Gel in Engine?

[Natalie235]

I have a 2008 Highlander Sport that has approx. 63,000 miles on it. Last week, at exactly 4 years after the purchase date I noticed smoke coming from my exhaust pipe. There was no noticeable change in the way the car was running, idling smooth and car was not running hot. Took it to my local Toyota dealer and was told that my engine has "gel" in it. Still waiting to hear if it will be covered under ExtraCare Protection. Has anyone else had this issue or heard of it?

[Ralph6410]

I wonder what "gel" is? After 63K miles any car will have oil residue (sludge) and any shop will be glad to offer to clean it out.. for a price. But gel.... and how that relates to smoke is up for grabs.
One can get something considered "varnish" (a deposit from gasoline) built up in your injectors which could cause them not to atomize the fuel very well.. and, which could perhaps look like smoke.. but you should notice a rough running vehicle when that is happening..

[deadrx7conv]

Common to short trippers with infrequent oil changes.

I'd definitely get a 2nd opinion and some pictures. Don't trust your dealer.

BTW, a little steam out of the tailpipe is normal, especially if condensation built up.

[nogo]

What colour smoke was it?

Originally Posted by Natalie235

I have a 2008 Highlander Sport that has approx. 63,000 miles on it. Last week, at exactly 4 years after the purchase date I noticed smoke coming from my exhaust pipe. There was no noticeable change in the way the car was running, idling smooth and car was not running hot. Took it to my local Toyota dealer and was told that my engine has "gel" in it. Still waiting to hear if it will be covered under ExtraCare Protection. Has anyone else had this issue or heard of it?

[sonicboom]

Originally Posted by deadrx7conv

Common to short trippers with infrequent oil changes.

This.

Here is a good read.
http://www.synpsg.com/Oil_Sludge_Problem.html

[Ralph6410]

Originally Posted by sonicboom

This.

Here is a good read.
http://www.synpsg.com/Oil_Sludge_Problem.html

A good description.. but perhaps a teeny bit biased. I don't think even Amsoil would guarantee a "spotless like new" oil pan after 64K. Still, a synthetic will likely stay cleaner than a traditional oil

[sonicboom]

Originally Posted by Ralph6410

A good description.. but perhaps a teeny bit biased. I don't think even Amsoil would guarantee a "spotless like new" oil pan after 64K. Still, a synthetic will likely stay cleaner than a traditional oil

Haha yes, ignore the Amsoil product plugs.

[Natalie235]

The "smoke" that was coming out of tailpipe appeared to be white, but after reading further into the whole "oil sludge" issue some call it blue. Anyways, it was not black smoke. And the car was running smooth, like normal. No change in idle or temp. We did check the oil and it was low, but no lights came on in dash. With as advanced as vehicles are these days, if my engine was about to die on me, shouldn't I have seen a warning light?

[nitronate33]

with today's detergent oils, sludge is not nearly as much of a problem as days of old. unless you are abusing your car or waiting a LONG time to change your oil, sludge should never be a problem, regular oil or synthetic.

yeah, marketing tactics used by companies like amsoil love to blow the problem out of proportion, but it is a sales gimmick. amsoil is very good oil, but it is also very expensive and certainly not necessary for a daily drive that you take reasonably good care of.

amsoil spends most of their advertizing dollars at the race track, because in a high performance engine that is driven hard, synthetic matters. synthetic resists heat better and the best synthetics will break down less quickly and handle the demands/stresses that you put on your engine.

you should never have sludge in your daily driver that you take care of with the proper maintenance. i just dropped the oil pan for a gasket replacement on my wife's solara with 130K miles and the oil in pan was clean as a whistle, not a single trace of sludge anywhere.

[Paul3637]

Originally Posted by Natalie235

The "smoke" that was coming out of tailpipe appeared to be white, but after reading further into the whole "oil sludge" issue some call it blue. Anyways, it was not black smoke. And the car was running smooth, like normal. No change in idle or temp. We did check the oil and it was low, but no lights came on in dash. With as advanced as vehicles are these days, if my engine was about to die on me, shouldn't I have seen a warning light?

You did not mention the oil change interval. Toyota recommends 5000 miles or six months whichever comes first. Since you have over 60,000 miles on it in four years, at that rate you drive about 5000 miles in 4 months so only miles and not the passage of time should have been your determining factor. Your car also came equiped with a maintenance warning light that blinks at 4500 miles and stays on at 5000 miles until you or the person who changes your oil resets it. Please tell us how often you changed the oil, who did it, and whether or not you have the receipts. Also tell us who or how the warning light was reset when it came on ...... or did it come on and you ignored it? Even if you only followed the "old-pre sludge" oil change recommendation of 7,500 or 6 months .... that still should have prevented oil sludge or gel unless you were sitting in rush hour traffic for hours every day on the I-10. If the car was not properly maintained, the dealer may tell you the damage is not covered under the extended warranty .... same as if it had 59,000 and was covered by the original 60,000 powertrain warranty.

Your car is equipped with the 3.5L V6 (2GR-FE) engine. This technoloogically advanced engine is manufactured to close tolerences and is well known for (1) zero or close to zero oil consumption and (2) producing very little blowby (the gasses which cause oil to turn "dirty" and therefore cause the sludging and/or gelling of oil that caused the sludge and gell problem of the famous 1997 to 2002 oil related engine failures). The fact that your oil was low (just how low by the way - and was it milky grey or charcoal black?) tells me there could be engine damage from poor maintenance and/or the last place you took it only put in 5 quarts of oil instead of 6. The gel your dealer discovered pretty much confirms poor maintenance. Did they pull your cartride type oil filter element out and show you that it was clogged with sludge or gel? If not, they should have.

The only known problem with oil loss on the 3.5L V6 engine is the defective vvt-i oil line on cars built prior to April 2008 (for which there was a massive recall which included the 2008 Highlander). And ...... even when those lines "blew," some owners reported the oil light never came on even in cases where the motor ran out of oil and "froze."
You asked in your second post "With as advanced as vehicles are these days, if my engine was about to die on me, shouldn't I have seen a warning light?" The answer to your question is YES, sort of..... the car should be desinged to let you know at least when the oil level is dangerously low . but it is not. The oil light measures oil pressure, not oil level. By the time the oil light comes on due to low oil level, your engine is probably toast anyway.

I have the 3.5L V6 2GR-FE engine on my 09 Camry manufactured 02/08 and in 5,000 miles of driving before each oil change, the oil never moves off the full mark and still looks clean. My ex-wife has the same engine in her 2011 AWD Highlander SE (which is why I visit this forum) and it uses zero [synthetic] oil as well. [I just Googled 2gr-fe oil consumption or sludge and the only thing I get back is the aforementioned vvt-i oil line failure. If your Highlander has a build date of 04/08 or later, you should not have a defective oil line. If your car was built before that, you should have gotten a recall notice over a year ago and taken the car in.]

Good luck.

[jeffs3820]

White smoke is indicative of engine coolant being burnt by the engine. Is the coolant low? A blown head gasket could cause this and account for some oil loss as well. Also, oil mixing with coolant will take on a "gel-like" appearance.

[Paul3637]

Originally Posted by jeffs3820

White smoke is indicative of engine coolant being burnt by the engine. Is the coolant low? A blown head gasket could cause this and account for some oil loss as well. Also, oil mixing with coolant will take on a "gel-like" appearance.

Except for the white smoke, hard to imagine head gasket ..... but maybe.

I found these as typical symptions at:http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...f_a_blown.html

Exhaust: White smoke coming out of your tailpipe. Sometimes drops of water will drop from the end of the tailpipe. The exhaust will also have a sweet smell to it.
Bubbles: Bubbles are also one of the signs of a blown head gasket. A gasket leak will cause bubbles of air to come into your radiator.
Oil: One of the next signs of a blown head gasket is contaminated oil. You will notice a milky ring surrounding your oil cap.
Engine: Engine will lack power because of compression loss. The engine will also run poorly and will idle roughly. You should also be careful because the engine will overheat quickly when you have a blown head gasket.
***********
I posted in the bobistheoilguy forum at:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...86#Post2367986

So it may be kind of interesting to see how it all plays out and if there is something you, me or the dealer hasn't thought of.

[jeffs3820]

<<*Exhaust: *White smoke coming out of your tailpipe. Sometimes drops of water will drop from the end of the tailpipe. The exhaust will also have a sweet smell to it.
*Bubbles: *Bubbles are also one of the signs of a blown head gasket. A gasket leak will cause bubbles of air to come into your radiator.
*Oil: *One of the next signs of a blown head gasket is contaminated oil. You will notice a milky ring surrounding your oil cap.
*Engine: *Engine will lack power because of compression loss. The engine will also run poorly and will idle roughly. You should also be careful because the engine will overheat quickly when you have a blown head gasket.>>

All symptoms above are true BUT many times are not obvious and sometimes so slight they are easily missed. I have had 3 different cars that had head gaskets go. In 2 of the 3 cases the car ran beautifully, didn't consume oil, but did consume coolant but VERY SLOWLY. Yes, there was occasional white smoke out of the tailpipe. There were no bubbles in the radiator and compression was good. With one car dealer finally found what looked like minor traces of water in the oil during an oil change and then replaced the head gasket. Second car had a TIB for coolant loss when cooling system pressure test was good. The third car did not run well and occasionally overheated.

Minor head gaskets issues can be tough to find on many vehicles.