valve cover pics. Comments wanted! - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

carpetguy00 · 01-19-2011, 07:39 PM

My valve cover gasket was leaking on the Cam, so I tackled it this past weekend. It was an easy job. I love how this car is so easy to work on! I took pics, located here:

http://s1233.photobucket.com/albums/.../Camry%20pics/

Im not sure if this is a normal amount of carbon. I believe the car was maintained well before I got it at 92k. I did not find any sludge in there at all, not a speck. And the car runs perfectly. Changed to synthetic oil also.

What do you guys think?

carsrus · 01-19-2011, 07:49 PM

Thats in great shape. Keep on doin what your doin.

***MR2Jedi*** · 01-19-2011, 08:06 PM

Looks fine. Nice to have another Arkansan on the board.

***fenixus*** · 01-19-2011, 08:08 PM

it looks OK for a 5s-fe camry, had similar stuff under valve cover at 68k miles (which was actually after sea foaming it as I had worse before).

on the other hand my 181k miles '92 Buick V6 engine (neglected to hell) was looking same as most 4cyl gen4 camry engines at less than half of that miles ...

***LynchburgCSI*** · 01-19-2011, 08:13 PM

Looks decent enough. On your next oil change you may want to migrate to something with more detergents though.

***fenixus*** · 01-19-2011, 08:15 PM

Castrol GTX works

On a side note, I can't understand why Toyota dropped the oil cooler from 5s-fe design on gen4 ... such a shame ...

***LynchburgCSI*** · 01-19-2011, 08:27 PM

^ +1. I swear that's killed more than a handful of 5s-fe's. Also... i'm a Valvoline SynBlend High Milage (red quarts) guy.

Chris Crash · 01-19-2011, 08:34 PM

I really wanna be a dick and post my pictures...

But yeah doesn't look bad at all. Keep up the maintenance.

BoyBlue · 01-20-2011, 01:29 PM

^+1 Compare and contrast

peshwa · 01-20-2011, 04:14 PM

looks good. Mine was pretty neglected when I got it @129K. I ran Pennzoil 10W30 HM for 3 oil changes. Seafoamed it and used Purolator/WIX only. Now running M1 10W30 high mileage and oil pan seal is completely damaged !!
So run synthetics ONLY if your seals are new. Otherwise its gonna leak for sure....100%

***Zembonez*** · 01-20-2011, 04:17 PM

Some engine oils turn internals a darker color than others. Pennzoil is one that makes engines black inside. I'm not making a comment on Pennzoil's quality... just that it darkens faster than other oils for some reason. There are others that do as well. As long as you don't have sludge, I believe that you are in great shape.

carpetguy00 · 01-20-2011, 05:19 PM

I had been using the Valvoline synblend (red jug) since I got the car, 3k change intervals, only the last oil change did I switch to Mobil 1. Man, the engine is smoother and noticeably quieter too.

I also use the Valvoline Dex/Merc in the trans. I do a drain and a refill probably about every 10k miles. The "firm" shift these cars have takes a little getting used to. I have test drove 4 or 5 of these gen4s, and they all have a shift thats more firm than the domestics. I will switch to a better ATF fluid soon... have heard good things about amsol and royal purple.

The LED mod worked out well...... Its really cheap, its custom, damn it looks good! I plan on putting them in my cupholders and footwells too.

Was thinking about adding an oil and trans cooler. I plan on driving her past 300k, and i think these wood help.

pmesfun · 01-20-2011, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carpetguy00

I also use the Valvoline Dex/Merc in the trans. I do a drain and a refill probably about every 10k miles. The "firm" shift these cars have takes a little getting used to. I have test drove 4 or 5 of these gen4s, and they all have a shift thats more firm than the domestics. I will switch to a better ATF fluid soon... have heard good things about amsol and royal purple.

Have you dropped the pan yet? Get a Wix Transmission filter kit next service. They run around $20-25 at oreily.