Toyota sludge warranty--successful claims?

[Lumberg]

My 2000 Camry with a V6 1MZ-FE had a sudden catastrophic oil seal failure in one of the cylinders. I posted about it here .

Under the valve cover, there is some varnish, looks about average to me for a well maintained engine. I've been running "German Castrol" Syntec 0w30 for the past year or so. So it's surprisingly dirty for the oil, but overall average. I was pretty much assuming the sludge thing wouldn't be an issue since I use Syntec. However, who knows? I can document my oil changes, and it's still 3 months under the 8 year cutoff for the engine gel/sludge warranty. So I figured I'd take the car to the local dealer.

The catch is, if they determine that the problem is NOT related to the gel/sludging issue, they charge $150 just for looking at it.

So I guess what I am asking is advice on what to do--I am pretty sure it's a broken ring, and I haven't done anything that would precipitate such a failure. I drive about average--I drive for fuel mileage so my driving habits are pretty good for engine durability I think.

Anyone ever get a failure covered under the system? Is it even worth risking the $150?

[Lumberg]

The thread I posted about the initial problems is here.