How to clean out a 200k old 1MZ-FE on a Toyota

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Just bought a 2002 Toyota Solara for an AMAZING deal. I love this car already so much. But I realized there IS sludge underneath the oil cap and in through the fill hole. Doesn't look terrible, but it's obvious this has seen better days. There is a very small leak (a couple drops every week or so) on the pavement.

I don't want to buy a whole bunch of synthetic oil because I already have a bunch (mostly conventional Havoline and QSGB). Is Pennzoil still the king of clean around these parts? Should I use some short conventional intervals with Motor Flush or Seafoam? Just wanna clean it up a bit. Thanks.
 
I'd try a mild and passive regime of PYB for sure. For me, it unstuck a compression ring in a 2.2 Camry to my surprise.
 
I would use either a HDEO like rotella for the cleaning properties or Pennzoil. Depending how bad it is I might run a oil change with only a few hundred miles on it and keep increasing the miles I let the oil stay in as it cleans up.
 
Hold on a minute -

You see sludge on the baffle under the oil cap, or you see it if you look sideways through the slot and several inches away? Because a lot of people get tricked by the oil baffle on these engines. Oil naturally cooks there and that's not what the inside looks like. A quirck of the anti-splash baffle. Some people get annoyed with it and cut it out of the front VC when it's off.

Also, a 2002 is after the VC revision and if it had anything resembling oil changes once in a while, it should not be sludged. This model year and engine is not a "sludger."

That all said, if it's dripping oil, you should check the exhaust side of the back bank VCG by running your hand back - no way to visualize it, even with a mechanic's mirror. This is the normal source of most leaking, and you really should pull the intake and then the valve covers and change them as well as the plugs (since it's a nightmare to repeat the process again for them). Now you can really see what is going on.
 
Don't worry about what you see on the oil baffle. My 2004 3MZFE has crunchy stuff on the baffle but just returned only 3 ppm iron on a 10,333 mile OCI. Just service every 5k with whatever oil you have if you're worried.

My UOA can be found over in the UOA section, I don't think you have anything to worry about.
 
Originally Posted By: Oro_O
Hold on a minute -

You see sludge on the baffle under the oil cap, or you see it if you look sideways through the slot and several inches away? Because a lot of people get tricked by the oil baffle on these engines. Oil naturally cooks there and that's not what the inside looks like. A quirck of the anti-splash baffle. Some people get annoyed with it and cut it out of the front VC when it's off.

Also, a 2002 is after the VC revision and if it had anything resembling oil changes once in a while, it should not be sludged. This model year and engine is not a "sludger."

That all said, if it's dripping oil, you should check the exhaust side of the back bank VCG by running your hand back - no way to visualize it, even with a mechanic's mirror. This is the normal source of most leaking, and you really should pull the intake and then the valve covers and change them as well as the plugs (since it's a nightmare to repeat the process again for them). Now you can really see what is going on.


The oil sludge class action lawsuit covered V6s upto 2002, are you sure all 2002 MY 1MZ engines are fixed? What did they do to fix it BTW?
 
Originally Posted By: Oro_O
Hold on a minute -

You see sludge on the baffle under the oil cap, or you see it if you look sideways through the slot and several inches away? Because a lot of people get tricked by the oil baffle on these engines. Oil naturally cooks there and that's not what the inside looks like. A quirck of the anti-splash baffle. Some people get annoyed with it and cut it out of the front VC when it's off.

Also, a 2002 is after the VC revision and if it had anything resembling oil changes once in a while, it should not be sludged. This model year and engine is not a "sludger."

That all said, if it's dripping oil, you should check the exhaust side of the back bank VCG by running your hand back - no way to visualize it, even with a mechanic's mirror. This is the normal source of most leaking, and you really should pull the intake and then the valve covers and change them as well as the plugs (since it's a nightmare to repeat the process again for them). Now you can really see what is going on.


+1.remove the front valve cover and you'll see what's really going on. I had a 98 sienna with a bit of sludge in the corners. Never had an issue.

Just make sure you change the PCV valve.
 
I recommend fixing the oil leak first. Then I would do a 5 min motor flush type on the next oil change. Then use your stash oil w 5k oci as recommended by flynavy
 
Originally Posted By: zerosoma
Just bought a 2002 Toyota Solara for an AMAZING deal. I love this car already so much. But I realized there IS sludge underneath the oil cap and in through the fill hole. Doesn't look terrible, but it's obvious this has seen better days. There is a very small leak (a couple drops every week or so) on the pavement.

As has already been mentioned, there is no way to determine anything about that engine by looking through the fill hole. The baffle is in the way and is coated with a black, sort of gritty material from the factory. Numerous people on here and elsewhere have been fooled into thinking this baffle is representative of the engine condition but it is supposed to look like that.

The only way to gauge condition is to pull the valve cover. The front one is easy and with the way they usually leak it's generally due for replacement anyway. But pulling the back one is more representative and is likely the cause of any leaks you are seeing on the ground. Due to the extra work required to replace that gasket it is often neglected.

Do not use any flush or cleaner until you positively determine there is any need to do so. I also wouldn't use anything but a high quality synthetic oil in this engine on a relatively short OCI regardless of whether it is one of the sludge prone engines or not. Just my opinion on that, take it for what it's worth. But it's gotten me the miles I've done on my 1MZ-FE.
 
Having owned a 99 Camry with the 1MZ I second making sure the PCV is changed out. I would run Pennzoil Ultra, Amsoil, maybe a good HDEO for a while with shorter intervals. Mine had Synthetic run in it from day 1 with 7500-10k intervals and when I pulled the VC's as they were weeping a bit there were no visible signs of sludge at 130k miles. First half of its life was on M1 and the second half on Amsoil.
 
I'm a little more aggressive in my cleaning of (new to me) vehicles. I run shorter OCI (maybe not even 1,000) I'll also add something like MMO or maybe a little seafoam at the beginning of the OCI and a day or so before changing.

If the valve cover gasket is leaking I'll take it off and clean a little. I'll try and remove what I can take out myself then when I'm satisfied I'll pour something like B12 Chem-tool over it. Close the top and let it sit in the pan over night (without the oil in it).

Pull the plug the next morning. The chem-tool tends to evaporate quickly so most of the time its just oil that has settled. Fill it up with the cheapest oil I can find an run it for 30 mins then drain it again.

I don't do flushes but I try to clean what I can to help the car. Then its just frequent changes until I stop seeing solids in the drained oil.
 
I have a 1998 1mzfe with 210k miles. It runs great. No sludge, clean under the valve cover. No leaks. All it needs is any API oil 5w30. Any good oil will clean it good. High Mileage oil might clean a little more. I would not use any special flush or cleaner, although it probably won't hurt.

I've only used 3 different oils on it for the last 10 years...
1. Maxlife
2. PP HM
3. M1 HM

They all work great. Definitely change out the PVC with an OEM unit (toyota dealers charge just as much for OEM as an auto store charges for aftermarket PVCs).

The 1mzfe is a great engine. I would bet my life that your 2002 1mzfe is NOT sludged at all. You can't tell without pulling the valve cover anyway. Seeing what you have seen does not mean there is any sludge. 2002 isn't one of the years famous for 1mzfe sludging, and only about 1-2% of the famous 1mzfe sludge year engines had significant sludge. The 1mzfe sludge problem has been exaggerated. Sludge mostly came from not maintaining the engine and not changing the oil enough.

Modern oils are much better now than in 2002, and toyota change the design in 2002 to avoid sludge. And will treat the engine right. I'd just use a good oil and change at 5k mile OCI for conventional/blend oils and 7.5k mile OCIs for synthetics (and a little more often for short tripping).
 
Originally Posted By: PeterPolyol
I'd try a mild and passive regime of PYB for sure. For me, it unstuck a compression ring in a 2.2 Camry to my surprise.


What do you think of formula shell? I can get it for 10 bucks for 5 qts.
 
Originally Posted By: zerosoma
What do you think of formula shell? I can get it for 10 bucks for 5 qts.


Excellent stuff and runs as quiet or more quiet than the king of quiet oils, Magnatec. I'd get some myself but don't want to over stock oils. I already have a jug of Castrol Edge Gold 10w30 that I'm going to use any day now. Looking forward to getting that in the Matrix.
 
Hello, thought I'd shed some insight here being a toyota technician. One way to tell if it is smudged is testing the p.c.v. pressure by removing the p.c.v. valve vacuum hose, plugging it so that you won't stall the engine from a vacuum leak and testing the pressure out of the pcv valve to see if it builds up slowly. If it doesn't you have problems, most people think replacing the valve solves the issue but in reality, although the valve may be plugged, the sludge builds in the p.c.v. passages built into the top of the valve covers eventually blocking it. Once the p.c.v. system can't ventilate, those internal pressures must go somewhere, in turn blowing past all your seals and causing oil leaks. We see these engines with multiple oi leaks from the rear main, cam, crank, v.c. gaskets then we imediately check p.c.v. pressures. Toyota has come out with updated valve covers with larger p.c.v. passages to remedy this, but who wants to pay $1,000 in parts alone. Ive heard of some who drill out the rivets on the inside of the valve cover to remove the plate for the p.c.v. passages, clean them out , then reinstall using self tapping screws.
 
Originally Posted by 1mzsludge
Hello, thought I'd shed some insight here being a toyota technician. One way to tell if it is smudged is testing the p.c.v. pressure by removing the p.c.v. valve vacuum hose, plugging it so that you won't stall the engine from a vacuum leak and testing the pressure out of the pcv valve to see if it builds up slowly. If it doesn't you have problems, most people think replacing the valve solves the issue but in reality, although the valve may be plugged, the sludge builds in the p.c.v. passages built into the top of the valve covers eventually blocking it. Once the p.c.v. system can't ventilate, those internal pressures must go somewhere, in turn blowing past all your seals and causing oil leaks. We see these engines with multiple oi leaks from the rear main, cam, crank, v.c. gaskets then we imediately check p.c.v. pressures. Toyota has come out with updated valve covers with larger p.c.v. passages to remedy this, but who wants to pay $1,000 in parts alone. Ive heard of some who drill out the rivets on the inside of the valve cover to remove the plate for the p.c.v. passages, clean them out , then reinstall using self tapping screws.

It's not $1000 for those parts. I replaced the rear cover myself on my old 1MZ-FE with the new part and it is about $230. The PCV valve is inexpensive and the gasket isn't much either. Nowhere near $1000.

Did you join with that name just to bring us this incorrect information?
 
Originally Posted by kschachn
Originally Posted by zerosoma
Just bought a 2002 Toyota Solara for an AMAZING deal. I love this car already so much. But I realized there IS sludge underneath the oil cap and in through the fill hole. Doesn't look terrible, but it's obvious this has seen better days. There is a very small leak (a couple drops every week or so) on the pavement.

As has already been mentioned, there is no way to determine anything about that engine by looking through the fill hole. The baffle is in the way and is coated with a black, sort of gritty material from the factory. Numerous people on here and elsewhere have been fooled into thinking this baffle is representative of the engine condition but it is supposed to look like that.

The only way to gauge condition is to pull the valve cover. The front one is easy and with the way they usually leak it's generally due for replacement anyway. But pulling the back one is more representative and is likely the cause of any leaks you are seeing on the ground. Due to the extra work required to replace that gasket it is often neglected.

Do not use any flush or cleaner until you positively determine there is any need to do so. I also wouldn't use anything but a high quality synthetic oil in this engine on a relatively short OCI regardless of whether it is one of the sludge prone engines or not. Just my opinion on that, take it for what it's worth. But it's gotten me the miles I've done on my 1MZ-FE.


Great information. What oil would be considered as high quality?
 
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