Toyota sludge problem on the news

[facevedo17]

your good a lot of us should have recieved in the mail from toyota that document forgot what is call ....anyways I was reading thru it and it clearly states that the warranty will cover for up to 8 years regardless of milelage for the sludge problem so if you own an 99 I guess that time is up ....as for 00 get it done asap if you beleive ur engine has developed sludge as for 01 aswell

My engine around the oil cap looks exactly like the picture Dawgs posted so now Im gonna probaly have it checked car runs fine thought but it wouldn't hurt to check especially before I SC

[99V6solaraSE]

aww crap.. i shouldve checked.. =/

[LatinDragonXJC]

I posted about this before when I got the class action suit mailings regarding sludge and warranty. I have the same exact build up as Dawgz in my 00. Is removing the valve cover difficult?

[noodlerooney]

Doesn't the V6 (1MZ-FE) have a course black baffle under the valve cover that everyone assumes is sludge? I know when I first saw it, I had no idea what it was, but since the car only had 30 miles on it, I knew it wasn't sludge.

[bassthrive]

My oil filler hole looks the same.

No sludge found in the engine.

(inspection was done for free as part of my timing belt and water pump work)

[Dawgz]

Check this out! Now!


http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/sludge/c ... ludge.html

[MCOjerry]

I don't know when that page was posted, but the owner of that Camry sure was a dolt for not changing the oil for 7 years (assuming current pics), regardless of the mileage.

[Dawgz]

No sludge! woohoo
Thanx to King(Eye8Pussies) for doing the valve cover gasket.







ill get the better quality pics up as soon as i have them uploaded.

[Acidmeld]

The 1MZ engine does have a big problem with sludging but i've noticed that the people that stay under the 5k oil change interval have significantly less sludge than those that go over regularly. If you have light sludging starting put a quarter quart of Type-IV ATF in with your oil every third oil change. It does wonders clearing the passages out. I do that and my cams look like they only have 20k on them. The sludge is very preventable even with the way the motor's poor design.

[Dawgz]

Here are the higher quality pics....

[QuickSEV6]

I have sludge!!! Ha ha ha

Ok. A little back story.

About four years ago, I was a truck driver. My Solara sat in a parking lot for 2-3 months at a time. When I would get back from a trip, I noticed a lot of smoke coming from the tail pipe. I went for an oil change (An oil change place, not the dealer) and they saw the sludge. I told them how the car had been sitting and they said that would cause the gelling. They offered to clean my engine (for $80). I agreed and I haven't had a problem since... Until now.

Back in January, I bought a Yaris due to the enormous amount of miles I drive to work. I want to keep my Solara nice, so it sits safely in a garage. In the last 10 months, I think I drove it about 300 miles.

I just moved it today and I see a ton of smoke coming from the tail pipe. This was the sludge indicator last time.

I have not kept any reciepts for my oil changes. Many times I do it myself. I have used only a synthetic since my first oil change 7 years ago.

I will take the car to the dealer next week and see what they say. I know I wont get a new engine out of the deal, but they may at least clean the sludge out for me.