My 2000 VE has been in need of some tuning since I bought it in May, but with limitations on tools, time, and finances, I've only gotten to a small bit of the stuff I'm hoping to get done before winter comes (where I do the work outside in my driveway). Even the weather hasn't been cooperating so far - the rare time I've had a chance to do anything its either been very wet or very hot and humid. So while I wait on a decent day, I decided to try a "tune up in a bottle." This was actually prompted by what felt like sluggish performance, noticeable ticking (valve chatter I think) from the time the car is started until its turned off, and discovering sludge deposits on the crankcase cover.
With the above in mind, and after doing a lot of research online, I narrowed my choices to 4 picks (listed in my preferred order of preference):
1. Redline SI-1
2. Gumout Regane
3. Risalone
4. Restore
I couldn't find Redline anywhere locally, and for whatever reason Amazon.com won't ship it to Canada. Gumout products are easy to find here, so as that was my 2nd choice I went with Gumout Regane Complete Fuel System Cleaner from Cdn Tire, in its new 2x concentrated bottle. I dumped the whole bottle into the tank at the nearest ESSO, filled up and did the first of two conseciutive 150 km roundtrips on a section of our 100 km/h Trans-Canada highway. Without stating exactly how close to the 180 km limit I pushed the needle (goal was to really push this stuff through the engine), I will admit I got nailed for speeding and was given a ticket for 120 in a 100 zone (he cut it back a bit). That's a $100 fine here (my first speeding ticket in 12 years), which I'm ok with since it was a cheap lesson compared to the ticket I could have gotten. Anyway, back to Gumout.
After putting those 300 highway km on it and another 50 km city, I checked the oil. Note it was drained and refilled only 4 days before by Toyota with whatever 5w30 shop oil they use. The filter is still the original Honeywell Defence filter installed roughly 3,500 km ago. Before putting in the Gumout I'd already looked at the oil to confirm it wasn't overfilled, and at that time it was a nice fresh light and shiny golden colour. After doing the 350 km above I pulled the dipstick and it had changed to a much deeper brown colour, very similar to what it looked like when the oil was last drained after roughly 3,000 km. Objectively speaking, then, the Gumout is definitely doing something as I've never seen oil darken anywhere near that fast.
Other things I've noticed: the lifter chatter is almost gone. Its present for a minute or 2 when I cold start the car, but gone by the time the engine is warm. In fact the engine is just much, much quieter. In my latest city driving at 50-60 km/h (depending on speed limit), with the windows up and radio and fan off, the only thing I can hear is the quiet road rumble from my ancient and very worn cheapo all seasons (they came with the car and I intend to replace them soon).
Acceleration is also much, much quicker. The "sluggish" feel that the car had before is just gone. This is the most subjective observation, but having just crossed the 7,000 km mark since I bought the car used in May, I'd say I've driven it enough to be familiar with its kinks and quirks.
There is still more than half a tank of Regane treated gas left in the tank, and that'll likely be burned by the weekend (I plan to wait until the fill light flashes before doing my next fillup). Subjectively, I think my mileage is improving but it'll take a few fillups to measure and confirm that. One final note: the previous fillup pre-Regane was an experiment with 89 Octane. I noticed no difference with 89, but because there was still some 89 left over in the tank, for consistency I decided to spend the 3 cents/liter extra and stick with 89 for the Regane fillup.
Having only burned half the tank, it'd be premature to give it a full thumbs up just yet. But my impression so far is very favourable.
-Spyder