Opened up valve cover on 185,000 mile '96 Toyota Avalon sludge monster V6

[Thermactor]

I bought a '96 Toyota Avalon a couple weeks ago for $2,800 with 184,800 miles. It had no maintenance record, no service history, nothing. The oil had been changed a month before I bought the car though, and the engine seems to pull strong - and it passed smog easily when I tested it. Still, I've been afraid of the 1MZ-FE engine being a big ole bloody sludge beast, and ordered 4 bottles of Auto-RX. I figured that I'll need all the cleaning I can get!

In the meantime, I decided to open up the valve cover to replace the leaky valve cover gasket and get an idea of what I'm up against. The result was surprising. 185,000 miles on the sludger, remember!

Oh wow.

Buttoned her back up last night and took another picture for the heck of it.

How can I tell if this is the original engine? Does the serial number of the engine need to match up with the VIN number?

 

[Quest]

Yes, serial number on the engine shall match up with the VIN.

When in doubt, always write down the engine number and the VIN number and approach a friendly stealershiip counterperson for help. He shall be able to cross-reference or tell you if yours is the original engine.

If this is so, congrats! That is what I expect to see off of any so-called "sludger" Toyotas served with conservative OCI scheme.

You may run 2 runs of AutoRx and keep the rest 2 for your friends or use it in your AT trannie.

 

[Thermactor]

Well, the number on the engine is 5112736 and the vin number is 4T1BF12B4TU083498. Heh, guess it's as original as Rocky 6.

 

[sxg6]

Really doesn't look bad to me considering the mileage

 

[mburnickas]

My Lexus was the same way. Got some pix on this forum (about 6 months ago). WAS using Amsoil for over 10K drains..

I still do not get the sludge issue? It is so small unless people go 4 years on dino.

Some tips, clean the EGR, IVAC and TB. The TB WILL be caked with junk.

Also be sure to changed the PVC about every 15K miles. The EGR sys is WAY overactive on this car. It plugs up the EGR and TB etc becuase of this.

Oh, the valve cover seals on this engine model suck. They all leak in due time; these engines sooner then others.