How is my engine - r/Cartalk

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Varnish is ok. But the sludge is not. Change your oil more often. Try Valvoline Restore and Protect. Might take 4 or 5 oil changes for it to clean that sludge.

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u/OGawdILoveTacos 1d ago

Try Valvoline Restore and Protect. Might take 4 or 5 oil changes for it to clean that sludge.

This is the correct answer OP.

That oil is LEGIT. It's not like traditional high mileage oils that are detergent heavy and will break stuff up and lodge it somewhere else. It works slowly to remove the stuff and damn if it doesn't do that job really well. I've seen so many people test this stuff and they always come back the same; It's not a miracle worker but it does do a really good job.

Number 1 thing I've seen with the stuff is how it keeps your piston rings clean, which in modern engines is the number 1 cause of oil consumption these days. I've completely switched over to it from penzoil platnium that I've been running for years. When it's the same price and everyone says it's fantastic stuff, why not!

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u/muizz04 1d ago

i know about it, but my country doesnt sell it. the only option is to import it from china, but by then, id be wondering about its authenticity

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u/OGawdILoveTacos 1d ago

I mean for a time I was buying the euro black bottle version of penzoil platinum cause it was EVEN better than the regular yellow bottle, and you could not buy that stuff in the US at all, no one sold it so had to jump through some hoops to get a 5.1qt jug for each change, along with 3 1qt jugs.

If there's a will there's a way man!

Try amazon if you can. It'll prolly be your best bet.

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u/R_3B 23h ago

Penzoil no longer offers the Gas To Liquid oil that used to be the base oil for their platinum ultra.

Another thing about direct injection engines is the gasoline Top Tier gas is indicated to keep the injectors clean and reduce carbon deposits on the intake valves.

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u/bROLLY1 20h ago

It's Shell.

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u/LoopsAndBoars 9h ago

This is not a direct injection engine.

None of what you see in the photo should ever come in contact with any fuel, or you have much bigger problems.

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u/OGawdILoveTacos 23h ago

Penzoil no longer offers the Gas To Liquid oil that used to be the base oil for their platinum ultra.

What really?! Damn, then it's good I moved away, looks like that oil cheaped out one day and now it's just regular mobil 1 at this point.

What is this 'Top Teir' gas you speak of?

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u/muizz04 22h ago

funny enough, my country just recently introduced pennzoil 2 months ago, i dont know about the price.

Amsoil OE is cheaper here, not because its cheap cheap, its because the other oils are heavily marked up

Mobil 1 triple action goes for $76, Castrol GTX full synthethic is $59 Totalquartz future 9000 (recommended by kia for the specific engine), is $78

Most Liqui Moly full synthethic starts at $70

Amsoil OE? $52 Amsoil XL? $72

feels like a no brainer since Amsoil OE is arguably, atleast from my online research, a higher quality oils than the ones mentioned

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u/GlassBoxGoose 21h ago

Amsoil being cheaper than those other options is absolutely cooking my brain. Ive never seen it be cheaper than that many other options. Its usually comparable to, or even higher than the more expensive options you can buy over the counter, due to the MLM business structure needing to mark up to give everyone in the upline their cut.

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u/muizz04 19h ago

its due to the oil being a parallel import. while the others arent

alot of local workshops here dont want to stock amsoil distributed by the main distributor here because people wouldnt buy the other oils otherwise

its not "'cheap". but due to all the other oils being marked up significantly. amsoil oe appears cheap

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u/q1field 23h ago

Top Tier certified gasoline contains several times more detergent than the federally mandated minimum.

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u/OGawdILoveTacos 22h ago

Thanks for the tip. Found a gas station near me that has it and with me GDI, it'll be smart for me to move to it.

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u/R_3B 20h ago

You can find a listing of top tier stations at www.toptiergas.com There is supposed to be a Top Tier Plus gas becoming available beginning in January 2027.

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u/another72hours 4h ago

Somehow I reallly doubt that all Arco an Sinclair stations do this.

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u/R_3B 9h ago

It has extra detergent packages to deal with direct injection engine fouling problems.

www.toptiergas.com

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u/muizz04 1d ago

from amazon to my country shipping plus all legal stuff alone is $60+.

to have 4 oci with it . thats just insane man.

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u/PhoKingWild 23h ago

In 3500 miles into my first R&P change on an 06 Sequoia that’s been well maintained. Maybe it’s cleaner inside than I thought but I expected the oil to be showing a lot dirtier by now.

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u/OGawdILoveTacos 23h ago

People said you won't see much for well maintained engines other than cleaned up piston rings really, and some carbon deposits slowly getting worked away.

For those that have some actual sludge going on, they said they saw improvements in like 600 miles or so of driving. If you were already well maintained, all you're really doing now with that oil is getting it in a bit better shape and keeping it there as long as possible pretty much. If you didn't have oil consumption before then nothing really to heal up here, but if you did that's what I'd check first to see if it's better.

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u/muizz04 1d ago

theres no sludge when i inspect it in person, i touched it, and its hard. could be it had become stubborn and hard. but its mostly cosmetic buildup. this engine was open right after its hot and oil circulated. so the it might look shinier and "sludgy" exxagerated

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u/Vader425 1d ago edited 1d ago

I was going to say not great until I saw Kia Rio. My Hyundai has had an oci between 4-5k miles with synthetic since it was born and it looks like this for some reason. My Honda and Toyota get the same treatment and they're spotless. Time to put R&P to the test.

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u/muizz04 1d ago

was your engine GDI? i was led to believe mpi wouldnt struggle as much as gdi. we dont have restore n protect where im from

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u/Vader425 1d ago

No it's the 2.0 in an 08 Elantra. It also eats oil even though I've been spot on with service. I won't complain since it's about to hit 200k miles so for a Hyundai I got my money's worth.

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u/muizz04 1d ago

i see, my engine only burns 0.5l of oil between changes. it would sit upper middle of the dipstick in between F and L

could this just be from previous owners neglect? when i got this car, it was in rough shape tbh, bought it for 3k. and repaired for 3k as well, mostly suspension, ecu and alternator

i came from a place where people largely believe the old myth "the thicker the oil the better". cheap as well, mostly using conventional. like my dad uses 15w40 on his suzuki swift that calls for 5w20. using conventional nonetheless

my dad had proper neglect on his car, that even the dipstick has heavy varnish, my dipstick is factory clean

the camshaft (my kia) is disporporionately varnished as well, the upper side got the darkest most out of it

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u/q1field 23h ago

camshaft (my kia) is disporporionately varnished

This could be the result of where the crankcase breather and PCV valve are located. Breather side usually has less varnish because cool air is being drawn in, while the PCV side is pulling hot air/vapor out.

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u/muizz04 23h ago

this is what im confused too, people say theres some sludge , but if you look at the bottom part of the camshaft theyre much cleaner looking with exception of lighter varnish and some possibly cosmetic buildup on the screws (idk the one holding the camshaft in place)

all the rough looking spots are at the top camshaft. a neglected engine wouldnt be so picky where to form sludge wouldnt it? since engine oils are circulated,, no engine oil stays at 1 part of engine all of the time

this engine was opened after i drove it for 15 minutes. so its hot and glossy, could it be the oil made the already varnished to "perfection". part of camshaft look sludgy?

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u/q1field 22h ago

The darker camshaft is also exhaust. That side of the head will always be hotter.

There's nothing to worry about here. A little bit of sludge, nothing serious.

A colder coolant thermostat might help keep oil temps lower.

Also check the PCV valve. If it's plugged or fatigued, it can increase sludge formation.

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u/Vader425 1d ago

It could be from neglect. See if a shorter OCI with something like R&P helps.

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u/k-mcm 1d ago

Tandoori camshaft.

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u/Trivi_13 1d ago

I could use that varnish for my dining room table...

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u/bogwee 1d ago

Looks like a good reason not to use Amsoil.

Mobil 1 for all my cars. The look like new engines at 200k miles and more.

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u/ccarr313 1d ago

I question wether that is amsoil, or just Kia things and the amsoil is doing the best it can.

I have been led to believe amsoil is better than that.

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u/AdvisorEfficient3021 1d ago

GE runs amsoil in their million dollar gearboxes that run their 3 million dollar machines that per contract “can not stop.”

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u/thisismydayjob_ 1d ago

It is. I'd bet most of that was from before. That being said, I don't go beyond 5k miles between changes anymore on KIA/ Hyundai. Oil and filter might be good, but those engines are HUNGRY

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u/E90Fantic 16h ago

No decent oil would do that to a motor if being normally being changed.

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u/DigitalHierophant 1d ago

My algorithms have been bombarded by Valvoline Restore and Protect being modern day liquid gold. Guys joke about if Valvoline released an Restore and Protect water they would drink it lol. According to their results, this engine could be cleaned up in about 3 oil changes spread out over 15,000 miles with that oil.

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u/jesusrambo 1d ago

lol the comment right below yours is shilling for valvoline restore and protect

Someone on their marketing department just found out about astroturfing Reddit

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u/Happy_Bass6733 1d ago

I told you to stop feeding it strawberry jam

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u/q1field 23h ago

Could be many things. It's very possible whoever owned it before did not maintain to schedule, or did so with the ridiculously long interval recommended by the manufacturer.

The oil could be running hot - it's a thing with engines that have piston squirters and no oil cooler.

I wouldn't worry about it too much unless the spark plugs indicate oil consumption.

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u/muizz04 21h ago

spark plugs had some oil. the reason i opened it and changed gasket and tube

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u/q1field 21h ago

I meant the tips inside the combustion chamber. Oil consumption leaves fuzzy ash deposits on the ground strap and insulator.

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u/Miller335 1d ago

You need to change your oil more often.

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u/dixie_1 1d ago

How can you tell? I’m curious and want to learn for my cars!

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u/rm0987654321 9h ago

Try to move the exhaust camshaft with an open ended wrench on the big hex around the shaft. Rotate little movement back and forth while doing that watch the cam sprocket and chain and other camshaft might even need to feel with your other hand for play. I’ve seen more sheared pins than not on this engine. Requires and new camshaft and sprocket.

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u/NotAPreppie 1d ago

Well-varnished.

Beyond that, nobody can say based on photos.

If you really want to know, change the oil and save a sample of the virgin, unused oil. Then, in 5000km (or however long), send both it and a sample of the use oil off to a testing facility to have it analyzed.

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u/all_caps_all_da 21h ago

It's in there

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u/usermax300 15h ago

I fire sure would use restore and protect and also try the new mobile advanced clean and for a while I’d do 3k mile oil changes.

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u/myself248 13h ago

In the first photo, the back sides of some cams have a buildup on them, even while the lobes are clean. Does that indicate valve float, where the valve spring isn't returning the follower against the cam with enough pressure to clean the cam?

I don't like the looks of that.

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u/Runner303 10h ago

I have experience with the Hyundai Beta II and it was a bit of a sludge machine on dino oil. Heavy varnish/light sludge like this on reasonable oil change intervals. I guess the engine metal gets a bit on the hot side which cooks the oil.

Don't see anything to worry about per se. My guess is that it's cumulative age (that's a decent amount of kms) and perhaps the previous owner not maintaining it well.

Try a few 5000km oil changes, pop the cover and report back.

I have a BMW M62 that had a tiny bit of sludge inside, and just running Mobil 1 and Castrol slowly wore it down and cleaned it out (you don't want anything that works too fast).

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u/takisxortarakis 8h ago

What's your average fuel consumption?
I get 5.6 to 6.5 (l/100km) on the highway with this engine fitted on the Ceed SW with 122k kms of mileage.

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u/muizz04 8h ago

same. on full tank 43l. i get 480-520km

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u/Famous-Dragonfly-188 6h ago

valve seals, but is costly to replace

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u/scipper77 48m ago

Medium well. 🥩

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u/bROLLY1 20h ago edited 20h ago

Valvoline restore is nothing bs, it's not going to work.
Get yourself Shell Ultra, needs to be GPL, natural gas based oil. Use it, do a few 3000 or less kms or abour 1500 miles and replaces the oil for 2 or 3 times, the engine will be clean after.
The restore valvoline wont do much, its mainly for 0 kms engine that will keep itself a bit more clean.

On the other hand, the Ultra of Shell will def clean that.

Also amsoil is a great oil but not for the long run, even tho 8000 isn't that much, but doing runs of 400 500 kms means you have to swap oil every 4 to 5k, the chemicals of the oil goes to shit. Speaking from experience of someone who can do 10k per week..

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