BG engine purge or Auto-rx?

[jonathag]

Hi Everyone, first time poster, nice website!

I've got a 2000 Toyota Avalon. I bought it used with 96k miles on it. Drove it to 148k and the oil light came on about a month ago. My mechanic cleaned the screen, did not do anything else. It drove fine for 2000 miles, then the oil light came on again last week.

I have went back and forth with what to do about this, I've gotten advice to do kerosene flushes, additive flushes etc etc

Where I am at right now is I have been steered away from kerosene flushes, so I was looking at the BG engine purge product or the Auto-rx product.

I am thinking that it all depends on how bad the valves look when my mechanic pulls the valve covers off as to which one I use, am I correct on that?

If the valves are really sludged up bad, I'm thinking the bg would not be good because it might break too much sludge off, so if it's really bad I was thinking about using the auto-rx product.

Any thoughts or opinions on this? Please don't blast me either and say that I didn't change the oil regularly because I did. I did not know that the 2000 Avalon engine was the most sludge prone Toyota engine to ever be made.

 

[Boss302fan]

MMO is highly recommended here for problems like yours.

 

[jonathag]

Thanks, haven't looked at that product. Actually having a hard time finding it, do you have a link? Thanks again. Forget it, just found it, marvel mystery oil, had just never heard of it. I don't see a product on their site that says you can add to oil for sludge problems. Am I missing something?

 

[txrhino]

Are you sure it's not just the oil change light, i.e. reminder to change. Might just need a reset.

 

[jonathag]

Naw, the screen was all sludged up. After it was cleaned it ran fine for 2000 miles before coming on again.

This car doesn't have an oc reminder light.

 

[gofastman]

Is that a 1 MZ-FE engine? They had a recall for them sludging up, something with the PCV system in the valve covers I think

 

[gathermewool]

Oil pump?

 

[EricF]

I wonder if the toyota sludge issue will come up in an NHTSA investigation next!

my sister in law's sludge avalon's been clean.. with mobil 1 in it from 15k.

 

[jonathag]

Just talked to a Toyota dealer, they said there is really no additive or anything that will get the engine cleaned out once it's sludged up. Not sure if they are telling me that just because they want to sell me on a rebuild/replacement for $4500 or if I'm really just spinning my wheels thinking I can get another 50k out of this car. I drive sometimes 1000+ miles per week for work, so maybe I should just scrap it and buy something else!

 

[sicko]

Just to be sure, check the PCV valve. It's one of those things, if you're going to check it you might as well replace it. Even if you're not familiar with it, on most systems it's a small valve that fits easily in the palm of your hands. You just have to pull the old one out, and pop the new one in its place. If you go third party it'll probably be about $5 to replace, if you go OEM they might charge you up to $15 or so (these numbers are estimates). It's really one of those things that take 5 minutes and usually no tools to do. But since you have an issue already, when checking it take an extra minute and try to see if any connecting tubes are dirtied up.

Also, when the light came on was it low on oil? I'm just trying to see if it came on b/c it's burning oil or if the oil path is clogging preventing proper oil flow.

 

[jonathag]

Thanks, I bought a new pcv valve for $1.99 at autozone and will be replacing it. I know there is sludge in the engine since the screen was all sludged up. It was never low on oil, the oil level was fine both times the light came on.

Thanks for the help everybody, I sure do appreciate it!

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Keep doing a few short oil changes with low efficiency filters. Might be worthwhile taking off the VC's and cleaning things up a bit in there if required - or not ....

 

[jonathag]

Thanks, here is what our plan is..

take valve covers off and clean valves

clean screen

change valve covers and pcv valve

based on the sludginess of the valves, use the BG engine purge or Auto-rx-not sure which one

if we use the auto-rx-from reading their website-we would just change the oil and filter and pour in the auto-rx-if we use the bg we would need to flush it through the engine for 5-10 mins then change the oil and filter again

clean screen again

Or, I do have a friend that would charge me a couple hundred bucks to sell it at an auction, might get $3500 for it. [censored], just don't know what in the heck to do.

 

[chad8]

Originally Posted By: jonathag
Thanks, I bought a new pcv valve for $1.99 at autozone and will be replacing it. I know there is sludge in the engine since the screen was all sludged up. It was never low on oil, the oil level was fine both times the light came on.

Thanks for the help everybody, I sure do appreciate it!


Wrong move. Aftermarket pcv valves tend to be junk.buy a quality one.
You can de-sludge a motor . It is just a time consuming process. I would use a quart of mmo ,cheap dino oil and a new large filter for 1000 miles. Then open the valve cover. B-g flush is a quickie. not really for your motor. As much as I do not like arx , mostly because of time and cost, I would go that route if mmo did not clean it up.

 

[hate2work]

If it's totally sludged, it might not be worth fooling with. What can you see down the oil fill hole?

If it's not too bad, I would use the Amsoil engine flush per directions, dump that oil and filter, then fill with a good cheap synthetic for a short run, then go from there. I think you can buy NAPA full syn for $2.99 a quart right now, that would work well for a short cleaning run.

 

[qship1996]

10 year old car with 150,000 miles and sludged enough to trip the low oil pressure warning even after having intake screen cleaned? Plan on purchasing a new car soon.

 

[sicko]

Originally Posted By: jonathag


based on the sludginess of the valves, use the BG engine purge or Auto-rx-not sure which one




Even though i've never used any I've heard good things about BG products from people who know much more about engines then I ever will.

However, you'll often hear people speak against those flush in a bottle products b/c there are risks that you take by going with a quick working solution.

You'll often hear people on here debate about products like Auto RX (ARX), some people say it does nothing, others say it works as advertised, however I've never heard anyone say that it hurt their vehicle (I'm sure someone on here will correct me if I'm wrong on that).

Marvel Mystery Oil (MMO) is similar, in that some people will argue if it works or not, and it's believed to work faster then ARX, but slower then those 10 minute flush in a can products.

Now I can't speak with any kind of authority on the matter, I will regularly admit that I know less then most of the people on here and I don't claim to be some all-knowing web guru. Similarly, I can't speak for you and what what you're comfortable with doing, I can only say what i would do to my car.

If I was in a similar situation, I would change the oil but replace .5-1 quart of oil with MMO. I would do this at least 300 miles before checking the valves, maybe even 500-1000 depending on how quick I put on the miles.

Depending on how the valves were, I'd clean off anything I could, and would then change the oil and add 1 bottle of ARX. I'd then follow the instructions (3k mile clean phase with ARX, then an oil change and a 3k mile rinse phase without ARX, both using conventional oil). And that's the thing about ARX is supposedly it works slowly, so you really need a few miles before possibly seeing any effects.

Honestly, I'd probably do two of the above ARX cleanings, and I might include some MMO for the last few hundred miles on the rinse phase.

At that point if the issue was still occurring, I'd really have to think about what to do, b/c I'm hesitant to use anything faster then MMO. But again, that's all just me and what I would do if I was in the same situation. I can't comment on how comfortable you would be doing the same thing

 

[jonathag]

Thanks a ton everybody for all of this great advice. I had never heard of the mmo before and can't see any application on their website relating to sludge, did I miss that?

So mmo works slower than the bg, but faster than arx?

qship1996-it did run fine for 2000 miles after the screen was cleaned-should I have gotten more miles than that after the screen was cleaned? A bunch of people told me after he cleaned the screen that just cleaning the screen and not cleaning the valves was a waste of time and the problem would definately come back if just the screen was cleaned, is that right?

I also got some advice to install a digital oil pressure gauge to keep an eye on things a little better, is that worth it?

 

[JBM]

Change the oil and substitute a qt of mmo. Change the oil filter at 1k miles and drive for 2k miles. Repeat a few times. Then use a quality oil, syn blend or penz plat, and use a qt of mmo for 3500 miles. Do that a few times. 5 or 6 oil changes should determine if you can save it or scrap it.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: chad8
Originally Posted By: jonathag
Thanks, I bought a new pcv valve for $1.99 at autozone and will be replacing it. I know there is sludge in the engine since the screen was all sludged up. It was never low on oil, the oil level was fine both times the light came on.

Thanks for the help everybody, I sure do appreciate it!


Wrong move. Aftermarket pcv valves tend to be junk.buy a quality one.
You can de-sludge a motor . It is just a time consuming process. I would use a quart of mmo ,cheap dino oil and a new large filter for 1000 miles. Then open the valve cover. B-g flush is a quickie. not really for your motor. As much as I do not like arx , mostly because of time and cost, I would go that route if mmo did not clean it up.


+1 Get an OEM PCV valve, and make sure the line is not plugged up! Then give MMO a try, it might take a few OCI's but from past experience it should clean things up.