310,000 Mile 2AZ-FE Innards

[Tman220]

Started the wife's beater tonight, 2007 Camry, 2AZ-FE, 310,000 miles and smelled some burned oil inside the car, popped the hood and found a nice little surprise sitting on top of the exhaust manifold heat guard

Darn I guess the valve cover gasket has finally given up. As you can see it has been seeping for a long time but hasn't been creating any burned oil smell until tonight. I guess I'll be starting this project on a cold minnesota night

Here's the gasket, as far as I know it is original and it split on the front side right by the exhaust manifold which i'm sure is the typical failure mode. The whole front side of this gasket could be broken like glass it was so brittle, as well as the spark plug seals

I've posted about this car a few times since I have more or less maintained it since it has been brand new. It's never been victim of the notorious oil burning plague that infects many of the early 2az-fe's. This one has burned a quart of oil every 5000 miles since day one, and still to this day.

Oil changes have always been performed at 5000 miles using M1 0w20 AFE

here's how the valve cover and valve train looks after 310,000 and never being touched until a couple hours ago

Figured that i'd post some pictures since everyone seems to like internal engine pics

Also replaced the PCV valve, it still rattled a tad but you could tell it was a little gummy inside. PCV valve has never been touched either until tonight.

 

[VolvoZ]

Looks like those 5K oil changes worked well at keeping things clean! Onward to 500,000 miles!

 

[FowVay]

That's not too shabby for a 300,000 mile engine. Were the spark plug tubes full of oil?

 

[Barkleymut]

Any notable repairs done on the Camry in its lifetime?

 

[joekingcorvette]

Looks nice and clean and proves regular oil changes can help keep it healthy. Any vehicle that makes it 16 years and over 300,000 miles is doing pretty good. You definitely are getting a good value out of that car.

 

[FowVay]

I also meant to ask, did this engine suffer from the stuck rings and excessive oil consumption?

 

[Pablo]

It looks just fine to me, but you know if it looked like this and he was doing 15K intervals, people would say "filthy".

Just sayin'!!

Carry on.

 

[BISCUT]

Looks great at 310k. Consistent, reasonable OCI and quality oil matter. Really appreciate the internal pics. I haven't seen one on the site in a bit. Love those pics!!

 

[SC Maintenance]

It looks just fine to me, but you know if it looked like this and he was doing 15K intervals, people would say "filthy".

Just sayin'!!

Carry on.

Are there any UTVC pics for 300K miles @15K around here? I have looked, maybe my search skills are poor?

 

[SC Maintenance]

Looks great. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Pablo]

Are there any UTVC pics for 300K miles @15K around here? I have looked, maybe my search skills are poor?

I doubt it. But not my point. Any engine. 15K.

 

[proveitwithdata]

Can you clarify a couple things?

1) Did you own this from new?
2) I know you said 5k oci, how about the time between oil changes?

 

[JohnnyG]

I'd say the PCV valve was the root cause of this leak.
I'd make doubly sure that everything in that vent circuit is clean and open.
With that many miles, there's likely quite a bit of blowby in that engine.

 

[350Rocket]

Started the wife's beater tonight, 2007 Camry, 2AZ-FE, 310,000 miles and smelled some burned oil inside the car, popped the hood and found a nice little surprise sitting on top of the exhaust manifold heat guardView attachment 199401

Darn I guess the valve cover gasket has finally given up. As you can see it has been seeping for a long time but hasn't been creating any burned oil smell until tonight. I guess I'll be starting this project on a cold minnesota night

Here's the gasket, as far as I know it is original and it split on the front side right by the exhaust manifold which i'm sure is the typical failure mode. The whole front side of this gasket could be broken like glass it was so brittle, as well as the spark plug seals

View attachment 199402

I've posted about this car a few times since I have more or less maintained it since it has been brand new. It's never been victim of the notorious oil burning plague that infects many of the early 2az-fe's. This one has burned a quart of oil every 5000 miles since day one, and still to this day.

Oil changes have always been performed at 5000 miles using M1 0w20 AFE

here's how the valve cover and valve train looks after 310,000 and never being touched until a couple hours ago
View attachment 199403

View attachment 199404

Figured that i'd post some pictures since everyone seems to like internal engine pics

Also replaced the PCV valve, it still rattled a tad but you could tell it was a little gummy inside. PCV valve has never been touched either until tonight.

My dad and sister and I did this one her 2005 with 170k miles. It was smelling badly of burned oil. It doesn't use oil (but that didn't start until 2007 on this engine apparently). Glad yours is a good one.

 

[Tman220]

That's not too shabby for a 300,000 mile engine. Were the spark plug tubes full of oil?

Spark plug tubes were clean and dry, and as I mentioned this engine doesn't in my opinion suffer from the gummed up rings high oil consumption issues a lot of the 2az-fe's had, this engine has consistently used a quart of oil in 5000 miles. My routine has been to dump a whole 5 quart jug of oil in the engine during the oil change which leaves the engine slightly over full and by the time it's ready for an oil change at 5000 miles it typically about an 1/8" or so above the add line.

 

[Tman220]

Any notable repairs done on the Camry in its lifetime?

If I recall the first water pump failed on this car around 60k, that pump was replaced by the dealer at that time and that replacement pump has been soldiering on for the last 250K. If the dealer replaced the belt at that time the serpentine belt has 250 K if the dealer didn't replace the belt it's original to the car with 310K!

The original alternator lasted about 200K, the reman has been getting it done since.

I replaced front wheel bearings and ball joints at the 225K mark

I replaced all four struts at the about 260K, both front coil springs had about the first 2-3 inches of coil broken off where it sits in the lower spring seat on the strut

I replaced the radiator at about 290K because it was leaking badly at the side tank seals

The original exhaust rotted off at the flexpipe at about 295K.

I recently replaced all 4 sway bar bushings because they were worn out to the point the sway bar would cause annoying rattling

Transmission is original and shifts pretty decent, have renewed the fluid a couple times over the years, should probably do that again. Honestly, haven't expected the car to just keep working good enough that I want to keep maintaining it instead of letting it go downhill.

The engine overall has been really trouble free, just spark plugs a couple times, and now the valve cover gasket and PCV valve

 

[Tman220]

Can you clarify a couple things?

1) Did you own this from new?
2) I know you said 5k oci, how about the time between oil changes?

My mom bought this car brand new, I did all the maintenance on it from the start. I bought the car from my mom in 2018. If you take a look at the numbers you can see that it gets quite a few miles put on it each year, therefore the time between 5k oil changes is not long.

Because of the usage cycle the engine being short-tripped isn't the typical case, which I think is a huge contributor for the lack of excessive oil consumption and the long life of a lot of the components.

 

[Tman220]

I'd say the PCV valve was the root cause of this leak.
I'd make doubly sure that everything in that vent circuit is clean and open.
With that many miles, there's likely quite a bit of blowby in that engine.

When I noticed the oil on the exhaust heat shield, I immediately purchased the valve cover gasket and pcv valve because that amount of oil certainly says pushed gasket rather than just bad gasket. It's still hard to say which one was the root cause though. All the hold down bolts for the valve cover were pretty loose. The rubber properties of the original gasket were almost entirely cooked out of it. The valve cover gasket in the front above the exhaust manifold could be broken like glass. The pcv valve I took out was only slightly gummy by the sounds of the rattle but it certainly wasn't stopped up. I think the gasket broke because it was brittle and had no elasticity left to provide pressure to keep the hardware tight and not because I was building any kind of abnormal crankcase pressures.

I'm sure the engine has more blowby than when it was new but I can say that it doesn't show any signs of being excessive in any way. I haven't done a leak down test but I can offer a lot of anecdotal info which points towards the engine being a darn good shape

Oil consumption has remained consistent since it was brought home from the dealer, If it had a lot of blowby I would expect that consumption to increase over time.

Long term fuel trim is surprisingly low (as in close to zero correction) this tells me that no huge changes in compression or engine efficiency have occurred over its lifetime. Still idles with excellent vacuum and the pcv valve I just replaced was original to the engine, never been cleaned because it hasn't needed it.

It hasn't lost any power noticeably since it's been brand new. Trust me if someone needs to be passed going down the road the pedal is to the wood, we use the whole rev range on a regular basis which I think is good for engines.

 

[researcher]

When I noticed the oil on the exhaust heat shield, I immediately purchased the valve cover gasket and pcv valve because that amount of oil certainly says pushed gasket rather than just bad gasket. It's still hard to say which one was the root cause though. All the hold down bolts for the valve cover were pretty loose. The rubber properties of the original gasket were almost entirely cooked out of it. The valve cover gasket in the front above the exhaust manifold could be broken like glass. The pcv valve I took out was only slightly gummy by the sounds of the rattle but it certainly wasn't stopped up. I think the gasket broke because it was brittle and had no elasticity left to provide pressure to keep the hardware tight and not because I was building any kind of abnormal crankcase pressures.

I'm sure the engine has more blowby than when it was new but I can say that it doesn't show any signs of being excessive in any way. I haven't done a leak down test but I can offer a lot of anecdotal info which points towards the engine being a darn good shape

Oil consumption has remained consistent since it was brought home from the dealer, If it had a lot of blowby I would expect that consumption to increase over time.

Long term fuel trim is surprisingly low (as in close to zero correction) this tells me that no huge changes in compression or engine efficiency have occurred over its lifetime. Still idles with excellent vacuum and the pcv valve I just replaced was original to the engine, never been cleaned because it hasn't needed it.

It hasn't lost any power noticeably since it's been brand new. Trust me if someone needs to be passed going down the road the pedal is to the wood, we use the whole rev range on a regular basis which I think is good for engines.

your post is really great timing for me.. thought I'd let you know.. I have the 2az-fe engine in my 06 scion tC and I have to do the valve cover gasket too, was weeping on the driver's side rear edge. But everything you've gone through including mentioning the nuts/bolts on the cover were loose, helps me know what I'm in for on mine. Thanks again, great timing! helps me!

and about your engine, looks like it's just soldiering on and running well.. almost "boring" which is awesome!

 

[Tman220]

your post is really great timing for me.. thought I'd let you know.. I have the 2az-fe engine in my 06 scion tC and I have to do the valve cover gasket too, was weeping on the driver's side rear edge. But everything you've gone through including mentioning the nuts/bolts on the cover were loose, helps me know what I'm in for on mine. Thanks again, great timing! helps me!

and about your engine, looks like it's just soldiering on and running well.. almost "boring" which is awesome!

Glad I could help. I grew up looking at car forums and learned a heck of a lot from people providing information and the research gave me the confidence to tackle a lot of stuff myself, rather than taking my vehicles somewhere for someone else to. I'm certainly happy to keep that stuff alive, pass on information and maybe be a help to someone else down the road.