seen on another board: sludge death of 2003 toyota engine

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The guy is pinching pennies the wrong way. If I buy a used car, I am going too change the oil within the first thousand miles, unless it looks like it was just changed. Also, I like to see if a name brand of filter was used.

So lets see, the guy says $30 for an oil change is wasted money. That would be about $150 for the time he owned the car. Now he needs $4500 for a rebuilt. Is that penny wise/dollar foolish or what? I'm sure he is NOT a member of this forum, he's not smart enough.
 
You can tell a lot about an engine by simply pulling the dipstick and looking under the oil fill, as well as checking other fluid levels etc. I wouldn't even think of signing on the dotted line without looking myself. But I guess someone who'd go 12,000 miles between oil changes after he bought the car wouldn't have enough sense to check a car over before he bought it.
dunno.gif
 
I liked the I don't think a belt tensioner is a leave you on the side of the road stranded comment he made at the end. I don’t think that he should be owning and maintaining a car if he doesn’t think the ability to charge his battery, run his water pump, steer his car, and cool his cabin are non essentials.
 
a fool and his money.

When I buy used, I assume that the car is right at the next service interval, change all fluids, and check hoses/belts/brakes etc.

Assuming it's JUST been serviced is plain silliness.
 
I'm not sure this situation is fairly characterized as a "sludge death" at all. Sure, sludge was probably the immediate cause of the engine failure, but I'd be more inclined to call it an "onwer stupidity induced failure."
 
quote:
Originally posted by Drew99GT:
You can tell a lot about an engine by simply pulling the dipstick and looking under the oil fill, as well as checking other fluid levels etc. I wouldn't even think of signing on the dotted line without looking myself. But I guess someone who'd go 12,000 miles between oil changes after he bought the car wouldn't have enough sense to check a car over before he bought it.
dunno.gif

Click to expand...
funny story:

went for a test drive of a used truck at a local dealership. clean, inexpensive, my friend was interested. ask to take it for a test drive, they give us the keys. we pop the hood and look at the dipstick...it is covered in grainy rusty lookng grunge, and low to boot.

we drove the truck, it ran fine (friend made sure to beat it a little on the way out of the dealership). took it back and said thanks but no thanks...

why would the dealership try to sell a used vehicle without even bothering to check the oil? or did they not care? maybe they were hoping either an idiot would buy it, or no one would buy it and it would go to auction...dunno...crazy...


I agree with elpolk, that this doesn't necessarily sound like sludge being the primary cause of death, instead simply abused to death, perhaps the engine was really worked over for the first 50,000 miles without regular oil changes, poor lubrication, everything heating up and wearing terribly. And then add on another oil change intervals with extended drains (probably on dino) on an already abused engine...snap, whoops, sorry.
 
That guys mistake was to go from 54k to 66k without an oil change, or at the least, no filter change, and not knowing what was in the crankcase to start with. Even the best Mobil-1 or Amsoil would be iffy at that mileage without knowing the history of the car.

I dont think sludge killed this engine, but I think the oil broke down, or failed. Theres only so much you can gather from their posts. I dont think there are any "sludge monster" engines these days, with the level of sophistication of the current oils, and with the highly refine engines of today that run hotter/cleaner.

But the guy seems happy now. Lets hope he maintains it well if he ever trades it, or, he can drive it without ever changing his oil again if he is to going to drive it till it quits, and then park it in his back yard for his kids to use as a playhouse. Its his choice. He did have the foresight to buy the extended maintenance, for what it helped him.
 
"i wish there was a way to teach common sense."

There is, it's called a good education at school and parents talking to their kids at home. If you have good common sense, it was given to you by caring teachers and parents.
We have watered our education system down to the point where it doesn't work very well for a lot of students and our national rate of divorce and broken homes doesn't allow the nurturing of children. It's Sad !!
A good teacher is worth $2mil/yr., not a baseball or hockey player. The whole value system is Bass-ackwards.
Jessica Simpson/Britnay Spears gets $millions and our teachers get $35k .. give me a break !! We, as a people/nation, will pay the price for our folly.

P.B. (sorry for the rant)
 
You know, my father in law, who was actually a mechanic by trade and when in the Army, never changed the oil in his older Pontiac, SB V8. Why? I just don't know, but it never developed any problems. Funny how things just never happen to some and a lot to others.
 
quote:
Originally posted by mcrn:
i wish there was a way to teach common sense.
Click to expand...
It does sound like this guy did learn the lesson. Now whether he'll apply it in the future, we'll probably never know. Painful experiences like this one, which of course happen in an almost limitless range of guises, have a funny way of boosting the "victim's" common sense. Unless they're really just stupid. And there are a few of those out there. . .
 
I guess that Corolla is in a warm climate. I worked in a Pontiac service dept and an 89 Grand Am 2.3 Quad 4 came in with a siezed engine. The airhead that bought it drove 26K without a thought about changing the oil. The weather turned cold, the oil turned to pudding (Literally....we scooped it out of the oilpan with a spoon) and it committed suicide in her driveway when she cranked it up. What is wrong with people? Aren't oil changes and basic maintenance an important part of American culture? I can't believe that anyone who hasn't had her head in the sand for 20 years doesn't see or hear of other people having basic maintenance performed.

And get this...GM WARRANTIED THE ENGINE. I had the fun job of finding a place to store her 250 lb paperweight until GM could send someone to inspect it and authorize its disposal.
 
What the world needs is fathers.... Fathers who teach their sons and daughters these things. (At the risk of sounding non-PC, but aren't we 99.999% male here on this board?) Fathers and grandfathers, step up!
 
So many people get away with automotive neglect that I fear it is the norm now. Leaseing and Detroits heavy incentives make it too easy to drive the snot out of a vechile with little in the line of maintence then trade in! It is preety hard to completely kill a car or truck in 3 years with at least an anaul oil change of the cheapest oil. Now the next owner gets to pay for the lack of maintence!Most vechiles that are not serviced by the owner are often low on oil. I find tht this is especialy the case on any vechile with a long OCI or that stupid GM OLM system. Most people will simply drive until their oil level indicator kicks on or the engine makes unusal noises for a few weeks!
 
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