Prevent Avalon from re-sludging?

[skipwoods]

I'm another newbie to BITOG and hope you guys can help. My 2001 Avalon just came out of the T dealer after being treated for the oil sludge problem; symptoms were blue smoke and burning 1 qt every 2000 miles, starting at about 60,000 miles. I bought the car from Toyota in Aug 2004 with 49,000 miles; I live in Las Vegas. There was 1 previous owner in southern california. I changed the oil (conventional) every 3000 miles; currently has 63,000 miles.

The dealer said that oil was gelling and engine was burning oil due to leaking valve seals. After cleaning out the sludge, they replaced the valve seals and the pickup tube.
I asked the dealer what I could do to prevent sludging in the future. He said change the oil every 5000 miles. I Asked about switching to synthetic oil, and dealer said he doesn't recommend it for any car beyond 15,000 miles because of greater chances for oil leaks. He did say synthetic blend would be ok.

From reading this forum and others, it seems like this engine is prone to high temps and oil sludging with conventional oil. Is synthetic oil the best preventive measure? Is synthetic blend a cost effective option?

Thanks, Skip

 

[Throckmorton]

I'm also a newb and don't claim to be an expert.

Synthetic should definitely be less susceptible to sludging. It shouldn't harm or damage your seals either, so I wouldn't worry about using synthetic.

Most synthetic blends are typically a rip off though because they have very little synthetic oil in them. Nonetheless, prices for synthetic blends are coming down. I saw a 5 qt jug of 5W-20 Motorcraft synthetic blend for less than $10 last time I was there.

 

[Rand]

I would probably use something like Pennzoil Platinum (10w30?)available from walmart for less than 19$ per 5qt jug

 

[JAG]

Since you are in Las Vegas, use 10w30 from Mobil 1, Castrol Syntec, or Pennzoil Platinum (PP) and change oil every 4k miles or 1 year (whichever comes first). PP is probabl the cheapest of the three. It may be slight overkill to do it every 4k miles but it's better to be on the safe side than try to save some pennies by extending the oil change interval to 5k miles.

 

[westex39]

I put Mobil 1 5w30 in a Toyota Tacoma with over 88000 miles and I had no trouble with leaks or oil burning.

 

[Quest]

To deal with a sludged engine: run 2 rounds of AutoRx (see our sponsors in BITOG home page), following through the instructions outlined.

Then, switch over to synthetics such as Pennzoil Platinum, Mobil 1, Castrol Syntec, etc. You shall be able to do 8000miles easily.

Lastly, with regards to your oil burning issue, suspect that the car was previously neglected. Your dealer is only giving you the 1/2 truth even though they managed to serviced your engine and replaced the valve seals. Instruct them to replace your PCV valve also (make sure it's been replaced with a new one).

Good luck!

 

[The Critic]

I think conventional oil will be fine in that engine if you changed it every 5000 miles. I know of many, many Toyota 1MZ-FE engines with oil changes every 5000 miles that have well over 100k on them.

I really doubt YOU were the cause of the sludge problems. It sounds like the PREVIOUS owner was not keeping up with the oil changes, hence leaving you with the problem.

 

[427Z06]

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It sounds like the PREVIOUS owner was not keeping up with the oil changes, hence leaving you with the problem.

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I agree. You were ripped off when you bought the car used, as it was probably already "gelled up". Highly unlikely your 3,000 mile oil changes lead to a "oil gelled" engine.

Insure the PCV valve was replaced and the system is operating correctly. Research and see if any TSB have been issued on the vehicle. I hope they didn't charge you to "ungell the engine". I believe Toyota has some kind of warranty extension program you may want to look into.

2 rounds of AutoRx is probably a good idea too.

 

[fpny]

I bought a 1996 Toyota Avalon with the same 1MZ-FE V6 engine back in April this year. It had 125K on it when I bought it. I drove it for about 2 months and the car seems to run fairly well. After I put 2000 miles on it, I decided to do 2 Auto-rx clean and rinse cycles on the Avalon since I don't have any maintenance records on the car and it is way over a 100K. I finished the 2 arx cycles in September and now I have close to 137K on the Avalon. It had been running very well and I had Castrol GTX High Mileage 5w30 oil in the engine now for the winter. I averaged about 25mpg +/- 2mpg depending on the season (25-27mpg in the warmer days and 23-25mpg in colder weather). My OCI on this car is 5-6K or every 6 months. I used both dino and High Mileage oil on this car so far and I am going to try either semi-synthetic or full snythetic on the next oil change. Once in a while I still see some white smoke/steam coming out of the exhaust when the air temperature is low. Other than that , the car run very well and I enjoy driving it.

 

[dave1251]

Redline 5W-20. This would be my suggestion with an 5-7K OCI after an UOA and after a Auto-RX treatment.

 

[TR3-2001SE]

I guess everyone has a different idea on sludging. For me I would definitely use a synthetic oil. The best oil in my opinion would be Mobil 1 0w-40. It has the highest flash point of all the mobil 1 oils including the EP stuff.
5000-6000 would be as far as I would go with this engine history. Good luck.

 

[fpny]

I would like to replace the PCV valve on my 96 Avalon, I dug through the owner manual and can't find any information as where it is and how to replace it. Can anyone give me an idea of wher I can find it on the engine, check it and replace it on a 96 Avalon? Thanks in advance.

 

[Geoff]

Air filter too. The entire system needs to be balanced.

 

[JustinC25]

Quote:

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I would like to replace the PCV valve on my 96 Avalon, I dug through the owner manual and can't find any information as where it is and how to replace it. Can anyone give me an idea of wher I can find it on the engine, check it and replace it on a 96 Avalon? Thanks in advance.

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It should be in the same place as all the other 1MZ-FE engines. It will be on the passenger side of the rear head valve cover. Just pull the hose off, and pull out the old valve. Install the new valve, and reinstall the hose.

As far as sludging goes, I work at a toyota dealer and have seen many sludge motors. My grandmothers 1994 Camry with the 1MZ-FE has over 225k on it, with no sludge what so ever.
I have given it 3k oci's with Castrol GTX since new.
Never a problem, but I have also seen cars come in that had regular 5k oci's with the sludge issue. (With maintenence records) So my recomendation would be 3k oci's with dino and you'll be fine. Synthetic couldn't hurt either.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[GeorgeCLS]

Some Toyota engines were plagued with sludging due to a head re-design which routed the top end oil too near the combusion chamber, causing mineral based oils to severely oxidize. By products are sludge, accelerated yellow metal wear (spelled main/connecting rod bearings). With full synthetics greater resistance to oxidation (cooking), and frequent oil drain intervals, problem will no longer exist.

 

[MADMIKE]

George--do you agree with Justin that 3,000 mile dino OCI's should be sufficient to prevent sludging? (with synthetics getting ridiculously expensive I'd rather do shorter OCI's with dino rather than longer OCI's with synthetics)

 

[oily boyd]

My $.02,

All good ideas here, many ways to skin this cat.

Do a Dyson used oil analysis every 6 months or year; then there will be no doubt in your mind.

He will interpret the analysis and can guide you toward extending/shortening intervals or steer you to a better oil. He owns/owned an Avalon, so he knows them well.

 

[Mokanic]

As a Toyota tech. I would definitely advise 3K oil changes if you run dino. I have seen many of these engines go over 200K without problems at this interval.

 

[MADMIKE]

Thanks Mokanic---I think I'll also replace the PCV valve even though the original valve still clicks freely when shaken.

 

[norseman]

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I agree. You were ripped off when you bought the car used, as it was probably already "gelled up". Highly unlikely your 3,000 mile oil changes lead to a "oil gelled" engine.

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Just sounds like a typical Toyota to me