1NZ-FE Under Valve Cover - 280,000 Miles

[kschachn]

As part of some other general maintenance I had to do after nearly 20 years, I noticed the valve cover gasket was leaking a bit at the rear. It had never been changed on the ECHO so I changed it out and the inside looked very good after all these miles. This engine is nothing like my 1MZ-FE, despite an OCI that is higher (about 10,000 miles vs. 7000 or so) the valve train and cover is much cleaner. The 1MZ-FE at the same mileage showed far more deposits and the valve cover was nearly black. Both have used mostly M1 in the past with whatever synthetic is on sale lately for the ECHO.

The gaskets were crispy though and I had to scrape them off a bit from the spark plug tubes. The camshaft picture is untouched, the valve cover is after wiping it out with a rag. No visible marks on the camshaft lobes or anything, I was pleasantly surprised at the condition.

 

[StevieC]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[demarpaint]

Nothing there to complain about. Nice!

 

[OVERKILL]

Looks great

 

[supton]

Wicked good, as they say.

 

[wemay]

Fantastic!

 

[PimTac]

As good as it gets. Thanks kschachn for sharing.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Wow that looks good! Thank you for posting

 

[maverickfhs]

WOW, that's simply amazing

 

[ZZman]

Very clean

 

[CR94]

I'm trying to imagine how that could look better if you'd changed every 3k, as some still insist they must do.

How's the timing chain condition?

 

[JLTD]

Synthetic @ 10k = just that clean.

 

[Smokescreen]

Just as I suspected it would be for a well looked after Toyota.

 

[Whipcitywrencher]

Looks Nice!
Thanks for the Pic's.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

You sir, deserve an award or something for driving an Echo for 280k. Or a free pass to the loony bin!

Seriously though, that looks great. Most engines are lucky to look that good at a quarter of the mileage. Since you've obviously spent a lot of time with both cars, what do you think is the major root cause for the difference between the two engines' results?

 

[DirectRejection]

Suitable for framing, kschachn !

 

[DGXR]

If that camshaft picture is untouched, it looks really dry in there. I'm hoping you wiped it all with a rag. Otherwise super clean! Very nice.

 

[ekpolk]

Those pics have kept the M1 haters quiet just as well as the oil has kept the engine clean! On a more serious note, this is same gas engine as used in the first two generations of the US Prius (00-03 and 04-09), and it didn't have the luxury of being "buffered" or carried along by an "electric side." Nope this engine moved that Echo every inch of those 280k miles. As already noted, those cam lobes look nearly unworn. Fantastic, and thanks for posting these pics.

EDIT: so what oil will you be using for the next 280k miles?

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted by DGXR
If that camshaft picture is untouched, it looks really dry in there. I'm hoping you wiped it all with a rag. Otherwise super clean! Very nice.

It wasn't dry, everything was coated in oil.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted by CR94
How's the timing chain condition?

I don't know, it seems fine and I didn't take the time to measure anything. All 1NZ-FE engines are a bit noisy and it's pretty much stayed the same since new.