Early stages of sludge??? 2010 Tundra 4.6L

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Deer_Slayer

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I have a 2010 Tundra 4.6L 4X4 truck with 12K miles on it. I have been having Toyota dealership change the oil for me since they gave me a 24 month free maintenance. They are supposed to be putting in Toyota 0W20 oil which is synthetic oil and supposed to be very good. couple of months after the last oil change after noticing my gas mileage has slightly gone done, fearing they put some cheaper oil in there I decided to change the oil myself after only 2500 miles since last oil change. When I removed the filter housing to replace the filter element, I noticed thick heavy black oil at the bottom of oil filter housing. it was alot thicker and heavier than normal used engine oil. It was black and slimy. I am afraid it was early stages of sludge!!!

what do you guys think. I know Toyota has some history of sludge problem, but I don't know if it affected Tundra trucks. maybe the dealership put some cheap [censored] oil in ther instead of their 0W20. God knows, I don't have much faith in their honesty. I put in Red Line 5W-20 which I had laying around from my previous truck. the owner's manual calls for 0W-20 but I figured now that the weather is warming up it would be ok to run 5W-20 at least for one oil change. It seems to run quiter and smooter with Red Line. But what do you think was going on with that nasty guyee [censored] that was in the bottom of the oil filter housing????
 
Gas mileage drop could also be attributed to fuel formulation changes.

Toyota trucks have a history of being solid trucks. I have a 1996 Tacoma, 4x4,V6 engine, and it has over 400,000 miles on it. I don't use a synthetic because I don't think its needed for my applications. Changed every 5000 miles or so.

However, a truck is a car, and cars are prone to sludge when not maintained.

I don't think its sludge. Given that the dealership is adhering to the recommendations inside the owner's manual, it's probably not sludge.

I don't know what it is because I can't visualize it. Pictures would help.
 
instead of haphazardly jumping into conclusions RE: toy sludging (12k miles? You kidding me?!), I would seriously question them dealership to see if they DID change the oil for you?

Also: did you actually pull the dipstick and check/look shortly after you had your complementary oil change done by your dealership to confirm the correct crankcase oil level and colour?

Q.
 
Keep the filter and oil you drained (especially the filter) and show the dealership. I think toyota dealerships as any dealership can have bad apples, skimping on service to keep in line with the bottom line. JMO. I have never seen anything that, of which you are describing, on an engine w/ 12K.
 
Sludge problems at 12,000 miles, I doubt it. How is the vehicle used? How many times has the oil been changed since new, and who did it? Even if it wasn't changed at all there shouldn't be sludge, I hope. The start of slight sludge, anyone's guess, not knowing how the vehicle is used or seeing pictures.

IMO free service for the first 24,000 miles to me isn't worth it, especially if bought the car and planned on keeping it. If I leased the car then yes free service rocks, since once the lease was up it would be someone elses headache. These free services pay the tech very little, odds are they are not going to put much time or effort into the work, there's a good chance if the oil was clean they did nothing. Again pictures and more info would be helpful.
 
Originally Posted By: hounddog
Are not these 0w20 and 5w20 oils that are rated for these newer engines virtually almost impossible to form sludge?


Under the right circumstances in a sludge prone engine, any oil no matter what the sales hype leads you to believe can form sludge. I'll take it one step further, leave any oil in any engine long enough and you'll form sludge. LOL

In this case pictures and history would be most helpful.
 
Anything in life that's supposedly free really isn't.

Especially oil changes.

Change your own oil moving forward and keep the receipts. The prospect of "questionable oil and filters" being used on my vehicle makes me very, very uneasy. I worked at a dealer as a technician and know for a fact that sometimes in the service department/shop you can have bad apples.

I don't think your oil was changed according to the way you described it.
 
Originally Posted By: qdeezie
Anything in life that's supposedly free really isn't.

Especially oil changes.

Change your own oil moving forward and keep the receipts. The prospect of "questionable oil and filters" being used on my vehicle makes me very, very uneasy. I worked at a dealer as a technician and know for a fact that sometimes in the service department/shop you can have bad apples.

I don't think your oil was changed according to the way you described it.


A big +1
 
I have the same truck I took it in at 5000 miles all they did was rotate my tires.. When I asked them they said they only change the oil at 10,000 miles since its synthetic .. So I changed it myself. If you took that housing off and there was sludge in it. Or old oil I doubt they ever took it off.. I plan on doing mine every 5000 miles. I have changed my oil twice I used Valvoline 0w20 and Mobil 1 0w20
 
So far they have changed the oil twice in my truck. each time right after I leave the dealership I stop and check the oil level and color. it has been new oil and level ok both times. there is no dought that they changed the oil. with what I am not sure. I tell them each time to make sure they put 0W20 and afterwards I do verify with them that they did in face put 0W20 oil in there and they do confirm it. But who knows if they are telling the truth. But I know the oil has been changed for sure.

I hate having some body else change the oil for me, but I figured since it is free may be I should take advantage of it, but I think I will do it myself from now on so I not only I can make sure it is done right and has the proper oil and filter in there but notice things like what I described above.

Unfortunately I did not take any picture. Even if I had you couldn't tell the difference between normal black used oil and some heavy slimy stuff. I am as surprised as most of you as well to see this. that is why I am asking the question and I am not new to changing my own oil but never seen this before. these new filter housing design in Toyota where you just change the element probably lets you see thing you never saw before. Like seeing if there is any debri in the filter (which there was none in my case), but also when you remove the filer element. the bottom of that housing where there is some oil standing that is where I saw this heavy black oil that felt like honey!!!
 
If they have changed your oil twice in 12k miles that means you've done 6k intervals. I predict an almost negligible chance of sludge in this engine with 12k total miles on 6K OCIs no matter what oil was used.

I would rest easy if I were you and I'd do my own oil changes from now on to maintain complete control of the process.
 
Originally Posted By: someguy
What does your last invoice/paperwork from the dealer say?


The last invoice says: Change oil and filter with Synthetic. It doesn't say what grade but 0W20 is the only synthetic oil Toyota makes.

The first invoice actually said 0W20 but the strange thing in that one was that it said they used 6.5 quarts, but my truck takes 8 quarts. It is possible that the first time they didn't change the filter and as a result they didn't have to put as much oil in it.
 
Originally Posted By: Jim 5
If they have changed your oil twice in 12k miles that means you've done 6k intervals. I predict an almost negligible chance of sludge in this engine with 12k total miles on 6K OCIs no matter what oil was used.

I would rest easy if I were you and I'd do my own oil changes from now on to maintain complete control of the process.


I say Amen to that.

I am not worried about it, just puzzled. there is no way even if that was early stages of sludge that it could have done any harm at such low miles. but I don't think I want to take my chances with dealership any more and worrying about what they are actually putting in my truck.
 
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