So for my first thread... an oil abuse story

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Evening gentlemen.

I'm a little bored tonight so I decided to stop lurking the UOA forum and post a story about my mothers Camry.

Relevant specs/info:

-1998 Toyota Camry XLE
-1MZ-FE V6 engine / auto tranny.
-150,000 miles @ story start. 175,000 currently.
-Daily commute includes rough and dusty dirt roads before a half hour on the highway then a half hour in town. Obviosuly reversed on the drive home.

So last autum/winter (do we have winters in AZ?) I get a visit from my Mom and we get on the topic of how her car is doing. She is not satisfied with how it's holding up and what noises it is making. I ask her what's up and eventually get to hear it. Turns out it's got rod knock for 30-45 seconds on cold starts and occasional bursts of clatter on the highway/in town. The oil pressure light wasn't on so I was a bit confused. I looked in the log book and noticed two OCIs in the 2x,000mi region and it had been 4x,000mi on the current oil. I took over the maintenance at that point. She informed me it had been knocking for a couple months. *facepalm*

As many of you know the 1MZ-FE is known for it's propensity to sludge oil. The next day I dropped the old oil (Castrol GTX 10w-30) out and it was pitch black, sticky and had nasty, gritty chunks with peanut butter consistency goop. I let it drain overnight despite the engine being hot when I pulled the plug. I figured the oil passages and possibly the pickup screen were clogged with [censored] and I assumed the engine would start knocking all the time soon. Being presented with what seemed to be a flow issue I opted for the thinnest oil I could find: Mobil 1 0w-20. Dropped that in with a new filter and grabbed an automotive stethescope then had her start the engine. With one ear out in the open and one plugged with the stethescope the engine didn't sound happy initially. After a few seconds though all went quiet. No weird noises, no sounds coming through the block. I was pretty surprised.

I have not had any analysis done on the oil; just a 5k mi OCI, warming the engine before driving in the morning and crossed fingers. So far so good though! I am really very surprised it is all in one piece, starting reliably and getting decent mileage. Tomorrow I am doing a change that's ran a bit over at 6,600 mi. The oil change following the switch to Mobil gave really very dark oil with a rough feeling. The latest changes have looked and felt normal.

I wish I could have sent in a sample of that 4x,000mi oil. Comment welcome :)
 
Wow, pull the valve cover and take some pics!
Those things sludge with 7k on synth oil, would love to see what 40k on dino looks like. Just goes to show how durable engines really are. We all freak about changes, and oil types, and additive this/that....this car has had three oil changes in 80k and is still running. For 90% of everyone out there, that would have been the life of the vehicle.
 
I would but I am currently without a garage, without tools and without time. I have ot use a friends house for oil changes as it is. If I had the resources I would have dropped the pan on the spot 25k ago to see what was in there.
 
Funny you should mention that. I have no idea what the maintenance was like for the first 75k. Mom's the second owner.
 
Originally Posted By: Epic_
Funny you should mention that. I have no idea what the maintenance was like for the first 75k. Mom's the second owner.


I'm glad though that it sounding great. I would recommend some dino oil and Auto RX...Do some major sludge/varnish clean up.
 
The thought of aggressive cleaning has crossed my mind but I decided that since it seems to be running fine with what I'm doing I'd rather not risk possible side affects of harder, short duration cleaning. I'll let the oil do it's work.
 
If you're not going to run Auto RX or any sort of a flush. Run PP or M1 HM on the next OCI's. At least the add packs in those should be better than just AFE M1.
 
I would prefer to stay with a thinner oil since I have no idea if the original issues will return. I know there is typically only a very small viscosity change between 0w and 5w but what I am doing currently seems to be working sufficiently well.

Additionally, I have 10 quarts of the 0w20 sitting here. :)
 
Originally Posted By: Ursae_Majoris
Add some MMO before the next oil change as a gentler alternative to Auto RX


There is no such thing as a gentler alternative to Auto RX.
 
Also remember to be changing the air filter sooner than the normal recommended intervals as traveling frequently on dusty roads is a severe usage condition.
 
Why would you feel the need to run a 0w oil in a car that is not spec'd for it and in that Arizona climate?

Mobil 1 HM comes in 5w-30 and 10w-30 and 40. I agree that the strong detergent add pack in that oil would probably benefit you.
 
Originally Posted By: Epic_
I would prefer to stay with a thinner oil since I have no idea if the original issues will return. I know there is typically only a very small viscosity change between 0w and 5w but what I am doing currently seems to be working sufficiently well.

Additionally, I have 10 quarts of the 0w20 sitting here. :)


I like your game plan. I would however add some MMO, about 1 pint 500 miles before your next OC. Nothing drastic, and then at the following OC repeat only this time leave it 1000 miles. I feel you need a little more than just a thin oil to really clean things up. A pint of MMO is not going to take the thin oil out of grade, and it will really help to clean things up. Best of all it will do it slowly. JMO I've had tremendous success with it over the years.

AD
 
Originally Posted By: pzev
Wow, pull the valve cover and take some pics!
Those things sludge with 7k on synth oil, would love to see what 40k on dino looks like. Just goes to show how durable engines really are. We all freak about changes, and oil types, and additive this/that....this car has had three oil changes in 80k and is still running. For 90% of everyone out there, that would have been the life of the vehicle.


That 1MZ-FE is on borrowed time bro. But at least pull a valve cover,and see how bad it looks. might want to pull the oil pan,and make sure the oil pick up is not getting clogged.(sorry I didnt read your second post before I wrote this)Maybe you can do RX treatments back to back,and pulling the valve cover is pretty easy.
 
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Is the log book definitely accurate on those long OCIs? And did I understand correctly, that there were OCIs in the 40+k mile and 20+k mile range (I want to make sure I understand that "x" abbrev. your using).

Sounds like your plan is working. Good luck!
 
I've observed noticeable cleaning with M1 5w20, so it doesn't surprise me that the 0w20 cleans as well. I imagine the process is quite gentle and I think the route you have taken is a good one.

Have you considered cutting open a filter to see what is being removed from the engine?
 
I will consider using a cleaning product down the road and maybe try a different oil when this is all used up.

Eric you understand correctly.

Overk1ll possibly at a later date.

Originally Posted By: ZZman
Why would you feel the need to run a 0w oil in a car that is not spec'd for it and in that Arizona climate?

Mobil 1 HM comes in 5w-30 and 10w-30 and 40. I agree that the strong detergent add pack in that oil would probably benefit you.


The situated as it was presented to me lead me to believe the engine had/has flow related issue. I do not consider this engine "in spec".

I have enjoyed your comments though to be honest I was hoping for a bit more activity in this thread :)
 
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Oil came out a dark but smooth amber. Unfortunately it knocked a bit on startup; something it hasn't done on previous changes. Guess we'll see what happens :X
 
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