REZ SOLARA's sludgy V6

[Rez Solara]

I bought the car with 98k for $5,000. It wasn't in very good shape on the exterior. Right away I replaced both front and rear damaged bumpers, straightened the hood, replaced the radiator latch support, painted the grill black, repainted the side mirrors, touch-ups everywhere, a %35 tint, restored the headlights, and then clay barred and waxed the p*ss out of it until I was satisfied with the shine.

Next, I installed by myself an Alpine head unit to connect my iPhone, hushmat everywhere, and two 12" Kicker subs.

Mechanically things were not the best but when you really want a car it's hard to let it go to someone else. I bought the car knowing it had a rear main seal leak, a broken tie rod, and bad brakes. Right away I took it in to fix the tie rod and alignment, but I replaced the rotors and brake pads myself. The leak wasn't really that bad, so I tolerated it for a year and a half until...

...At 130,000 the CEL came on while I was accelerating onto the interstate. Cylinder 1, and 2 misfire caused by bad plugs. I was just getting ready to take the Solara on a 3,000 mile roundtrip to the coast. So it was time for a tune-up, and I really just wanted to have done about every bit of preventative maintenance possible so that I could put my trust in the engine for my occasional long trips, and eventually boost it...

Not wanting to leave my car with just any import repair shop and also being pressed for time, I authorized this work at my local Toyota dealership:
-Timing belt & drive belts
-Rear Main Seal
-New clutch
-Replace valve gaskets
-New spark plugs
-Spark plug wires
+ flush & fill all the old fluids
= a total of $2,000 in parts in labor.
Luckily, I had earned an extra scholarship of $1,500 for that semester and had been saving for a new clutch and rear main job. I figured since I hadn't had the chance to spend the scholarship on anything else yet or even let it sit in the bank tempting me I wouldn't miss it, and would rather have a reliable Solara then anything else.
Mind, I don't have my own garage, the tools, the time, or enough experience to do something like the timing belt or clutch alone.

My mechanic got started lifting the vavle covers and here is where my dreams of boosting this dirty 1mz became even more out of reach


The guys at the dealership immediately began trying to sell me a used sludge-free 1mz with 100k, and said that they would only charge me $4,000 total. Yeah, right! I said no. What else could a broke student have done? I couldn't afford a tear down and rebuild, or a new engine from them. The mechanic cleaned as much sludge out as he could, and I had them finish the work I authorized. Costly? Yes. Worth it? To be determined.


Hindsight is 20/20. Looking back, I could've done the front valve gasket my effing self, found the sludge, then could've used the 2 grand and bought a engine from GLP Motorsports, and saved me all the trouble and wasted money.


Now I have been driving my sludgy V6 with new plugs, belts, and clutch around for 9,000 miles, or three oil changes. It runs like a champ though!!! Since I bought it at 98k I've been using Mobil-1 full synthetic every 3,000. It is now at 139,000. I know it must've been sludged up from the first owners.


Now everyone I want your opinion should I:

Continue my regular oil change routine, and hope the sludge doesn't get any worse?
Use Seafoam??
Try a lil' transmission fluid in the crankcase?
Or maybe Marvel Mystery Oil??

[kenny6683]

damn thats bad...i am not sure what is right steps for this.
definitely continue oil change but maybe port and polish would be nice

[mig0s]

Actually it doesn't look that bad. It's not the end of the world. I'm pretty sure my engine is as sludged as yours but just keep the regular synthetic oil changes and it's gonna be all good.

[1gSE]

port and polish? thats to increase airflow.

There's some topics from way back in the day. IIRC a can of seafoam in the oil every so often may help

[Rez Solara]

So far I left I've left it alone without adding anything to it. I noticed I burned a lot more oil after everything was put back together, but now it's been smoking less at startup. Definitely not the end of the road for this 1mz.

And so far by searching the forums I gather that those who have battled sludge have done it using Seafoam and also have removed the oil pans and cleaned them up with carb cleaner, and even Dawn.

[Brandoe91]

Dam you have me scared to check under my valve cover. Too bad u saw this after you spent the scholarship money. You could have bought a low mileage jdm 1mz or used 1mz from car-parts.com for under 900.

[kenny6683]

I guess sea foam method then...I thought port and polish was also good for this build up in engine...good to know

[Eye8Pussies]

as you come up to your next oil change, throw a can of seafoam in there and run it for a couple hundred miles, and then do a drain and fill. then run it for a couple thousand, and then do another drain and fill.

taking off your pan to see how clean it is under there isn't a bad idea either.

[Midias]

When you get about 200 from your next change add some seafoam to the oil I think 1/3 of a can. Then when you change the oil dump an extra qt through before you install the drain plug. You will be surprised how much black crap that extra qt pushes through. Do this for the next few oil changes I bet it will help a lot. I did this on a friends tempo motor with bad sludge worked great.

[Rez Solara]

Hi all!

I decided to post an update on the dreadful sludge problem I encountered with my Solara 1mzfe.
I had the car from 98k and drove it until 148k with synthetic oil changes every 3,000 miles. It would smoke occasionally, and that eventually grew worse. I suspect the previous owner neglected the engine oil because when I bought it the oil was black and had a certain smell, it wasn't not the usual oil odor but more pungent, and every oil change I did on it would smell like that.

Finally, my 1mz had a major sludge-attack. The spark plugs kept having build-up on them, and two cylinders wouldn't fire.

SO I dropped everything

It was ghastly



Then I gave her a second chance. Bought a sludge free engine with only 48k

[Solarasian]

Hi all!

I decided to post an update on the dreadful sludge problem I encountered with my Solara 1mzfe.
I had the car from 98k and drove it until 148k with synthetic oil changes every 3,000 miles. It would smoke occasionally, and that eventually grew worse. I suspect the previous owner neglected the engine oil because when I bought it the oil was black and had a certain smell, it wasn't not the usual oil odor but more pungent, and every oil change I did on it would smell like that.

Finally, my 1mz had a major sludge-attack. The spark plugs kept having build-up on them, and two cylinders wouldn't fire.

SO I dropped everything

It was ghastly



Then I gave her a second chance. Bought a sludge free engine with only 48k

GOOOD LORD!!!!! THAT IS SLUDGE AND A HALF!!!! i would have cried when i saw that. that engine has definately seen better days

[DSM_Lara]

That previous owner needs a check up....

[Bostonlara]

O my flippin god that's really bad!! How on earth did not have realized something was wrong

[Rez Solara]

O my flippin god that's really bad!! How on earth did not have realized something was wrong

There were plenty of symptoms I noticed since the first oil change. If I had done my research and had a mechanic look under the valve cover in the first place. I wouldn't have bought the car. Noticed a slight smoke coming out the tailpipe after I signed the papers. The used car dealer blamed it on the valve guides leaking.

Over the 50,000 miles that I drove it with the engine sludge I dealt with it by regular oil changes, and occasionally marvel mystery oil. I changed the spark plugs once at 13X,XXX and saw lots of the build up. When it worsened I lost all power in the engine, could only go under 3k rpms the engine would shake as it misfired and or didn't fire all cylinders. Seafoam at that point only dislodged large sludge pieces and it was only running on 4 pistons. Oh, and with all the extra oil and sludge burning the catalytic converter burned out at 110,000.

[Bostonlara]

O my flippin god that's really bad!! How on earth did not have realized something was wrong

There were plenty of symptoms I noticed since the first oil change. If I had done my research and had a mechanic look under the valve cover in the first place. I wouldn't have bought the car. Noticed a slight smoke coming out the tailpipe after I signed the papers. The used car dealer blamed it on the valve guides leaking.

Over the 50,000 miles that I drove it with the engine sludge I dealt with it by regular oil changes, and occasionally marvel mystery oil. I changed the spark plugs once at 13X,XXX and saw lots of the build up. When it worsened I lost all power in the engine, could only go under 3k rpms the engine would shake as it misfired and or didn't fire all cylinders. Seafoam at that point only dislodged large sludge pieces and it was only running on 4 pistons. Oh, and with all the extra oil and sludge burning the catalytic converter burt out at 110,000.

I was referring to the owner before you, not sure if you thought I was talking you or not