RESTORE oil additive
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Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 808
RESTORE oil additive
Haven't posted in quite some time, but I wanted to share my experience with everyone regarding Restore.
So, since my I35 has about 155k on it now and burns around 1.5 quarts of oil between changes, I thought I would try something to reduce it. I had seen this product before... and had heard people say it had helped, I gave it a try. I added it to my oil that had about 1000 miles on it before leaving work. I drove about 15 miles and stopped briefly at a store... no issues. I left and noticed a little stutter and a slightly different noise under acceleration. The drive home was only a mile or so, so the car was parked and left over night. The next morning I started the car and backed out of the drive. When I drove off, it stuttered again. The fuel tank was on the low side, so I headed to the gas station. Once on the highway I got stuck in traffic... and as soon as I came to a stop, the idle dropped to about 250 rpms and fluctuated. It didn't stall, but barely ran at idle. Got to the gas station... filled up and no difference. Crap... I then thought about the Restore product I had added and drove to the closest oil chance place. After the oil change, no difference other than the CEL is now on. Went to autozone and got the codes read. Codes were for both cam sensors, crank sensor, random misfire, and the IVT control valves. I got the number for Restore from the clerk and headed back home. Did some reading online... found this to be a very common concern with Nissan motors. I then pulled out both cam sensors and the crank sensor and sprayed them with MAF cleaner... it initially seemed to fix the idle problem, but returned shortly after. I called Restore, and the lady said she had heard of this happening to these motors before. She said her engineers said just to change the oil and reset the PCM. So I went to change the oil again and had the shop reset the codes. And before I got out of the parking lot, the light and the low idle returned. Called Restore back again... got the same answer. She said she had never heard of any permanent damage in these cars, and that the likely cause was some sludge was dislodged and fouled a sensor.
So as a last resort, I ran a bottle of Gunk crankcase cleaner for about 10 minutes and then did the CEL reset procedure. Restarted it... the CEL did not return... idle was steady. I drained the oil and refilled for a third time.... and went for a drive. So far.. so good.
So.... as a word of warning... stay far... far away from this stuff. It may be ok in some vehicles, but it will fubar the sensors in our motors. I hope everyone is able to learn from my mistake.
So, since my I35 has about 155k on it now and burns around 1.5 quarts of oil between changes, I thought I would try something to reduce it. I had seen this product before... and had heard people say it had helped, I gave it a try. I added it to my oil that had about 1000 miles on it before leaving work. I drove about 15 miles and stopped briefly at a store... no issues. I left and noticed a little stutter and a slightly different noise under acceleration. The drive home was only a mile or so, so the car was parked and left over night. The next morning I started the car and backed out of the drive. When I drove off, it stuttered again. The fuel tank was on the low side, so I headed to the gas station. Once on the highway I got stuck in traffic... and as soon as I came to a stop, the idle dropped to about 250 rpms and fluctuated. It didn't stall, but barely ran at idle. Got to the gas station... filled up and no difference. Crap... I then thought about the Restore product I had added and drove to the closest oil chance place. After the oil change, no difference other than the CEL is now on. Went to autozone and got the codes read. Codes were for both cam sensors, crank sensor, random misfire, and the IVT control valves. I got the number for Restore from the clerk and headed back home. Did some reading online... found this to be a very common concern with Nissan motors. I then pulled out both cam sensors and the crank sensor and sprayed them with MAF cleaner... it initially seemed to fix the idle problem, but returned shortly after. I called Restore, and the lady said she had heard of this happening to these motors before. She said her engineers said just to change the oil and reset the PCM. So I went to change the oil again and had the shop reset the codes. And before I got out of the parking lot, the light and the low idle returned. Called Restore back again... got the same answer. She said she had never heard of any permanent damage in these cars, and that the likely cause was some sludge was dislodged and fouled a sensor.
So as a last resort, I ran a bottle of Gunk crankcase cleaner for about 10 minutes and then did the CEL reset procedure. Restarted it... the CEL did not return... idle was steady. I drained the oil and refilled for a third time.... and went for a drive. So far.. so good.
So.... as a word of warning... stay far... far away from this stuff. It may be ok in some vehicles, but it will fubar the sensors in our motors. I hope everyone is able to learn from my mistake.
Junior Member
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 39
From: NewBrunswick,NJ
Yes I also found out the hard way. I used that stuff a year ago in the i35 but I used automatic transmission fluid to clean it out. That stuff worked great in my 4g63 talon tho. It helps lifter tick.
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