help with oil-consuming 1MZ-FE

[wiswind]

The oversize Pure One filter that I use on my 1MZFE is PL20195
The last couple oil changes I have used the D3422 Bosch Distance Plus.

6K miles is not bad on a oil change, but I would use a synthetic in this particular motor.......I do and I change by 5K miles.

I used AutoRX in mine.

I have pictures posted on webshots that show some of the things that I have done with my 2003 Toyota Sienna with the 1MZFE motor.
I posted the process for removing the rear valve cover......which involved removing the windshield wiper "cowl" which is the trim panel between the hood and the windshield.
Then I needed to remove the upper intake manifold......which connects to the motor supports at the back of the engine compartment....a pain due to the long reach back there and the hidden location of some of the bolts.
Your Highlander should be VERY similar for this particular repair.
Here is a link to the folder of pictures, which should be of help to the process.
http://rides.webshots.com/album/576572371kcnZsT?start=0

If you are going to do all the work of accessing the rear valve cover, then I would replace the valve cover gaskets, and also replace the spark plugs.
I would use ONLY the DENSO or NKG spark plug number that is listed in the owner's manual and on the emissions sticker under the hood.
I am seeing DENSO SK20R11 listed for your 2002 Highlander 1MZFE motor.
List price through TOYOTA is $10.37 each.....Toyotapartszone has them for $7.40 (plus shipping) each.
They are $7.75 (plus shipping)each through Rockauto.

Looking up my 2003 Sienna, and it lists the same plug......which is what I used.
I would also feel completely confident with the equivalant NKG plug (again, not the 4mm electrode version).

I would AVOID the DENSO IK20 with the 4mm electrode instead of the 7mm electrode.
The IK20 is rated by DENSO for only 30K miles, vs "up to" 120K miles for the SK20R11

These spark plugs come with a sleeve over the end to avoid the factory set gap from being bumped out during handling/shippment.
You do NOT need to adjust the gap.

 

[Rand]

Is that supposed to be .4 and .7mm

or is that referring to the length of electrode?

 

[vtunderground]

wiswind: thanks for the link to your pictures. It's helpful seeing the rear valve cover removal (esp. what needs to be removed to get to it).

Fortunately, the spark plugs were replaced at the Toyota dealer before I bought the car (along with the timing belt, air filter, battery, and tires)

 

[TFB1]

Well rather than tear it apart to clean some little screen(or repl valve cover if the case may be) that's possibly blocked, I'd pour oil down that vent and see if it's actually plugged... If oil backs up and doesn't flow into the engine in a few minutes, well you found your problem(I'd guess even a clear vent will move the oil at a slow rate)... If it flows very slowly, possibly a couple small treatments down the vent with MMO or similar may help clear the blockage...

BTW I've never recommended any engine cleaning treatment in my life but in this case I'd try, do as you see fit...

 

[wiswind]

I was intending .4mm electrode diameter vs 0.7mm .
0.7mm is the one that is rated for "up to 120K miles"
The 0.4mm is rated by DENSO for 30K miles....and he doesn't want to be changing those rear plugs every 30K miles.
Thank you for catching my error and correcting me.....I don't want to confuse with bad information.

If you were to use a cleaner, I would recommend AutoRX.
I'm adding a maintenance dose to my fully synthetic oil.
However, the oil consumption may settle down if the vehicle is driven regularly for longer time periods......like 1 hour or more at a time.
As much as is resonable, keep the speeds down in the low/no consumption range.
Also.....if you are doing this driving.....a couple of oil changes in the range of 3K to 4K miles might be helpful from a cleaning perspective.
I STILL recommend a fully synthetic oil (just my opinion).
From what I have read, the 1MZFE head temperatures may be hotter than some other engines.....this engine also has no EGR system.
Anyhow.....if what I have read about hotter (not anything extreme) is true, a synthetic should hold up to the heat better.

 

[vtunderground]

Update:

I just finished a 2500 mile OCI with PYB 5W30 and MMO. I can see that the coarse baked-on crud on the baffle under the oil fill cap is starting to loosen. My oil consumption at 70 mph seems to have improved a little, but I can't say for sure. It still uses almost no oil under 60 mph.

I just refilled with M1 HM 10w40 (just in time for winter, haha) and a PureOne oversized filter. We'll see how this works out.

I had a couple days last month where I got misfires on cyl's 1 & 2. The coils were good, but the #2 plug was fouled with ash (didn't pull the #1 plug - it's on the back of the motor). The top of the #2 piston was covered in oil, while the #4 & 6 pistons were clean shiny silver. I assume that indicates oil being drawn into the #1 & 2 cyl's through the valve seals. Whatever the cause, the problem went away on it's own after a few days.

 

[zyxelenator]

Any updates?
I would save heavier oil for summer. Not the best idea for winter.
Use 30 weight PP,PU and Maxlife and you will be good.

 

[zyxelenator]

I just read thru your thread again. You guess about oil not going back to pan fast enough and increased hwy oil burning is right.
Your engine is sludged. When I had my covers removed, there was lots of black goop around return drains, which was restricting oil flow.
You can clean it manually(best option), or add kreen/mmo to your oil.
Do piston soak with kreen/mmo.Clean throttle body.
I also will install metal/glass inline fuel filter to the PCV hose that runs to the intake, it will act as mini catch can,to keep oil out of the intake.

 

[ltslimjim]

Not to get OT, but after your own efforts zy, how are the MPG compared to EPA estimates?

 

[zyxelenator]

Well since it got cold it is 24 mpg avg with my drive style. When it was warm it was 27 avg. Hwy long trips were 33mpg @ 70mph and AC on full blast.
Numbers are from ScanGauge. MPG dropped since it is cold, I got new tires (better grip, heavier, I guess), I may have couple foiled spark plugs or faulty O2 sensor( not sure yet,will swap back spark plugs when it gets warm), and I'm not driving to save fuel (it can get up to 90 mph if running late to work, or 5000 rpm shifts for fun sometimes). Also people here say G-oil is bit on heavier side, but I diluted it with kreen and about 0.5qt 5w-20 oil top off.
Before cleaning it was little worse, but can't tell for sure, it was just some calculation in head.
fueleconomy.gov says it is 21 mpg combined for my car.

 

[DCRamsey]

I thought I'd chime in. I am an ex-employee of GWC. I'd take the car to a mechanic and at least get it diagnosed. GWC is not going to cover sludge. If your mechanic can come up with a dianosis that is covered, they will likely approve a repair of some sort, if they do approve an engine it will be a LKQ (like kind and quality) engine, one with 60K miles. The engine will be new to you, but not out of the crate. The good news is that a 6 month service contract on a Toyota isn't expensive. Best of luck, I too drive an Avalon and I'm sorry to hear that you're burning that much oil.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: vtunderground
update:

I've been checking the oil level first thing every morning, and driving the car as much as possible. This led to two discoveries:

Around town (usually 25-45, but up to 60 mph) it uses an immeasurably small amount of oil. I drove several hundred miles with no change on the dipstick. That's good!

On the highway (70-75 mph) it uses oil like that's it's job. It used at least 2/3 of a quart in 170 miles on the interstate (and still, no visible smoke). That's not good!

Hoping to get it into the shop next week.


Bring it into the shop before you add anything to the oil, or use a grade of oil not spec'd by Toyota. See what they say first. Then try Kreen or MMO. Kreen for 1000 miles, or MMO for a full OCI of 3000-4000 miles. If you decide to use a heavier oil don't use a 15W-40 or 10W40 especially in the winter. There are better choices of 40 grade oils for cold weather. M1 0W40 comes to mind, if not a 5W40. In some cases, bad rings, moving to a 5W20 might actually help. Shell did a study and found if rings were the problem a 20 grade worked better than 40 grade oils. HTH Good luck!

 

[vtunderground]

Originally Posted By: zyxelenator
Any updates?


Nothing new to report. I ran the M1 HM 10w40 for 4k miles. Oil consumption was cut in half, but I lost some felt horsepower and observed MPG. I'm running M1 HM 5w30 now, it seems to be using just as much oil as before. I can't find M1 in 5w40 (or any other unusual weight) around here.

Two treatments with MMO have made no measureable improvement.

I've accepted the fact that I need to take the valve covers off (at least the front one) and inspect the valvetrain, cleaning if necessary. Right now I'm planning on doing it at the end of this OCI, after the weather warms up a little.

Unrelated: Techron Concentrate in a couple tanks of gas improved my fuel economy by at least 2 mpg. I'm pretty happy about that.

 

[BullyT]

I really think it would be worthwhile to have a competent mechanic check the engine. Years ago I had a Volkswagen Rabbit that started going through oil like crazy. I had to check it at every gas stop, and more often than not it needed oil. I can't remember the actual consumption, but I would guess a quart every 500 miles or so. The problem turned out to be worn valve guides. I had them replaced, and the oil consumption dropped to almost nothing.

 

[LeakySeals]

Originally Posted By: vtunderground
Originally Posted By: zyxelenator
Any updates?


Nothing new to report. I ran the M1 HM 10w40 for 4k miles. Oil consumption was cut in half, but I lost some felt horsepower and observed MPG. I'm running M1 HM 5w30 now, it seems to be using just as much oil as before. I can't find M1 in 5w40 (or any other unusual weight) around here.

Two treatments with MMO have made no measureable improvement.

I've accepted the fact that I need to take the valve covers off (at least the front one) and inspect the valvetrain, cleaning if necessary. Right now I'm planning on doing it at the end of this OCI, after the weather warms up a little.

Unrelated: Techron Concentrate in a couple tanks of gas improved my fuel economy by at least 2 mpg. I'm pretty happy about that.


I would buy a quart of Kreen from Kano labs. Put a 1/2 quart in the oil the last 1k. Also do a piston soak overnight/as long as possible with the remaining 1/2 qt. That and the M1 HM 5w30 are working! (working = 1 qt every 6k vs 1qt every 1500)

 

[vtunderground]

UPDATE:

I just removed the front valve cover, and found minimal sludge (all the sludge is in the bottom-left of the 2nd picture). The whole valvetrain was covered in heavy varnish, though.

If my piston rings look like this, I can see why it would use oil. I think I'm going to do a piston soak at the end of my next OCI.

Thoughts?

 

[vtunderground]

UPDATE (sort of):

I just finished two doses of Kreen in the oil. Each dose was 1 pint for 1k miles. I also ran some though a tank of gas.

After the Kreen-in-crankcase, I did a 4-day Kreen soak of the front 3 pistons, and right now I'm doing an overnight soak with MMO. If I see any improvement in oil consumption from this, I'll go through the hassle of soaking the rear three pistons.

(As the former owner of several Saturns, I've done more pistons soaks than I like to think about, haha! I swore after my last Saturn that I'd never own another oil burner again... funny how things work out)

 

[MBS500]

Situation under back valve cover was somewhat worse than under front one from my experience.
You can take out back plugs without removing whole intake by using several extensions and flex joints. It takes some patience, but it's possible.
Than use some small funnel and hose to perform soak.
If kreen soak will not help...rings or valve seals... both not worth your time and money.Just keep adding cheap oil.

 

[RISUPERCREWMAN]

Man that thing does have some varnish!

 

[mr_diy]

Originally Posted By: vtunderground
UPDATE (sort of):

I just finished two doses of Kreen in the oil. Each dose was 1 pint for 1k miles. I also ran some though a tank of gas.

After the Kreen-in-crankcase, I did a 4-day Kreen soak of the front 3 pistons, and right now I'm doing an overnight soak with MMO. If I see any improvement in oil consumption from this, I'll go through the hassle of soaking the rear three pistons.

(As the former owner of several Saturns, I've done more pistons soaks than I like to think about, haha! I swore after my last Saturn that I'd never own another oil burner again... funny how things work out)


I have also done several piston soaks on a Olds 3.5L ShortStar known to get stuck rings, though have not had any oil consumption improvements. I haven't tried Kreen or AutoRx.

I have changed plugs on my Sienna and found the rear plugs were quite easy, just needed the right length extension. I have 139k mile on the 98 Sienna (1MZ-FE) and have never had to add oil. The last 9 years I have used M1 (last 6 yrs M1 EP with 1 RL) for 10k OCI, prior to this it was std oil for 4-5k.

Your front value train really does not look sludged to me, but cannot tell about the oil return passages. On the other hand it's not that clean for such low miles. Maybe the prior owner used really poor oil or ran lots of short trips.

Thanks for updating your thread, I would like to hear your results.