Oil Sludge in 4 and 6 engines

I just learned from my amsoil dealer that amsoil is not making oil filter for certain toyota engines as they will not warrant extended drains on them. I was told that these engine produce water in the oil and that produces the gunk that stops up the filter. I ask my dealer and my answers were less than I wanted. They are saying the problem was people were not changing their oil enough.. I found on the net that toyota at first wound not warrant the engine failures but now are doing so. any information appreciated as I have two 2006 4 cyl engines. one in a corrola and one in a taco.

 

As long as you change your oil on a regular basis you will be fine.

I have a 99 Camry and it's fine - oil changed every 2500 - 3000 miles - no problems.... one of the people I worked with had one as well and did not change the oil regularly... their engine died due to sludge and needed to be replaced.

 

Oil Changed every 5k with Mobil 1 Synthetic.

 

Your AMSOIL dealer might want to be a bit more proactive. I've been an AMSOIL user/dealer since 1978.

The kids and I operate four Tacomas, '08 through '10, all with the 2.7L/5spd driveline.

A conversation with AMSOIL tech support people would reveal that the EaO-57 is not listed for extended drain intervals due to insufficient media volume. The EaO-57 will work normally. You simply need to replace the FILTER at manufacturer's interval -- 5,000 miles IIRC.

That's what we are doing now: one year on the crankcase drain; 5,000 miles on each EaO-57.

I'm exploring possible installation of the BPK-23, dual remote, bypass filter kit. I used one on a 4cyl/5spd 4Runner and it worked wonderfully. I've downloaded the BPK-23 install sheets. It looks to be reasonably straight forward. The toughest part will be figuring out precisely where to hang it. With that kit, owners can hang truly LARGE filters, including a bypass filter, and return to one-year filter changes.

The engine doesn't NEED a bypass filter. I'm just an Old Guy with certain fetishes regarding clean oil in sufficient volume.

 

Word. In my 06 Taco 2.7, I usually drive at least 15 miles on each trip with regular 40+ mile trips so I know everything's up to temp for sufficient periods. I know several people who change their oil every 3k but only replace the filter every other oil change -- they use quality filters that hold lots of particulates and have not had any problems at all. My Dad recently bought a 2006 Toyota Highlander with the same 2.7L 4-banger and 90% of his trips are between 2-5 miles. (Once or twice per month he will drive 30 miles in a trip but that's the longest he will go in his normal routine.) Anyway I told him these constant short trips might be considered 'severe servce' so he really should consider changing the oil every 3k instead of following the recommended 5k interval. Oil is cheap -- engines are not.

 

Yeah I am thinking of going to a shorter OCI becasue I tend to a lot of stop and go driving and short trips. I know any enging can get sludged up by not changing the oil, but these aren't the engines that Toyota had all of the problems out of were they?

 

This thread brings up an interesting issue; however, I do not want to hijack it so I will post a new thread. The issue is What is Normal Operating Temperature?

 

I just did an oil change on my 2.7 this morning and noticed some sludge in the oil cap. I've been changing every 5000 miles per the manual, and switched to Mobil 1 at my last oil change. But, since August I've been driving to a job site three to four times a week that's only 3 miles from my office. Might start on a 3000 mile interval for now at least until this project is over...

Mike

 

OP stated in title 4 and 6 engines. I have the V6 in my 09. Changed to Amsoil at the 5000 mile mark. My plan was to change the filter every 5000, and the oil every year or 10,000 miles. I more than likely wont put over 10,000 miles on it in a year as I have a 5 mile trip to work. Does this throw a wrench in my plan?

 

^^^Chris would you suggest full changes at 5000 mile intervals then? F-me...that is an expensive oil change then twice a year.

 

sounds like a plan. I could do that right now, as I am about to turn 10,000 miles...thanks for the advice. I will share results with you and maybe you can help me decipher them. Thanks.

 

According to the AMSoil Product Recommendation and Drain Interval Chart, our trucks/engines aren't listed as vehicles that are prone to sludge. I've emailed their tech support to see what they have to say. I follow the severe use drain interval with an EaO-57 filter (oil and filter once a year). I did find that they don't offer that filter any more, but I had a spare so I put that on last time.

Interesting that they don't spec the filter for the 2TR-FE anymore, but the engine isn't listed as sludge prone.

 

just ordered the blackstone lab test kit I am on my way.

 

Good point. Sludge can happen on any engine that way. I'm still curious if using extended drain intervals on our engines voids the warranty.