Fellas,
I was told that the reason I was having trouble passing SMOG (sic) in Calif. was due to low pressure in cylinder #1--120psi and #3 120psi. the other two cylinder are both 165psi. The Speedee Oil change mechanic said that that may be the reason why I failed my original test. Second, the shop manager said that your engine is bad and he recommends I put in a new engine.
I went to the O'reilleys Auto. They recommend Restore Engine. You simply add this to your oil, they said, and within 100+ miles you should have higher compression in your two lower engine cylinders. Does this make sense? Or, is this O'Reilley counter guy 100% correct or is he "all wet"?
Your thoughts? I have to visit my SMOG shop tomorrow to get my tags, and hopefully pass, in order to be legal before driving to Saint Louis MO (I live in Elk Grove, CA).
Cordially,
kevin

[This message has been edited by kevin (edited 06-14-2015).]

I've never had much faith with the "rebuild in a bottle" products, but it would be worth a try since the other option is expensive, and time consuming. Let us know if it works because every now and then a new product surprises me.

Not in that short amount of time. It does work, but you have to drive it a few hundred miles (in my experience) to get the effect.

Most people will tell you to steer clear of these types of products since the claims made do seem unrealistic.

However....

I had a '76 Vette that drank oil and always smoked badly. I think I had to add a liter of oil with every gas fill up. So I figured I had nothing to lose and I added a bottle of Slick 50 during an oil change. The engine completely stopped smoking and the oil level remained steady from then on. As an engineer, I would have said don't bother. But unbelievably, it worked for me so I won't be that quick to discount the claims. For the cost to try it, I'd say it's worth it. If it doesn't work, you're only out a few dollars.

If it's the same product that I think it is, restore has been around for a long time. A long time ago I had a 72 Pontiac Catilina that had low compression across all 8 cylinders. I don't recall what the numbers were but the car started to run much better and I beat the snot out of it ! I'm pretty sure you have to add it to every oil change to keep it effective. Not only do I wish I was that young pisspot but wish I still had that car. Man that car could sure tell some stories if it could talk. You really have nothing to loose but you're gonna have to put some miles on it in a short time. Good luck and let us know it you tried it and if it worked for you.

quote Originally posted by tebailey: I've never had much faith with the "rebuild in a bottle" products, but it would be worth a try since the other option is expensive, and time consuming. Let us know if it works because every now and then a new product surprises me.

My $0.02 as well. When I've reached the end of the road on a mechanical part I always try a miracle cure because I've got nothing to lose. I've never had any success, whether it be "magic head gasket repair" or "magic compression restorer," but that doesn't mean you won't. I'd definitely give it a whirl!

ReDo a dry test and wet test on whole engine. If wet test gets much better # on 1 and 3 the likely have bad rings.
See //www.fiero.nl/forum/F.../HTML/135236.html#p2

Is an old cat? That can cause fails too.
New cat can go bad from running rich, burning oil and/or leaking coolant from bad head gasket etc.

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Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

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I've heard Restore does work, but it only works while the product is in the oil - it doesn't "fix" the engine, you have to keep using the stuff every oil change.

I thought Restore mostly just thickend the oil, which can help compression loss. Searched online a bit it seems to have small particles that are said to fill in scores in cylinder walls. That can help too.