Death of a 3MZ-FE!!! Sludge pics inside!

[heynow]

That engine either:

1)rarely had the oil changed (if ever)
2)had an internal coolant leak
3)had a fault in the crankcase ventilation system

You can see all the watery goo in the pic of the lower oil pan. My guess would be for (2) and/or (3), since even an engine with total neglect of oil changes should not get that kind of water build up in the oil.

 

[hypervish]

Originally Posted By: hounddog
If I am not mistaken that engine is a known sludge monster. I have a bud that is a retired airline captain. He bought one of those. At 20k it was toast. He had proof of oil/filters by the book. One by him,one or two by the dealer and one by a quick lube place. No more,no less. You could hardly see the rockers in his. Found out a known problem.


No, the 3MZ-FE is not a sludge monster.

 

[heynow]

I love how people say an engine is a sludge monster when pics are shown with no record of service history. Any engine will sludge up when neglected. The more of a specific engine sold, the more likely to find a neglected example. How many V6 engines has toyota sold again?

 

[hypervish]

Originally Posted By: DrDusty86
More Toyota junk..sludge prone scrap. So much for the quality


I hope all 1000 of your posts aren't this stupid.

 

[JavierG]

Originally Posted By: Christopher Hussey
I love how people say an engine is a sludge monster when pics are shown with no record of service history. Any engine will sludge up when neglected. The more of a specific engine sold, the more likely to find a neglected example. How many V6 engines has toyota sold again?

So very true. One of the most reliable and trusted automakers yet some people will jump at any chance to bad mouth it. Sheesh!!

 

[fdcg27]

Wow!
Now, 234K isn't a bad life for an engine, but I wonder what caused all of this sludge?
This thing has seen nearly 30K each year from new, so it was obviously not short tripped.
I wonder what oil was used and on what interval?
Could this engine be a valid counter to the argument that extended drains supported with UOAs are always appropriate?
After all, this is only a cooking engine, not anything that should have really stressed the oil.

 

[electrolover]

Nice pics. Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[Hollow]

Originally Posted By: DrDusty86
More Toyota junk..sludge prone scrap. So much for the quality


Thank you for your informative, fact filled, source cited, productive contribution to this thread.


Oh wait...

 

[CourierDriver]

read the last sentence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_sludge

 

[OilFool]

A lil OT, but in reply to the "Toyota/Japanese Junk" statement:
I have one 1MZ "sludge monster" that I regularly maintain.
200k on the clock and no signs of sludge.
Van bought 3.5 years ago at 90k.
Steady diet since 90k of Redline 10w40 at ~8,500-10,000 OCI's (never later) with PureOne filter change "halfway". SL1 every change, and Kreen once.


Water pump, spark plugs, timing belt, and some other work to be done soon, so I'll get pics.

One "half" of me is contemplating of Kreening it, drive, then "overdose" with half a gallon and letting it sit in the pan, overfilled and unused, for a few days before I pull the oil pan down.
The other "half" me wants to do a before and after pan pull, but time constraints and life of vehicle make it hard to keep taking it OOS, so even to let it sit a few days may be tough.

 

[Mr Nice]

How much will it cost to get that SUV back on the road ?

 

[hemitom]

Originally Posted By: DrDusty86
More Toyota junk..sludge prone scrap. So much for the quality
Just out of curiosity what do you think of some of the domestic automobiles that die before 100000 miles. I for one, am not impressed with the quality and reliabilty of my 300.

 

[hounddog]

It was just a couple of years preceding 2005 year model that were terrible sludge engines.

 

[Dakota1820]

Originally Posted By: bepperb
Originally Posted By: DrDusty86
More Toyota junk..sludge prone scrap. So much for the quality


234,000 miles isn't enough, eh?


not really by todays standards with good care a good engine can do way more than that. my saturn has 212, 000 and its all but spotless inside a little varnishat the worst and thr 1.9 is HARD on oil.

 

[Dakota1820]

Originally Posted By: Dakota1820
Originally Posted By: bepperb
Originally Posted By: DrDusty86
More Toyota junk..sludge prone scrap. So much for the quality


234,000 miles isn't enough, eh?


not really by todays standards with good care a good engine can do way more than that. my saturn has 212, 000 and its all but spotless inside a little varnishat the worst and thr 1.9 is HARD on oil.


I also believe the Toyota is overrated it seems like a lot of their engines have some kind of problem such as oil burning or oil sludge which to me is not very good engineering or quality

 

[DinoOil]

Never had any desire to own anything Asian automotive. I too think they are overrated as well. Oh, and by the way, good luck to those of you who brag about your looong OCI's.

lol

 

[GearheadTool]

Originally Posted By: DinoOil
Never had any desire to own anything Asian automotive. I too think they are overrated as well. Oh, and by the way, good luck to those of you who brag about your looong OCI's.

lol


Right and the only way your engine will last for sure on a long OCI is on Mo...........

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: Falcon_LS
I'm starting to think this had more to do with owner neglect


^^This

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted By: DrDusty86
More Toyota junk..sludge prone scrap. So much for the quality


I'm sensing some arrogant bias here. Just a wee bit...You're right, my problem free 175,000 mile 1989 Toyota Camry was junk. What a piece of garbage. So are all those other Toyotas lasting seemingly forever with so much neglect.

Be reasonable, you don't even know the maintenance history of this vehicle; nothing about it really.

 

[hounddog]

There is no cars I can think of that die before 100,000 any more. NONE. Moderate care even 200,000. The auto makers do realize that the cars are very long lived these days. That is what the public demanded and got. That also hurt the car manufactures sales. Average car is owned 11 years by same owner these days.