1996 Toyota Avalon 1MZ-FE V6 Engine Sludge Dilemna
- Thread starter Jonness
- Start date
- Status
Jonness - HDEO does come in 10w30 if that is a better fit than the 15w40 for your rinse. Those oils do suspend particulate better than conventional stuff. Rotella comes in a 10w30 and is available at Wal-Mart usually.
Lot of us are pulling for you in this one. Keep posting. Getting input from Toyota and Frank at Auto-Rx may be a good thing. Let us know what they say!!
Lot of us are pulling for you in this one. Keep posting. Getting input from Toyota and Frank at Auto-Rx may be a good thing. Let us know what they say!!
I know this comment isn't helpful, but those pictures make me sick. I have a 1MZ-FE in our Sienna and I know for a fact that even though those engines are hard on oil, it does NOT have to look like that! What a mess.
Now that I am done with my rant I have a question. Is the engine consuming excessive oil now? I tried to find that in the posts but didn's see where you said it. Is it putting out white smoke? If so, then you have a serious, immediate problem. If not however, then you are probably still getting oil to most of the locations that need it.
If you're not having those symptoms them I would very much go along with the Auto RX treatments and then using a high quality synthetic going forward. I would not use harsh solvents or any other homebrew cleaning mixtures.
Now that I am done with my rant I have a question. Is the engine consuming excessive oil now? I tried to find that in the posts but didn's see where you said it. Is it putting out white smoke? If so, then you have a serious, immediate problem. If not however, then you are probably still getting oil to most of the locations that need it.
If you're not having those symptoms them I would very much go along with the Auto RX treatments and then using a high quality synthetic going forward. I would not use harsh solvents or any other homebrew cleaning mixtures.
Drain the oil and kerosine out and refill with cheap oil like Walmart Tech 2000 and a cheap filter. Add the first bottle of AUto-Rx and do the 1800 mile clean then 1800 mile rinse. Do this three times changeing the filter each time. Auto-Rx is a proven sludge liquifier so I would not worry about it. It will clean the pickup screen and everything else. It will get about 75%-90% of the visable sludge out of their. After you have done the three clean and rinse phase's I would then do a solvent style 5-15 minute flush to get the last little bit left behind.
I would probably use synthetic in the winter time and 15W40 conventional dureing the warm months to keep this thing clean!
I would probably use synthetic in the winter time and 15W40 conventional dureing the warm months to keep this thing clean!
Ok. I must have had the pics blocked or something. I finally saw the pictures of the pan. INCREDIBLE! Man! That's worse than most cases of SAAB sludge I've seen! And SAABs are turbos! Yep, call Toyota but don't expect to get too far without the ghost of Johnnie Cochran. Then cross your fingers and arx away! You may want to contact Frank directly. He may be able to make specific recommendations for your car.
The car burns about one quart of oil per tank of gas. When I start it when it is cold, it emits an unbelievable amount of smoke. I mean, people turn their heads and stare in disbelief. Once the car warms up, the smoke isn't bad. I'd say the color of the smoke is a blue-ish white. So what would you do if the car "is having those symptoms?"
man your engine is in bad shape one quart a liter!!! is this a fun project? because instead of wasting all that money on oil such as the frequent oil changes i would save up and get a new engine and throw it in there! a new engine from the scrapper should be around 700 bucks!
I'm not sure what you mean by 1 quart a liter, but it probably does a quart perhaps every 500 miles. The thing is, other than smoking like crazy when starting cold, the engine runs extremely well. I've thought about getting a rebuild of the Internet for about $2500.00. But I thought I would save that as a last resort. I'm hoping I can clean it up and put in some valve stem seals and get another 100k out of it. Is that wishful thinking?
boil it
Ah, because those are the symptoms Toyota described in their letter to owners. I don't have my copy here but I found it online:
http://www.autosafety.org/uploads/phphGvRp5_SludgeLetter.pdf
It is also the set of symptoms my friend had on his Sienna, which required a rebuilt engine. His words to me were that he changed his oil "at least twice a year". What killed it for him were very short trips that didn't let the engine warm up.
Toyota's diagnostic procedure is here:
http://www.autosafety.org/uploads/phpcK4UNJ_ToyotaOilSludgeInspection.pdf
http://www.autosafety.org/uploads/phphGvRp5_SludgeLetter.pdf
It is also the set of symptoms my friend had on his Sienna, which required a rebuilt engine. His words to me were that he changed his oil "at least twice a year". What killed it for him were very short trips that didn't let the engine warm up.
Toyota's diagnostic procedure is here:
http://www.autosafety.org/uploads/phpcK4UNJ_ToyotaOilSludgeInspection.pdf
It is more then likely burning all that oil becuase their is so much crusty build up on the seals and rings. CLean all that junk out with Auto-Rx and most of that should let up if the engines rings are still in good shape and the seals have not been permanately damaged.
I would run the HDEO (diesel oil) of the 10w30 variety along with AutoRX, the reason I would use 10w30 instead of 15w40 is because things look a little thick in there already, you know the guy with high cholestrol needs his blood thinned not thicker and use the AutoRX. Start with an el cheapo Fram or Supertech and change the filter twice as much as the oil gradually switching to a better filter. 1000 mile oci a few times with frequent filter changes is about the best one can do without a rebuild. Also it might be worth cleaning that oil pickup screen again halfway through the process and I know it might be a budget buster but how about a UOA.
You know, running the car is probably the worst thing you can do with or without ARX IMHO!!!!
It seems the big issue here is that you've ALREADY loosened chunks of crud that could potentially clog the oil screen.
ARX is meant to disolve it slowly layer by layer. You've set other things in motion now.
If you do a fill to the gill kero soak for a day you are not running the engine so your oil pick up screen won't clog.
Follow that up with a 75/25 kerosene flush w/ new ST filter at idle you are not putting a load on the engine. Wait 3 hours for engine to cool, do another fifteen minutes.
Repeat process (Kero is cheap and the AAP oil vat is large)
Check oil pan and inspect and clean oil screen.
It seems the big issue here is that you've ALREADY loosened chunks of crud that could potentially clog the oil screen.
ARX is meant to disolve it slowly layer by layer. You've set other things in motion now.
If you do a fill to the gill kero soak for a day you are not running the engine so your oil pick up screen won't clog.
Follow that up with a 75/25 kerosene flush w/ new ST filter at idle you are not putting a load on the engine. Wait 3 hours for engine to cool, do another fifteen minutes.
Repeat process (Kero is cheap and the AAP oil vat is large)
Check oil pan and inspect and clean oil screen.
One other thing I might add, to add a movement component to the fill to the gills kero soak, You could get a cheap aquarium air pump with a long hose and stick it down the dipstick. The bubles will help move the solvent so that it disolves and loosens the sludge.
I know, Brian, especially if chemtool was as cheap as Kero... lol
But seriously I suggest it because it has been suggested in the past And really is it any safer really to run the car all over creation with sludge chunks floating around in the engine?
This way here the small chunks can be liquified w/o running the car.
Doing the flush at idle you can monitor oil pressure from the safety of you garage.
Okay, I took some photos of after I kero-scraped under the valve covers and oil pan. I would have had it back together today, but my cheap new harbor freight torque wrench busted a bolt. So I got out the easy-out and broke it off in there. Aaargh! I spent half a day getting the thing out of there.
Here are the pics. The next step will be to finish putting on the intake manifold, putting in new oil and filter, running it for about an hour, draining and changing oil and filter, running 100 miles, drain-change oil and filter and remove pan to inspect screen, then auto-rx * 3.
I cleaned out tons of crusty sludge out of the pan area:
Remember how much crud was in here?
All cleaned up, oiled, and ready for the valve cover:
Here are the pics. The next step will be to finish putting on the intake manifold, putting in new oil and filter, running it for about an hour, draining and changing oil and filter, running 100 miles, drain-change oil and filter and remove pan to inspect screen, then auto-rx * 3.
I cleaned out tons of crusty sludge out of the pan area:
Remember how much crud was in here?
All cleaned up, oiled, and ready for the valve cover:
Camu: What is a UOA?
Universal Oil Analysis
Blackstone is one of many, but typically most "popular" on this board.
Blackstone is one of many, but typically most "popular" on this board.
- Status
Similar threads
