New to me 02 Avalon XLS?

Last night I traded in my 97 Camry XLE with 120,000 miles for a 02 Avalon
XLS with 37,000 miles.

Disappointed in the Camry. Was hoping to go 200,000 miles but it was in need
of to much repair to keep.

Hopefully the Avalon works out better.

I was never happy with the suspension of the Camry. .


two questions..

the manual says to use 87 octane gas but higher octane would give better
performance???
Is the higher octain advisable or a waste of money???


Is there a way to tell what kind of oil is in it now?
Salesman said it was Synthetic....( He also told me that the valet key was
the "master key" and I should put it in a safe place because I would need it
if I ever needed a key made )....

Reguardless of whats in there now would I be better off with regular dino
oil or a synthetic oil...


Thanks for any input on this new to me car....


Steve

"comcastss news groups" <srivet@starprintingcorp.com> wrote in message
news:lqSdnUueJ8oR_cbYnZ2dnUVZ_qednZ2d@conversent.net...[color=blue]
> Last night I traded in my 97 Camry XLE with 120,000 miles for a 02 Avalon
> XLS with 37,000 miles.
>
> Disappointed in the Camry. Was hoping to go 200,000 miles but it was in
> need
> of to much repair to keep.
>
> Hopefully the Avalon works out better.
>
> I was never happy with the suspension of the Camry. .
>
>
> two questions..
>
> the manual says to use 87 octane gas but higher octane would give better
> performance???
> Is the higher octain advisable or a waste of money???[/color]

Using higher octane gas will most likely give you the results that the
owner's manual says it will, i.e., better performance. Since higher octane
fuel is generally more expensive, you have to decide if you need or want
that additional performance and whether you are willing to pay more for it.[color=blue]
>
>
> Is there a way to tell what kind of oil is in it now?
> Salesman said it was Synthetic....( He also told me that the valet key was
> the "master key" and I should put it in a safe place because I would need
> it
> if I ever needed a key made )....
>
> Reguardless of whats in there now would I be better off with regular dino
> oil or a synthetic oil...
>[/color]

You cannot tell whether motor oil is synthetic or conventional just by
looking at it. The sure way to tell what kind of oil is in it now would be
an oil analysis, which could cost more than an oil change.

If you are good at getting the oil and filter changed at reasonable
intervals, then conventional oil should be good enough. If you are not so
good, then synthetic *may* tolerate a little more abuse.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)[color=blue]
>
> Thanks for any input on this new to me car....
>
>
> Steve
>
>
>
>[/color]

comcastss news groups wrote:[color=blue]
> Is there a way to tell what kind of oil is in it now?
> Salesman said it was Synthetic.
> Reguardless of whats in there now would I be better off with regular dino
> oil or a synthetic oil...[/color]
=====

I'm not an expert, but I'd choose synthetic over dino for
the 02 Avalon XLS with 37k miles.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from [url]http://www.teranews.com[/url]

"comcastss news groups" <srivet@starprintingcorp.com> wrote in message
news:lqSdnUueJ8oR_cbYnZ2dnUVZ_qednZ2d@conversent.net...[color=blue]
> Last night I traded in my 97 Camry XLE with 120,000 miles for a 02 Avalon
> XLS with 37,000 miles.
>
> Disappointed in the Camry. Was hoping to go 200,000 miles but it was in
> need
> of to much repair to keep.
>
> Hopefully the Avalon works out better.
>
> I was never happy with the suspension of the Camry. .
>
>
> two questions..
>
> the manual says to use 87 octane gas but higher octane would give better
> performance???
> Is the higher octain advisable or a waste of money???
>[/color]
Congratulations! You're much like me in my history...The 97 camry was
getting a little long in the tooth for long trips (not that it failed us,
but at (now) 135K miles we didn't want to chance it) so relegated its use to
around town, and got an 03 Avalon XLS in May '04 with 28,000 on the clock.
I've never put premium gas in it, regular 87 is just fine and the
performance is fine (which you'll find out when you merge into freeway
traffic) your speed will jump up.[color=blue]
>
> Is there a way to tell what kind of oil is in it now?[/color]

Never used synthetic oil...just good quality regular 5w/30.

[color=blue]
> Salesman said it was Synthetic....( He also told me that the valet key was
> the "master key" and I should put it in a safe place because I would need
> it
> if I ever needed a key made )....[/color]

Never had a valet key...is it one without the chip so that only the door and
trunk will open with it? I should think any key would do to make a new
one, but as an ignition key, you'll need one with a chip.[color=blue]
>
> Reguardless of whats in there now would I be better off with regular dino
> oil or a synthetic oil...
>
>
> Thanks for any input on this new to me car....
>
>
> Steve[/color]


Steve, you're gonna love it! We've put almost 25k on ours so far, with no
problems. (Just make sure you tighten the gas cap....we evidently didn't
recently and got a "check engine" light which cost an hour's labor to figure
out that nothing was wrong. ($88 investigative fee, sheesh )

[color=blue]
>
>
> Steve, you're gonna love it! We've put almost 25k on ours so far, with[/color]
no[color=blue]
> problems. (Just make sure you tighten the gas cap....we evidently didn't
> recently and got a "check engine" light which cost an hour's labor to[/color]
figure[color=blue]
> out that nothing was wrong. ($88 investigative fee, sheesh )
>
>[/color]

I do love it!
The ride is sooo much better than our Camry was...

I do worry about the sludge issue though...

Any way to tell if this car is affected?

Steve

[color=blue]
> I'm not an expert, but I'd choose synthetic over dino for
> the 02 Avalon XLS with 37k miles.
>[/color]

With the sludge articles I've read, I figure anything to help avoid it would
be worth a little extra money...


Oil changes arent expensive....


Is there any way to tell if the engine is already affected by sludge?

Car came from NY. I live in Mass. 2002 with only 37.000 miles on it. Makes
me wonder why they got rid of it?




Steve

[color=blue]
>
> Using higher octane gas will most likely give you the results that the
> owner's manual says it will, i.e., better performance. Since higher[/color]
octane[color=blue]
> fuel is generally more expensive, you have to decide if you need or want
> that additional performance and whether you are willing to pay more for[/color]
it.

I dont think performance will be an issue. I just dont want to do any
damage???


[color=blue]
>
> You cannot tell whether motor oil is synthetic or conventional just by
> looking at it. The sure way to tell what kind of oil is in it now would[/color]
be[color=blue]
> an oil analysis, which could cost more than an oil change.[/color]

Oil and filter was supposedly done by the dealer. (I'm not very trusting)


[color=blue]
> If you are good at getting the oil and filter changed at reasonable
> intervals, then conventional oil should be good enough. If you are not so
> good, then synthetic *may* tolerate a little more abuse.
> --[/color]

we change the oil regularly. my concern is what happened for the first
37,000 miles with the previous owner.

Is there anything to "clean" an engine?
Would changing the oil more frequently clean any sludge buildup that may be
occurring??


I Know I'm probably overly worried about the sludge issue...


TIA

Steve

On Wed, 15 Nov 2006 15:45:07 -0500, "comcastss news groups"
<srivet@starprintingcorp.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
>[color=green]
>>
>>
>> Steve, you're gonna love it! We've put almost 25k on ours so far, with[/color]
>no[color=green]
>> problems. (Just make sure you tighten the gas cap....we evidently didn't
>> recently and got a "check engine" light which cost an hour's labor to[/color]
>figure[color=green]
>> out that nothing was wrong. ($88 investigative fee, sheesh )
>>
>>[/color]
>
>I do love it!
>The ride is sooo much better than our Camry was...
>
>I do worry about the sludge issue though...
>
>Any way to tell if this car is affected?
>
>Steve
>[/color]

Call the former owner and ask if they did the oil changes.

If it was on lease, you might have a problem coming...


--

Scott in Florida

"comcastss news groups" <srivet@starprintingcorp.com> wrote in message
news:N92dnQ5Tk-rU4cbYnZ2dnUVZ_hydnZ2d@conversent.net...[color=blue]
>[color=green]
>> I'm not an expert, but I'd choose synthetic over dino for
>> the 02 Avalon XLS with 37k miles.
>>[/color]
>
> With the sludge articles I've read, I figure anything to help avoid it
> would
> be worth a little extra money...
>
>
> Oil changes arent expensive....
>
>
> Is there any way to tell if the engine is already affected by sludge?[/color]

The way to tell is to remove one of the valve covers and take a look at the
valve train.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

"comcastss news groups" <srivet@starprintingcorp.com> wrote in message
news:c5edne4sO4vn48bYnZ2dnUVZ_uednZ2d@conversent.net...[color=blue]
>[color=green]
>>
>> Using higher octane gas will most likely give you the results that the
>> owner's manual says it will, i.e., better performance. Since higher[/color]
> octane[color=green]
>> fuel is generally more expensive, you have to decide if you need or want
>> that additional performance and whether you are willing to pay more for[/color]
> it.
>
> I dont think performance will be an issue. I just dont want to do any
> damage???
>[/color]

You will not do any damage to the engine by using 87 octane fuel.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

"Ray O" <rokigawaATtristarassociatesDOTcom> wrote in message
news:a12d9$455b89fc$44a4a10d$11592@msgid.meganewsservers.com...[color=blue][color=green]
>>[/color]
> The way to tell is to remove one of the valve covers and take a look at
> the valve train.
> --
>
> Ray O
> (correct punctuation to reply)
>[/color]
Ray - this made me flash back to a day when I was a teenager with my first
car, a beautiful 1938 Buick convertible, and a mechanic friend suggested
that I have a look at the engine's interior by taking off a cover on the
side of the 'straight 8' engine where the pushrods were, going up into the
head to operate the valves. We took off the cover, and the pushrods
weren't even visible through the packed in black sludge in the cavity. We
took a putty knife and scooped it out and got at least a quart of the stuff
into a tin can, and then scooped out the rest with our fingers. I never
dropped the pan to look for residue, and the valve tappets under the top
valve cover didn't have sludge in that area. The side cavity seemed to be
the repository for all the gunk. The only negative...the engine seemed a
bit noisier with all the crap removed!

On Wed, 15 Nov 2006 15:45:07 -0500, comcastss news groups wrote:
[color=blue]
>[color=green]
>>
>>
>> Steve, you're gonna love it! We've put almost 25k on ours so far, with[/color]
> no[color=green]
>> problems. (Just make sure you tighten the gas cap....we evidently didn't
>> recently and got a "check engine" light which cost an hour's labor to[/color]
> figure[color=green]
>> out that nothing was wrong. ($88 investigative fee, sheesh )
>>
>>[/color]
>
> I do love it!
> The ride is sooo much better than our Camry was...
>
> I do worry about the sludge issue though...
>
> Any way to tell if this car is affected?
>
> Steve[/color]


Just change the oil every 3-3500 miles for Dino oil, or 5,000 miles for
Synth, and you should have no problems with sludge.

On Wed, 15 Nov 2006 15:51:54 -0500, comcastss news groups wrote:
[color=blue]
>[color=green]
>> I'm not an expert, but I'd choose synthetic over dino for
>> the 02 Avalon XLS with 37k miles.
>>[/color]
>
> With the sludge articles I've read, I figure anything to help avoid it would
> be worth a little extra money...
>
>
> Oil changes arent expensive....
>
>
> Is there any way to tell if the engine is already affected by sludge?
>
> Car came from NY. I live in Mass. 2002 with only 37.000 miles on it. Makes
> me wonder why they got rid of it?
>
>
>
>
> Steve[/color]


Where are you at? I'm in Franklin Co.

comcastss news groups wrote:
[color=blue]
>two questions..
>
>the manual says to use 87 octane gas but higher octane would give better
>performance???
>Is the higher octain advisable or a waste of money???[/color]

Oh, for Pete's sake. Ever hear of a google search? You really think
you're the first person to ask about octane? Sheesh!

"mack" <mackerel@dslextreme.com> wrote in message
news:12ln5njkecqnp3b@corp.supernews.com...[color=blue]
>
> "Ray O" <rokigawaATtristarassociatesDOTcom> wrote in message
> news:a12d9$455b89fc$44a4a10d$11592@msgid.meganewsservers.com...[color=green][color=darkred]
>>>[/color]
>> The way to tell is to remove one of the valve covers and take a look at
>> the valve train.
>> --
>>
>> Ray O
>> (correct punctuation to reply)
>>[/color]
> Ray - this made me flash back to a day when I was a teenager with my first
> car, a beautiful 1938 Buick convertible, and a mechanic friend suggested
> that I have a look at the engine's interior by taking off a cover on the
> side of the 'straight 8' engine where the pushrods were, going up into the
> head to operate the valves. We took off the cover, and the pushrods
> weren't even visible through the packed in black sludge in the cavity. We
> took a putty knife and scooped it out and got at least a quart of the
> stuff into a tin can, and then scooped out the rest with our fingers. I
> never dropped the pan to look for residue, and the valve tappets under the
> top valve cover didn't have sludge in that area. The side cavity seemed
> to be the repository for all the gunk. The only negative...the engine
> seemed a bit noisier with all the crap removed![/color]

I've seen quite a few engines like that. A lot of people object to "idiot
lights" but I am a fan of them, especially the maintenance reminders on some
newer vehicles. I think those reminders will cut down on the number of
engines that are severely neglected.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)