Oil gelling problem with Toyota V6 engines
- Thread starter kreativ
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I won't beat this up, scan this site there's a lot's of info on this known issue. (Do a web search also).
1) I would say NO extended drains with straight petroleum oil.
2) I would say always use synthetic oil.
3) I would say no long extended drains even with the best synthetic oil - the jury is still out on 10K - 7.5K miles is what I tell Toyota V6(and certain L4's) Amsoil users - and for what it's worth even Amsoil corporate got off throne and kinda sorta agrees with me!
4) Do an engine flush. Auto-Rx, Nuetra (no direct experience but have some good knowledge) and yes Amsoil engine flush will work well.
5) Use the viscosity as recommended. A good synthetic 5W/10W-30 would be a good start.
Almost forgot - a Volvo buddy in the San Fernando valley area bought a used Avalon - flushed with Amsoil engine flush and his words used to describe what came out of his engine can not be used on TV. Something about ex-lax... kaopectate/lomotil...
[ November 23, 2002, 08:56 AM: Message edited by: Pablo ]
I have a 2001 Camry V6 and have started using oil analysis to answer my questions about oil gelling or sludge.
My first analysis showed pretty high nitration in Valvoline 10w30 Synpower. The interval was 6,000 miles. The oil was in great shape but the nitration would have gotten worse and led to oil breakdown over more miles. My next interval will be 7000-7500K run on Schaeffer 5w30 Blend.
I don't think you will get much out of using 10w30 over 5w30. I don't think my V6 will be able to get 10,000+ miles out of any oil. Less stressful engines can easily go 10K.
I also plan on using a product called Auto-Rx every 4 oil changes to keep the engine clean.
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[ November 23, 2002, 08:53 AM: Message edited by: jjbula ]
[ November 23, 2002, 08:53 AM: Message edited by: jjbula ]My professional recommendation would be to run ONLY Mobil 1, Amsoil or Redline, PAO/Ester based synthetics in the Camry V-6 engine. This will allow you to run 7500 mile oil change intervals and still get excellent long term results. I have discussed this issue with all of the Amsoil dealers here in Huntsville, Alabama and we all agreed that anything over 7500 miles is pushing it in this motor. One of my coworkers has a 1999 Avalon with 150,000 miles on it; running oil change intervals of 7500-10,000 miles under highway driving conditions. The engine is still in excellent shape and consumes no oil between changes running a 0w-30 synthetic. So I know this protocol will work fine ....
Based on what I've seen in terms of oil analysis results from this motor, if I was crazy enough to run a petroleum oil I'd be changing it every 2500 miles ....I'd use a 10w-30, Group II basestock with perhaps 100-150 ppm of moly in it ....
TooSlick
Hi, I have a 01 corolla and have been running Mobil 1 and now Amsoil (0w-30). I change the oil between 5-7K miles. I don't think my engine is a sludge problem, but it sounds like other Toyota engines are prone to this. Toyota better get there act together with this problem and stop denying it and blaming it on the consumer. I am very happy witht the Amsoil 0w-30. I havnt done analysis but I did pick up a few HP. Great oil.
quote:The oil gelling or sludging was in the 1997-2002 Toyota & Lexus vehicles with the 3.0 liter IMZ V-6 and 1997-2001 vehicles with the discontinued 5SFE 2.2L 4-cylinder. Ken
Originally posted by kreativ: There's been talk of oil gelling issues with the '9x-'02 Toyota V6 engine. Of the manufacturer recommended conventional oil weights of 5W-30 and 10W-30, would one of them be less likely to cause this problem?
If you own this engine, as I do, also recall that it is designed to use 91 octane fuel. Using lower levels can exacerbate the problem, through higher cylinder head temps and poorer exhaust gas profiles.
I purchased an '02 a couple months before they made a slight modification to reduce the chance of sludging in these engines. I would've waited if I had known.
But anyways, Toyota is providing an 8 year/unlimited mile warranty against oil sludging in these engines.
Initially, I dismissed the reports, as the people who were able to take the story public were saying things like "I took my car every 7500 miles to Jiffy Lube for an oil change." But then, Hondas seem to be able to take possibly crap oil filters and wrong weight oil without the same problem.
quote:The one in the Camry still has 87 octane being the one recommended. The one in the Lexus ES (same engine except with VVT-i) has 91 octane being the one recommended. The compression ratio is the same though (10.5:1), so I haven't been able to understand why the Camry V6 and the ES would require different octane gasoline.
If you own this engine, as I do, also recall that it is designed to use 91 octane fuel. Using lower levels can exacerbate the problem, through higher cylinder head temps and poorer exhaust gas profiles.
Thanks for the feedback. Looks like full synthetic is the way to go. Mobil 1 is easy enough to obtain.
For a warm weather climate, low mileage, and frequent short trips, which weight Mobil1 should I be using? (5w30/10w30 dino is the manufacturer recommended oil)
Actually, a good quality blend also can do the 7500 mile drains as well and at a fraction of the cost. David (admin on this board) has this engine as well and has not had any problems running the Schaeffers blends at these mileages. Also, it is not necessary to use an engine cleaner to keep this engine from sludging provided you do use a quality oil and verify the condition with oil analysis.
Here is some more information on selecting a good oil using information provided by third party tests not normally available by most oil company tech sheets which really helps to see how an oil actually holds up.
Recommendations On How To Look For a High Shear and Sludge Resistant Oil
[ November 23, 2002, 11:12 PM: Message edited by: BOBISTHEOILGUY ]
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Chris,
Moly is an effective friction modifier and I figure every little bit helps in this engine. There isn't some big secret here ....
I have to be honest, I'd go full synthetic given the analysis results I've seen. I am going to try the Amsoil Series 3000 and 10w-40, CI-4/SL rated diesel synthetics next in this motor and see if I can get 10,000-12,000 mile oil changes. But I'm not hopeful ....
Kreativ,
I hope I didn't go overboard on this Toyota engine issue ...The engine is very smooth and makes lots of power, you just have to do more frequent oil/filter changes. Toyota also makes an excellent automatic transmission and very reliable electronics ....
You live in a hot climate, so run the Mobil 1, 10w-30 ...it should be their most shear stable formulation, since it uses a thicker basestock than the 0w-30/5w-30.
TooSlick
[QUOTE]Originally posted by TooSlick:
[QB]Kreativ,
I hope I didn't go overboard on this Toyota engine issue ...The engine is very smooth and makes lots of power, you just have to do more frequent oil/filter changes. Toyota also makes an excellent automatic transmission and very reliable electronics ....
These engines are almost perfect if they are serviced as needed. There are almost no head
gasket problems with them due to the all aluminum
design, and the wear rates shown here are quite low, so they should be long lived.
They are just not very kind to their oil, and it therefore needs to be changed more often than what is typical.
Your careful experiments that you and others have posted here have been helpful. Thanks!
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