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Has anyone here had experience with the Toyota sludge/gel problem? I have a 1997 6 cyl Camry with 125,000 miles. If I haven't had the sludge problem thus far, do you think I'm in the clear...or not? What are the signs/symptoms of the sludge problem...or will my car just "blow up" one day? Just wondering...
I have a 2002 Camry with the 2.4 liter 4 cyl., with 106K miles on the car. In the 2 years I've owned the car, I have not had any issues with anything on my car. By the way, I am using a high-quality API SM-CF rated synthetic motor oil which is highly effective at preventing sludge. If you make sure you change your oil and filter every 5,000-7,500 miles with a high quality 5W-30 grade oil, you should do well to avoid any sludge issues that have been reported about some Toyota engines.
Cayhnage theoil and service the collig system for have a rpooiblem with any car.i have firend that have that those years toyotas with no problem whatso ever.
Someone had said that it also effected the 1993-96 Camrys with the 3.0L V6, but honestly, I had a 1993 Camry LE V6 with 230K miles and the engine was still in perfect working order. It didnt leak or burn oil and the engine was SMOOOOOTH! I regret selling that car... it was still like brand new, even with 230K miles.
Apparently, I have been told you can try that "Lucas" treatment (or something like that) in the engine and it will help out that gelling issue on some of those Toyotas that have this problem. Worth a try I guess.
If you Google the problem, you will see that the sludge buildup is mostly related to cars that make a lot of short trips and/or don't get oil changed often enough/use incorrect oil.
Some cars will tolerate never getting fully warmed up due to short trip driving better than others, but in general "grandma" type driving will cause sludge formation, among other problems.
I have a 2002 Camry with the 2.4 liter 4 cyl., with 106K miles on the car. In the 2 years I've owned the car, I have not had any issues with anything on my car. By the way, I am using a high-quality API SM-CF rated synthetic motor oil which is highly effective at preventing sludge. If you make sure you change your oil and filter every 5,000-7,500 miles with a high quality 5W-30 grade oil, you should do well to avoid any sludge issues that have been reported about some Toyota engines.
The sludge problem was with the 3.0L V6 engine, so your car wouldn't be affected.
If you Google the problem, you will see that the sludge buildup is mostly related to cars that make a lot of short trips and/or don't get oil changed often enough/use incorrect oil.
Some cars will tolerate never getting fully warmed up due to short trip driving better than others, but in general "grandma" type driving will cause sludge formation, among other problems.
This was Toyota's explanation/excuse anyway. But "grandma" type driving will not "generally" cause sludge formation -- though it is more likely to do so if there's a design flaw, which is a more likely explanation when the problem happens way more often than usual for a certain type of engine. Even Toyota finally admitted, albeit tacitly, that they screwed the pooch by extending the warranty coverage on affected vehicles.
Additionally, automakers really should be more clear about what constitutes "severe duty" driving when it comes to recommended maintenance intervals. Soccer moms almost certainly don't think that their puttering around town doing errands constitutes "severe duty" -- nor should they since this is very typical use for a car, whereas "severe" implies extreme, atypical use. They should probably change the verbiage from "severe duty" to something that more accurately captures the way your average suburban driver uses his/her car. Fortunately, this should become a vanishing issue over time as computerized oil-change alerts become ubiquitous on cars.
If you read about any oweners amnual sever driving includes shport trips and most city driving and has for a long time. But I guess like contract on houses its too mcuh to expcent people or congressamn to read.
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