Hi everyone,
I was recently given a 2001 Toyota Avalon with 99,100 miles. I don't know that much about the maintenance history on the car, other than it was "dealer" serviced. The Toyota 1MZ-FE is a known sludge engine, and as such truly requires a 3,000 mile OCI. I don't know if this car had 3,000 OCI's, but I do know that it was left outside and not driven for the better part of three to four years. At this point the car seems to run well with a good amount of power, but I don't know if there are any sludge issues.
I am looking to do some "cleaning" oil changes on the car to "baseline" the engine and hopefully clean it up a bit.
I know the oil was changed in October of 2020 by Pep Boys and they used an unknown oil and a cheap Purolator filter. I changed the oil on Saturday and the oil in the car came oil very black, with a few hundred miles on it.
When I changed the oil on Saturday, I used a Fram Ultra oil filter and Kirkland 5w30 oil. I don't how long I will keep that oil/filter in the car, but I will probably change it much sooner than 3,000 miles.
Does anyone have a recommendation for an oil that has very good cleaning/detergent properties? How would you rate the Kirkland oil in terms of it's cleaning prowess? What do you think of my filter choice? Should I stick with the Ultra or go with an OEM Toyota oil filter? Would a good "high" speed/RPM run down the highway help expedite the cleaning process?
Thank you in advance!