My mom has a 2004 Rav4 with a 2AZ-FE that calls for 5w30. Has this been back speced to use 20 weight oil? My sister has a 2010 Scion Xb with the same engine that calls for 5w20 and/or 0w20. Have these engines changed any between the two vehicles over the years? Are these engines known sludgers? Thanks and looking forward to any insight on this engine.
Toyota 2AZ-FE
- Thread starter iunderpressure
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It's not a sludger.
2AZ-FE is definitely NOT A SLUDGER!!!
Any decent 5W30/5W20 will do just fine.
Q.
Not a sludger. Has been back specd by Toyota to run 5-20 and 0-20. IIRC in 2006 the oil capacity went up a half quart. I'm not sure if it's a different pan, or if it's just a differently marked dipstick. I know that sounds odd, but that's what Toy did on the 1.8's around the same time.
Although the engine codes remain the same, the engines are actually slightly different from year to year and even model to model.
I have it in my wife's 06 Scion tC and know that although the engine code stayed the same, the engine improved in 07, 08, etc.
I'd personally stay with 5w30 during the summer and run 5w20 during the winter for faster oil flow.
I bought one sludged so yes they can, any car can if you dont take care of it. Took 3 OC's to clean the engine up. After reading hundreds of posts on here recommending thin I tried M1 0w20. Ran fine, same as 5w30....BUT...leaked from the valve cover and the oil pan within a few thousand miles where no leaks were present before. This car has bad valve seals too I guess. Because it threw a huge white cloud starting on 0w20 that I did not notice on 5w30. So..If your engines in good running order it should be fine but you wont notice any difference, if there are mechanical problems like tired old gaskets and seals you will find out soon enough.
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
I bought one sludged so yes they can, any car can if you dont take care of it. Took 3 OC's to clean the engine up. After reading hundreds of posts on here recommending thin I tried M1 0w20. Ran fine, same as 5w30....BUT...leaked from the valve cover and the oil pan within a few thousand miles where no leaks were present before. This car has bad valve seals too I guess. Because it threw a huge white cloud starting on 0w20 that I did not notice on 5w30. So..If your engines in good running order it should be fine but you wont notice any difference, if there are mechanical problems like tired old gaskets and seals you will find out soon enough.
Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
I bought one sludged so yes they can, any car can if you dont take care of it. Took 3 OC's to clean the engine up. After reading hundreds of posts on here recommending thin I tried M1 0w20. Ran fine, same as 5w30....BUT...leaked from the valve cover and the oil pan within a few thousand miles where no leaks were present before. This car has bad valve seals too I guess. Because it threw a huge white cloud starting on 0w20 that I did not notice on 5w30. So..If your engines in good running order it should be fine but you wont notice any difference, if there are mechanical problems like tired old gaskets and seals you will find out soon enough.
Is the car easy or hard on oil? I thought I remembered it being hard on oil.
Its harder on oil but that's partly/mostly due to its usage. Shorts trips all day long. Never really warms up. I change it every 6 months, June/Dec roughly 6-7k. I'm always tempted to change it before that because of dark color starting at about 3k.
On my '08 Camry, Toyota recommmends 0W-20/5W-20 but I've used 5W-30 with confidence. I believe Toyota recommends the 0W/5W-20 primarily for CAFE.
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OK, here's the deal: even the best designed/executed engines will sludge up if the owner refused to maintain it properly (i.e. regular yet conservative OCI, tune up, replacing PCV valves, etc.)
Yes, I have come across at least a couple of sludged up 2AZ-FEs while shopping for a camry: owners played coy when I questioned about their OCI, what they used, where to go for quikkie oil change, how often they change their oil, etc. engines only had approx. 120k on them at that time but I can tell by the exhaust tailpipe that it's "done" for.
There's a cause and a consequence to it. in the case of 2AZFE: the consequence of "sludging" which causes the engine to smoke is known; and the cause of it is evident.
Before you buy into a "consequence", always spend some time investigating for the "cause".
Q.
You'd have to do some serious neglect to kill the 2AZ-FE. The one in my 06 Scion tC is modified and gets abused daily, bouncing off the rev limiter in every gear, spinning the tires. 80,000 miles of this and absolutely zero issues. Still on the stock spark plugs, PCV valve, accessory belt, etc etc. Haven't touched a thing, only oil changes every 3-5k.
When shopping for a used car, i personally avoid all and ANY signs of neglect. If the engine hasn't been maintained, neither was anything else like the brakes, other fluids, and the way it was driven and treated in general.
I'd rather pay a few grand more but buy a car that was babied and driven normally. I keep my cars for many years so it's important to buy one that was taken care off and will remain that way in my hands.
I maintain a proper regimen of servicing/replacing PCV valves and conservative OCIs on the fleet of vehicles I actively maintain, and together they add up to over 1.3million kms to clock. All of them pass local annual emissions testing and no oil burning issue whatsoever.
So, how difficult is it to maintain an automobile properly?
Q.
Originally Posted By: Quest
I can tell by the exhaust tailpipe that it's "done" for.
Anyone else have bad valve seals? Puff of blue smoke in the morning?
No smoke here.. I bought the Highlander with 75K on it in 2008 and now it is close to 126K. Of course I have changed all the fluids, PCV, Plugs, Serp Belt, etc. I also just recently had to "fix" the Climate control dial by soldering new wires to the ciruit board. It has been a SOLID family "car" and I hope to keep it till the wheels fall off. I change the oil every 6 mos or 4-5k miles with conventional 5w30. I also have done several runs of syn, but could not tell the difference.
It has a sooty tailpipe, but my Focus does not. Strange indeed.
Originally Posted By: iunderpressure
My mom has a 2004 Rav4 with a 2AZ-FE that calls for 5w30. Has this been back speced to use 20 weight oil? My sister has a 2010 Scion Xb with the same engine that calls for 5w20 and/or 0w20. Have these engines changed any between the two vehicles over the years? Are these engines known sludgers? Thanks and looking forward to any insight on this engine.
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Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Originally Posted By: Quest
I can tell by the exhaust tailpipe that it's "done" for.
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