3SFE engine supplimental info

[Doctor J]

Oil Consumption On 1986-88 Toyota 2.0L 3S FE Engine . The cause of this condition has been related to inadequate piston ring seal. During the 1988 model year, Toyota modified the piston rings for the above-mentioned engine. Generally, a field fix of installing the newer ring design solved excessive oil consumption complaints.The modification to the ring set included reduced allowable oil ring end gap and additional tension for the 3S-FE engine. Refer to the data below when fitting piston rings to bores.
3S-FE Oil ring end gap old: .0078-.0276 New: .0078-.0177
The improved standard ring sets from Toyota carry part number 13011-74071 for the 3S-FE engine.

[fredk]

mine has almost 300k on it and it can really drink it up on the interstate if you go too fast, hey doctor j, if i was to run a thinner oil would it be easier for the rings to scrape off or would the splashing be too much for them to handle over a thicker oil?

[Doctor J]

In my pesonal opinion, if the piston rings are not stuck due to deposits and oil return holes in the pistons are still in good shape, the oil weight must not be a problem.

[Mike Gerber]

IMHO, the thinner oil will increase oil consumption. If the weather allows for it, I would try a thicker oil to help reduce oil consumption. At 300K the engine probably has considerable wear on it.

Congrats on reaching 300K.

Mike

[Wangan]

mine died. It's ok though. I got a 3SGTE to replace it.

[IvanHoe]

My former 1990 Camry that had 124K, ate a lilttle bit of oil. My current 1988 Camry with about 132K doesnt burn a drop of oil! It's mostly about maintence and how the car was driven early on. My '88 I bought from the original owner who was an older gentleman, and he never abused it. My Camry may have a few rust issues(nothing serious) due to the fact that it's a northeast area car, but mechanically it's all there!

TOYOTA

[ptsmith]

as long as i stay below 75 m.p.h. highway, it hardly drinks any oil at all. (175,5xx miles)