HPL EC treatment started. 2007 Camry 2AZ-FE 153k consumption.

[skaughtz]

Update: Probably the last.

February 25, 2025. 162,352 miles. 1513.7!!! miles into OCI4.

B12 soaks work. Period. Since I underfilled it by about a quarter she has burned only about 0.3 quarts after 1500 miles. Before I did the soak she was at 1 quart per 350 miles. That is a monumental improvement despite not "fixing" the underlying issue of the low-tension rings and piston holes. I don't care. If/when I see an increase in consumption I will soak her again. I have another quart of HPL that I will use when I change the oil at 3000 miles, and while it could not tackle my consumption problems, I hope that now that things are better it can help keep things from going south again. For now it looks like I will not have to top off before I change the oil. I call that a total win.

For anyone digging through this thread in the future, if your consumption is as bad as mine was, definitely try the B12 soak before giving up on the engine.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

@skaughtz - did I miss the post? What oil are you using now? once done with the EC30's maybe go to the VRP and just keep using that.

 

[skaughtz]

@skaughtz - did I miss the post? What oil are you using now? once done with the EC30's maybe go to the VRP and just keep using that.

She has been on SuperTech High Mileage 5W-30 for quite some time now. I have 1 quart of HPL EC mixed in now, and will use my last quart to mix in with the next oil change.

Since she is still burning a small bit of oil and will inevitably do so again because of the rings and pistons, I am considering doing another B12 soak this summer/fall (but probably not 5 days worth) and then maybe moving on to VRP if that cuts the consumption completely. I figure keeping her at 3000 mile OCIs on STHM with HPL EC is probably a good bet for now.

 

[AdmiralYoda]

@skaughtz Good work! I'd make sure to have a good cleaning oil or additive in there for the rest of the engines life or it will just happen all over again, over time. Supertech with EC30, VRP, or maybe even VRP with a quart of EC30? If you ever decide to stretch out the OCI's perhaps one of HPL's offerings.

 

[53' Stude]

Update: Probably the last.

February 25, 2025. 162,352 miles. 1513.7!!! miles into OCI4.

B12 soaks work. Period. Since I underfilled it by about a quarter she has burned only about 0.3 quarts after 1500 miles. Before I did the soak she was at 1 quart per 350 miles. That is a monumental improvement despite not "fixing" the underlying issue of the low-tension rings and piston holes. I don't care. If/when I see an increase in consumption I will soak her again. I have another quart of HPL that I will use when I change the oil at 3000 miles, and while it could not tackle my consumption problems, I hope that now that things are better it can help keep things from going south again. For now it looks like I will not have to top off before I change the oil. I call that a total win.

For anyone digging through this thread in the future, if your consumption is as bad as mine was, definitely try the B12 soak before giving up on the engine.

View attachment 265412

God to hear great results. I shoulda done that with my old 09’ Camry. But I got more than blie book wjen I sold it.

 

[melk]

Now that I’ve moved all my vehicles over to VRP full time I think I am going to buy a case of EC30 and start doing 5q + 1q EC since most are 6qt sumps it makes it easy.

 

[wlk]

Now that I’ve moved all my vehicles over to VRP full time I think I am going to buy a case of EC30 and start doing 5q + 1q EC since most are 6qt sumps it makes it easy.

Would be a waste, VRP doesn't need any additional cleaning additive. It cleans very well.

 

[melk]

Would be a waste, VRP doesn't need any additional cleaning additive. It cleans very well.

I’m not sure about that. My understanding is EC30 contains AN and Esters which VRP does not, so you get different modes of cleaning alongside whatever VRP secret sauce is.

 

[wlk]

I’m not sure about that. My understanding is EC30 contains AN and Esters which VRP does not, so you get different modes of cleaning alongside whatever VRP secret sauce is.

If it can clean piston rings, it will clean the rest.

 

[melk]

Well I emailed HPL and they recommended running either one or the other. So I guess I’ll just stick with straight VRP and forgot about the EC30

 

[jcy]

Have you noticed any change in gas mileage since the B12 soak?

 

[skaughtz]

Have you noticed any change in gas mileage since the B12 soak?

It has improved a bit. I would guess before the soak she was averaging around 22-24 or so with mostly highway miles. I am clocking her around 26-28 now. For an 18 year old engine I am not complaining. The biggest improvement has really been how easily she starts, and which is night and day now that she is holding compression so much better. She is due for an oil change within a month and I am going to take her offline and soak her with B12 again for a few days. If that knocks out the rest of the consumption I will probably switch over to VRP and extend the changes to 5,000 miles.

 

[skaughtz]

I'm baaaack.

The Camry hit 3000 miles since I did the first B12 piston soak so today I took her offline to do it again. I'm not going to document the whole thing like I did last time, but I do have some after pictures of the piston heads to share. This is 3000 miles on 3.5 quarts of SuperTech High Mileage 5W-30 and 1.0 quart of HPL EC. I am actually surprised by how much better they look now than they did after the soak. I have four cans of B12 and I just split the first can between the four cylinders. I will probably let it sit for 8 or 12 hours and do the same three more times. The spark plugs had just a touch of oil on the threads that came off on my fingers, but it is minimal, and they otherwise look great. Once this is done she is getting VRP 0W-20 since the consumption is down now and that is what I am putting in my other two cars so I can combine jugs.

Piston 1

Piston 2

Piston 3

Piston 4

 

[skaughtz]

I ended up using 5 bottles of B12 like last time and just got done refilling her with the flush (cheap sacrificial) oil. She only took about 20 seconds to fire and almost no smoke came out of the tailpipe. Last time she took about 5 minutes to fire, so fingers crossed that the B12 knocked the rings in their teeth this time around. Now for a short trip to flush out any gunk that the B12 loosened up and then on to VRP and a new filter for 4000 miles or so.

For anyone looking to do this, I would recommend draining the oil with the B12 in while you are soaking the pistons rather than trying to start the engine and burn it off at the end (as a lot of people do in YT videos). B12 has the consistency of water and I wouldn't want more than 1 can of it running through the engine. Any benefit there might be to running it through the engine once you have soaked the pistons is going to be minimal at best and engine flush disaster at worst. Pull the drain plug as you soak the pistons to let the B12 drip down and out of the pan. Then get the cheapest jug of oil you can find and take a short trip or two to flush out anything that remains in the pan or elsewhere with the old filter on (which should be very minimal but in for a penny...). Then do a fresh oil/filter change. If you went that far to fix it don't cheap out at the end. That process made starting mine a breeze this time. Just my 2 cents.