Amsoil AZO 0w30 - 10,488 miles - 06 Scion tC

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: REDDOG
Originally Posted By: Artem
Originally Posted By: Shark
Originally Posted By: Artem


I'm guessing the poor Camry engine simply can't handle bouncing off the redline as well as my Si could.



Bouncing off the redline all the time? You really are a true Si driver.


The short gearing and low Rev limit in the tC is hard to get used too after coming from the Si with such a high rev limit.

Where the Vtec would JUST be engaging in the Si @ 5,800 rpm (and the fun STARTS) this engine is already at redline, outta breath and the fun is OVER. I almost want to get an engine management system and raise the rev limit to like 7,000 rpm but I doubt the engine will handle that for too long, plus it doesn't make any power past 6k anyway due to its design.

Boost is another option but I need to retain the gas mileage so its not a good idea. I suffer with it as is.

Hoping my next high revving Honda is either an S2000 or an older NSX

Artem,

An S2000 would make you an awesome car!


Agreed

 

[Artem]

I had an 05 AP2 but sold it in order to get the Si because i needed more then two seats at the time.
Now that i'm married and have the wife's tC with PLENTY of room when needed, a small two seater makes sense again. We'll see... I'm still thinking / deciding what to get next.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Artem
I had an 05 AP2 but sold it in order to get the Si because i needed more then two seats at the time.
Now that i'm married and have the wife's tC with PLENTY of room when needed, a small two seater makes sense again. We'll see... I'm still thinking / deciding what to get next.

E46 M3?

 

[Brons2]

The 2.4 of that vintage is known to consume some oil. I didn't realize this until my girlfriend came standard with a 2010 Rav4 and I started reading the Rav4 forums. Lot of 2006-2008 owners complaining about oil consumption. (although that consumption is not really that high by most people's standards, but whatever).

Not sure what the difference bewteen the Scion tC 2.4 and the Rav4 2.4 is, but I'd imagine it's the same engine.

 

[Gokhan]

It sounds like that engine is designed for a thicker oil than it calls for in its specs then.

 

[Artem]

Originally Posted By: Brons2
The 2.4 of that vintage is known to consume some oil. I didn't realize this until my girlfriend came standard with a 2010 Rav4 and I started reading the Rav4 forums. Lot of 2006-2008 owners complaining about oil consumption. (although that consumption is not really that high by most people's standards, but whatever).

Not sure what the difference bewteen the Scion tC 2.4 and the Rav4 2.4 is, but I'd imagine it's the same engine.


Since 04-05 the Rav4 has had the 2AZ-FE engine as an option. It's possible that its the same engine.

 

[Artem]

Originally Posted By: Gokhan
It sounds like that engine is designed for a thicker oil than it calls for in its specs then.


Possibly... I'm going to try something different / thicker once the current fill of some more AZO is used up in 10k miles.

So far i'm 500 miles into the OCI and the oil level hasn't moved below the top dot on the dipstick. I've been driving it more civilized lately as i'm trying to experiment with squeezing out max MPGs outta it at the moment. I'll return to my good ol' redlining self soon. We'll see how she holds up...

 

[wolfc70]

Originally Posted By: Artem
Originally Posted By: Brons2
The 2.4 of that vintage is known to consume some oil. I didn't realize this until my girlfriend came standard with a 2010 Rav4 and I started reading the Rav4 forums. Lot of 2006-2008 owners complaining about oil consumption. (although that consumption is not really that high by most people's standards, but whatever).

Not sure what the difference bewteen the Scion tC 2.4 and the Rav4 2.4 is, but I'd imagine it's the same engine.


Since 04-05 the Rav4 has had the 2AZ-FE engine as an option. It's possible that its the same engine.


All of the 2az engines are similar, just different points for mounting accessories.

The 2az motors do not like hard use, and oil consumption and stripped head bolts are more common than Toyota would like to admit. I personally know of four people that had the stripped head bolts in 2az applications ('04 and '05 Camry, '06 RAV4 and a '06 Scion TC). All happened around 110,000 miles. The head bolt issue actually has nothing to do with the bolts themselves, but the actual threads in the block(similar to the same issue in GM's Northstar engines) The 05 Camry was an oil burner from day 1 at about 1QT/3000 miles. The others did not start burning oil until 70,000 to 80,000 miles.

I'm not saying had driving is going to kill the motor. For every 2az that has an issue, there are probably three or more with 200K on them and nary a problem. But I would not expect it to hold up to hard use like a Honda K-Series...

 

[Artem]

Originally Posted By: wolfc70
Originally Posted By: Artem
Originally Posted By: Brons2
The 2.4 of that vintage is known to consume some oil. I didn't realize this until my girlfriend came standard with a 2010 Rav4 and I started reading the Rav4 forums. Lot of 2006-2008 owners complaining about oil consumption. (although that consumption is not really that high by most people's standards, but whatever).

Not sure what the difference bewteen the Scion tC 2.4 and the Rav4 2.4 is, but I'd imagine it's the same engine.


Since 04-05 the Rav4 has had the 2AZ-FE engine as an option. It's possible that its the same engine.


All of the 2az engines are similar, just different points for mounting accessories.

The 2az motors do not like hard use, and oil consumption and stripped head bolts are more common than Toyota would like to admit. I personally know of four people that had the stripped head bolts in 2az applications ('04 and '05 Camry, '06 RAV4 and a '06 Scion TC). All happened around 110,000 miles. The head bolt issue actually has nothing to do with the bolts themselves, but the actual threads in the block(similar to the same issue in GM's Northstar engines) The 05 Camry was an oil burner from day 1 at about 1QT/3000 miles. The others did not start burning oil until 70,000 to 80,000 miles.

I'm not saying had driving is going to kill the motor. For every 2az that has an issue, there are probably three or more with 200K on them and nary a problem. But I would not expect it to hold up to hard use like a Honda K-Series...


Didn't know about the Head bolts issue.

Nothing really compared to the Honda K-Series engine, its been out for over 10 years now and still amazes.

So far so good with my tC. It's had a HARD 84k. The wife learned to drive stick on it and so did her younger brother.

 

[ltslimjim]

Originally Posted By: Artem
Originally Posted By: wolfc70
Originally Posted By: Artem
Originally Posted By: Brons2
The 2.4 of that vintage is known to consume some oil. I didn't realize this until my girlfriend came standard with a 2010 Rav4 and I started reading the Rav4 forums. Lot of 2006-2008 owners complaining about oil consumption. (although that consumption is not really that high by most people's standards, but whatever).

Not sure what the difference bewteen the Scion tC 2.4 and the Rav4 2.4 is, but I'd imagine it's the same engine.


Since 04-05 the Rav4 has had the 2AZ-FE engine as an option. It's possible that its the same engine.


All of the 2az engines are similar, just different points for mounting accessories.

The 2az motors do not like hard use, and oil consumption and stripped head bolts are more common than Toyota would like to admit. I personally know of four people that had the stripped head bolts in 2az applications ('04 and '05 Camry, '06 RAV4 and a '06 Scion TC). All happened around 110,000 miles. The head bolt issue actually has nothing to do with the bolts themselves, but the actual threads in the block(similar to the same issue in GM's Northstar engines) The 05 Camry was an oil burner from day 1 at about 1QT/3000 miles. The others did not start burning oil until 70,000 to 80,000 miles.

I'm not saying had driving is going to kill the motor. For every 2az that has an issue, there are probably three or more with 200K on them and nary a problem. But I would not expect it to hold up to hard use like a Honda K-Series...


Didn't know about the Head bolts issue.

Nothing really compared to the Honda K-Series engine, its been out for over 10 years now and still amazes.

So far so good with my tC. It's had a HARD 84k. The wife learned to drive stick on it and so did her younger brother.


Impressive clutch too then. haha

 

[wolfc70]

The stripped threads in the block is really a hit and miss issue. While there are reports in various forums that make it sound like head gasket failure, it is the three middle head bolts along the intake side. It seems Toyota did not thread the entire bolt hole, so the guess is that there is not enough thread contact in those holes. People that have the issue say that those middle bolts are loose when they pull the cam cover. Toyota will replace the block if under warranty, but very few of these have failed under warranty.

Most people seem to do a time-sert type of repair, and it seems to be successful. Again, I'm not trying to be alarmist, this is a known issue, but not a prevalent one. If you get slow coolant loss, this might be the start of the problem. Get under the car, and look at the bottom of the intake manifold against the block. There will be some foam insulation around the manifold. If that insulation is wet, or there is discoloration on the block, you have the problem. Toyota said that they changed something in 2006, no one knows what exactly, but the problem does die off (mostly) at the latter part of 2006 MY vehicles. And this affects only US built 2az engines, not the Japanese ones. It was something with the tooling at the US plant.

 

[Artem]

Originally Posted By: ltslimjim
Originally Posted By: Artem


Didn't know about the Head bolts issue.

Nothing really compared to the Honda K-Series engine, its been out for over 10 years now and still amazes.

So far so good with my tC. It's had a HARD 84k. The wife learned to drive stick on it and so did her younger brother.


Impressive clutch too then. haha


I'm personally VERY amazed that it's still going strong. When i'd drive it while we were dating (coming from my Si which was PERFECT!) i swear, it felt like it's going out @ around 30k miles!

She wasn't down shifting properly (Rev-matching) and would just dump the clutch. During normal driving that might be ok but she drives aggressively and its not a pretty sound / feeling.

I quickly taught her the techniques as soon as she was MINE! i couldn't have her burning the clutch on my poor Si

Now that i don't have any other manual transmission to compare it, the tC feels pretty good actually.

I'm just waiting for it to die (the clutch) so i can replace it and throw in a bigger 5th gear while i'm at it, for improved highway fuel economy. Right now the 2.4L is bouncing around @ 3,500 rpm on the highway and that's just WAY too high of an engine speed, IMO.

I know that with it purring along @ 3k or even slightly less, will result in me being able to easily average 30mpg+ with ease (instead of the 26-27 it puts out now while doing 80mph with cruise control on (according to my calculations and the scan gauge II that's been mounted on the dash for the last 4-5 months))

The 5th gear syncro's are going out, so i'm going to be tearing into the tranny anyway because shifting into 5th right now results in a small grind each and every time that is felt very well through the short shifter. It won't hold on much longer...

 

[Artem]

Originally Posted By: wolfc70
The stripped threads in the block is really a hit and miss issue. While there are reports in various forums that make it sound like head gasket failure, it is the three middle head bolts along the intake side. It seems Toyota did not thread the entire bolt hole, so the guess is that there is not enough thread contact in those holes. People that have the issue say that those middle bolts are loose when they pull the cam cover. Toyota will replace the block if under warranty, but very few of these have failed under warranty.

Most people seem to do a time-sert type of repair, and it seems to be successful. Again, I'm not trying to be alarmist, this is a known issue, but not a prevalent one. If you get slow coolant loss, this might be the start of the problem. Get under the car, and look at the bottom of the intake manifold against the block. There will be some foam insulation around the manifold. If that insulation is wet, or there is discoloration on the block, you have the problem. Toyota said that they changed something in 2006, no one knows what exactly, but the problem does die off (mostly) at the latter part of 2006 MY vehicles. And this affects only US built 2az engines, not the Japanese ones. It was something with the tooling at the US plant.


I sure hope mine is fine and dandy. Coolant level is dead on perfect.

Besides, i've sure my UOA would show signs of coolant IF all heck decides to break loose inside the block... right? Or is it more of an external leak?

 

[wolfc70]

Originally Posted By: Artem
Originally Posted By: wolfc70
The stripped threads in the block is really a hit and miss issue. While there are reports in various forums that make it sound like head gasket failure, it is the three middle head bolts along the intake side. It seems Toyota did not thread the entire bolt hole, so the guess is that there is not enough thread contact in those holes. People that have the issue say that those middle bolts are loose when they pull the cam cover. Toyota will replace the block if under warranty, but very few of these have failed under warranty.

Most people seem to do a time-sert type of repair, and it seems to be successful. Again, I'm not trying to be alarmist, this is a known issue, but not a prevalent one. If you get slow coolant loss, this might be the start of the problem. Get under the car, and look at the bottom of the intake manifold against the block. There will be some foam insulation around the manifold. If that insulation is wet, or there is discoloration on the block, you have the problem. Toyota said that they changed something in 2006, no one knows what exactly, but the problem does die off (mostly) at the latter part of 2006 MY vehicles. And this affects only US built 2az engines, not the Japanese ones. It was something with the tooling at the US plant.


I sure hope mine is fine and dandy. Coolant level is dead on perfect.

Besides, i've sure my UOA would show signs of coolant IF all heck decides to break loose inside the block... right? Or is it more of an external leak?


It is usually an external leak. Usually you get a faint coolant smell you can't track down and (at first) a slow loss of coolant. You usually don't get any coolant drips as it evaporates down the block.

I would not worry about this issue, just something to keep an eye on of you notice coolant loss.