Oil Sludge + Broken Spark Plug Gromet

[iDi0tiK]

Hey.
I recently took off my valve cover and noticed really really bad sludge!

Well I spent about 3 hours and got about 75% clean (the cover itself) (wasn't working all that time) Now I am running engine flush through it.
I was wondering is there a way to flush out more at a time without pulling it all apart. i.e. removing oil pan etc and blowing some sort of compressed air through it.

Also I was going to replace my spark plugs last night but upon trying to pull Spark Plug 1 out I found that the 'gromet' had come off the lead and was sitting around the 'screw' top of the spark plug. Does anyone know how I can get this out? Also is there anything I can put down the spark plug housings to clean them out? Anything which would I suppose clean them then take crap out and burn it off through the engine?

Well got to go... Work...

Thanks in Advance

Anthony

[kegunder]

Some serious bummers there man. I don't think you'll find anything will help get the sludge out fast. Auto-RX claims to be the way to slowly dissolve it out.

No help for you on the plug tubes either. Sorry.

[carsrus]

Are you talking about the plug wire sorta separating and the metal snap staying on the plug? It happened to me and i couldn't get the socket over the spark plug.

I had to go out to napa and spend almost 25 bucks on a pair of 11 inch thin needle nose pliers. Worked like a charm after spending like over an hour trying to get it out.

[Jimnist]

uote=carsrus;2880259]I had to go out to napa and spend almost 25 bucks on a pair of 11 inch thin needle nose pliers. Worked like a charm after spending like over an hour trying to get it out.[/quote]

1 hour?!?!? That must've been so frustrating

OP, fear not. Since you already have the valve cover off, it'll be a piece of cake. All you need is a pipe wrench (or channel lock, but pipe wrenches have better grip) and screw those spark plug tubes out counter-clockwise. There are a pics in this thread:

3sfe spark plug tube oil leaks

While they're out, may as well clean the tubes, no doubt they'll be a brown. You'll also have to clean(off olg gasket crap) and re-seal the bottom thread with liquid thread sealer/liquid gasket/RTV gasket.

Very good preventative maintenance.

If the sludging is that bad, i'd suggest dropping the oil sump. No doubt the oil pick-up will be pretty bad too.

[iDi0tiK]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. Well I drained oil after running some various sludge/flushing cleaners through. Seems to have cleared a reasonable amount off. Also tried to remove the Spark Plug Tubes but I think I will need to try another way as I couldn't get them to budge!

I was wondering about 'dropping the oil sump' does anyone know where I could get a guide\tutorial preferably with pictures. Also a picture of what it should look like in there?

Thanks a heap guys!
P.s. Slightly off topic I was wondering what people thought about this ebay auction
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/TOYOTA-CAMRY-...d=p3286.c0.m14

I was just wondering off the above car combined with my current (93 5FSE Camry) Could I salvage this engine and turn the eBay car into a worthwile investment. Ie replace parts from 5FSE onto 3VZ-FE.

Thanks again. Well off to bed work in about 4hours

[Jimnist]

Originally Posted by iDi0tiK

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. Well I drained oil after running some various sludge/flushing cleaners through. Seems to have cleared a reasonable amount off. Also tried to remove the Spark Plug Tubes but I think I will need to try another way as I couldn't get them to budge!

What tool did you use? Pipe wrenches will be the best. You can pick one up for $10, only a small-ish one. Do you know how to use it? You use the 'teeth' on the jaws to your advantage i.e turn it on the direction where the teeth will bite. It didn't take much force at all when did mine.

I was wondering about 'dropping the oil sump' does anyone know where I could get a guidetutorial preferably with pictures. Also a picture of what it should look like in there?

It should be a series of bolts around the 'top' (or bottom if looking from under) of the sump. Once those are off, the only thing holding it on is the liquid gasket, if you can't pull it, take a blade between the block and sump.

Thanks a heap guys!
P.s. Slightly off topic I was wondering what people thought about this ebay auction
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/TOYOTA-CAMRY-VIENTA-V6-WAGON-93-wrecking-reco-head-3VZ_W0QQitemZ270443101337QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Car s?hash=item3ef7aa3c99&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

I was just wondering off the above car combined with my current (93 5FSE Camry) Could I salvage this engine and turn the eBay car into a worthwile investment. Ie replace parts from 5FSE onto 3VZ-FE.

Thanks again. Well off to bed work in about 4hours

I think you're brains already asleep. How do you plan on putting v6 parts onto an i4 engine? They're completely different.

[iDi0tiK]

Hey thanks for the answers! I think I will retry the spark plug tube remove but maybe take the bonnet off.

Well I was only quickly thinking on a little side thing about the eBay auction. I am reasonable with cars but thought possibly it may be done!

Well Thanks again!

[fenixus]

my 2000 5S-FE showed similar brown sediment on cyl 3 right after purchase (@ 35k), spark plug was looking like crap as well as the spark plug hole and wire coil (?) sitting on it. I also changed oil day following the purchase.

I bet it was sludged a bit too. i took about 2 more oil changes throughout next 3-4 months (darker than usual) to clear up the engine.

i kept same wireset for merely 3 more years and replaced it just recently with fresh spark plugs. plug sitting in cyl 3 was now clean. does it mean sludge is gone, or i should take care of it more intensively?

I keep using Fuel Injector and Carburetor additives to gas tank every 4-6 months, and keep using only Shell gas, plus I'm very strict about oil change (max 3.5k miles or 3 months). I hope that crap is gone for good.

Good luck to OP!

[Jimnist]

Originally Posted by fenixus

my 2000 5S-FE showed similar brown sediment on cyl 3 right after purchase (@ 35k), spark plug was looking like crap as well as the spark plug hole and wire coil (?) sitting on it. I also changed oil day following the purchase.

I bet it was sludged a bit too. i took about 2 more oil changes throughout next 3-4 months (darker than usual) to clear up the engine.

i kept same wireset for merely 3 more years and replaced it just recently with fresh spark plugs. plug sitting in cyl 3 was now clean. does it mean sludge is gone, or i should take care of it more intensively?

I keep using Fuel Injector and Carburetor additives to gas tank every 4-6 months, and keep using only Shell gas, plus I'm very strict about oil change (max 3.5k miles or 3 months). I hope that crap is gone for good.

Good luck to OP!

Yep, common oil leak in spark plug tube seals. can easily be fixed:

3sfe spark plug tube oil leaks

I'm surprised it went away from you doing nothing.

As for injector cleaner, if your injectors are really dirty. You need the professionally cleaned; those bottles don't do too much. From what i gather, maybe help dissolve some varnish, but that's about it. When you get them properly cleaned, they fire special ultrasonic pulses through them with chemicals that dissolve and remove most, if not all, crud. They also replace the internal strainers, which can impede flow if it's caught stuff. Also, that injector cleaner may mash away some fine sediments that's been trapped in the fuel filter (if it hasn't been replaced recently), putting more crap into the injectors.

just my 2c

[fenixus]

yeah, i'm surprised it went away as well. so it wasn't a sludge, only some oil gotten into spark plug tube? it's possible though that old spark plug was bad, warped, bad gasket from over-tightening, you name it and that could cause the oil to get up there. i never has this problem again (story i described took place 3 years ago).

uhm ... i think fuel injectors are working OK, no problems as i can notice - what would they be, any error codes?
replaced fuel filter 2 weeks ago together with spark plugs and wireset (and v-belts).

Jimnist thanks for the link. you know I've read that thread you linked and it's very interesting (great pictures!) ... but hmmm, i'm worse noob than i thought, because taking the valve cover off scares me and i think i wouldn't do that. anyways, no leaks for me from there, nothing visible at least, so i won't mess up with that

[Jimnist]

Originally Posted by fenixus

yeah, i'm surprised it went away as well. so it wasn't a sludge, only some oil gotten into spark plug tube? it's possible though that old spark plug was bad, warped, bad gasket from over-tightening, you name it and that could cause the oil to get up there. i never has this problem again (story i described took place 3 years ago).

uhm ... i think fuel injectors are working OK, no problems as i can notice - what would they be, any error codes?
replaced fuel filter 2 weeks ago together with spark plugs and wireset (and v-belts).

Jimnist thanks for the link. you know I've read that thread you linked and it's very interesting (great pictures!) ... but hmmm, i'm worse noob than i thought, because taking the valve cover off scares me and i think i wouldn't do that. anyways, no leaks for me from there, nothing visible at least, so i won't mess up with that

No CEL's, dirty injectors will be noticed by you. Classic symptoms of dirty injectors are lean misfire, rough idle, hesitation and stumbling on light acceleration, a loss of power, and higher hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions(if you have emission testing).

That's good that you don't have any problems now. But it really is that easy if you ever need to do it, just 4 bolts under the high tension lead dust boot and it pops right off.

[fenixus]

Originally Posted by Jimnist

No CEL's, dirty injectors will be noticed by you. Classic symptoms of dirty injectors are lean misfire, rough idle, hesitation and stumbling on light acceleration, a loss of power, and higher hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions(if you have emission testing).

That's good that you don't have any problems now. But it really is that easy if you ever need to do it, just 4 bolts under the high tension lead dust boot and it pops right off.

heh, i think i am a bit hypochondriac as it comes to feeling my ride LOL. now as you described some symptoms I think i feel them sometimes LOL
no seriously, i don't know how 2.2L I4 camry/solara drives when it is in best shape, so hard to tell the difference for me. sometimes it hesitates in local stop & go driving (especially up the hill), but i never see it on highways driving (even aggressively). maybe in future i will consider professional Fuel injector cleaning (how much is it at local shop or dealer btw?)

Thing is that during last NJ state inspection in Aug '08 they didn't perform the emissions test. all it says is "OBD system - diagnostic trouble codes present: 0" and "Based on information obtained from the On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) system, the pollution control system on this vehicle is operating properly".

[Jimnist]

Originally Posted by fenixus

heh, i think i am a bit hypochondriac as it comes to feeling my ride LOL. now as you described some symptoms I think i feel them sometimes LOL
no seriously, i don't know how 2.2L I4 camry/solara drives when it is in best shape, so hard to tell the difference for me. sometimes it hesitates in local stop & go driving (especially up the hill), but i never see it on highways driving (even aggressively). maybe in future i will consider professional Fuel injector cleaning (how much is it at local shop or dealer btw?)

Thing is that during last NJ state inspection in Aug '08 they didn't perform the emissions test. all it says is "OBD system - diagnostic trouble codes present: 0" and "Based on information obtained from the On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) system, the pollution control system on this vehicle is operating properly".

http://www.aa1car.com/library/2003/ic30336.htm

That's a good link to give you some info on injector cleaning.

The only way to truly find out if the injector is dirty is to take them off and get them flow tested. If you're going to do that, you may as well get them cleaned.Doesn't really have much of an impact on our cars, but forced induction/high power engines will lose performance if the variance becomes too great and the tolerance is quite low.

[fenixus]

i think it's only my sick imagination. after last recent tune up all runs great, maybe except idling RPMS which seem sto be in the middle between 0k and 1k - not sure if it reads as 500 or 700 because that dashborad gauge is not linear in first 1000 RPMS. I would need to plug a laptop to OBDII and see precisely how it reads.

as per injectors (citation based on link you provided):

FUEL INJECTOR CLOGGING
It doesn't take much of a restriction in an injector to lean out the fuel mixture. A restriction of only 8% to 10% in a single fuel injector can be enough to cause a misfire. When this occurs, unburned oxygen enters the exhaust and makes the O2 sensor read lean. On older multiport systems that fire the injectors simultaneously, the computer compensates by increasing the "on" time of all the injectors, which can create an overly rich fuel condition in the other cylinders.

so i guess if anything more dirty than 10% dirty on single injector throws up a CEL (P0300 - random misfire or similar), then i most likely do not have this problem. will keep on using fuel additives (now have new fuel filter), perhaps it does the trick in keeping them clean (plus Shell gasoline which my ride loves).

again, thanks for info Jimnast!

[Jimnist]

Originally Posted by fenixus

i think it's only my sick imagination. after last recent tune up all runs great, maybe except idling RPMS which seem sto be in the middle between 0k and 1k - not sure if it reads as 500 or 700 because that dashborad gauge is not linear in first 1000 RPMS. I would need to plug a laptop to OBDII and see precisely how it reads.

as per injectors (citation based on link you provided):


so i guess if anything more dirty than 10% dirty on single injector throws up a CEL (P0300 - random misfire or similar), then i most likely do not have this problem. will keep on using fuel additives (now have new fuel filter), perhaps it does the trick in keeping them clean (plus Shell gasoline which my ride loves).

again, thanks for info Jimnast!

Lol, no worries. I stopped caring about my idle speed about several months back. It at 2k when cold and 1k when normal/warm. So yeah, i reckon your sweet. The guy who gave it to me said the injectors might be dirty, but i'll keep driving it till it absolutely needs it The next thing i need on my list are springs; mine are so old that the car looks super-lowered if it's full of people or has load on it. But i do love how soft and smooth it is over bumps haha