View under valve cover @ 100k miles...

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Shortly after getting Kitacamry I pulled the PCV valve and saw it was gunked up...
pcvb.jpg

I cleaned and reinstalled it with the intent of replacing it 3k miles later at the next oil change when I would pull the valve cover and see the condition of the top of the engine.
The concern was that the gunk on the PCV valve was a sign of worse in the engine...
Welllllll....it's 3k since the last OC (with Pennzoil Yellow Bottle 5w-30) and here's what the engine and valve cover's underside looks like @ 100k miles
camtpss.jpg

vlvcvrins.jpg

Lots of colorful varnishing on the engine, and the beginning of what looks like creosote/sludge building up on rough surfaces inside the cover.
The PCV valve was clean, but a bit oily and was replaced along with the PCV hose...
...cleaned up the worst from inside the cover and put it back on with a fresh fill of Pennzoil Platinum 5w-30 (the 1st synthetic fill for this engine) which will get drained at 5k miles before doing regular 7500 OCIs...
 
PP will clean up the varnish slowly, but don't expect the engine to be spotless; a little varnish is nothing to lose sleep over. I wish my 1MZFE looked halk as good as this.
 
Looks good from what I can see. The varnish is nothing to worry about. The sludgy stuff on the cover looks like nothing but a buildup.

What the story behind the name "Kitacamery"?
 
I'm the 2nd owner @ 97.5k miles...so I guess I got lucky with owner1 taking care of kitacam as best she could...and after changing out the original pcv valve and plugs, changing the PS fluid, flushing the brake lines, and cleaning the throttle body it runs like the finely tuned machine it is...
 
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Originally Posted By: 97f150
Looks good from what I can see. The varnish is nothing to worry about. The sludgy stuff on the cover looks like nothing but a buildup.

What the story behind the name "Kitacamery"?


Kita is my Japanese name...means Joy...and North, both of which I respond to...so Kita's part of everything in my life....
 
Uh yeah varnish on this 2AZ-FE engine is something to be dealt with. He knows that
smile.gif
The piston oil return holes can clog with varnish..which hardens into a solid mass..requiring a tearodown to manually clean..or deal with heavy oil consumption for the remainder of the engines life. Same goes for the vvt-i system. Any sticky varnish or carbon is bad news for the controller. A very expensive fix if it gets hung up. Yellow bottle yellow engine. PP will not solve this entirely, its only an avg cleaner. PU might, cant say yet running it now. Kreen does to some extent. MMO to some extent too. But for now he knows what to do. Go with the PP, hope for the best. Maybe its not on there too bad. Its the aluminum used in late model Toyota engines. Kinda soft, hotspots. High surface temps. A syn will help. Probably why they use it on the new ones.
 
Kita: you are in great shape. PYB did a great job in my opinion. Varnish is nothing to worry about. I used amsoil 5W-30 from day one in our 04 Axiom and it had 95K miles when I sold it. I did a visual inspection under both valve covers just cause I was curious and It looked just like that. I changed the oil every 10K miles.

Have you used PYB 5W-30 since you have had the car? Do you know what type of oil and viscosity the 1st owner used?

If you want? Mix 1 or 2 bottles of PP in next time with the PYB.

Must be some pretty small holes for Varnish to plug up? I never seen one of these engines in person.
 
Owner1 had Curly, moe and larry do their basic oil change and I asked them what oil they used and was told that they use Shell (5w-30 as required)...When she traded up, the dealer used bulk PYB 5w-30, and so I decided to follow that with PP 5w-30....and will continue with that unless there's a problem I don't anticipate...the engine, with PP and new plugs/pcv valve and hose, is running even smoother and quieter than it was before when I thoght it was like showroom new.

I've taken the liberty to copy this photo of the blocked holes in the pistons...from an engine that got syn from the start....

http://www.toyotanation.com/photos/data/500/medium/After_soak_hole_conditions.JPG
 
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