toyota sludging

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I'm looking for a reliable work car to put many highway miles on (four cyinder).

My question is what would be a good choice? I was thinking toyota corolla but I"m not sure which toyota engines have the dredded sludging problems i heard about? i only have a few grand to spend.
 
If you can't buy a new car, I highly recommend a used Nissan vehicle.

A low mileage Nissan Sentra would be a good bet. My Sentra lasted me about 150k miles before I got sick of it and gave it to my brother who drove it for 4 years (100 mile daily commute for him) until he inherited a Nissan Altima from my parents. The Sentra got its first check engine light at 225,000 miles-not bad.
 
Are you wanting an automatic or stick? I have a 93 Nissan Sentra with an automatic. It is good on the highway due to having a 4 speed transmission and a peppy engine. But for economy, a stick would be much better. Have a feeling if you get a Toyota, you will need to get an early 90's model for the money you have. I don't think they had the sludge problem until late 90's or so with some Toyota engines. My Sentra overall has been pretty good. When I was a monk we had a '89 Camry wagon with a stick. Great car! I heard someone with that model call Car Talk with over 500,000 miles on the original engine. For highway driving an older Camry may be a more comfortable and I have seen them for $2,000.
 
It's the V6's that were a problem. Oil did ot stand up to the manufacturer reccommended OCI (7500mi).

Otherwise any well maintained car of any make should do just fine. Pick what you actually like. No need to stick with something dull.
 
I've got a 79 Toyota pickup with the 20R engine. I've heard other people mention sludge problems but mine has about 170,000 miles on it and I see absolutely no evidence of sludge problems. I use mostly Castrol oil. Truck still runs like new.
 
V6's (maybe 1 or two V8's but that was owner maint. IMHO) sludged

Toyota 4's are da bomb...in a good way, but as with any engine good maintenance is the key.
 
quote:

Originally posted by mormit:
It's the V6's that were a problem. Oil did ot stand up to the manufacturer reccommended OCI (7500mi).

Otherwise any well maintained car of any make should do just fine. Pick what you actually like. No need to stick with something dull.


It is true that the 1MZ-FE V-6, in it's earlier incarnations, was the prime Toyota sludge culprit. Manufacturer upgrades apparently eliminated the problem starting arount the beginning of the 2002 MY.

Unfortunately for Toyota, the 5S-FE I-4 engine also had a sludge vulnerability, although not as severe as the 1MZ. The 5S-FE is the four found primarily in the 4th generation Camry (97-01 models). Toyota discontinued this engine at the end of the 2001 MY.

I recommend a tad bit of caution if you're looking at an I-4 Camry from the 97-01 years. They are superb cars, but do check for abuse since they too will sludge quickly if pushed just a little too far.
 
I just wanted to reiterate that no Corolla engines had a sludge problem. This was only with V6 engines used primarily in the Camry and Sienna lines.

It should be mentioned that if you were religious about maintaining your engine as most people on this website are you would not have a sludge problem even with these engines.
 
quote:

Originally posted by slalom44:
I just wanted to reiterate that no Corolla engines had a sludge problem.

The above statement is totally correct.

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quote:

Originally posted by slalom44:
This was only with V6 engines used primarily in the Camry and Sienna lines.

Respectfully, this statement is incorrect. The I-4 engine (5S-FE) noted in my last post was seriously sludge prone too, although not as bad as the 1MZ V-6. I myself have seen a 1997 model 5S-FE with its head exposed and blanketed in dark brown, almost black, goo. This was NOT just a V-6 problem.


================================
quote:

Originally posted by slalom44:
It should be mentioned that if you were religious about maintaining your engine as most people on this website are you would not have a sludge problem even with these engines.

This statement is totally correct. Neither the V-6 nor the I-4 that were afflicted with sludge vulnerability were/are bad engines. It's just that because the engineers designed in too little margin for error, they would dirty themselves much more quickly than "normal" if not rigorously maintained.
 
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