looking at use tundra... milky oil sludge under oil cap.

jarmstrong · Apr 1, 2005

my wife is tooking at a 2004 toyota double cab 4x4 for $27k it has 17k for miles. we took it for a test drive everything works great and it's a nice truck.
however i took off the oil fill cap and there was about 1/2 a tablespoon of milky oil residue attached to the underside of the cap. the inside of the valve cover looked clean however. my wife says tells me that this truck as sat at the dealer for about a month so i'm thinking taht its just condensation that has not been burned of from all the moving they do around the lot. we also took a sequia out that a smaller amount of the same milky residue under the cap. this engine will definitily get auto-rx.

thanks
any input is appreciated
-jason

Drew99GT · Apr 1, 2005

Your explanation is spot on I think. It's under warrenty, no? If it remains after you take delivery and drive it for a while, then you've got recourse.

JHZR2 · Apr 1, 2005

an engine with 17k shjuldnt need auto-rx... history known or not.

my saab sat at the dealer for the better part of a year and didnt have any milkiness anywhere. My GF's integra sits outside for a month at a time often, and doesnt show any of this, so I dont buy that at all. My BMW sometimes got a similar white buildup in the dipstick tube only, and only when using castrol syntec oil in the wintertime. However, that included lots of highway use...

Im sorry, but I just cant see spending that much money on a used toyota that Id have any tiny doubt of its history because of something like that. IMO, paying close to $30k for a vehicle that is used, and which more or less the entire breaking in period is a big unknown (I consider the breaking in to be the first 10k to 20k miles, even on a gasser) may not be the best move. Its one thing to get a vehicle with 80k and all the reciepts, and full PM/ To get second hand a vehicle that someone bought (and probably couldnt afford and didnt maintain well, because they knew they were going to get rid of it), might cause problems down the road, toyota or not. The only used car that MAY be worth $30k is a DIESEL pickup or BMW.

But Im not trying to tell you how to spend your money... Can you comment on how large the oil sump is? Maybe was so large (6+qt, say), and the truck was only seeing short distances, so essentially all condensation went into the oil with no chance of evaporating out ever, given its duty.

Id certainly demand a LOT of PM to be done before you buy the car.

JMH

JohnBrowning · Apr 1, 2005

I think it is is inherient to any valve cover that has a long fill tube. The Dodge 4.7 does that really bad. My mother 2003 Tundra gets a little bit of that milky residue say about the size of a dime on here fill cap! It only happens to her truck dureing the winter. She only drives it 7 miles to work and back at about an average speed of 45MPH and on sundays it gets driven about double that. Dureing the summer it goes away completly. I think it is becasue that 6 inch aluminum fill tube is so far away from the engine heat that it cools quicker and it is also the highest point.

We have yet to see a bad UOA on any of these Toyota V8's and it is always just the cap that has that slight residue.

When I owned a Dodge Dakota with the 4.7 it never had the foam issue with me driveing it. I drove it 80 miles a day at 80MPH. When the wife started driveing it she only drove it 4 miles a day around town and it had a massive amount of white foam build up like 1/4 cup in the fill tube all the time.

I would not worry about it I have seen this on BMW's, Audi's and Mercedes as well with no ill effect. IF the oil on the other hand looked milky or the entire head was full of this stuff then you would have an issue!

I have found that ambient temp., driveing cycle, and oil type all play a role. My Dodge did best with M1 and my mothers Tundra seems to do wel on it as well!

P.S. I am at my mom and dads house right now. I will go and check here fill cap to see ifit has any of the milky foam on it right now! I will get back to you in a minute or two!!

P.P.S. I just check and no foam at all. Well either the last time I checked it was a fluke or that suday driveing is takeing care of it!

[ April 02, 2005, 02:51 PM: Message edited by: JohnBrowning ]

JohnBrowning · Apr 2, 2005

Put some M1 5W30,10W30,5W40,0W40 in it and drive it! This is more then likely a non-issue. You have full warranty on this certified pre-owned and only 17,000 total miles! I would not let a little bit of condensation under the cap stop me from being it!

Vstrom · Apr 2, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by JohnBrowning:
My mother 2003 Tundra gets a little bit of that milky residue say about the size of a dime on here fill cap! It only happens to her truck dureing the winter. She only drives it 7 miles to work and back at about an average speed of 45MPH and on sundays it gets driven about double that.

Holy Cow! Stay off the roads on Sunday she's doing 90!

JHZR2 · Apr 2, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by JohnBrowning:
Put some M1 5W30,10W30,5W40,0W40 in it and drive it! This is more then likely a non-issue. You have full warranty on this certified pre-owned and only 17,000 total miles! I would not let a little bit of condensation under the cap stop me from being it!

It may be a non-issue, but people usually buy Toyotas because they think theyll get maximum longevity out of them. A little bit of moisture in there over a long time might not be so good.

Isnt that why oil additives like antimony are so great, they help inhibit corrosion due to condensation in the oil? If so, wouldnt we want to avoid having such stuff in the oil, and want to question why its there?

I doubtits much of an issue, but I wouldnt want a chronic milkshake, whether its only at the filler or in the sump itself.

JMH

2005tundra2002yz250f · Apr 2, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by jarmstrong:
my wife is tooking at a 2004 toyota double cab 4x4 for $27k it has 17k for miles. we took it for a test drive everything works great and it's a nice truck.
however i took off the oil fill cap and there was about 1/2 a tablespoon of milky oil residue attached to the underside of the cap. the inside of the valve cover looked clean however. my wife says tells me that this truck as sat at the dealer for about a month so i'm thinking taht its just condensation that has not been burned of from all the moving they do around the lot. we also took a sequia out that a smaller amount of the same milky residue under the cap. this engine will definitily get auto-rx.

thanks
any input is appreciated
-jason

Invoice for an 05 is just above what you are paying used. I would do some research.

JeepZJ4.0 · Apr 2, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by JohnBrowning:
I think it is is inherient to any valve cover that has a long fill tube. The Dodge 4.7 does that really bad.

There is a TSB to fix this. Earlier models of the 4.7L had this problem due to the oil filler design.

ediamiam · Apr 2, 2005

Tell them you like the truck, but have some concerns about the milk shake. Ask for an extended test drive for an hour or so, such that you can get it good and hot. See if the sludge goes away and evaluate what you need to do from there.

Bryanccfshr · Apr 2, 2005

We don't know all the features on this truck but I do know that that's agood price on a dealer lot with that low mileage and age. Toyota trucks don't depreciate much in the first 5 years of life. my 2002 Tacoma still has a Nada value that say my trade in is worth nearly 20k and they would try to get 22,500 retail at the dealer for it. And that's just for a TRD dbl cab Tacoma. The tundra is two years newer and much more valuable

I checked the nada value and without any extras a base 4x4 dbl cab tundra of this vintage has a NADA reatil of 28755 and a trade in value of 25,300.
This seems like a fair price.

Take it! You have 6yr 60k powertrain warranty with it. Do a couple of UOA's, I doubt you will be dissapointed. That's a great truck.

2005tundra2002yz250f · Apr 3, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by Bryanccfshr:
We don't know all the features on this truck but I do know that that's agood price on a dealer lot with that low mileage and age. Toyota trucks don't depreciate much in the first 5 years of life. my 2002 Tacoma still has a Nada value that say my trade in is worth nearly 20k and they would try to get 22,500 retail at the dealer for it. And that's just for a TRD dbl cab Tacoma. The tundra is two years newer and much more valuable

I checked the nada value and without any extras a base 4x4 dbl cab tundra of this vintage has a NADA reatil of 28755 and a trade in value of 25,300.
This seems like a fair price.

Take it! You have 6yr 60k powertrain warranty with it. Do a couple of UOA's, I doubt you will be dissapointed. That's a great truck.

I dont agree. Get a brand new 05 at invoice for that amount.

Bryanccfshr · Apr 3, 2005

A brand new 4x4 double cab tundra?? I don't know of any that come without options. That is invoice for a bare naked SR5. http://www.edmunds.com/new/2005/toy...dmunds.n.prices.pricebox..1.Toyota*&x=50&y=11

As I said we don't know how it is equipped. But I am fairly certain. The one thing toyota is good at is packaging up the options.

They are giving a good rebate for 1500 that would bring the price of a nicely equipped model down to a little less than 29k. Which is something the buyer will have to choose. Can they haggle a Better deal? Don't know, but it's worth negotiating for, if it doesn't seem faitr they can always walk.

jarmstrong · Apr 4, 2005

power windows and door locks, trd off road package (to bad its only a limited slip

), cruise control, factory cd player, cloth interior and tow package (w/ 7 way plug)

FL-400S · Apr 4, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by jarmstrong:
power windows and door locks, trd off road package (to bad its only a limited slip

), cruise control, factory cd player, cloth interior and tow package (w/ 7 way plug)

All of that is standard on the dub cab except the TRD and Tow stuff

Bryanccfshr · Apr 4, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by jarmstrong:
power windows and door locks, trd off road package (to bad its only a limited slip

), cruise control, factory cd player, cloth interior and tow package (w/ 7 way plug)

My bank will only finance the NADA trade in value of a used vehicle with those specs I am getting 26,100 as a Trade in value for your truck. If you are getting your own financing from a bank or credit union you can negotiate the price down to and maybe even below that point. I highly discourage the use of "in House" Financing. You are more likely to get screwed by financing at a dealer than anyone else.

JohnBrowning · Apr 4, 2005

Even my wifes 1997 Buick Lasaber with it's extended plastic fill tube gets the occasional milky deposit on th e cap dureing winter with a lot of short trip driveing!!! This is not an issue. On the other hand my Camry with basicly has a cap rigt onthe valve cover does not get it at all even after 3500 mile of sub 3 mile trips in -20°F temp.!

The TSB for the 4.7 Dodge motor is not a fix at all they merly insert a baffle to hid the milky condensation from view. You could pull that baffle out and see that the milky condesation was still their. They also added a plug to the cap to keep anything from building up in the hollow cavity in the cap! I that latter on they made it so that the plug and baffle could not be pulled out to view the milky build up so easily!

As bad as the 4.7 Dodge V8 was for this not a one of us modifying our engines with HO intake, KRC Cams and HO Cams ever saw anything in head area at all showing a problem. No sludge, no varnish, no rust etc.... We also never saw a bad UOA either. To date all but one Dodge 4.7 and 3.7 UOA has been great!

Here in Michigan you can not find a Tundra that is not loaded unless you special order. Most Toyota dealerships do not haggle either becasue they do not have to! IF people are buying every Toyota Tundra you have within a few days of unloading them the sales staff really will not waste their time haggleing with you! In Michigan you would be hard pressed to get an Access Cab Tundra with TRD for less then $32,000-$35,000 and the double Cabs are even higher! I am talking the occasional non-loaded + TRD Package!

Invoice is meaningless if the market will bear more! I bought a Dodge Dakota for that very reason! Toyota sales man told me flat out"I can sell everyone I get and I do not need to haggle!" I did not like what GM had to offer me and niether did the wife ( massive recalls on the Trail Blazer)! SO I went to Dodge and they were hungry! The sticker for my Dakota Quad Cab 4.7 4X4 SLT+, wheel and handleing package, heavy duty towing group, premium infinty sound system, everything but leather package etc....was like $32,500 or $33,500 and I walked out with it for $25,000 out the door. Latter on they were even hungry and I knew people getting almost as much as I did for as low as $22,000! So while in theory knowing the invoice price is an advantage nothing over comes free market pressures!

looking at use tundra... milky oil sludge under oil cap.

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