1996 Toyota Avalon 1MZ-FE V6 Engine Sludge Dilemna

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Originally Posted By: rodinator1234
I have been following this since you started, it's really a great thread. Has the Auto-Rx done anything to reduce the oil consumption from 1/2 qt. every 3k? Sounds like you get credit for the majority of the cleaning and not the auto-rx and with the oil not changing color much begs the question if it would have done the same thing on just fresh clean oil with the same change interval. There is no doubt the engine was as slugged up as any running engine I have ever seen. I think the kerosene flush will amaze you with how much stuff you get out of the engine.


The main reason I was burning oil before was because the breather ports in the valve covers were completely clogged with sludge. Manually cleaning them lead to using dramatically less oil, and I no longer experienced giant smoke clouds on startup. The follow-up treatments with auto-rx do not appear to have lead to a further improvement in oil consumption.

However, I am very happy with the 0.5 quart/3k miles that resulted form the good old fashioned elbow grease. At this point, I could probably skip any more cleaning, run the car to 300k miles, and then junk the car. But I'm interested in seeing if I can further de-sludge the engine using an OTC product.

This is a case of particularly tough sludge, and whatever product cuts through it without harming the engine gets the blue ribbon. I suspect the amsoil product is no better than 50 cents worth of kerosene:

https://www.amsoil.com/storefront/aef.aspx

What do you guys recommend as the next safest cleaner next to auto-rx but with stronger cleaning ability?
 
I would keep on using Auto-Rx as as maint dose and assume it will help to some extent regardless of the color of the oil.

A solvent flush is really designed to remove the gooey sludge, is there any of that left?

At 178K you have gotten your moneys worth out of the vehicle and the rest is challenge and experimentation.

Its not a new BMW with 50K on it and you need to consider your maint. with that in mind. Thus cost effective maint.

I would say the most cost effective way to continue is to run Mobil 1 and ST filter from Walmart and a maint does of Auto Rx. Change at 7500.

In reality if you get another 100K miles at a low cost and it never gets the valve area super clean do you really care?

You may want to make sure you also focus on the tranny and are taking good care of it and not just a sludged engine.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
I would say the most cost effective way to continue is to run Mobil 1 and ST filter from Walmart and a maint does of Auto Rx. Change at 7500.

In reality if you get another 100K miles at a low cost and it never gets the valve area super clean do you really care?


At this point, I don't care so much about the valve area, because I fixed that by manually cleaning the area with kerosene and a scrub brush. I ran perhaps 5 straight oil flushes through it right after scrubbing it, so it was very clean prior to even starting the auto-rx. That's why my main focus with the auto-rx has been to see if it will remove the black gunky sludge remaining under the main oil pan area that I never took off to clean.

I guess my only care concerning my current use of auto-rx would be the 60 bucks I spent on it. But seriously, the manufacturer offers a full refund, so even in the worst case scenario, I'm not out anything.

I've recently found this $3 product that is really peaking my curiosity. I'm surprised it hasn't been discussed here before because everyone keeps recommending using a product without kerosene and other harsh chemicals. It's made by Gold Eagle, and at $3 a bottle, it's worth a shot. I'm not expecting a whole lot from it, but you never know. Here is what the manufacturer states about it:

"Gold Eagle says its new technology Oil System Flush safely removes harmful engine deposits, including sludge, varnish and gum, that can decrease performance and wear down an engine. Oil System Flush dissolves these deposits and helps free sticky valves and rings. Its special oil-based formula contains no oil-thinning kerosene. Should the drain plug be unremovable, Oil System Flush can remain in the engine without causing damage or leaks."

Oops, sorry. I edited the post to fix the quote.
 
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Harbor Freight has orange composite scrapers for about $10 for 5 of them. In fact a few years ago I paid $10 just for one of the ten thru JC Whitney.

Use those not razors on the metal. Your engine will thank you.....................


By the way great documentation! I am doing an Auto-RX on a 3.8 Dodge engine.

Just be patient with the Auto-RX.............
 
Jonness, you are impressively determined. I wouldn't be concerned over a 1/2 qt. consumption over 3k either. But I like you would like to run the car until the body falls apart. I hope you get the money back for the Auto-Rx. If they don't refund you with all the pictures and documentation they wouldn't refund anyone. I can’t wait to see the new oil pan pictures. Have you cut any more filters apart? The first ones you did were incredible.
 
Originally Posted By: rodinator1234
Jonness, you are impressively determined. I wouldn't be concerned over a 1/2 qt. consumption over 3k either. But I like you would like to run the car until the body falls apart. I hope you get the money back for the Auto-Rx. If they don't refund you with all the pictures and documentation they wouldn't refund anyone. I can’t wait to see the new oil pan pictures. Have you cut any more filters apart? The first ones you did were incredible.


It's been pretty cold out, so I've not had much motivation to do mechanical things. Thus, I haven't cut any filters lately. That's also why I've decided not to take pictures of the pan area until the last rinse phase of auto-rx completes. Since you mentioned it, I'll cut the final filter apart and post photos along with the pan area photos.
 
Excellent thread. I read some things earlier where people were all thumbs up about Auto-RX, but I'm always skeptical about that sort of thing. Your documentation has been very insightful. I do hope for your sake that it turns out better than I think it will however!

By the way, what flavor of musician are you?
 
Originally Posted By: Seijirou
By the way, what flavor of musician are you?


I'm not much of a musician at the moment. Once upon a time I was a mix of alternative, rock, jazz, punk, heavy metal, fusion, blues, bluegrass, folk, classical, and just plain weird. Well, now that I think about it, maybe I was just plain weird.

I'm slowly finding my way back to being a musician again. I doubt I will ever be fully submersed in the lifestyle though. I never did like the lifestyle. I was more attracted to the experimental aspects of original music. It provided me a sanctuary where I could think my own thoughts without fear of persecution. True freedom of thought and speech is not always easy to find in this world and is something sorely missing from my current situation. :)
 
Jonness,

What's the story now? It's June, what result of your 2nd RX?

I have a Hyundai Sonata 2003 V6 with a heavy sludge problem, the dealer suggested me to have a BG flush, cost 175, I really don't know if I should listen to them or do my own RX, BG website seemed claim the same no harm solution with a flushing machine ( I don't know if the dealer use that machine or just bottle flush, they mentioned " two-step flush", though)

Anyone have any idea?
 
Would love to hear a further update on this situation. The documention here is impressive for an on-line forum!
 
I must say I'm itching for an update as well as we're into August now. This really has got to be the best thread on the whole site. Thanks Jonness.
 
Hello All,
I have been reading for a short while, but have just joined. I have the same 1mz-fe engine but this question is more general forum or at least post specific to this thread, 95% of the posted pics are not loading, they just have placeholders there, Ive tried multiple browsers, Logging and out. Im not sure what to do, is there a setting for displaying pics. Please help as these pics will be a great help in helping me with this same sludge issue without having to repost all the questions. Thanks in advance to everyones prompt response to my inquiry.
 
This is a 3 year old thread,the pictures were probably deleted from the hosting site at some point.
Search for other engines with sludge issues,there are plenty.
 
Trav is right, this is pretty typical of older threads with pictures, you often can't see them anymore. It all depends on whether or not the pics are still on the hosting site like Photo Bucket.

Welcome to the forum, Solara
smile.gif
Do you have a sludge issue with your engine? Just do a search in the box at the top of the page and you'll find many sludge threads to get info from.
 
hate2work,
Hey and thanks for the quick response. Thank you trav as well. A quick and warm welcome to the site is nice. I dont think the engine is terribly slugded, but im in the midst of trying to decide which synthetic to go to and if i should use a group III or a group IV true synthetic, one thing im not sure of is i know that the true synthetics are much better for lube and therefore preventing sludge/gunk buildup, but do they have as many or as effecient detergents/additive packages as a group III "synthetic" like Penzoil Ultra. Ive heard that the group three has superior cleaning while group IV is superior at prevention. Anyway, I want to remove the valve cover and take a look, but being new with fooling with engines i was hoping someone could point me somewhere to where i can find a step by step how to. I know it sounds stupid for something that should be easy, but i want to make sure i only remove the right bolts and such as i cant look at an engine and identify every single part like many on here. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks again
Keating 99 solara SLE V6 (1MZ-FE) Sludge Issues- Trying to determine the degree of that...
 
Welcome to the forum and there are many 1MZ-FE current sludge threads for you to choose from. Check out the Oil Additive section. Synthetic is good for your application, GroupIII/IV too close to pick, DO keep the PCV system clean and unobstructed. Enjoy...
 
Welcome to the forum.
I have a 2003 Toyota Sienna with the 1MZFE motor.
Here is a link to a folder of pictures that I have posted that shows much of what I have done with my vehicle.

http://rides.webshots.com/album/576572371kcnZsT?navtype=search

It should be very close to your motor for the jobs you try.

Removing the rear valve cover is a bit of a job.
I got away with not completely removing the throttle body from the vehicle......leaving the accellerator linkage connected.

I bought my valve cover gaskets through Rockauto, got the felpro and installed them without using any RTV sealant, as Felpro recommends.
Toyota factory used a small amount of RTV at the corners and a very slight amount on the humps at the ends.

For the rear valve cover gasket, you have to be very careful to avoid rolling/pulling it out of position when manouvering that rear valve cover into position.....a bit of a job with the wire harness right in the way.

Spark plugs, I would use ONLY the NKG or DENSO number that is listed as OEM for your vehicle and year (they used different numbers between different years in the 1MZFE motor).
The plug number should be listed in your owner's manual and/or on a sticker under the hood.

I had a dealership change the timing belt as it is more involved then I want to tackle.
Interval for the timing belt for my 2003 is 90K miles.

I am using Redline 5W-30 oil and a longer filter, as shown in my pictures.
There are many good oil choices out there.
I buy the Redline by the case to bring the price down slightly, some places offer free shipping on orders over $100, which a case of Redline will be.

I use Redline D4 ATF for the tranny and power steering.

For coolant, I use the TOYOTA RED that I got from the local dealership.
This is what my 2003 came with (not Toyota pink).

It is super critical to keep the PCV valve from getting clogged with junk, as this WILL cause sludge.

If the valve covers are sludged up between the baffel at the top and the valve cover, the solution is to REPLACE them.
This is because the baffel is spot welded into the valve cover.

For most parts, I get OEM.
When bought online, they are often very competitive in price.
One site that I recommend for research on parts is toyotapartszone.
They have, by FAR, the most complete parts diagrams and identification that I have ever seen outside of a dealerhip.
I have had very good experience in buying from them also.
 
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