'02 Oil Consumption - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

rkelachim · 07-13-2007, 09:28 PM

Hello all:

My '02 Camry has just under 100,000 miles on it. It has always burned some oil for a while now. Recently, the oil consumption has really increased, it burns about a quart every 1,000 miles now. In fact, I noticed today that the bumper cover was covered in black soot around the tail pipe.

Does anyone think a tune up or timing belt replacement will help this oil consumption problem? The car seems to run fine aside from the oil consumption...

touringcamry · 07-13-2007, 09:34 PM

What engine do you have?

rkelachim · 07-13-2007, 09:41 PM

I have the 4 cylinder.

touringcamry · 07-13-2007, 10:06 PM

Run far far away from anyone who tries to sell you a timing belt since you car does not have one.

It sounds like either bad valve seals or worn or broken piston rings. A tune up will not fix this problem.

gdanaher · 07-13-2007, 10:19 PM

I would also suspect the pvc valve is clogged. Pull the valve and check it, but also blow air into the pvc hole in the valve cover, with the oil cap off, and make sure you have easy air flow there and that it isn't clogged up in the valve cover. Might be an engine sludge issue. If the engine isn't vented properly, at high speeds it builds pressure and will force oil down the valve guides.

If the valve seals were bad, you would have seen a burst of smoke when you first started the engine for many thousands of miles. After the engine started, the smoke would vanish. You shouldn't have worn rings at 100k on that engine unless you didn't attend to oil changes, and if one of them is broken you should hear it ringing or singing to you with a high pitch. If you have a lot of city driving and you change oil every 5k miles or more, I'll bet that the problem is oil sludge.

marc780 · 07-13-2007, 10:31 PM

A quart in 1,000 miles is not bad. I have owned cars that used this much per tankful of gas. I dont know what the smog check is like in Iowa but if you can pass it, i'd say this much oil burning is no big deal, to me.

But if smog is strict in your state it might be valve job time. Do a compression check first if compression is strong and does not increase after dumping some oil in the spark plug holes, then you can probably restore performance and oil consumption with a valve job.

gdanaher · 07-14-2007, 08:56 AM

We need to hear back from rkelachim. Burned valves won't cause this problem but worn valve seals might, but those go very slowly and haven't been much of a problem on late model Toyotas. He said the problem went from burning a little oil to suddenly having a black bumper. He needs to take the oil filler cap off, pull the pvc valve out of the valve cover and blow compressed air through the hole, watching for activity at the oil filler hole, like oil being splashed. If the engine ventilation had become clogged it would account for his symtoms, and at that mileage it is something which might well happen. I don't remember the cut off for the infamous oil gelling/sludge case but 02 is close.

rkelachim · 07-14-2007, 11:52 AM

I have never noticed the puff of blue smoke at start up that you might associate with valve seals. And the exhaust doesn't appear blue while the enigne runs either.

Iowa doesn't have emmission standards ot testing, so there is no state requirement that I am worried about.

Later today or tommorow I'll pull the valve cover and PCV valvew as you suggested. I'll let you know what I find....

Thanks for your advice thus far!

rkelachim · 07-14-2007, 11:57 AM

Since I have owned the car, we have always changed the oil every 5,000 miles as the dealer reccomended.

However, I bought the car when it had 30,000 miles on it. The prior owner was a rental car company. Ididn't know that when I bought the car - I would have never bought it had I known that at the time. I'm sure the car was beat on for the first 30,000 miles.

gdanaher · 07-14-2007, 01:59 PM

I bought a new 99 Camry and changed oil every 5k miles. By 32k miles it would hardly run, sucked oil, etc. Had more gupe in the engine than you could ever imagine. They told me it was all my fault because I changed the oil every 5k miles. I should have been changing it every 3k miles because I drove it in severe service. What's severe? Driving around town and going to work with occasional road trips. Toyota eventually paid me back.

marc780 · 07-14-2007, 04:45 PM

Quote:

By 32k miles it would hardly run, sucked oil, etc. Had more gupe in the engine than you could ever imagine. They told me it was all my fault because I changed the oil every 5k miles. I should have been changing it every 3k miles because I drove it in severe service. What's severe?

I have read the disclaimers from every car i ever owned and many i havent. "Severe service" is always described using any or all of these words: "stop and go driving. Towing. Extremes of heat and cold. Short trips. High speed operation (whatever 'high speed' means to them, but thats another rabbit trail to go down). Dusty or dirty conditions."

As far as i can tell, everybody i know drives their car under "severe service" conditions.
I change my oil between 2,000 and 3,000 miles. So now i have other things to worry about than wearing out an engine.

gdanaher · 07-14-2007, 06:17 PM

Precisely. I'd rather change the oil too often than not often enough. So my car goes in at 5k miles to rotate the tires by an authorized dealer to maintain that warranty and change the oil. About 3k later it gets changed again in my driveway. I've served my time with sludge and it aint happenin' again.

gdanaher · 07-15-2007, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkelachim

Later today or tommorow I'll pull the valve cover and PCV valvew as you suggested. I'll let you know what I find....

What did you discover?

rkelachim · 07-16-2007, 10:24 AM

I went ahead and replaced the PCV valve...Only place that had one on hand was the Toyota Dealer. Looking at the old and new PCV valve, you can easily tell the new one has been redesigned - It has a much larger hole on the threaded end.

The rubber tube going to the PCV valve wasn't blocked.

I'll drive the Camry around for a week or so and see what happens now...I'll keep you posted.

gdanaher · 07-16-2007, 10:34 AM

The old pcv valve might be clear and the hose certainly is clear but the real question is if the valve cover is clear. You need to blow air through the hole and verify it is open. On my old 99 Camry the pcv valve was just fine, the valve cover was crapped up and plugged. Putting high pressure on the hole resulted in blowing a glob of sludge loose. Just replacing the valve isn't likely to solve the problem.