I'd use some Amsoil Power Foam, that stuff is amazing for removing carbon deposits.
1997 Camry 5SFE with valve cover off
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You need to rebuild the engine. Years of neglect has finally caught up with the final owner.
Originally Posted By: Hethaerto
You need to rebuild the engine. Years of neglect has finally caught up with the final owner.
Say what? If the engine has good compression, good oil pressure and isn't burning oil there is no reason to rebuild it. Varnish and carbon may not look pretty, but there isn't enough obvious in those photos to suggest the need for a rebuild soon.
You need to rebuild the engine. Years of neglect has finally caught up with the final owner.
Say what? If the engine has good compression, good oil pressure and isn't burning oil there is no reason to rebuild it. Varnish and carbon may not look pretty, but there isn't enough obvious in those photos to suggest the need for a rebuild soon.
Originally Posted By: Hethaerto
You need to rebuild the engine. Years of neglect has finally caught up with the final owner.
Ok.. no smiley. No J/K...
So whats the deal? You can not be serious?
The final owner will get EASILY 150k more miles with ANY oil.
Please tell me you ARE kidding.
You need to rebuild the engine. Years of neglect has finally caught up with the final owner.
Ok.. no smiley. No J/K...
So whats the deal? You can not be serious?
The final owner will get EASILY 150k more miles with ANY oil.
Please tell me you ARE kidding.
Would this be a good oppourtunity to test various cleaners here if owner decided on a manual cleaning. On those 4 spark plug tubes, say take a q-tip and soak in seafom and apply to 1, MMO to another, regular kerosene to one, and lc20 or rislone to the last and compare how they remove this stuff without any scrubbing.
Originally Posted By: Hethaerto
You need to rebuild the engine. Years of neglect has finally caught up with the final owner.
Who really knows if there was any neglect. This is one of the sludge prone engines. My buddy has the same engine and is mad crazy when it comes to oil changes...three years ago he changed the valve cover gasket and had alot of varnish. The was no carbon build up.
You need to rebuild the engine. Years of neglect has finally caught up with the final owner.
Who really knows if there was any neglect. This is one of the sludge prone engines. My buddy has the same engine and is mad crazy when it comes to oil changes...three years ago he changed the valve cover gasket and had alot of varnish. The was no carbon build up.
Originally Posted By: panthermike
Originally Posted By: sparkplug
a can of seafoam would work just as good to get that varnish off.
Has it worked for you? I had no luck, just asking not trying to say it doesn't work.
And +1 on pics after you are done with ARX.
I've got excellent results with it. I used it in my old LT1 that had 193k miles on it. The motor was spotless, almost like new. Then again I ran it for 4-500 miles.
Originally Posted By: sparkplug
a can of seafoam would work just as good to get that varnish off.
Has it worked for you? I had no luck, just asking not trying to say it doesn't work.
And +1 on pics after you are done with ARX.
I've got excellent results with it. I used it in my old LT1 that had 193k miles on it. The motor was spotless, almost like new. Then again I ran it for 4-500 miles.
A little sludge on the spark plug tubes but mostly varnish as mentioned earlier. The critical parts are not sludged in the sense that people worry about.
Since you bought the Auto-RX do run it.
I bet running Mobil 1 in it for reasonable oil changes would clean that up and keep it clean.
Since you bought the Auto-RX do run it.
I bet running Mobil 1 in it for reasonable oil changes would clean that up and keep it clean.
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Might want to post "after" pictures if you do run the two A-Rx procedures. Maybe another set of pix in a year or two of steady syn use as well.
Pablo makes an interesting point about those tubes. The clarity of the photos will answer a lot of questions.
Pablo makes an interesting point about those tubes. The clarity of the photos will answer a lot of questions.
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Originally Posted By: ZZman
I bet running Mobil 1 in it for reasonable oil changes would clean that up and keep it clean.
It could very well do that, but one must ask, why use an expensive oil over reasonable oil changes when one should be able to run a reasonably priced oil over reasonable oil changes and get reasonable results?
That is, if you're trying to save him money by not using some cleaning agent, then telling him to spend even more over the long haul using a premium synthetic over short(er) OCI's to keep it clean, it's kinda counter productive.
I don't necessarily disagree with you.
I bet running Mobil 1 in it for reasonable oil changes would clean that up and keep it clean.
It could very well do that, but one must ask, why use an expensive oil over reasonable oil changes when one should be able to run a reasonably priced oil over reasonable oil changes and get reasonable results?
That is, if you're trying to save him money by not using some cleaning agent, then telling him to spend even more over the long haul using a premium synthetic over short(er) OCI's to keep it clean, it's kinda counter productive.
I don't necessarily disagree with you.
Originally Posted By: Jim 5
My vote is for running the ARX and then posting after pictures here!
And pictures after the 2nd, 3rd, ....
My vote is for running the ARX and then posting after pictures here!
And pictures after the 2nd, 3rd, ....
Wow. Thats NOT sludge?!?! This site is fabulous!
Thanks for the continuing education, BITOG-ers.
(No snarkiness implied)
-A
Thanks for the continuing education, BITOG-ers.
(No snarkiness implied)
-A
Thank you all for your comments.
Well I will be using Auto-RX for the first time and see what happens. I have been reading about Auto-RX for over a year now and finally bought this product simply because I heard so many good things about it.
I'll follow the basic application and use Pennzoil YB 5w-30 for both cycles.
I will take pics and post them here along with any updates too.
Take care all and thanks.
Well I will be using Auto-RX for the first time and see what happens. I have been reading about Auto-RX for over a year now and finally bought this product simply because I heard so many good things about it.
I'll follow the basic application and use Pennzoil YB 5w-30 for both cycles.
I will take pics and post them here along with any updates too.
Take care all and thanks.
I was thinking the stuff on the cam lobes was just oil. It's a discoloration but it just looks like a thin coat of lube.
The thing I would caution about valve cover pics: they alone are no way to tell what your engine's condition is. The top of my SAAB's engine looked VERY similar to yours, if not cleaner.
yet the bottom looked like this:
Not saying that's a definite but just an FYI
I agree with Bill, this engine could go many more miles assuming it is taken care of. I would not expect miracles from arx or anything else. It's hard to just undo stuff like this. If you want it gone now, then, as JAG said, by all means, clean the thing manually as best you can with a brush and some solvent of some sort.
Re the comparo, from my own experience doing the straight, cold cleaning Chemtool would clean very well. Seafoam a close second, MMO/diesel/kero a distant third. LC20 and ARX don't clean on contact and instantly remove deposits. Really, I think MMO probably even benefits from heat and time as well.
The thing I would caution about valve cover pics: they alone are no way to tell what your engine's condition is. The top of my SAAB's engine looked VERY similar to yours, if not cleaner.
yet the bottom looked like this:
Not saying that's a definite but just an FYI
I agree with Bill, this engine could go many more miles assuming it is taken care of. I would not expect miracles from arx or anything else. It's hard to just undo stuff like this. If you want it gone now, then, as JAG said, by all means, clean the thing manually as best you can with a brush and some solvent of some sort.
Re the comparo, from my own experience doing the straight, cold cleaning Chemtool would clean very well. Seafoam a close second, MMO/diesel/kero a distant third. LC20 and ARX don't clean on contact and instantly remove deposits. Really, I think MMO probably even benefits from heat and time as well.
Given this engine is one of Toyota's "sludger" engines, it looks pretty good. I agree though that the bottom end might not look so pretty. I think a round of ARX wouldn't be out of the question. Regardless, you still have some good miles left in it.
It's not terrible considering the miles on it. A lot of varnish, more cosmetic than anything else. It has some sludge as well. A great before after candidate for A-Rx, that is if you feel like pulling apart again. If I had the pan off the engine I would hand clean as much of the junk out as possible and then treat it with A-Rx, you already have it.
I'd put B-12 in a spray bottle and spray it down, let it soak, rinse and repeat.
Sludge is thick, flexible, almost like oily firm mud.
Varnish is, as the name implies, thin, brown, hard.
Carbon is baked-on hard black stuff.
That engine looks good for the mileage. The Auto-Rx will clean the ring grooves, as said above, as well as cleaning away any sludge, carbon, and most of the varnish. Don't expect it to clean the color out of the pores in aluminum castings, and that doesn't matter anyway. Do follow the directions exactly. I've liked the results on the Auto-Rx cleanings of high mileage engines I've done. A-Rx reduced the oil consumption in my turbo Volvo to 25% of what it had been, as well as making the engine smoother and peppier.
Varnish is, as the name implies, thin, brown, hard.
Carbon is baked-on hard black stuff.
That engine looks good for the mileage. The Auto-Rx will clean the ring grooves, as said above, as well as cleaning away any sludge, carbon, and most of the varnish. Don't expect it to clean the color out of the pores in aluminum castings, and that doesn't matter anyway. Do follow the directions exactly. I've liked the results on the Auto-Rx cleanings of high mileage engines I've done. A-Rx reduced the oil consumption in my turbo Volvo to 25% of what it had been, as well as making the engine smoother and peppier.
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