Oil for 03 Camry with low miles?

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gregoron

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My brother who lives in Hawaii just bought an 03 Camry with only 15k miles on it. I looked at the dipstick and no varnish on it. Dealer also just changed oil and the cap says 5w30. I'm worried that this car just sat in the garage most of its life due to low miles. Engine is a 4 cyl, but I don't know the type. It says VVTI and it looks like a twin cam.

Should I suggest a good synthetic oil for cleaning? He will use this car delivering pizzas so he will put some miles on it with frequent startups. He also wants to go long OCI.

I'm thinking M1 5w30 if he wants to BYOO at Goodyear or any full synthetic 5w30 he can get through Iffy Lube. Any suggestions?
 
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Same engine I have. M1 5w30 is a perfect match for that engine and the driving conditions. recommend 7k OCI. Get the coolant changed. Important in that year. Has a flaw, cannot overheat!
 
Leakyseals, thanks for confirming M1. So you're saying his engine should not under any circumstances overheat as it will be bad? What flaw does it have? I bet he'd be impressed when I tell him yours has 268k miles on it.

Is yours still the original tyranny? What else should he watch out for?

Thanks again.
 
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The entire car is long lasting with the right maintenance and fluids. But there is a engine design flaw than can be fatal. The plastic intake manifold is protected from the heat of the engine block by insulation. Behind that insulation are 3 headbolts. Aluminum gets soft when its hot. Add the insulation, temperatures in that area of the aluminum block soar. Too hot, the 3 head bolt block threads behind the insulation can strip. 3 headbolts popping loose at once and..well..your done. Repairable, but costly. Keep the engine cool, change the coolant early and often, you lower the chances of this happening.

Its the head bolt block threads that strip. But if you google the inaccurate statement "stripped head bolts camry", you will understand why I warned you.
 
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Same engine I have. M1 5w30 is a perfect match for that engine and the driving conditions. recommend 7k OCI. Get the coolant changed. Important in that year. Has a flaw, cannot overheat!


What is the coolant issue? If the op does change it, make sure you use Toyota red, or pink if you cans get the red. That's all you should run in a Toyota!

I would say run any name brand synthetic and a quality filter like purolator/pure1. Maybe run some redline sl-1 cleaner through the tank with some spirited highway driving.
 
What does it look like inside the valve cover when removing the oil filler cap? IF the vehicle stayed in Hawaii for the past 10 years and only 15K miles, then it's probably had a million cold starts.

This averages out to ONLY 1,500 miles per year over a 10 year period.
 
Thinking about this some more...

Suddenly a 10 year old engine that mostly sat will be flipped upside down, working overtime in the heat of Hawaii delivering pizza. No good for any engine. Add this particular flaw, IMO the combination of age, the extreme flip in driving conditions, and the high heat of Hawaii dramatically increase the chances of block thread stripping, stopping just short of guaranteeing it.

That car is worth somewhere around 10k with such low mileage. Makes no sense to ruin it, risk the engine overheating and popping the threads delivering pizza. IMO the best thing to do is sell it, buy a $2500 pizza delivery junker, pocket the rest. Sorry man, just being honest. Any other engine but that one.
 
Hawaii is not high heat. It rarely gets into the 90s.

It has the lowest high temp in the US tied with Alaska at 99f or 100f, cannot remember which one.
 
Watching dog the bounty hunter they are always sweating complaining how hot it is. Yep, thats why I said "high heat".
grin.gif
Change to "heat", but it doesn't change my opinion he should sell.
 
Thanks all.

On the coolant, I'll suggest he use OEM red.

Caterham, can he just use M1 0W-20. It's more readily available at Walmart then he can bring his own oil and OEM filter at Goodyear?

LeakySeals, he's already been through an expensive experience with a beater delivery car - 2000 Escort ZX or X2. He paid avg 1,500 on repairs per year last two years.

I guess he'd just need to keep that engine cool. Can he change to a cooler thermostat? Or is there aftermarket steel manifold to replace the plastic one?
 
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Watching dog the bounty hunter they are always sweating complaining how hot it is. Yep, thats why I said "high heat".
grin.gif
Change to "heat", but it doesn't change my opinion he should sell.


That'll be more to do with the humidity. Hopefully the Camry engine won't mind that!

But yes point taken on the design issue.
 
Originally Posted By: gregoron

Caterham, can he just use M1 0W-20. It's more readily available at Walmart then he can bring his own oil and OEM filter at Goodyear?

Sure but TGMO 0W-20 is as close as his local Toyota/Lexus store.
 
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Thinking about this some more...

Suddenly a 10 year old engine that mostly sat will be flipped upside down, working overtime in the heat of Hawaii delivering pizza. No good for any engine. Add this particular flaw, IMO the combination of age, the extreme flip in driving conditions, and the high heat of Hawaii dramatically increase the chances of block thread stripping, stopping just short of guaranteeing it.

That car is worth somewhere around 10k with such low mileage. Makes no sense to ruin it, risk the engine overheating and popping the threads delivering pizza. IMO the best thing to do is sell it, buy a $2500 pizza delivery junker, pocket the rest. Sorry man, just being honest. Any other engine but that one.


I didn't know about this block thread stripping issue. Have a large percentage of vehicles suffered failures from it?

I honestly believe that a car with 15,000 miles on it is virtually new. The fact that it has lived in the most perfect climate on Earth is another plus for it.
Maybe in the 1970's a car sitting for ten years, with low mileage, was an issue but I can't see that with a thoroughly modern vehicle such as this.
I'm willing to bet that every square inch of that vehicle meets the criteria for a new car.

By all means take LeakySeals advice here and learn about this "stripped thread" issue. Take perfect care of your cooling system and perhaps put a new Thermostat in more often than necessary.
Other than that, with good maintenance, you've got a car that's good for the next 25 years or 400,000 pizzas.
 
Lol, he'd retire happy with the tips from 400k pizzas. BTW, the hottest it's gotten here is around 88 deg fahr. Coldest is around 65 since I've lived here.

Caterham, I'll suggest he check his local Toyota dealer for that oil.

Just talked to him and he got extended warranty on it for 5yrs/60k miles so that should cover major problems. He got the car for $11k w/ warranty. It looks mint on and out.
 
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Originally Posted By: gregoron
I guess he'd just need to keep that engine cool. Can he change to a cooler thermostat? Or is there aftermarket steel manifold to replace the plastic one?

Ok. Drain and fill with Toyota Red LLC concentrate mixed 50/50 with distilled right away, then again in a few months. After that 40k forever. 4qts each time. Its easy, plastic drain on the radiator. Leave manifold and thermostat factory for different reasons. For 02-04 2AZ-FE engines use 5w30 full syn. If you go thinner, carry oil in the trunk for frequent top offs. They can run thin, but they will consume it and make some noise as they age. Not as tight as the later builds.
 
My grandson has a 2002 Camry and is doing 10K OCIs in the V6. The engine now has 140K and doing well. He uses M1 5-30
 
Pizza delivery is mostly short trips then turn off engine for couple minutes, restart engine and drive few miles back to home base. The car may see 30-40 miles or more per day but mostly short trips so the oil temp rarely get above 190-200F even in warm Hawaii air. For this reason I would go with 0W20.
 
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