'01 Toyota 3.0: oil to clean up sludge?

[HawkeyeScott]

Friend found what he thought to be a good deal on a 2001 Highlander for his daughter who's in college. He didn't know about the sludge issues with these 3.0 engines. I told him I'd change the oil in it this week before he sets out on a long interstate trip to deliver it Saturday.

I don't know that it has sludge. It may. It appears to have been pretty well cared for. But in case there is any, and to prevent more, I was thinking about the Mobil 1 0w-40 European formula that Volvo recommends to clean up their dirty engines, and a Wix filter.

Thoughts on that oil or a better one? The daughter will get the oil changed when she's told, but there's zero chance she'd follow through on something like Auto RX. She is in New Mexico by the way and its darn hot there in summer.

Thanks.

 

[barkingspider]

Any named brand oil with early OCI (2k-3k miles) and u will be Ok. Mobil 1 0w40 is good but would hate to dump that oil early cuz it's a waste. Check to see if there is any sludge before u try to clean up what isn't there. No on the autoRX.

 

[Oro_O]

Quote:
I don't know that it has sludge.


So find out.

Unless it was abused an had very LONG OCIs or serious overheating, it's not going to have sludge. Your description indicates there is little chance it would, and your ideas indicate that you may not be really familiar with these engines.

Pull the front valve cover - very easy, and look. The splash baffle on the fill hole makes it hard to see, but take a flashlight and peer at an angle and you can figure it out w/o removing the valve cover. A lot of amateurs mistake the splash residue on top of the baffle as evidence of coking, and that's a silly mistake.

In NM, running M1 10w-30 HM or PP 10w-30 HM would be a great oil and good for 7.5k OCI's easy in these engines. Ours has done it for years and now is over 1/4 million miles and runs like a top, uses little oil in that OCI (no make up needed). The most common source for oil "use" is the front firewall corner of cylinder bank 1; it get's the most heat and is hard to reach/tighten/replace.

Likewise, do not mistake the condition of the bank 2 (front) plugs for proxies of the rear. They WILL be, but only if replaced together. Mechanics get very lazy and don't do the rear because of the difficulty of taking off the intake and re-gasketing it. That generation Highlander was not Toyota's peak of engineering - the engine will be worked harder than on a comparable Camry or ES300 so don't use those metrics as absolute benchmarks.

 

[Triton_330]

Originally Posted By: HawkeyeScott
Thoughts on that oil or a better one?

I agree with your plan.

Barkingspider's remark about it being a "waste" is unwarranted.

I say do as you plan, HawkeyeScott.

~ Triton

 

[nyumski]

i think you use diesel oil with high detergent/dispersant (calcium, magnesium, boron)
it should be API CI / CI-4, use maybe 1000-2000 miles then top up with a good one and do maintain OCI..
any sae that u think is cheaper it is oke..


never use any kind of brand of engine flush..some brand using kerosene for flushing..and it will harm your engine gasket.

 

[Trav]

As someone posted pull at least the front valve cover so you know what your dealing with.
without doing that you are dancing in the dark, depending on what you find will dictate what course of action is best.
Who knows it might have already been swapped out under warranty years ago.

 

[JC1]

Originally Posted By: Trav
As someone posted pull at least the front valve cover so you know what your dealing with.
without doing that you are dancing in the dark, depending on what you find will dictate what course of action is best.
Who knows it might have already been swapped out under warranty years ago.


+1 on the valve cover. I had a 98 Sienna with the same motor. There were some hard bits of sludge caked into the corners of the valve cover. That won't cause any harm. There was also varnish under my valve covers.

Also change the pcv valve. That's a neglected item on those engines.

 

[WillsYoda]

Originally Posted By: Or
Unless it was abused an had very LONG OCIs or serious overheating, it's not going to have sludge. Your description indicates there is little chance it would, and your ideas indicate that you may not be really familiar with these engines.

Pull the front valve cover - very easy, and look. The splash baffle on the fill hole makes it hard to see, but take a flashlight and peer at an angle and you can figure it out w/o removing the valve cover. A lot of amateurs mistake the splash residue on top of the baffle as evidence of coking, and that's a silly mistake.

In NM, running M1 10w-30 HM or PP 10w-30 HM would be a great oil and good for 7.5k OCI's easy in these engines. Ours has done it for years and now is over 1/4 million miles and runs like a top, uses little oil in that OCI (no make up needed). The most common source for oil "use" is the front firewall corner of cylinder bank 1; it get's the most heat and is hard to reach/tighten/replace.


+1 Same here. It is unlikely to be sludged at all if it had decent OCIs. About 1% got sludged (but 1% of millions of cars is still a lot of cars). PP 5w30 will clean the heck out of it, though. It kept my engine clean on my 1mzfe.

Change the PVC valve with OEM (not aftermarket) and drive.

 

[Donald]

You need to check for sludge by pulling a valve cover. It may or may not have sludge. A fluid change is a good idea on a vehicle purchase unless you can verify that it was done as part of prepping it for sale.

I would not rule out AutoRx.

 

[Falken]

I think if you change the oil with PYB and keep an eye on the color on the dipstick will tell you enough.

If it was very well cared for and the oil only gradually darkens as it cleans you are ok.

If it gets jet black in 2,000 miles you can assume it has sludge and just do 5,000 miles OCIs while you own it.

 

[Justin251]

So without knowing you shot down his good deal and told him he had a sludged up motor for his daughter? Now you're planning out how he needs to spend more money on oil? You sound like a great friend.

 

[rshaw125]

When I had my 2.7 Intrepid sludge monster I used PP or Maxlife 5W30. I changed it at 3000 miles and the oil always looked dark and beat up. I wanted to extend the interval to 5000 miles but never felt comfortable with it. If the oil looks good at 3000 then you can leave it in with confidence.

 

[krismoriah72]

I bought an 01 Lexus ES300 with the same motor yrs ago. Front valve cover takes about 30 mins to pull and inspect..this will tell the tale as others have mentioned.

Great engine, just make sure ur friends vehicle is good to go on timing belt life.

The only weak spot i found on that engine was the fuel pressure regulator.. ours started spraying gas all over the place..luckily not far from home. There is a diaphram that goes bad over time.

 

[kschachn]

No way. My 1MZ-FE turns the oil black relatively quickly in the OCI and it has no sludge. In fact, one of the clues to this engine actually having sludge is that the oil stays clear looking.

Originally Posted By: Falken
I think if you change the oil with PYB and keep an eye on the color on the dipstick will tell you enough.

If it was very well cared for and the oil only gradually darkens as it cleans you are ok.

If it gets jet black in 2,000 miles you can assume it has sludge and just do 5,000 miles OCIs while you own it.

 

[tig1]

That engine calls for 5-30. My grandson has a 2002 Camry(245K) with the 3.0, and has used M1 5-30 since he bought it with 120K. We recently had the Valve cover gasket removed and the engine was sludge free. He does 10K OCIs.

 

[camrydriver111]

Lots of non-BITOGers drive Toyota 3.0s. I would not worry about it.

 

[VNTS]

Not familiar with this engine, but cant you look inside the valve cover where you add oil? If so and it isnt varnished up, it is probably clean. whenever I buy used cars, I look down the oil filler hole, if nice and shiny, the oil has been changed, if it is varnished or dirty, I pass and keep on looking!

Also this is someone else's car, I wouldnt worry about it, tell them to run the correct spec/viscosity oil and keep the intervals reasonable. If he is giving it to his daughter in college, best thing he can do is teach her to check the oil level
and how to top off.

 

[HerrStig]

Toyota specified 5W 30 for the engine but you could "sneak" by with 10W 30 in New Mexico, particularly the southern part.

 

[camrydriver111]

Originally Posted By: VNTS
Not familiar with this engine, but cant you look inside the valve cover where you add oil?


In this car there is a metal baffle that prevents you from seeing the valvetrain.

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Toyota specified 5W 30 for the engine but you could "sneak" by with 10W 30 in New Mexico, particularly the southern part.


I think the manual says if the temperature is above freezing you could use 10W30.

I used 10W30 in Canadian winter. I could not tell a difference.

I'm telling you people worry too much. It's a great reliable engine.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: camrydriver111
Originally Posted By: VNTS
Not familiar with this engine, but cant you look inside the valve cover where you add oil?

In this car there is a metal baffle that prevents you from seeing the valvetrain.


And not only is there a baffle, the baffle is coated in some kind of black gritty stuff that people are forever thinking is sludge. It is not.