2AZFE and Valvoline R&P story/results so far

[mbayer]

Hey everybody_

My daughter and son-in-law have been driving a 2009 Camry since she bought it used in 2017. It's got the 2AZFE 4 cylinder engine.

We didn't notice significant oil consumption until about 3 years ago. It seemed like it was burning about a quart every 1000 miles or so at that point. My daughter had been a college student for several years, and her commute was about one mile. So in the wintertime, she'd start it up, drive it 4 minutes, and shut it down. Twice a day. We live in Central Illinois, so winters are often pretty cold. Clearly this is not ideal for engine oil. I was putting Mobil 1 in it back then, and changing once a year. She rarely got past about 10k miles per year while she was in college.

In the fall of 2023, I became aware of the 2AZFE issues with low tension oil rings, and this car had not had the Toyota "program" work to replace them with high tension rings.

So, after watching a lot of Car Care Nut YouTube videos and coming out here to BITOG, here's what we've done so far:

Feb 2, 2024: mileage 157,900. I performed a BG EPR treatment during an oil change, and then filled with 4 QTS Supertech 5W-30 plus 24 oz HPL SAE 30 Engine Cleaner (EC). Fram 4967 Ultra filter. I put 2 QTs of additional oil mixture (with the EC) in the trunk and told my son-in-law to keep track of how much oil he was adding. I also told him that when he put the last of the 2 QTs in, to check the dipstick and send me a picture of it, plus report the mileage.

Well, he tried to keep up with it, but he added the 2 QTs and then started adding some other oil, and lost track. So we didn't get an oil consumption measurement that we could trust during the first interval.

July 14, 2024: mileage 160,591. Oil and filter change with 4.5 QTs HPL 5W-30 plus Fram Ultra 4386 filter. The filter was an "OG" Ultra filter with metal wire frame backing. I put more HPL in the trunk for my s-i-l to use, and gave him the same instructions.

On Oct 26, 2024: mileage 163,503. After putting in exactly 2.0 QTs, dipstick was about halfway down. This works out to 2912/2.5 or about 1165 miles per QT of oil. Short interval measurement, but in line with what I had estimated it was burning before we started down this path.

Jan 25, 2025: mileage 165,692: Oil and filter change with 4.5 QTs Valvoline R&P and another Fram Ultra 4386. Oil usage for the entire OCI since the last oil change (July) was 5101 miles/4.25 QTs = 1200 miles/QT. More Valvoline R&P in the trunk, and same instructions to son-in-law.

Well, he lost track completely during this next OCI. No estimate possible.

Aug 8, 2025: mileage 169,879. Oil and filter change with 4.5 QTs Valvoline R&P and my last Fram Ultra 4386. Again, no consumption estimate possible. More Valvoline R&P in the trunk, and I changed my instructions this time, to make things easier for him. I told him to take a picture of the dipstick after he'd driven about 1000 miles.

Well, he texted me yesterday and sent me a picture of the dipstick and the odometer. Here's the most recent estimate:

The dipstick was 20% of the way down from FULL, and the mileage driven was 1121 miles. From the low mark to the high mark on the dipstick is 1 QT. So that works out to:

1121/0.2 = 5605 miles/QT.

So even if we're a little off because it's a small interval (1121 miles), it looks like something is working.

I'm going to have him check every 1000 miles until the next oil/filter change (February), and I'll report what we get at that point for oil consumption for the whole 6 month interval.

I thought some of you might be interested to see data from a 2AZFE with an oil ring cleanup effort. I'm optimistic we might be heading in the right direction with this, but I need more data before I declare victory.

More when I have the info,

MarkB

 

[fantastic]

Yeah, nice work even for at least giving instructions every time. Let us know how it goes. Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[Elkins45]

Why not just give it a Berryman’s soak and be done with it?

 

[mbayer]

Why not just give it a Berryman’s soak and be done with it?

That is still Plan B if the detergent oil approach doesn't work.

My daughter+son-in-law+grandkids live about an hour away, and when they come to visit they normally don't drive the Camry - they drive their newer car. The Camry is his daily driver, so I have limited access to it, and when they do come to visit it's normally for a few hours and then they're back on the road. So I would need at least a couple or a few days with the car to do the piston soak and it's not convenient re: timing.

Also - I'm confident in my ability to change oil and filter. I'm not as confident in my ability to do a piston soak and not screw something up. Plus - it's not my car any more, so I'd feel bad if I did screw something up and then my son-in-law would be stuck without a way to get to work. I do all kinds of things to my own cars (including screwing things up on occasion), but their situation is different. He can't really go without the car right now and I would hate to put him in that situation.

Lastly, I was curious about Valvoline R&P when it first came out, and wanted to see if the hype was real.

But still - if the BGR/HPL/ValvolineR&P strategy doesn't end up working out, I'd be willing to try the soak if I can get the car for 3 or 4 days. At that point, it's the only other thing besides a rebuild with the better rings (and this car is getting to the point where $$$ for new rings or short block probably doesn't make sense). So I might still do the piston soak, if it is needed.

MarkB

 

[tired]

That is still Plan B if the detergent oil approach doesn't work.

My daughter+son-in-law+grandkids live about an hour away, and when they come to visit they normally don't drive the Camry - they drive their newer car. The Camry is his daily driver, so I have limited access to it, and when they do come to visit it's normally for a few hours and then they're back on the road. So I would need at least a couple or a few days with the car to do the piston soak and it's not convenient re: timing.

Also - I'm confident in my ability to change oil and filter. I'm not as confident in my ability to do a piston soak and not screw something up. Plus - it's not my car any more, so I'd feel bad if I did screw something up and then my son-in-law would be stuck without a way to get to work. I do all kinds of things to my own cars (including screwing things up on occasion), but their situation is different. He can't really go without the car right now and I would hate to put him in that situation.

Lastly, I was curious about Valvoline R&P when it first came out, and wanted to see if the hype was real.

But still - if the BGR/HPL/ValvolineR&P strategy doesn't end up working out, I'd be willing to try the soak if I can get the car for 3 or 4 days. At that point, it's the only other thing besides a rebuild with the better rings (and this car is getting to the point where $$$ for new rings or short block probably doesn't make sense). So I might still do the piston soak, if it is needed.

MarkB

Hopefully you're not too far away from the Car Care Nut's shop in Illinois, if you need to have anything done.

 

[Johnny248]

That is still Plan B if the detergent oil approach doesn't work.

My daughter+son-in-law+grandkids live about an hour away, and when they come to visit they normally don't drive the Camry - they drive their newer car. The Camry is his daily driver, so I have limited access to it, and when they do come to visit it's normally for a few hours and then they're back on the road. So I would need at least a couple or a few days with the car to do the piston soak and it's not convenient re: timing.

Also - I'm confident in my ability to change oil and filter. I'm not as confident in my ability to do a piston soak and not screw something up. Plus - it's not my car any more, so I'd feel bad if I did screw something up and then my son-in-law would be stuck without a way to get to work. I do all kinds of things to my own cars (including screwing things up on occasion), but their situation is different. He can't really go without the car right now and I would hate to put him in that situation.

Lastly, I was curious about Valvoline R&P when it first came out, and wanted to see if the hype was real.

But still - if the BGR/HPL/ValvolineR&P strategy doesn't end up working out, I'd be willing to try the soak if I can get the car for 3 or 4 days. At that point, it's the only other thing besides a rebuild with the better rings (and this car is getting to the point where $$$ for new rings or short block probably doesn't make sense). So I might still do the piston soak, if it is needed.

MarkB

Just go visit your grandkids more often and then you don't have to depend on the SIL lol. An hour way is nice! Our family lives 7 hours north, and 22 hours south lol

 

[svtrit]

Go Redbirds!!! '98 graduate (assuming Central IL means ISU....)

I put R&P in my daughters 09 Camry with 250,000 miles. It was not an oil burner, but sure quieted down and isn't vibrating as much.

I hope it works out for you. In my case, I did it as a cleaning tool in case the rings were starting to get dirty, 100k ish miles after the Toyota ring replacement was done.