If this is a well-known fact, then I apologize for posting, but I’m hoping that my harrowing experience might educate at least one other G35driver forum user and avoid them having a $120 mistake on their hands.

So to give you some background, I have an ’04 G35 coupe 6MT. No mods really, just a Grounding Gear kit from way back when (6 or 7 wire). My car is just reaching 100K and I was busily servicing the car with some necessities last weekend. I went to Mr. Lube on Friday and had my coolant flushed, oil changed and so on.

Since my car was getting up on age, I decided to throw in an oil additive (I use Wynn’s Engine Tune-up once in a while – just to flush the oil system just before an oil change) and while I was at Canadian Tire grabbing some air filters, I spotted this RESTORE Engine Restorer and decided to give it a go. It said put it in after an oil change and I thought the timing was ideal.

So Sunday, I was in the garage swapping out my in-cabin air filter and I threw it into the crankshaft. The SECOND I started my car, the car idled lower than I’d ever seen and was on the verge of stalling. I had gone for a drive and at every red light, my car was shaking and pretty much sounding like it was ‘coughing up blood’. Needless to the my SES (Service Engine Soon) light shot on – I’ve never had it come on in my car before – and I was concerned.

The minute I got home and did a search on rough/low idling I found a wealth of info on how RESTORE “Engine Restorer” and VQ engines are not compatible! If I’d only done a quick search before pouring this little silver can in, I’d have seen these threads *sigh* :

https://g35driver.com/forums/engine-...ml#post4994817
https://g35driver.com/forums/engine-...ance-help.html
https://g35driver.com/forums/engine-...-solenoid.html
http://forums.nicoclub.com/warning-e...e-t318305.html

So I went to Partsource and got my service codes read: I had a P0011 and a P1564 (not related) and I felt well equipped to try and solve this without involving the Stealerships.

Infinithelp was a god-send and this helped explain what was up: http://www.infinitihelp.com/diy/obd_codes/P0011.html
Turns out the goop had clogged the Cam Sensor and probably held it open or closed. The Editor’s notes said that before dealing with the solenoid as bad, to simply get an oil change. Which was a shame since I’d just done one 2 days earlier. So I went yesterday back to Mr. Lube and the guy looked completely surprised to see me again! Turns out he was the manager and said he would give me a discount. I asked that he drop all the bells and whistles and just dump what was in my crankcase.

So as he was working I asked him to show me the brand-new oil filter he’d installed on Friday. Now remember, I’d probably driven the car a MINIMUM of 20 kms, and I think that’s an exaggeration. When he got the filter, her turned it over into a rag and I kid you not, the BLACKEST, thickest goop I’d ever seen just crawled out like molasses onto a rag. I was appalled. Another tech in the nearby bay commented “Good thing you came in, how long has it been?” I looked at him and told him 3 days… his jaw dropped. The manager didn’t know what to say either. He’d shown me the dipstick before I left on Friday to verify he’d put 4.7 litres of brand-new synth in it and it was like gold and clear.

For the record, I take good car of my car and get regular oil changes, I know that it’s the lifeblood of the car and if anything, I try to stay on that over all else. Well I paid for a flush and got my regular synthetic put in. I got into my car and the second I started the car, there was NO shudder or rough idling. It was absolutely uncanny. The car was like night and day.

As I said, please don’t flame me if this is a well-known fact, I just thought I’d share my stupid mistake with others in the hopes that if anything, I would act as a beacon for others to avoid.

Al

 

Thanks for sharing Al, that must have been scary for a while.
Did things clear up right away after the 2nd oil change?

 

Almost instantaneously. I can't tell if the code has cleared since I have that other one (P1564) still. Either way, if the sensor is still clogged, I'm not too too worried as I know the car is behaving much better. I found a DIY on cleaning it, but don't think I'm ready to resort to that just yet. It doesn't look terrible, but I'd have to take off the plenums to gain access to the banks. I might also clear the codes myself and see (when the SES light comes back on) what is left - hopefully it'll just be the P1564 one which is my Cruise Control switch on the steering wheel. Weird one. Going to probably post something asking around on that shortly.
Al

 

Wow that is a scary story Albert and thanks for posting this up.
Hopefully your engine is back to normal now.

I think I would be doing one more oil change in a few hundred klicks just to make sure all that crap is out of there.

 

I just might do that, you know, I just might... sigh. What a total and utter gong-show (damn you Restore Inc!!)

 

Not something I necessarily would have thought of, but good to know.

 

I tried adding a cup of fine sand in mine - seems to work OK.

 

Cam sensors do not become clogged from the outside it is a sealed plastic unit with no moving parts to clog. I could see the variable cam timing selenoids becoming clogged, but a cam sensor no there is nothing to clog

 

I did not know that - but alot of the discussion I research about the P0011 error 'Intake Vale Timing Control' used the term cam sensor. However upon reviewing my notes, you are right, Infinitihelp tlaks about the "intake valve timing control solenoid valve"

So you are correct, it was the solenoid that got clogged - along with my oil filter SEVERELY... which all in all screws up performance. No oil was getting around properly and I'm lucky I didn't fry my engine.

Thanks for clarifying that for me.

 

That makes sense the VTC has several small orifices that oil goes through under pressure and advances or retards the cam, if that was plugged with thick sludge I could see it not functioning properly. I am surprised the timing chain tentioners did not have similar malfunctions as they operate similar with a small orifice that oil goes through and pressures up the tentioner. I hope it all works out for you and everything goes back to normal.

 

Good to know, I have used it successfully in MANY old engines. Glad I never used it in the G

 

Had done the same... used it to success on many older (tech, OHV) cars. The Cam Sensors will go bat**** crazy with the Restore goop in the motor. My SES Light came on (solid). Suppose the restore messes up the magnetic sensors or the solenoids. Either way - had it in there for around 400 miles on a road trip... only noticed the issue when the motor bogged at idle.

Took the G to a Valvoline where they flushed and filled (used some 'oil flush' fluid too). This brought back proper performance after 75 miles or so.

.02
OUT

 

So was this thick sludge just from the RESTORE reacting with the synthetic oil?, or was it actually doing its job and freeing up all the gunk inside the engine? i mean i can see where if the RESTORE got all the gunk off the crevices and all that it would mix in the oil and make it very thick and kinda just stay where it lands I.E. the cam sensor (which has no moving parts just senses pulses so once you change the oil it should be fine from now on).

 

i dont think id ever use this sort of stuff but good to know for sure.

 

Ok, so RESTORE does not work in our engines.

But what does work? Is there anything else we can do (aside from following regular maintenance schedule) that can help with engine life and maintaining performance.