I think a friends 2002 1MZ has sludge - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

BlackCamSe · 12-31-2008, 03:15 PM

My friend has a 2002 Camry XLE with the 1MZ-FE. And i offered to check the oil for him and was surprised at what i found. The car was very poorly maintained. What should his plan of action be? Here are some pics.

believe it or not thats oil burned on to the dipstick!

gdanaher · 12-31-2008, 04:42 PM

Nobody will agree with my comments, but then I've worked on these things for a very long time. None of this would be recommended by the dealer, mainly because they don't make money at it. You are going to buy several oil filters and learn now to replace them quickly. You are going to buy a case of oil which meets the minimum viscosity for the engine as stated in the owner's manual. You are going to buy a couple cans of spray Gumout or equivalent, a few cans of Gumout non-spray, 2-3 quarts of automatic transmission fluid, any type.

Clean the pvc valve(s) with the spray as well as the oil cap and the dip stick. Spray remainder through cap opening to any metal you can reach. Spray some down through the pvc passage as well. Assuming relatively clean oil to begin with, dump a can of Gumout into the valve cover. Best if you can get it in the little hole used by the pvc valve. Start and let idle for a few minutes but before it gets to normal temp. Remove and replace the filter. Let it sit for a half hour and then repeat for a few minutes. Pull the oil filter and see what kind of gunk is coming out. Change the oil. Add a pint of atf. Drive light city for 50 miles. Dump oil and change filter and oil. Add another pint of atf and do this for a couple weeks if the vehicle is used for relatively short distances. Change the oil filter every 200 miles. Dump oil again after about 500 miles, add 1-2 quarts of oil, pint of atf and some more Gumout. Allow to idle for about five minutes and once again dump out. Refill with only oil and continue changing filter every 200-300 miles for the next 1k miles. At this point the engine should be pretty clean. Gripe at the guy who allowed it to get this bad.

***toyomoho*** · 12-31-2008, 05:39 PM

Remove the valve cover and take a look.

Bdub215 · 12-31-2008, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XxTrD_ToYoTaxX

My friend has a 2002 Camry XLE with the 1MZ-FE. And i offered to check the oil for him and was surprised at what i found. The car was very poorly maintained. What should his plan of action be? Here are some pics.

believe it or not thats oil burned on to the dipstick!

how many miles??

BlackCamSe · 12-31-2008, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toyomoho

Remove the valve cover and take a look.

he actually just had the valve cover gaskets replaced because they were leaking oil. I'm surprised the Toyota dealer didn't say anything about it. Being that theres that much gunk on the oil cap, dipstick and oil filler hole.

BlackCamSe · 12-31-2008, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bdub215

how many miles??

i think he has around 70K. Very low mileage

camlex · 12-31-2008, 06:03 PM

that's looks normal, you mentioned it has valve cover done, that is the place you can tell that you have sluge or not. not by looking oil cap.

people who drive little without changing PCV, it's normal.

is car loosing lots of oil? what is other conditions?

***new echo owner*** · 12-31-2008, 06:12 PM

Removing at least the front valve to take a look, sometimes they are not as bad as it seems by looking at the cap. Monitoring the oil level can also tell you if it is using oil and if further works is required. '02, I think that already have the updated PCV and valve covers, which were suppose to minimize sludge inside the engine.

N.E.O.

TRD VVTi · 12-31-2008, 07:04 PM

Tell him to change the oil more often. That's probably all that's needed.

You have no reason to think it's sludged by the pics that you've posted.

LXS-mode · 01-01-2009, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRD VVTi

Tell him to change the oil more often. That's probably all that's needed.

You have no reason to think it's sludged by the pics that you've posted.

thats sluge? just asking... happy new year to all!

BlackCamSe · 01-01-2009, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by janfrancis

thats sluge? just asking... happy new year to all!

sludge is when the oil in the engine starts to form a gel like substance, restricting oil flow to vital engine parts. Heres an example:

BlackCamSe · 01-01-2009, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRD VVTi

Tell him to change the oil more often. That's probably all that's needed.

You have no reason to think it's sludged by the pics that you've posted.

i just figured if theres that much oil build up on the oil cap, oil filler hole, and dipstick that it might look like that in the inside of the engine as well.

***new echo owner*** · 01-01-2009, 10:40 AM

That is why you need to remove the valve cover to take a look, it just take 10-15 minutes to do!

N.E.O.

BlackCamSe · 01-01-2009, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by new echo owner

That is why you need to remove the valve cover to take a look, it just take 10-15 minutes to do!

N.E.O.

i don't have a torque wrench so i wont be able to torque the bolts back to spec.

***new echo owner*** · 01-01-2009, 10:51 AM

It is only about 6 ft/lb for the bolts, you can tighten the bolts down without a torque wrench using just hand tools and won't cause any problem. Unlike the other bolts, the valve cover bolts have a shoulder on it, so it would not crush the gasket on anything like that.

N.E.O.