āRESTOREā to oil change. Dealer does changes as I have $10 lifetime changes. Dealer left off a plug (think on purpose) and after getting home found it arcing bad to block. I plugged it back on plug.
WOW FACTOR- Its my wifeās car and I did not do much until end of September. We had to get state inspection but EL was off. I cleared codes to get inspection and it worked. EXCEPT now EL has never returned and today I plugged in Torque Scanner and after 20 miles of testing not 1 misfire and STFT perfect near 0, and LTFT and O2 ranges good.
Itās almost as though RESTORE fixed my issue but I just cannot believe it!!! I wonder if the arcing plug caused a computer reset that might have worked? It makes no sense to me and I have $700 of parts in a boxā¦
PLEASE ANY FEEDBACK ?? I feel
I am losing my sanity on this as I just cannot believe an oil additive was the fix!!!
Iāll play the devilās advocate. If he doesnāt use the product, what are his options other than replacing the engine which is not worth doing IMO on a car of that vintage?
You nailed it. I was going to send the heads off with new springs to have them rebuilt and tested. While they were at shop I was going to replace the cam and lifters and clean up (a little) the top of piston/cylinders.
But before I started the project I used RESTORE and P300 code went away for good. It idles normal now also. Before restore my cylinder pressure testing was around 180 for all except C1. It was 150 but still in spec per AllData. All I can say is for we this RESTORE must have improved my pressure enough to stop the misfiresā¦ I may still do the cam, heads project since I have parts that cannot be returnedā¦ or just hold them or sell on eBay? not sure yetā¦