WTF!!....burning oil io think - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

mr.bigg · 03-07-2011, 02:44 PM

so i took ownership of my first toyota....a 4 cyl solara and there is a pool of oil in the air box??? and seems to be blowing oil out the tail pipe...bad rings???...PCV issues???...it is also leaking down the back of the block???...excessive crankcase pressure???...any ideas??...i really dont wanna pull the motor if i dont have to...

carsrus · 03-07-2011, 04:22 PM

Change valve cover gasket + spark plug tube seals and pcv valve + grommet at the same time.

When your doing all that youll be able to see how sludged up the head is. If its bad just start running 5w30 fully synthetic (cheapest synthetic you can find is at walmart) and do 3,000 miles oil changes. Synthetic eats sludge and it will clear up in 10-15k miles.

Once its clean you can start running a good 10w30 high mileage conventional. In general, the rings on these cars are good. They tend to get sludged up but i dont do anything drastic (dont pour seafoam into the oil, it will kill your engine). Synthetic is the cheapest and the safest way to clean out a heavily sludged engine. SeaFoam is really agressive and will plug the oil pickup and AutoRX is snake oil (I have NEVER seen it do anything)

mr.bigg · 03-07-2011, 04:30 PM

thx for the nfo..i have ordered all the parts you have mentioned...gonna try and pin this issue down one problem at a time...this is my first yota....so it will be a learning curve

deadrx7conv · 03-07-2011, 04:55 PM

When you pull the valve cover off, post some pictures.
Change the air filter if it isn't new.
Change the thermostat to keep engine running in normal operating temp range. Good time to drain/refill the radiator too.

Alternate among oil brands for your 3k intervals. No need for full $ynthetic as long as the oil meets the latest specs, SN/GF5. High mileage oils are another option.

Check oil regularly and post consumption.

***fenixus*** · 03-07-2011, 08:21 PM

Castrol GTX 5w-30 (or GTX HM) could help you A LOT. it cleans like crazy, just I would suggest draining it and replacing filter at no more 1,500 miles if you suspect some serious dirt.

then you could switch to any full synthetic you like (no more than 5k miles OCI though) and it will clean the rest for you over time.

if you are brave you could try sea foam with oil also for 100 miles (then drain and refill the oil and change filter), but take into consideration gasket leaks here and there, so replace the things mentioned first before you do this.

replace the parts mentioned, you can also replace radiator cap (get it from dealer and dealer only), to make sure cooling system is properly pressurized, wrong or no pressure shifts the coolant boiling point closer to water boiling temperature.

as suggested might be a good idea to drain radiator and replace thermostat (get it from dealer, please, this way you will be safe).

***JohnGD*** · 03-07-2011, 08:30 PM

Maybe a compression test or leak down test.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr.bigg

so i took ownership of my first toyota....a 4 cyl solara and there is a pool of oil in the air box??? and seems to be blowing oil out the tail pipe...bad rings???...PCV issues???...it is also leaking down the back of the block???...excessive crankcase pressure???...any ideas??...i really dont wanna pull the motor if i dont have to...

mr.bigg · 03-09-2011, 06:29 PM

well i pulled the cover and i saw nothing out of the ordinary...cleaned up everything, installed new gasket and tube seals, leak has stopped, new iridium plugs and PCV valve...#1 plug was gross...horribly fouled...2,3 &4 looked great nice and golden brown...when you take the oil filler cap off when it is running you would think the exhaust was coming out of the valve cover???...serious blowby...i think i may run some Engine Restore through it...cheaper than a engine replacement....thoughts??

or is there anything else i can run in it to maybe get that cylinder up to parr...assuming that the oil rings are siezed??

***fenixus*** · 03-09-2011, 07:27 PM

I would check cylinders compression and go from there.

mr.bigg · 03-09-2011, 07:33 PM

thax..that was nxt on my list....and then the phone calls to locate a new engine...

***fenixus*** · 03-09-2011, 07:35 PM

ehhh, it seems so ... bad ring(s) probably... how does it run now with no leaks and new plugs?

carsrus · 03-09-2011, 08:48 PM

Do compression test before you do anything else. If #1 is low then yeah I would run 3qts 10w30 highmileage castrol with a quart of lucas engine restore. Ive seen lucas do some crazy stuff.

If that doesn't work just start running like 15w20 in it. I wouldn't replace it until it was chugging like a diesel out the tail pipe and eating a quart every 100miles. How many miles on the car?

mr.bigg · 03-10-2011, 09:24 AM

it runs WAY better with the new plugs and now it isnt leaking all over my driveway, but that will only last till that one plug fouls and we will be back to square 1...i called about a reman...OUCH!!!...2500 bux plus the tax man...and the guy said it was the same amount to rebuild a small block chev...WTF!!!...i think i'm getting buggered here...lol...so i think i am gooing to pour some engine restore into it for now and look for a good used motor...hopefully i wont have to remortgage my house...

the car has about 120,000 mile on it...usually that is the break in period on a yota isnt it??

***fenixus*** · 03-10-2011, 09:42 AM

no, 120k miles is nothing for a toyota engine unless it was abused, raced severely on daily basis or when cold, overheated, etc.

5s-fe engine short block shouldn't be more than $600-900 or so I think. you don't really need the whole new engine I think ... look for Jasper brand, that's what NAPA uses. not sure about their pricing though ... can you do the engine swap on your own?
it's not that much complicated if you have a place to do this in peace and know what you are doing ... probably the transmission is the hardest part. or maybe talk with some other shops to hear more quotes. but I'm sure they will rip you off on the labor.

another option is a used motor, e.g. from junk yard.

as suggested above, for now switch to a little thicker oils, e.g. 5W-40 or some HM version (Castrol GTX HM sounds great), plus some Lucas additive (Engine restore, etc.).

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr.bigg

it runs WAY better with the new plugs and now it isnt leaking all over my driveway, but that will only last till that one plug fouls and we will be back to square 1...i called about a reman...OUCH!!!...2500 bux plus the tax man...and the guy said it was the same amount to rebuild a small block chev...WTF!!!...i think i'm getting buggered here...lol...so i think i am gooing to pour some engine restore into it for now and look for a good used motor...hopefully i wont have to remortgage my house...

the car has about 120,000 mile on it...usually that is the break in period on a yota isnt it??