Does the Toyota sludge problem affect the engine in a 2001 Echo?

[MinnesotaNole]

My girlfriend is considering buying a 01 Toyota Echo with about 50K on it.

I'm clueless about this Toyota sludge problem. All I hear is how Toyotas are the most reliable vehicles in the world.

Will this sludge problem affect the Echo's engine?

[ July 10, 2003, 01:13 AM: Message edited by: MinnesotaNole ]

 

[harper]

quote:

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Originally posted by MinnesotaNole:
My girlfriend is considering buying a 01 Toyota Echo with about 50K on it.

I'm clueless about this Toyota sludge problem. All I hear is how Toyotas are the most reliable vehicles in the world.

Will this sludge problem affect the Echo's engine?

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As far as what is commonly known it only affected a 2.2L 4 cylinder and 3.0L V6. It did not affect the 1.5L the Yarvis I mean Echo has. They are reliable cars, I had one for a year (called Yarvis) in Costa Rica.

 

[JohnBrowning]

According to bob's research the engines are fine. It is a maintence issue. The sludge only apeared in vechile going 5000-7500 miles on their oil. Those that followed a 3000 mile interval even with the cheap bulk Toyota oil did not experince sludge! This falls inline nicely with my experinces. At any rate the engine in the echo has never been associated with sludge problem!

[ July 10, 2003, 05:48 PM: Message edited by: JohnBrowning ]

 

[rich mds]

Actually this is not true. Recommended changes are 5,000 for severe and 7,500 for mainly highway driving.

Sludged engines had oil that ran between 35-40,000 miles without an oil change on standard mineral oil from the factory.
Most incidents customers claimed they changed their oil to manufacturer specs but could not produce a reciept.

So far there have been no incidents of a sludged engine where the owner could prove they changed the oil per manuf specs.

 

[manualman]

Lies and Propaganda!

The USA Today article that I first heard about the problem in interviewed THREE different people who had engine failures with the V6. All three of them showed to the reporter their receipts showing "regular" oil change intervals (The article did't specify the intervals).

Since then my wife's cousin had a Sienna engine croak at 70k miles with 6k-7k change intervals.

So really now, what's your day job? Toyota PR? I mean really, do you REALLY have access to all of Toyota's file to prove that there have been no cases of this happeing? Obviously not.

 

[vvk]

quote:

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Originally posted by manualman:
Since then my wife's cousin had a Sienna engine croak at 70k miles with 6k-7k change intervals.

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I hate to put salt on your wounds, but in some engines and in some driving environments a non-ACEA A1/A3/A5 rated oil will be completely gone at 2000-3000 miles. Did you relative use semi-synthetic or synthetic oil rated for long drain intervals? The point is that Toyota got screwed by a) customers not changing oil and b) oil companies making substandard API SL-rated products.

I guess one thing that can easily be looked at is the failure rate same engines had in Europe, where very expensive synthetic oil is used almost universally.

 

[harper]

quote:

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Originally posted by manualman:
Lies and Propaganda!

The USA Today article that I first heard about the problem in interviewed THREE different people who had engine failures with the V6. All three of them showed to the reporter their receipts showing "regular" oil change intervals (The article did't specify the intervals).

Since then my wife's cousin had a Sienna engine croak at 70k miles with 6k-7k change intervals.

So really now, what's your day job? Toyota PR? I mean really, do you REALLY have access to all of Toyota's file to prove that there have been no cases of this happeing? Obviously not.

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Toyota had a problem they finally admitted to. But in the same token USA Today finding three people is really not an indication of anything. You could find three different people who own the same car no matter make or model who had an engine failure. It happens across the spectrum, fortunately not too often for consumer and manufacturer's sake.

 

[Chris Jefferson]

i thought it was the 'Yaris', not 'Yarvis'. anyways...

 

[highmiler]

My 2001 Echo doesn't show the slightest hint of sludge. I have only used synthetic oils and had the oil analyzed each time. Oil change intervals have varied from 5k miles to 12k miles (now I have found the ideal interval, 12k miles with Amsoil 5W-30 (ASL)).
Present mileage is 67k miles and I am confident the car will easily go 300k miles without problems.

[ July 11, 2003, 11:18 AM: Message edited by: highmiler ]

 

[manualman]

Two points:

1. Yes, you deserve a dope slap if you go 7,500 miles per change on dino without careful analysis. But you REALLY deserve it if you write it in the onwers manual of the car you BUILD.

2. A poster made the claim that NOBODY had a sludged engine and receipts to prove specified maintenance. I merely was debunking that, not claiming it was THE PROOF of the problem.

 

[Mystic]

If you check into the Toyota engine sludge problem on the internet, there is a lot of information. According to the information on one site I came across, there were something like either 3400 or 8400 people affected, but I cannot remember the exact number mentioned. It was more than just three people, at any rate.

A woman who had owned a Toyota vehicle with a sludge problem had petitioned the federal government and apparently the federal government was considering investigating the situation.

 

[RussellA]

quote:

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A woman who had owned a Toyota vehicle with a sludge problem had petitioned the federal government and apparently the federal government was considering investigating the situation.

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Do a google search on her. She has a history of this . Did the same thing with a Dodge minivan in the early 90's . I think she hurts the issue more than helps it.