My BITOG science funding interest may be waning

[khittner]

I'm running a gallon of Valvoline Premium Blue Restore 10w-30 in my '02 Camry's 2AZ-FE engine (271K miles) to see whether it'll reduce the engine's oil consumption in the manner it claims to do (says it cleans the rings/lands--just what I think I need) for Cummins diesels. So far, I'm 1000 miles into the OCI, and I've burned a pretty typical (for my Camry) 1qt. of Restore to cover that distance. I recycled the jug, but I think the instructions advised to do top-offs with more Restore. At $80/gallon, my enthusiasm for getting another jug of this stuff to do the top-offs needed to get through my typical 5K OCI is waning.

Anyone got a "keep the faith" story about how this stuff did great things to reduce their (2AZ-FE?) engine's oil consumption, but not until ____ miles? Otherwise, I'm tempted to top off with the PPHM that I have in my stash for cheap, and forego the second gallon of Restore.

 

[CarbonSteel]

A piston soak with Berryman B-12 Chemtool followed by a short OCI would do more for stuck rings (if that is what you have) than Restore ever will.

 

[old1]

Personally, and this is just me, If I ever had a vehicle with nearly 300 thousand miles on it, and all the oil it burned was a quart to 1000 miles, I would think it was the best vehicle ever, and not be trying to make it less. But as I said that is just me. Some people think that an engine will run for ever and never wear out.

 

[LotI]

Skip the boutique snake oil and top if off with what you have.

It's almost AutoZone clearance season so get ready to stock up.

 

[SatinSilver]

At a minimum I'd top off with some Maxlife or maybe even some Valvoline conventional. Might as well keep it in the family. Maybe try replacing the pcv valve with an oem unit even if the old one still rattles. Plus the piston soak as mentioned.

 

[khittner]

Did a piston soak with Kreen a year or so ago, to no apparent effect. I don't know whether the rings are stuck or not; the engine just has the rep for this and supposedly undersized piston oil return holes that cause/exacerbate ring coking. I'm sure, based on the brief cloud seen on start-up, that oil is getting past the stem seals, also a known problem.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Originally Posted By: old1
Personally, and this is just me, If I ever had a vehicle with nearly 300 thousand miles on it, and all the oil it burned was a quart to 1000 miles, I would think it was the best vehicle ever, and not be trying to make it less. But as I said that is just me. Some people think that an engine will run for ever and never wear out.


+1

 

[khittner]

I don't think an engine will last forever, but a leakdown compression test by my mechanic showed 95%+ OE compression in all four cylinders, so that sounds like the engine (bores, rings, and guides anyway?) is not fundamentally worn out yet. My car replacement decision rule is to drive it with routine maintenance and replacement of wear components, until the engine or transmission need significant internal work or replacement, or the parts supply chain evaporates. A top end job, at 20 hours labor, runs afoul of my "significant internal engine work" rule.

We bought the car from my MIL 9 years ago at 114K, and I do get non-trivial pleasure from her wagging her head and muttering "I should've never sold that car" whenever she sees it, so my motivation to nurse it over the 300K mark is there. One wrench's guidance was just "pour more oil into it and keep on driving", which will be my approach after this "Restore" experiment runs its course. It has a fairly new OEM Toyota PCV in it for the past 20K; no difference noted in consumption pattern.

 

[khittner]

Skip the boutique snake oil and top if off with what you have.

It's almost AutoZone clearance season so get ready to stock up.

___________________

No need for more oil sales; I have a BITOG-worthy stash already.

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted By: khittner
so my motivation to nurse it over the 300K mark is there.


I'd be shooting for 400-500k miles. Enjoy the 300k milestone which is right around the corner. One guy on here has a 93 Civic with 500k that looks like new. Another one has an 06 Accord with 600k on it.

Not bad for a first year generation Camry. I might be tempted to play around with some different conventionals, VWB, PYB etc...especially running a few back to back intervals of them. Currently using VWB 5w30 in the 05 Matrix and last interval was 6k miles over 4.5 months. No consumption and it's consumed oil on other brands.

Also see below with a car that's a known oil guzzler.

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
I think I finally found the cure for the oil consumption in my 94 Corolla; I've probably done half a dozen piston soaks with MMO, Seafoam etc. with varying results; the consumption sslows and then comes back. I recently did another soak with Berryman B12 Chemtool (STRONG STUFF), and refilled with Pennzoil Platinum HM 10w-30. After 3,000 miles, it's hardly burned a drop! I've had this car since 2002 when it had 70,000 miles and it's always burned oil; sometimes a quart every 1,000 miles. That has led to pretty bad combustion chamber deposits which lead to pinging. With the Pennzoil after doing the soak, I'm not getting any pinging at all. Just wanted to report. I'll continue using the Pennzoil HM synthetic - stuff seems to work and it seems to help clean out an engine/rings with deposits.


https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ub...age#Post4649392

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: khittner
Did a piston soak with Kreen a year or so ago, to no apparent effect. I don't know whether the rings are stuck or not; the engine just has the rep for this and supposedly undersized piston oil return holes that cause/exacerbate ring coking. I'm sure, based on the brief cloud seen on start-up, that oil is getting past the stem seals, also a known problem.
Kreen is not the same as Berryman. Give it a try and you will see. It removes ALL carbon and sludge.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

At 271K miles on an 02 don't your think its time to quit playing Mr. Science and move up to a newer model with say 30K miles or less. As much as we work at making them last sometimes its time to move on.

 

[slo town]

Originally Posted By: Snagglefoot
Originally Posted By: old1
Personally, and this is just me, If I ever had a vehicle with nearly 300 thousand miles on it, and all the oil it burned was a quart to 1000 miles, I would think it was the best vehicle ever, and not be trying to make it less. But as I said that is just me. Some people think that an engine will run for ever and never wear out.


+1


+2

 

[khittner]

Originally Posted By: JohnnyJohnson
At 271K miles on an 02 don't your think its time to quit playing Mr. Science and move up to a newer model with say 30K miles or less. As much as we work at making them last sometimes its time to move on.



Well, my approach doesn’t keep car dealers in business. And while I’m on a first-name basis with my mechanics, they aren’t making their boat payments on the income they generate from me. The 5th-gen Camry seems like the Volvo 240 of its generation—bulletproof and under-appreciated. It’s also common as dirt, so its occasional repair needs are easily handled. Also, my peculiar sort of environmentalism values the embodied energy of a vehicle’s production, from design to delivery, and, within some reason, prefers choices that preserve and extend the useful life of existing built products, rather than generating demand for new goods to perform the same tasks. I don’t assess repairs on the basis of whether a repair cost exceeds the current value of the car—if I did, I probably wouldn’t fill the gas tank. Instead, I look at a repair cost from the standpoint of “how many new car payments can I avoid by doing the fix?” Usually, that answer is “a bunch”.

Unless a vehicle doesn’t meet my transportation need anymore (like too much, or too little, passenger or cargo space, or some technology innovation really makes a useful improvement, like improved crashworthiness that matters, fuel economy, etc.), I tend to replace what’s worn out or broken, keep it nice-looking and comfortable, and keep on driving. I don’t need a car to provide me with either “infotainment”, or whatever status comes from paying depreciation on the latest & greatest. For me, the “time to move on” is when the mechanic says “it needs an engine”, or “it needs a transmission”, or a collision otherwise toasts it. And, as either crazy or admirable as it may seem, it doesn’t require much science to see that this one really isn’t dead yet.

 

[Bailes1992]

If I was burning a litre every 1000 miles on a 300k engine I would be pretty happy too.

Ive had a 90k Ford Zetec engine burn the same amount. It turned out to be the valve stem seals and I managed to kerb it down to next to nothing with Forte Seal conditioner. Not sure if you get Forte products in the US? Might be worth a try though.

Would it be worth going upto a 15w40 too? I certainly wouldn't be putting expensive synthetics in it.