I think it's K&N "resentment".
What trannie fluid is called for, Type-IV, WS, other?
What trannie fluid is called for, Type-IV, WS, other?
LS430 - Sludge advice
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As others said, stay away from the K&N, but at far as the LS430...I wouldn’t worry about that engine one bit, you said it yourself...things are legends. And they are. I doubt there is any concerning sludge in there that would be an issue...couple oil changes and you’ll be fine.
what year is your LS? These are wonderful cars. We have a GS, which is a smaller version. my trans calls for the toyota WS fluid, which translates to amsoil low viscosity. I’ve done 2 drain/fills so it’s about 2/3 amsoil at this point, and it’s a treat to drive. Make sure you know which viscosity of atf to put in there.
A few reasons.
1. The slugged oil represents 100% of the oil. When you drain the oil, you're leaving around 5 to 15 percent of the old sludgy oil in the engine. You cannot get it all out in a single change.
2. So you do the OCI and with about 85-95% fresh oil, that is lubricating and cleaning and working some of the sludge out and thru the system. You do the second OCI and you get most of it out, but some remains and some sludge might still be on the internals.
3. Run it hard for awhile with fresh oil, repeating the process in a short interval, to again allow the oil and detergents to loosen the contaminants and then you drain them and almost all the rest of the old bad oil out.
You're largely using the new oil as a cleaner/lubricator to loosen up and suspend the junk, and diluting it with several changes.
mobil 1 0w40 and forget about it
nothing else compares in terms of cleanup
nothing else compares in terms of cleanup
My E90 was pretty neglected oil change wise. Took 5 or 6 5000 km oil changes before the oil started looking normal again.
Thanks all for your responses. Really, I need to confirm the health of the engine by pulling off the rocker cover. Which is on my to do list. I'm just trying to find the best place to order a rocker cover gasket kit.
Its a 2001 LS430 with the 5 speed box (A650E). I'm familiar with the low viscosity Amsoil ATF. I'll be bummed out if thats the one it needs!
Its a 2001 LS430 with the 5 speed box (A650E). I'm familiar with the low viscosity Amsoil ATF. I'll be bummed out if thats the one it needs!
A650E uses T-IV high viscosity fluid, but LV fluid is the same viscosity as sheared HV stuff.
I would just use Mobil1 0w-40. It's Mobil's flagship oil, will clean the engine up overtime. Start with 3000 mile oil change until oil is still clear at that mile-mark. That would tell you that all residual and easy-to-remove sludge/gunk is gone. At that point switching to 5000 mile oil changes will eventually take care of the varnish and anything that could mess with the VVTi system.
I personally like to add a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil 500 miles before the oil change (careful not to overfill, go by dipstick) in all my Toyotas/Lexus vehicles that have VVTi. This method revived a few VVTi solenoids, but a couple were too far gone and needed replacement, so be ready for that too. But MMO is definitely quicker acting on clean-up compared to short OCIs, but not as aggressive as engine flush products. And you literally just replace a quart of oil with quart of MMO and drive with it until the oil change time. At least that's what I do and 90% of the time it works great (like when it fixed the VVTi CEL code in my IS300). The other 10% of the time the engines are just too far gone, like my 2006 Pontiac Vibe (Toyota Matrix twin) was at only 90k miles.
I personally like to add a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil 500 miles before the oil change (careful not to overfill, go by dipstick) in all my Toyotas/Lexus vehicles that have VVTi. This method revived a few VVTi solenoids, but a couple were too far gone and needed replacement, so be ready for that too. But MMO is definitely quicker acting on clean-up compared to short OCIs, but not as aggressive as engine flush products. And you literally just replace a quart of oil with quart of MMO and drive with it until the oil change time. At least that's what I do and 90% of the time it works great (like when it fixed the VVTi CEL code in my IS300). The other 10% of the time the engines are just too far gone, like my 2006 Pontiac Vibe (Toyota Matrix twin) was at only 90k miles.
Very interesting re: Mobil 1 - I have so much oil on hand (Penrite Racing, Redine 5w40, Shell Helix Ultra) Would any of these do the same job? Otherwise will grab the 0w40 M1!
I’d wager that Red Line with its ester content will also clean.
Looks like you got some really good oils on hand already, use them up. But I'm guessing they are more expensive than Mobil1 oil... So maybe get Mobil1 for the short OCIs, and then switch to your oils once it's time for longer OCIs? Or just use what you have with 4k-4.5k mile OCI (~7k kms) and drive on. I'm sure it won't be the engine sludge that ends your ownership of that car. Car accidents and rust send more cars to scrapyard than engine sludge does.
Thanks - Mobil is very expensive here, more so than penrite racing and about on par with redline.
Update for those following... drained the trans tonight since the 5 speed is so easy to service with the intention of doing the filter on the 2nd or third change.
Approx 3.8L Out
1.8-1.9L In...
Last recorded transmission service (lets call it, transmission FILL) was in 2017 with Penrite transmission fluid.
Fluid had a very very dark red hue to it when pouring out. Very little sediment in the pan.
I've had 4 vehicles with that transmission (A650E) and on all I get about 3.5L-4.0L out. Then pour 3L in, start the engine to get ATF up to temp (usually a 5 minute easy ride) and then check dipstick with engine running and ATF up to operating temp. It usually takes additional 0.5L-1L to get to good level on dipstick in "HOT" area. So something doesn't seem right with how much you put back in it. Did you check fluid level with engine running and fluid up to temp?
EDIT: It seems obvious, but I'll mention it anyways, always gotta check fluids when car is leveled.
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Thats a relief... I ended up continuing to add more after posting and taking it for a gentle drive and ended up nearly finishing the bottle of ATF (3.785L) So thankfully, crisis averted!
I read somewhere that a drain and fill for the A650E was 1.8L - Clearly I was mistaken
Again, what sludge? What proof is there that the OP's engine has a sludge problem that needs remediation in the first place?
And why is 'old' oil the cause of a problem while 'new' oil is the solution? How are you using oil for different purposes? Why is just leaving oil in an engine for its recommended duration to let it do its job considered not a good plan?
I think you 'Do short OCIs to clean things up!' guys just want to see dirty oil come out sooner rather than later so you can justify your way of thinking without waiting a few months and a few thousand miles to see results. Well you'd get even better more telling results if you just did regular OCIs with a decent oil and moved on to something else to obsess over.
It's a valid philosophy when acquiring a high mileage car that appears neglected or has observable oil issues. The OP states that he observes new oil turn dirty instantly. This would be a good case for doing some short OCIs to attempt to rehabilitate the internals. Oil is really cheap. A Lexus and it's engine are very valuable. This is a no-brainer. It's not going to harm anything by doing some short OCIs, and it is almost surely going to improve this car, or ANY car could benefit from such things. Again, when you do an oil change, there's ~10% you cannot get out, and that 10% might have contaminants, really old oil, sludge, water, who knows. So even in a healthy engine, another quick OCI will in fact get nearly all of that last 10% out.
Spending $100 on oil is better than losing the $5000-$10000 value of a Lexus.
I did a spill and fill on my parent’s LS430 with the newer A761E, it took 2 quarts to fill it, plus the amount to top off when the car is level, at the fluid check temperature and when a small trickle of fluid comes out of the check plug(it’s a standpipe).
Buy a can of Kreen, add half a can to your first oil change. Drive 1,000 miles and do another oil change and add the rest of the can. Change oil in 2,000 miles. That'll get you started. Same engine as my Sequoia with 500,000 miles and no sludge. A few 10K miles of neglect won't kill it.
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