My uncle is going help me do a tune up on my mother's (but soon to be mine) 1995 Toyota Avalon. According to him, putting synthetic oil in it last week was a bad idea because the maintaince has been so spotty that the engine is no longer in like new condition and I could have issues because of that. He said that it would be one thing if the oil had been changed every 2000 to 3000 miles like an enthusiast would change it but it is another thing because the oil was changed every 5000 to 10000 miles over the car's 77,000 mile lifetime. He says that I should switch back to regular motor oil as soon as possible. I am curious, has anyone on here switched to synthetic motor oil under these circumstances and if they had, what was the outcome?
By the way, he also says that I should find out if the 1995 Avalon uses a breather element for when we do the tune up. Does anyone know if it uses a breather element?
This subject has come up many times in the Camry Forum; a history search will find many hits and opinions. The major synthetic oil manufactures claim you can switch back and forth between mineral and synthetic oil without problems. A few car owners have reported an increase in engine oil leaks after switching.
The engine should have a PCV valve emission system and not a breather..
This is your breathing element. Otherwise, known as an air filter. It runs $10 to $20 depending on where you buy it.
As for the oil, it varies with the condition of the engine seals and gaskets. If they're old, cracked and deteriorating then the synthetic will probably slowly seep through them and develop some leaks.
Look for oil with the new spec ILSAC GF-4 and use the type recommended in the owners manual or on the oil fill cap. Usually a 5w30 or 10w30.
__________________ It worked fine until I fixed it!
Csaxon is right on. Running Synthetic oil is not going to hurt your engine. It is superior to dino oil, however it may run out if your seals and gaskets are "loose". I'd try it an see. You need to be real careful running oil over it's interval in this engine, as it was know for oil sludge, which will ruin it. I'd also check the condition of the air filter (breather element) and also check the plugs, tranny fluid condition, battery condition and probably the radiator fluid condition. If any dont' look or smell like new replace. Prevention is always cheaper than replacement. If your uncapable of these checks have a reputable shop do them.
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Current- '97 Avalon w/ 100k
'99 Avalon w/ 200k, sold to friend (1MZ-FE)
'86 4-Runner- wrecked and sold (22R-E)
'85 Corolla- engine lost compression=junkyard (4AC)
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The front head gasket is very slowly leaking oil and it has been leaking oil for what appears to be some time now. I have never seen any drips of oil under the car but there is clearly a very slow leak, as it appears to be stained with oil.
I am guessing that this means that the synthetic oil was a really bad idea. The car is going to have its oil changed back to regular motor oil tomorrow. I just hope that I did not ruin anything with the synthetic motor oil. Out of curiousity though, if the head gasket was to suddenly leak more dramatically than it has in the past and I was driving the car on the highway, what would happen?
The transmission fluid has never been changed in the car's lifetime and my uncle told me that replacing the transmission fluid could lead to sediment deposits eroding and clogging the little valves inside the transmission, requiring a transmission replacement. He says that he changed the transmission fluid with his first car (an old Ford Mustang) and the transmission broke within 24 hours. His opinion is that changing the transmission fluid could result in transmission damages so it is best left alone.
toyomoho and csaxon, thanks for the information about the breather element. I thought that there was something separate from the air filter in the car that also needed to be replaced besides the PCV value.
Edit: By the way, is there is a specific brand of PCV value that people recommend or is any brand PCV value good? I need to pick one up before my uncle helps me with the tune up.
Last edited by ShiningArcanine; 08-14-2006 at 01:00 AM.
The front head gasket is very slowly leaking oil and it has been leaking oil for what appears to be some time now. I have never seen any drips of oil under the car but there is clearly a very slow leak, as it appears to be stained with oil.
Relax before changing out that oil. Is it the front head gasket or valve cover gasket? Wipe it down and get in nice and clean, then see just how quicly new oil stains appear. You may just need some bolts properly torqued down.
You got the synthetic in there, I say run it for at least 1000-2000 miles, then do your next oil change and get on schedule with good oil change habits. You spent the money on it, let it do some cleaning before getting it out.
All is good if you turn the key and it fires up!
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1997 Avalon XLS (black, black leather, tinted windows), sold June 2009 with 183K on it, still looking and running great!
like slick says....relax. some say that because the molecules in synthetic are smaller, that it has the tendency to leak easier.... IMO if it leaks with synthetic, then it was leaking before. leave the oil in there....it is never too late to switch to the benefits of synthetic oil, and in no way will it hurt anything. check the fluid level once in a while. as for the "breather". your uncle is prob refering to the filter element for the pvc system found in older american cars. that's what they used to call it. modern cars dont have these anymore. your pvc valve doesnt neccessarily need changing...only if it appears clogged or sticking...then a good shot of carb cleaner would take care of this. i hate to say....but ignore his advice on changing the tranny oil. the biggest reason of transmission failure is not changing the oil. i mean...think about it....if it is never changed...then it will get full of sediments which can clog passages.... changing it gets rid of the sedements. what happened to his old mustang is hard to say...but was prob coincidence. the engineering and controls of this transmission are a world apart from that old mustang.... unless the trans oil is clean and pink with very little odor, then change it.
Well, I did the maintaince with my uncle today. We could not get to the spark plugs, as there are three under the intake manifold that are impossible to reach if you do not remove the manifold so I will be going to the dealer for help with that. The PCV valve, air filter and fuel filter needed to be replaced. They were probably the original ones that the car had in 1995. The PCV valve did not make the noise that the new one did when it was shook, instead it made a low thud noise. The air filter was so fithy that you could not see any light if you held it up to the sun. The fuel filter was so fithy that the inside of it was completely black and it restricted the gasoline flow so much that the engine went to 2,500 RPM the first time I turned the ignition key after replacing it.
The oil and oil filter are stock from the dealership. I also decided that it is better to give precedence to family and have to pay a large bill than it is to never speak to my godfather ever again so I left the transmission fluid alone. Four of the batteries five cells were low so they were filled with distilled water/battery acid. The car seems to be quieter at lower speeds (at higher speeds the wind noise overcomes the engine noise) and it seems to be accelerating faster, but I have not went on the highway yet to see how it performs. Overall, it seems to be in pretty good shape. Now all I need to do is pay the dealership for an hour of labor and get the spark plugs replaced with the set of Denso Iridium Spark Plugs I brought for the car. Although, I did manage to get a look at one of the spark plugs in the front of the engine and it is in fairly good shape so the engine could probably go another 23,000 miles before they need to be replaced. I will have them replaced so I can reap the benefits of the additional horsepower and fuel economy savings now though, as with the volitility of gasoline prices, I could waste a nice sum of money by waiting until the original nickel spark plugs need to be replaced.
Last edited by ShiningArcanine; 08-17-2006 at 05:33 PM.
Reason: A word was removed for clarity
If I were you, I would change the oil in the transmssion by doing a drain and refill versus a flush. I would do a drain and refill every 100-200 miles, 4-5 times as only about 4 qts will come out. The oil for this vehicle is relatively inexpensive, something along the lines of $2.33 per Qt. at the Toyota dealarship for Toyota oil.
By the way, I was thinking, since I plan on keeping this car as long as I can (e.g. the rest of my life), at some point, I will want to put in a new engine (and perhaps a new transmission as well). Since I like to plan ahead, how much would a 4GR-FSE engine and an Audi Multitronic Transmission cost before considering the labor necessary to install them? I am looking forward to the day that I do this upgrade (assuming that I do it), as according to my calculations, the 4GR-FSE should improve the fuel economy to 25 mpg city and 33.4 mpg highway while the transmission should further improve that to 30 mpg city and 40 mpg highway as according to wikipedia, continuously variable transmissions are as much as 20% more efficient than four speed automatic transmissions.
Edit: By the way, since the tune-up, the Avalon's highway performance is like a dream. Before, the Avalon had trouble accelerating, as the RPMs never went above 3500 so I never really got more than 130 hp, probably because the fuel filter was 11 years old. Now that it has a new fuel filter. I have seen the RPMs go as high as 5500, so I am getting all 192 of the engine's horse power, plus the extra 2-3 hp that the Iridium spark plugs give me when I accelerate onto the highway. I calculated that the fuel economy that I got on the highway the other day was 25.6 mpg (most likely because I brought gasoline from a gasoline station where I do not know where the owner gets his gasoline). Now, looking at the odometer and estimating the amount of gasoline I have used by the fuel meter, I should be getting somewhere around 31-32 mpg (this is with 99.6% highway driving). I am finishing up my vacation so I should be able to gt an accurate measure of my fuel economy when I buy gasoline on the way back home, but whatever the figure turns out to be, I am really enjoying the fuel economy that I am getting.
Last edited by ShiningArcanine; 08-28-2006 at 07:23 AM.
If you calulate the cost of that complex engine swap, you could probably drive the Avalon for the rest of your life for free on the existing drivetrain.
The thing is that the existing engine and transmission should wear out over time. Not to mention that I am an environmentalist. I expect the cost of gasoline to skyrocket in the future due to the Democrats' policies (which are still in effect even though it has been 61 years since FDR died) so pramatically speaking, improving the fuel economy through a new engine and transmission, should save me quite a bit of money, especially if people figure out the actual extent to which the federal government unconstitutionally counterfits money each year.
By the way, I am home from my vacation and my Avalon's fuel economy was 31.6 mpg, which is 3.6 mpg higher than what it is supposed to be; I am guessing that additional fuel economy is mostly from the Iridium spark plugs, as a tune-up should have only returned it to 28 mpg like it was measured it as being.
Edit: So how much would it cost to buy those two parts?
Second Edit: My parents just told me that the transmission fluid was already changed. Apparently 2-3 years ago, the transmission light on the dashboard lit, so they took it to the dealer and the dealer said that the oil had to be changed, so they did it. I guess that this would mean that the transmission fluid does not need to be changed after all.
Last edited by ShiningArcanine; 08-28-2006 at 07:53 PM.
assuming that one day in the future you were to decide it's finally time to swap to that engine and tranny, who knows what the price will be then, or if they will even be availlable...then there would be mating the 2 together....prob not possible...but assuming you could' the cost of the labor and work involved would be enormous...along with the fact that by then, the rest of the car will need to be rebuilt also. even the body won't last forever...the interrior will need to be redone,and by then pieces will be hard to find. and being an enviromentalist, i would think you would be wanting to get a car that would be much more friendly, such as ethanol or cng or whatever other technology may be availlable in the future
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This is your breathing element. Otherwise, known as an air filter. It runs $10 to $20 depending on where you buy it.
It worked fine until I fixed it! 
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