Killed my wife's '03 Corolla

[gixxer998]

Hey everyone,

New here. What a great site.

I was driving my wife's '03 Corolla (101,000 miles on it) on the highway yesterday around 70-75 mph. When I went to pass someone I gave it gas, it down shifted, the RPM's went up and the car went. A second later the engine oil light came on and the engine started making a VERY bad noise. I pulled off the road, checked the oil and the oil level was fine.

I had my good friend who owns a small Pontiac Dealership to tow it. When he showed up he started the car immediately shutting it down only to tell me the engine was toast, that I had spun the bearings.

I've been doing some searching and am hearing about the Toyota oil sludge problem.

Does this affect my car?

Has anyone else had this problem?

I've used 100% synthetic oil changing regularly since I met my wife (car had 36,000 miles on it).

Any help would be appreciated!

Thank you!

[JasonA]

Hey, welcome to the site. Sorry to hear of your engine problem!

The 1ZZ-FE engine is generally NOT known to be a real sludge-prone engine. Especially not with a quality oil and regular oil changes. Every 5,000 miles with a synthetic oil should be more than enough to fully protect the engine (5,000 miles with conventional oil is what Toyota specifies, so from a sludging perspective, you're going above and beyond that safety factor).

For the engine to have failed like that at speed would be extremely rare. It sounds like either a mechanical failure of an engine bearing, or possibly a failure of the oil filter. That's all very speculative, though...it's really hard to know without opening the engine up and diagnosing the problem from within. When they remove the oil pan and crankshaft girdle, they'll be able to see which bearing was spun, and see exactly where they problem lies. They may also cut open the oil filter and see if the filter collapsed inside, or if there were metal particles in it, etc.

Are you going to have your engine rebuilt, or do you plan to swap in a used engine?

[gixxer998]

Hey JasonA,

Thanks for the reply. It was weird there was no warning what so ever. I am thinking it was the oil pump or something like that, don't know.

I am going to get a used replacement engine and do the change myself. I've found local parts houses with low mile (15-36,000 miles) engine for a grand so I'll probably go that way.

Another question, doesn't the oil filter have a by-pass valve that flows oil past the filter in case it gets clogged?

Thanks again for the help!

[JasonA]

Oil filters do typically have provisions for allowing oil flow to pass if the filter element clogs, or (as is usually the case) startup oil pressure is so high because of cold and viscous oil. The oil filter is actually in bypass mode more often than most folks think...due to that very thick oil when cold.

But the oil filter could have collapsed inside, blocking flow. Or something else may have happened. As you say, maybe the oil pump failed (and that's probably more likely than an oil filter failure). If you're doing the swap yourself, that's great. You may have a chance, then, to dissect the old engine at your leisure to satisfy what is probably a very strong curiosity for you (what happened).

[gixxer998]

Definitely anxious to see what's going on in there! I'd rather be tearing into it now than be at work.

I never in a million years thought I would be replacing an engine in this car; especially with only a click over 100K on the clock. 200-300K maybe but not this early.

[JasonA]

It's definitely out of the ordinary. I also plan to get 250+k out of mine.

[mikered30]

What oil filter did you use?

[gixxer998]

I use the Amsoil filter. I've been running Amsoil in the car since it had 36,000 miles on it (that's when I met my wife).

[IVIatticus]

Originally Posted by gixxer998

I use the Amsoil filter. I've been running Amsoil in the car since it had 36,000 miles on it (that's when I met my wife).

I'm definitely eager to see what happened. I've been running Amsoil in my car since I purchased it with 48k. Did you stick with the 5k oil changes? I have been until this last oil change, I'm at 6500mi because I've been lazy. After researching sludge and everything I've got the oil on order to change it out.

[gixxer998]

Well the engine swap went better than expected. It took forever to get the air out of the cooling system. I thought the new thermostat was bad or the water pump was bad but it was just air.


Also, one other thing I need help on. The check engine light is on now. The engine runs great but after it's warm it barely idles. It is very rough. The scan tool says misfire in all cylinders and lean condition.

I used the intake, fuel rail as well as throttle body from the other engine and not the original engine.

Anything you guys can think of?

Thanks!

ps. Haven't had a chance to pull the other engine apart to see what's wrong with it.

[JasonA]

Big intake manifold leak?

[gixxer998]

Originally Posted by JasonA

Big intake manifold leak?

Not sure.

The engine I bought came with the intake, injectors, and throttle body from the '04. I'm going to start by putting the original throttle body on it from the '03 engine.

[gixxer998]

Originally Posted by IVIatticus

I'm definitely eager to see what happened. I've been running Amsoil in my car since I purchased it with 48k. Did you stick with the 5k oil changes? I have been until this last oil change, I'm at 6500mi because I've been lazy. After researching sludge and everything I've got the oil on order to change it out.

This is the oil I used throughout the life of the engine:
http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/sso.aspx

This is the drain interval I used.

Service Life
AMSOIL Signature Series 0W-30 Synthetic Motor Oil is recommended for extended drain intervals in unmodified(1), mechanically sound(2) gasoline fueled vehicles as follows:

• Normal Service(3) – Up to 35,000 miles or one year, whichever comes first.
• Severe Service(4) – Up to 17,500 miles or one year, whichever comes first.
• Replace AMSOIL Ea oil filter at the time of oil change up to 25,000 miles or one year, whichever comes first (other brands at standard OEM* intervals).
• In all non-gasoline fueled vehicle applications, extend the oil change interval according to oil analysis or follow the OEM* drain interval.

*OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer
(1) Engines operating under modified conditions are excluded from extended drain recommendations. Examples include the use of performance computer chips; non-OEM approved exhaust, fuel or air induction systems; and the use of fuels other than those recommended for normal operation by the manufacturer.
(2) Mechanically sound engines are in good working condition and do not, for example, leak oil or consume excessive amounts, are not worn out, do not overheat, do not leak anti-freeze and have properly working emission control systems. AMSOIL recommends repairing malfunctioning engines prior to the installation of AMSOIL synthetic oils.
(3) Personal vehicles frequently traveling greater than 10 miles (16km) at a time and not operating under severe service.
(4) Turbo or supercharged vehicles, commercial or fleet vehicles, extensive engine idling, first and subsequent use of AMSOIL in vehicles with over 100,000 miles, daily short trip driving less than 10 miles (16km), frequent towing, plowing, hauling or dusty condition driving.
AMSOIL Ea full-flow oil filters are designed for extended drain intervals. They stop smaller particles, flow more oil and last longer than regular filters. For best performance, use AMSOIL Ea full-flow oil filters.



I'll be using Mobil 1 changing every 5,000 from now on.

[IVIatticus]

This thread is leaving me with an uneasy feeling, at no fault of the OP. I personally would never stick with Amsoil's change interval. I stick to 5000 miles or in this case it's going to be 7,000 because i've had surgery and it's just too damn cold.

Are you going to be dismantling the engine? Make sure you take pictures!!! I'm very eager, if you need a digital camera let me know I'm sure I've got one laying around I can send to you.

[gixxer998]

Originally Posted by IVIatticus

This thread is leaving me with an uneasy feeling, at no fault of the OP. I personally would never stick with Amsoil's change interval. I stick to 5000 miles or in this case it's going to be 7,000 because i've had surgery and it's just too damn cold.

Are you going to be dismantling the engine? Make sure you take pictures!!! I'm very eager, if you need a digital camera let me know I'm sure I've got one laying around I can send to you.

I've always been one to change my oil every 3-5K miles. When I saw Amsoil's extended change intervals I was skeptical. The company I worked for ran Amsoil in all their work trucks; those trucks would get abused like no other. They would change the oil once a year.

With my wife's Corolla I changed it once a year but the mileage never went over 20K a year. I thought for extra precautions I would change the filter every 6 months.

I'll definitely be pulling the engine apart and will take pictures of what I find. After the way the engine let loose my gut feeling is that the oil pump let loose; for what reason I don't know. I might be tearing into the engine tonight, if I do I'll let you know what I find.

I in no way am bashing Amsoil as I am still running it in my GSXR 1000 as well as my truck. I will however be running Mobil 1 in all of them just to keep them all the same.