An engine's PCMO history (valve pics)

[lukejo]

1995 Camry 4 cyl 5sfe. 205,000 miles.
First 100,000 miles were nearly all short trip with Pennzoil Conventional 10w30.
100,000-160,000 mainly short trip with Mobil 1 High Mileage 10w30.
Then-I'm second owner. For 160k-205k, nearly all highway miles, Mobil 1 High Mileage 5w30, then Valvoline Full Synthetic with Maxlife for the last 25k of it.

 

[Lethal1ty17]

There are not any pictures...

 

[lukejo]

Yep, not working from my iPhone. Choosing file, showing in preview, but it's not submitting.

 

[lukejo]

 

[jhellwig]

Yuck. I am not familiar with overhead cam engines but it looks like some of the cam followers are not returning as they should.

 

[Nick1994]

Why are some of the lobes covered in varnish?

Here's my 5SFE if you want to look for reference:

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3830022/Under_Valve_Cover_Pics_-_2000_

 

[gregk24]

Some of those lobes are totally covered in varnish. Maybe the synthetic will clean them up, time will tell.

 

[lukejo]

Maybe from the first 100k short tripping with mid-90's Pennzoil conventional at 4K OCI? Don't know, but care only got better after that (longer trips & syn oil). It runs like new, and does not burn oil.

 

[THafeez]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Stay with the current diet you got it on. The car will fall apart before that engine does. Engine isn't pristine, but it doesn't look like much carbon buildup. Good synthetics will clean up all the varnish at most, and at the least will prevent any sludge buildup. Thanks for the pics

 

[barkingspider]

I agree w feez, although it doesn't look super clean, it runs smooth and doesn't eat oil. Keep on keeping on and it'll run forever

 

[ram_man]

It doesn't look bad for the miles I've seen way worse in the shop. It's not spotless but it won't effect how it functions

 

[mehullica]

Valve clearance is way out, the exhaust on #3 looks like it's way more than .014".

 

[Linctex]

It's not so bad - Varnish isn't as harmful as sludge


Originally Posted By: mehullica
Valve clearance is way out, the exhaust on #3 looks like it's way more than .014".


Agreed - there should NEVER be that much cam lobe that the follower "isn't touching".

If you plan on keeping the car at LEAST 5 more years, use a soft cloth and some B-12 Chemtool to clean the varnish off of the lobes, and set the valve lash to spec.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: lukejo
1995 Camry 4 cyl 5sfe. 205,000 miles.
First 100,000 miles were nearly all short trip with Pennzoil Conventional 10w30.
100,000-160,000 mainly short trip with Mobil 1 High Mileage 10w30.
Then-I'm second owner. For 160k-205k, nearly all highway miles, Mobil 1 High Mileage 5w30, then Valvoline Full Synthetic with Maxlife for the last 25k of it.


While it isn't terrible it does show that good synthetic oils by themselves didn't clean it up much in your case.

I'd run a short OCI or two with a dose of Kreen if it were mine.

 

[askani79705]

Originally Posted By: barkingspider
I agree w feez, although it doesn't look super clean, it runs smooth and doesn't eat oil. Keep on keeping on and it'll run forever

Ditto, I wouldn't change a thing.

 

[FCD]

It doesn't look too good, but also not too bad, i wouldn't worry.

 

[Panzerman]

205,000 miles. That's alot of heat and alot of oil. I wouldn't be alarmed by varnish.
What were the oil change intervals? 4K for the Pennzoil conventional but what about the synthetics?

 

[FlyNavyP3]

Wow, tough crowd here. This is a 200,000 mile engine that would've been run on SJ oil for the first appreciable amount of its life. If this was my engine I wouldn't fret any at all, varnish on a cam lobe on an engine with a solid cam over buckets design, who cares it's not hurting anything. Adjusting the valve lash is also a huge pain in these without a shim selection and special tools unless the OP wants to pull the camshafts.

Finally I absolutely wouldn't do any crazy flushes or addative for this car it just plain doesn't need it and will live a long life on the synthetic diet you're feeding it. When it needs a head gasket replaced just bring it in to a machine shop for a valve job, resurface and cleaning that will take care of the lash issue and the varnish all at the same time, until then soldier on!

 

[volk06]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: lukejo
1995 Camry 4 cyl 5sfe. 205,000 miles.
First 100,000 miles were nearly all short trip with Pennzoil Conventional 10w30.
100,000-160,000 mainly short trip with Mobil 1 High Mileage 10w30.
Then-I'm second owner. For 160k-205k, nearly all highway miles, Mobil 1 High Mileage 5w30, then Valvoline Full Synthetic with Maxlife for the last 25k of it.


While it isn't terrible it does show that good synthetic oils by themselves didn't clean it up much in your case.

I'd run a short OCI or two with a dose of Kreen if it were mine.


How can you make this claim without knowing that it looked like before the started use of the synthetics? It has 200K on it, just let it go running the High Mileage oils going forward. What good would kreen or a flush actually do in this case if it is not burning any oil and runs smooth? The answer, not much besides emotional warm fuzzy feelings.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: volk06
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: lukejo
1995 Camry 4 cyl 5sfe. 205,000 miles.
First 100,000 miles were nearly all short trip with Pennzoil Conventional 10w30.
100,000-160,000 mainly short trip with Mobil 1 High Mileage 10w30.
Then-I'm second owner. For 160k-205k, nearly all highway miles, Mobil 1 High Mileage 5w30, then Valvoline Full Synthetic with Maxlife for the last 25k of it.


While it isn't terrible it does show that good synthetic oils by themselves didn't clean it up much in your case.

I'd run a short OCI or two with a dose of Kreen if it were mine.


How can you make this claim without knowing that it looked like before the started use of the synthetics? It has 200K on it, just let it go running the High Mileage oils going forward. What good would kreen or a flush actually do in this case if it is not burning any oil and runs smooth? The answer, not much besides emotional warm fuzzy feelings.


Easy, if the oil was doing a bang up job cleaning then the engine should look cleaner than that after the amount of time the OP was using synthetic oil. We also know that heavy varnish may lead to problems later on, [it has been discussed time and time again here] so why not try and clean it up after actually seeing what it looks like?