How did you apply the royal purple? Pour in the gas tank? Applied it to a vacuum hose? That may sound like a silly question but it could be relevant. I'd start off by checking the condition of your oil. Can you give more information on the "knocking"? Does it go inline with the RPM's? When does it actually happen?

 

Thanks. I poured it in the tank. Oil is due for change. I hear a weird noise in the engine when I start the car in morning or cold. Though it doesn’t happen always. Knocking sound comes when I have driven the car few KMs and when i accelerate.

 

From what I read it's like pouring Techron in the fuel tank.
OP, is the CEL on?
Odds of damage after one use it minimal at best.
Is it a top end knock (valveTrain) or bottom end (rods and crank).
Does it change with RPM's or temp?

 

CEL is not on. Seems like a top end knock. Changes with acceleration.

 

More of a ticking? Valve lash?
What condition is the oil in, wonder if it ashed up (carbon) with the additive?

 

Can’t say accurately but it’s more of a ticking. I have not checked the oil yet.

 

Sounds like possible VVTI gear rattle. Nothing to worry about with that unless it continues for longer than 10 seconds or so

 

It’s

it’s longer than 10 seconds. Surprisingly the intensity increase when I am turning the car or at times the noise starts when I turn the car.

 

Intermittent (some times but not others) VVTI clicking upon start-up would be normal for a ten-year-old Camry.

The knock after driving it is not normal. Have you tried using high-octane fuel for one fill-up as a diagnostic?

Possibly the fuel tank at the gas station got diesel fuel poured in, wouldn't be the first time and probably would cause knocking and rough start-up even if the tank held more gas than diesel.

Possibly also some odd fuel deposit got dislodged by the fuel system cleaner and is now obstructing one or more injectors and/or the fuel filter.
Was this perhaps the first time in years that such a fuel system cleaner was used?

How many miles is on the car?

How many miles is on what brand/type of engine oil?

Is the oil level in range, and does the engine tend to use oil?

An oil change using top-quality oil is never a bad thing, especially after anything like 10k miles.

Oil usage that is becoming high will tend to cause detonation i.e. "pinging" or "knocking" on acceleration, which is why I suggested trying high-test fuel as a diagnostic.
Using heavier oil like 5W30 (no lower temperature limit) or even 15W40 (good down to perhaps 10F) are options which can prevent oil usage and knocking.
A US-based Toyota dealer (and even many US-based oil-change outfits) will not agree to use anything other than what is printed on the filler cap, 0W20 or whatever. That is the result of Toyota choosing to EPA-certify their cars with such light oils to get CAFE points allowing them to sell more profitable gas-guzzling SUV's. It has little to do with the health of your engine, since these same cars sold in other countries have no such printed limitations on using a best choice, correct-weight oil for the age of the car and for the driving conditions.

 

I am using premium gas in my car. This is the first time I used Royal purple. I had used I think STP once but no issues after that. Mileage is 167K KMs on the car. Last oil change was done by Toyota dealership they do not share the brand of oil they use. I assume it’s what’s is recommended by Toyota.

 

can ya post a video of it? that way we can hear it

 

It only comes while driving and not that loud to capture in the video. I will still try to capture and share it here.

 

You say that you haven't checked your oil?

A low oil level will bring on aerated oil and noises just as when you said "while turning" as the oil sloshes away from the pickup.
Usually the oil light will come on as the pressure drops.
Does the oil light illuminate with all of the other lights when you first turn the key to RUN before engaging the START position?

When was the last time the oil level was checked?

Put some good-quality 5W30 in this car now and test it out!

Toyota shows no lower temperature limit for 5W30 oil in your car's 2AR-FE engine (US-market cars get the low-CAFE 0W20 printed recommendation due to EPA certification compliance).

Another source of loud clicking/popping while turning might be that one of the axle CV joints is worn out, very common to see after 100k miles have passed.

 

Checked the oil level. There is no engine oil in the car. Strange there is no engine oil light and how come Royal purple made the oil disappear. I hope this is not an indication to a major issue.

 

Royal purple additive in the gas tank did not cause this. You have other issues going on. If it hasn't been leaking any oil, you have a major oil consumption issue. I don't know how new this car is to you so I don't know how familiar you are with the history of the car. You said it was due for an oil change. How long have you been going between oil changes? The car care nut has mentioned in several videos that if you go 10k mile or longer between oil changes in these engines you're asking for oil burning issues. That subject is a highly controversial topic and everyone has their own opinions about it, however I choose to trust a toyota mechanic who works on these every day.

 

This will at least serve as a reminder of the longer-term effect of "requiring" the use of 0W20 oil.

Cars get to a certain age and will then always "use" or consume a bit more oil, but the drop in oil level catches the owner off-guard, usually because the car could go the 5k miles without adding oil between oil changes (even using the super-thin 0W20 oil), but no longer can.

The oil not reading on the dipstick means it's at least two quarts low, so it's drawing some air with the oil, especially while cornering.

The smaller volume of oil has by now been severely over-worked because of how many times it has been recirculated, so some wear damage is likely at this point.
Likely the rate of oil consumption is now higher than before.

Depending on your climate and lowest temperature, you can go perhaps as high as a 20W50 motor oil, which will effect a drastic reduction in your car's oil usage rate.

The 20W50 is good all the way down to 20F, 10W40 is good down to 5F, and 5W30 has no lower temperature limit, all according to Toyota.
There is also 15W40 grade which is between those, and which is a cleaner, more-robust oil because of it's narrower viscosity spectrum and because it's made to hold up to diesel engine use. Be sure that any such diesel-rated oil also carries an SN rating for gasoline engine use (ask any auto parts store pro about this rating or just look for the API circle on the bottle with the rating shown "API Service SN".

Thicker oil will require that your battery and it's connections are in good condition when starting in cold weather. These cars require a good battery anyway though, because of their electric power steering!

Hoping that your engine isn't toast at this point. Add 2-3 quarts of fresh oil so that the dipstick reading is good, and if it starts up ok then immediately get the oil and filter replaced using one of the heavier choices of oil mentioned above.
Note that a Toyota dealer cannot legally change the oil to a heavier viscosity in the US or perhaps Canada. An independent shop however will usually install whatever five quarts of oil that you bring them.
If you're in Canada, if it goes below Zero F, then just use 5W30 and check frequently for a while to see how that is controlling your oil level.

You will need to check your oil at every gas fill-up for a while to become familiar with the current rate of oil consumption. Keep a full bottle of appropriate oil with you at all times.

Engine replacement in these cars runs thousands of dollars, so don't skimp on oil maintenance or any other maintenance like coolant replacement (not flush, just replace).

Never let the oil go more than 6500 miles or 10k km from this point on between oil changes.

Wigyota is correct that the fuel additive did not cause the problems that you are having.

 

Depending on your climate and lowest temperature, you can go perhaps as high as a 20W50 motor oil, which will effect a drastic reduction in your car's oil usage rate.

I know I'm going to regret replying to this because it's poking the bear BUT...the oil pump, pickup screen, oil passages, VVT-i screens, and cylinder cooling jets were never designed to handle oil this thick. For the engine this is like trying to suck a milkshake through a straw, especially when it's cold.

The idea that mud thick oil is protects better than modern synthetic oils is a myth. I'm old enough to remember when most cars required 10W30 or 10W40 oil, even back then 20W50 was only recommended when operating in extremely high temperatures like 100+. The thicker oil wasn't for preventing oil burning (those old cars burned oil with age and they leaked a lot) it was because it was needed to holdup to the heat without breaking down. But that was before synthetic oil, when engines were made of iron not aluminum, and cooling systems were not as efficient as they are now. Oil pumps also didn't work as good as they do now, idling a hot engine in the summer back then the gauge would barely be above the low mark and on cold starts in the winter you could literally count a couple of seconds before the gauge moved from low. There was no VVT and engine tolerances were not nearly as tight. I live in the gulf south and I can remember when it was common to have the temperature light come on if you were stuck in traffic in the summer with the A/C on. I learned from my Dad to turn the A/C off and turn the heater on, put the windows down, put it park and raise the engine idle and hope the old belt driven fan could cool it down enough for the light to go off or the gauge to get off the "H". Police cruisers had their hoods up to try to stay cool when they were idling while the officer worked traffic control or an accident. Now, you never see cars overheated on the side of the road and I haven't seen a police cruiser with the hood up in many years.

A modern Camry running 0W16 oil can idle all day with the A/C on in 100 degree weather and maintain it's normal operating temperature. A 1984 Chevy Caprice, even running 20W50 oil, would, at best, be close to the "H" on the temp gauge but most likely overheat with coolant boiling and oil temps through the roof. But the 20W50 oil could withstand the heat without completely breaking down. That mud thick oil isn't needed anymore because even 0W16 synthetic oil can withstand temperatures that would break down conventional 10W30 oil. And unless the cooling system is compromised with a leak or damage, a modern Camry won't run hot enough to threaten the limits of modern 0W20 or 0W16 synthetic oil even in desert heat.[/QUOTE]

 

I'm going to have to side with rl1990 on this one. I have to agree there's a lot of talk about using thicker fluids on this forum. Although it may be applicable in very limited applications it's not the fix all for preventing issues. If the weight of oil had that much variation to it applied to these engines then I don't think the people who designed the engine and engineers working countless hours on testing already, would have bothered putting the correct weight of oil on the oil cap, let alone in the manual. If you come out and check the oil and it's bone dry, I hate to break it to you but at that moment whatever damage is already done and cannot be reversed, nursed back to health, or "fixed" using a heavier oil at that point. It can bandaid a little by doing that but it's not a solution. My brother had an older Civic that the previous owner hardly ever changed the oil and when he got it burned like crazy. He'd put in 20W 50 in it, and when he had to fill up with gas he checked it and it was bone dry that's like maybe 300 miles that the engine gobbled up like 4 quarts of 20W 50. At this point I myself am kind of getting tired of hearing how heavier weight oils whether for a transmission or engine seems to be the talk of being this magic snake oil that can solve or even prevent problems. It's just not. People can do what they want with their own cars as they please and call it an opinion that's fine. But it's not right to sit there and tell others what you're experimenting with yourself and call it the right or correct thing to do. Let others choose that for themselves.

 

True that the thicker oil may not necessarily be the preventative as long as a high-quality 0W20 oil is used (and changed according to accurate assessments of whether or not any occurrence of "severe conditions" applies).

But the thicker oil can be the best solution to deal with the problems that will eventually occur, at least on the particular Hondas and Toyotas that I've encountered where the "dry dipstick" was discovered on a higher-mileage engine. The thicker oil won't repair the engine, but not only will it lessen oil consumption of most worn engines, it will help prevent such a low-oil situation from ever occurring in a healthy higher-mileage engine. So I will stick to my recommendation to ditch the 0W20 when the car starts using enough oil that it might turn up low one day (since people tend to be irregular about checking their oil level).

Again though, all engines have different "optimum" oil viscosity grade depending on temperature, particularly the coldest starting temperature. There is nothing about the US-bound 2ARfe engine that circumvents this reality, regardless of what the printing on the oil cap may suggest.

If you look at the foreign-market oil viscosity grade charts, you will see that Toyota lists more than one grade of oil that can be used in all temperatures, including the 0W20 and the 5W30. So why would they re-design the engine for the US market when the "world" engine already is rated to handle 0W20 at all temperatures?
It costs really big money for a car company to develop a new engine. Any re-design adds heavily to the cost, so the bean-counters i.e. shareholders wouldn't be happy.

If the foreign-market engines were different, then it wouldn't be permissible under US EPA rules for anyone to import used engines to the US for use in any US-market car. And yet used foreign engines are imported and then sold here!
The oils beginning with 10W can be used down to zero F. So where is there any difference with the American-market engine, other than the very different regulatory environment and monetary incentive for Toyota to use their economical cars to essentially subsidize against large "guzzler" penalties of their more-profitable "boat"-class vehicles?

You do realize the bias that the above scenario creates in terms of what Toyota puts in writing on the US-market filler cap, right?

One more thing to consider is that some of the critical wear points that these particular engines are vulnerable to do not involve the sort of hydro-dynamic lubrication that the pressurized plain bearings are supported by. The part of the cam timing phasers that wears, notches, then causes loud noises is steel, and does not move continuously so is not supported by any hydrodynamic oil film. These are the kinds of parts which will wear out faster when using a thinner lubricant, especially today when zinc levels (which prevents wear on steel parts) is lower than ever. The Car Care Nut explained the wear part problem in one of his videos, but did not correlate it to lubrication because He/Toyota would never admit that thin oil can cause such problems (becoming thinner-yet when hot, or causing greater static friction when cold).
Likely the foreign-market cars that are typically using thicker oil do not even have many of those VVTI phaser problems. But since thinner oil saves Toyota money, US-market cars get the noises and the repair bills, usually after the warranty has passed.

Keeping in mind that this thread was about a car with a likely oil-burning issue not quantified.
If the engine is damaged it might be toast. If thicker oil makes an oil-usage issue manageable in lieu of replacing the engine, what harm is done, especially as many people have already been using heavier-grade oil in their healthy US Toyotas for long periods of time?

But it sounds like some are saying that the US-bound 2ARFE is so special that it not only has to use only one grade of oil, it's owner also has to delay changing that same oil until 10k miles, instead of 10k km. That is some wild technology, I wonder how it works? Did Toyota win any "Car of the Year awards for that? Why didn't they ever even mention this great achievement?

If you look at the review of the 2ARFE engine below, you'll see that this engine was designed for use with 5W30 or 10W30 as the basic recommended oils for normal conditions:

2AR-FE 2.5L Engine - In-Depth Look at Design and Reliability

What is the 2AR-FE 2.5L Engine ? Is it good or bad? Read about Toyota 2AR-FE 2.5L Engine design and features, its the most common problems and relaibility.

www.motorreviewer.com