1997 Camry 5SFE with valve cover off

[SMB]

Hey all,

Here are some pics of 1997 Camry with the valve cover off. The engine is still original and it has 174,300 miles now. I bought the car last February from the original owner. At that time the car had 163,400.

I had 2 oil changes done with MaxLife first (2800 miles) and then Formula Shell second (4000 miles). Current fill is PP 5W-30 with 3800 miles on the oil.

I took off the cover since the gasket was leaking and I replaced the PCV valve.

I already bought 2 bottles of Auto-RX and I wanted to know if my engine has sludge or not.

Well here are the pics. What do you think?

 

[wavinwayne]

Heavy varnish, not sludge, IMO. It will probably run another 250K in this condition, given normal oil changes.

 

[GMFan]

I would say it's 90% varnish. Honestly, I'd save the money on the Auto-RX and just use PP. It should slowly remove some of the varnish....the engines DOES have ~175k+ on it.

Looks like the engine may have had some extended drain intervals in the past.

Nothing to be concerned about IMHO.

 

[Pablo]

10:1 AutoRx wouldn't touch the plug tubes.

 

[Bill in Utah]

While it does have some varnish, no biggie.

Quote:
Looks like the engine may have had some extended drain intervals in the past.
Agree 100% with GMFan here. I doubt 5k ocis (or even 7500 mile ones (which back then were the norm for Toyota) were followed.

But still, I'd save the $$ for the ARX and use any SM oil for 5k OCI and you'll be good for another 175k miles.

Take care and THANKS for posting the photos.

Bill

 

[Bryanccfshr]

Don't bother with auto rx this is varnish and carbon deposits. Just run a quality oil and this engine will go another 75-100k.

 

[tig1]

Thanks for the pictures. You might try M1 10-30 high mileage for cleaning the engine up. Notice the pics on their web site. They look very much like your pics.

 

[panthermike]

Well, he already bought the ARX. Definately use it, it will only clean things up in your Yota.

 

[ARB1977]

Not bad considering it has a sludge prone engine. Heavy carbon build up. Auto Rx could work. Please post up some picks after you are done.

 

[SMB]

Thank you all for your replies. What is varnish exactly?

I already received the Auto-RX and I will be using it. Also I will use it in my power steering and auto tranny units to clean them up.

 

[SMB]

Originally Posted By: ARB1977
Not bad considering it has a sludge prone engine. Heavy carbon build up. Auto Rx could work. Please post up some picks after you are done.


Yes i will post pics after i finish the treatment.

 

[JAG]

I'd manually clean everything I could with solvent and rags/brushes, while wearing protective gloves and doing it outdoors for health's sake.

It looks like some of the cam lobes even have varnish on them which seems amazing.

 

[SMB]

Originally Posted By: JAG
It looks like some of the cam lobes even have varnish on them which seems amazing.


Can you please explain? Where are the cam lobes?

Is it amazing in a good way or a bad way?

 

[JAG]

The cam lobes are the part of the cams that make contact with the parts below the cams (tappets, I believe they are called in your engine). They are shaped like the profile of a rain drop, kind of.

It amazes me because I'd expect that the rubbing between the lobes and the tappets (?) would not allow varnish to remain there. It's not a good thing by itself but it's not terrible either.

 

[Bill in Utah]

The cam lobes are the shiny things on the two cams on the 2nd photo. The cams are the 2 things going left to right in the 2nd photo.

Amazing as the follower is not touching the cam all the time like most do.

Take care, Bill

 

[Steve S]

AR/X will cleanup the rings, that in it self will be worth the price of the A R/X. Now is a good time to check the valve lash.

 

[Steve S]

Originally Posted By: JAG
The cam lobes are the part of the cams that make contact with the parts below the cams (tappets, I believe they are called in your engine). They are shaped like the profile of a rain drop, kind of.

It amazes me because I'd expect that the rubbing between the lobes and the tappets (?) would not allow varnish to remain there. It's not a good thing by itself but it's not terrible either.
I have seen that on many camshafts. The engine looks real good.

 

[Jim 5]

My vote is for running the ARX and then posting after pictures here!

 

[sparkplug]

a can of seafoam would work just as good to get that varnish off.

 

[panthermike]

Originally Posted By: sparkplug
a can of seafoam would work just as good to get that varnish off.


Has it worked for you? I had no luck, just asking not trying to say it doesn't work.

And +1 on pics after you are done with ARX.