97 Camry ? about oil sludge (newbie)

[bluedogwriter]

Hi,

I'm a newbie with a question I just purchased a 97 Camry w/ 156K miles, got it cheap, but am on disability for Lupus, so need this car to last. I thought this car was a keeper, but it has an oil leak. I just had the valve cover gasket changed and had the timing belt changed. After the timing belt change, the mech told me I had a major oil leak, so we cleaned the engine (as per mech instructed) as good as we could, but since rack wasn't available, missed the back side of the engine, below the valve cover. So, I had the mechanic just go ahead and change the valve cover gasket.

Question 1: When the mechanic changed the valve cover gasket, the parts listed were VCG and spark plug tubes. Under labor, it only shows that he replaced the VCG. Should I ask why and/or if he changed the spark plug tubes also?

Queston 2: When he changed the valve cover gasket, would he have been able to tell if this engine had major sludge problem?

Question 3: If this is one of the engines that was changed (and that is a big if) how can I tell...is there a website with VIN numbers to see if this engine was changed?

Sorry if I sound dumb, but hey, what can I say....I am a disabled woman with a brain-injured, partially paralyzed husband, (who got mugged in New Orleans and had to have almost a quarter of his brain removed), and just need feedback about this stuff...

Desperate for any kind of feedback....I used to have a spouse to take care of these things...but now it's all up to me...and wow...it's scary when it comes to the car stuff....

Thanks for any help out there, bluedogwriter

[BMR]

1) In the valve cover, there are gaskets to seal the spark plug tubes in addition to the valve cover gasket around the perimeter. That's probably what he replaced; the tube gaskets, not the tubes. It would be really dumb of him not to replace those gaskets while he was doing the gasket. You might ask him if he replaced those.

2) Yes. I take it you have the V6 motor with the potential for sludging up?

3) Don't know. Maybe someone who does will have an answer for you.

So, did replacing the valve cover gaskets fix the leak? At that mileage, chances are good it was leaking, it's a pretty common problem.

BTW, my wife has lupus. You have my sympathies. And no, you don't sound dumb at all.

[bluedogwriter]

Hi BR,

Thanks for the response. I am sorry that your wife has lupus too. I hope that she is blessed with long remissions.

I will call my mechanic and ask about these things tomorrow.

I don't know if the VCG repair took care of the leak, since I haven't driven it since I got it out of the shop.

No to the V6....I have the V4.

It's been so hard since my husband got mugged, since I'm not good at making these sorts of decisions, so I do appreciate your feedback.

Sincere thanks again, bluedogwriter

[BMR]

Ah, OK, you have the 4 cylinder. As far as I know, it doesn't have the propensity to sludge up any more than any other motor, so don't worry about it. From the way you posed your questions, I presumed you were asking about the V6, which did, for a few model years.

When you ask if there's a way to tell if the engine was changed, are you asking how to determine if the motor is the original motor that came in the car?

[Chris Crash]

I've actually heard that the Gen 4 camry's, especially the I4's are infamous for sludge.

I replaced my VCG and was able to see the sludge, and it wasn't really that bad. The mechanic would have been able to seen if it was a real problem.

You should definitly ask him if he saw anything sludgey looking though.

[bluedogwriter]

Hi again BR,

From what I understand, from numerous internet sources, it was both the 3.0 liter 6 cylinder, and the 2.2 liter 4 cylinder from 1997-2001, that Toyota agreed to make any repairs to the engines caused by oil sludge, w/o regard to mileage, but owner had to show reasonable attempts at maintenance. It was settled here in Louisiana (I think in 2007), but the repairs for such have a sundown clause, which is past for this car. So I thought maybe if the previous owner had any engine repairs done, or if, under the terms of the agreement with Toyota, if the previous owner(s) (there were two) had repairs done to the engine, or if the engine was replaced, as per agreement w/ Toyota.

See: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news0...ettlement.html

I also read the settlement agreement. This just scared the bageezees out of me, since I can hardly afford to put a new engine in the car.

Thanks, bluedogwriter

[bluedogwriter]

Hey again,

I just spoke to the mechanic, and his helper changed the VCG, and won't be in until tomorrow morning. He told me though that had it been really bad, he thinks his helper would have told him. But he said he didn't want to lie to me and say it was O.K., when he didn't actually see the engine. So until tomorrow, I will hope that changing the VCG did the trick.

Also, all of the oil was below the VCG, on the back firewall side of the engine. On this model, the VC seems to tilt towards the firewall. It's odd looking to me.

Happy Monday motoring, bluedogwriter

[BMR]

Originally Posted by bluedogwriter

...it was both the 3.0 liter 6 cylinder, and the 2.2 liter 4 cylinder from 1997-2001...

Thanks for that info bluedog. All I ever read mentioned only the V6. Good to know.

[bluedogwriter]

Hey,

It's been a while,,,Just a short update...my mechanic said the engine did not show signs of a lot of sludge, and after changing the VCG, engine has not leaked any oil. Haven't taken it far, just a couple of 160 mile round trips, but oil still looks pretty clean for an engine w/ 160K miles, and still just as full as the day I got it back from the VCG change.

We stayed thru Hurricane Gustav, and a bunch of my family from New Orleans came up north (ha ha, like 60 miles north) to my house....had them here for a week. Lost power for a while, but things are back to normal, at least for this week, while we watch to see what IKE will do....

Take care....Bluedogwriter....

[BMR]

Glad to hear that Bluedog! Good luck with incoming Ike.