04 Tacoma 240K - High varnish, some sludge was running T6 10-15K

[MutantGarage]

So I just finished replacing the valve cover gaskets and plug seals on the 2004 5VZFE Taco.
I've been using Rotella T6 on about a 10-15K change schedule with a Toyota oil filter.
My daily driving is 25 mins highway and about 40 mixed stop and go (traffic AM, vs PM) for 20 miles each way.
Pulled the covers and there's quite a bit of varnish and a bit of sludge, the PCV needed cleaning, but the hoses were still good
and the intake port was clear, so it was breathing, but not as well as it should obviously.
I had a '95 that totally sludged up, but that year had a problem with the airflow.
Obviously need to start changing oil more often, but is the Rotella Gas Truck a better choice now?
Looking for more detergent action, seems like the test results show higher additive levels for that over T6.
Can faces look OK and it does have a negative crankcase pressure (put saran wrap over oil fill port and it was getting pulled down pretty well.)

 

[meadows]

Think I would change oil more often.

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted by meadows
Think I would change oil more often.


Yep. 10K miles max.

 

[CT8]

I don't see sludge.

 

[supton]

What was the factory interval? 5k or 7500?

IMO it's not looking that bad. I'd run no more than 10k and go from there.

 

[danez_yoda]

You have been running the Rotella T6 the entire life?

I would say shorten the OCI a bit and keep going. its a 16 year old engine with 240K miles on it. You could easily double that amount of varnish and baked on build up and it will still run fine.

That said an good high detergent oil is Pennzoil Ultra. A ran that in a new "to me" van I got and the oil turned black after about 1000 miles. Next OCI it tool about 2000 miles. I was thinking the PUP was crap but nope it was cleaning the old sludge out. After about 4 5K OCIs then it was coming put the sump like pancake syrup colored. No inky black at all. Just a dark amber tent.

 

[MParr]

If it were mine, I would be running Mobil 1 High Mileage 10W30. 7,500 miles would be the max on OCI.

 

[Amkeer]

If you check out the photos I posted here of my 2003 Tacoma with 10,000 mile intervals on Mobil 1 5/30 it would probably make you switch.

 

[Ram02]

Shell/Pennzoil haven't changed I see the waxes they still maybe using in there oils .

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by Ram02
Shell/Pennzoil haven't changed I see the waxes they still maybe using in there oils .




So you are not sure?

 

[The Critic]

T6 really isn't designed for extended drains, especially not in gasoline engine. I would have stuck with the max Toyota drain interval of 7500 miles.

If you insist on 10-15k service intervals I would consider Mobil 1 Extended Performance or Amsoil Signature Series.

 

[Mr Nice]

How many quarts is the sump ?

I agree with Critic.

On big Diesel engines they have 12-15 quart sumps.

 

[OilUzer]

Originally Posted by Ram02
Shell/Pennzoil haven't changed I see the waxes they still maybe using in there oils .


Curious where or how can you see the wax?

I put PP along with a few other oils (including another very good syn) in freezer for a week and PP looked the best. It looked like fresh out of the bottle whereas other oils got foggy. Not saying it's the best test but you would think the wax shows up at low temps.

 

[BISCUT]

Doesn't look bad to me at all. You are at 240k miles? Why not move to 7500 for the remaining life of the engine and use an oil a little more on the cleaning side that the T6? I'm a Mobil 1 fan but PP or Castrol Edge? Others could work just fine but this is what I would stick too. Just my opinion.

 

[littlehulkster]

This really doesn't look that bad for an engine with 240k.

I would shorten the interval to what Toyota recommends regardless, but this really isn't a bad result for so many miles.

 

[PowerSurge]

I change my oil 7000-7500 miles max and my engines are almost spotless inside after 150-200k miles.

 

[caprice_2nv]

It looks very similar to my 240k mile 305 that's 37 years old. Not exactly sludged up, but the inside of my valve covers have some buildup that looks the same as these photos show. I'm sure mine got there before I bought it and I don't know the original oil change history. Someone in the past circled the 7500 mile oil change interval shown in the owners manual so maybe that's what they did. And that would be on old SF and SG rated oils for a while at the beginning of the cars life.

The past 10 years I've done full synthetic m1, Pennzoil platinum, etc every 3-6k. Usually 3k now, but when I did a long highway commute I went beyond 6k.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted by CT8
I don't see sludge.


Me either. It actually looks really good! No wear at all on the camshaft lobes.

 

[ripcord]

I don't see a problem here at all. That looks pretty good for 15k oil changes. I'd be curious to mike those cam lobes and see what kind of wear numbers you have.

Bet the wheels fall off that truck before you wear that engine out.

 

[Snagglefoot]

There are 4 different T6 products: 0w40, 5w40, 15w40 and 5w30 multi-vehicle. Only 0w40 and 5w30 are SN rated for gasoline engines.