koolaidman

lol not a fram guy. i heared it in tech school. found it to be soo true in the industry. especially in some cars. altho that es engine is a badly disigned engine. the reason behind it is because the water jackets are too small and thus keeping the oil at higher temps causing the oil to sludge. but doing the lof at every 5k and 3k after 100k will solve most problems. including oil leaks.

Lexmex

We have that here those Euro 1.8 T engines here in Mexico and my uncle has seen a few get sludge. A lot of those VWs actually use 0W40. Here, a lot of people will try to save costs by going dino and forgetting to change the oil after their first change.

flipside909

That's called checking your car i.e. tune-up, tire pressure, air filter cleanliness and all the other essentials.

flipside909

Oh yeah and don't get me started with that 5th grade teacher from VA. She's the biggest whistle blower who started this whole hype. This still stems back from the Edmunds Town Hall and her posts on the complaint station days 5 years ago. If you notice...she has a whole petition website on the issue...and alot of initated posts you see on other message boards are started by her. This same person had a complaint about her Dodge Caravan in the past and even sued her own lawyer at one time. Go figure?!

trent

I'm assuming all of these oil sludge problems didn't include the engines in the earlier GS, and inline six in the IS?

toy4two

been there done that.

T0ked

iTrader: (2)

No, these issues are mostly with the V6 in the Camrys and ES models, but the lesson is that any engine can sludge if neglected enough. The l6 in the SC, GS, IS and Supras aren't sludge prone as the V6.

Pheonix

That forum is run by a bigot.
Every post is screened by the jerk. He does not let anyone offer any point of view other than his own extremely biased, and uninformed viewpoints.

His posts on bad brakes are a joke. He shows some over 400 "cases" of bad brakes. When you go through them, there are actually:
105 accounts of people that do not understand how Toyota sets up a brake pedal
13 cases of people that need to learn how to use brake & gas pedals, or test a car to make sure it fits BEFORE buying it
35 cases of ABS activating normally
175 cases of MAINTENECE issues, and blatant MISUSE
33 cases of THE OWNER/OPERATOR IS A MORON & needs to leanr how to operate a car, let alone maintain one.
I'm very sorry, but 361 counts of what I find to be NON-Toyota issues out of however many you have listed, and the tens of millions of units of the ENTIRE Camry platform (Not jsut *the* Camry) sold for the generation 4, and generation 5 (1997-2006) Camry does not bode well for your arguement that there is some underlying brake failure.







He is exactly what he says he is... A stereotypical lawyer.

flipside909

Do you own a 1MZ-FE V6 powered vehicle? If so, what year, mileage, and are you the original owner?

toy4two

yes 2000 RX300, not original owner, bought it with 37k on the odo, changed to Mobil 1 at that time. Now have 70,000 on it. Replaced or checked everything but the o2 sensors but no check engine lights, no stored codes according to my odb scanner. Planning to pull the valve cover.

flipside909

Before you get to all that work, check your MAF sensor to see if there is any build up of dirt or even filter oil if you use a drop in on the actual sensor probes. Chances are the previous owner didn't maintain the car very well. But if this was the case, you would have noticed problems right away.

antisludge

Not sure who posted this, but he/she doesn't have the facts straight and he/she is guilty of libel. I am the one who began a Toyota owner's petition back in 2003....remember one full year AFTER the Toyota "Engine Oil Gelation" program was initiated by Toyota. There are currently well over 1,000 signatures on this petition now. Many more Toyota owners are seeking information on another Toyota owners website: "Toyota Owners Unite for Resolution: Engine Oil Sludge." Still others are seeking out information on the former Complaint Station for Toyota and Cartrackers.com Toyota forum.....both sites mysteriously went down at roughly the same time just after my petition was started. Once the sites went down, the traffic to the petition slowed down, but that hasn't stopped the signatories from increasing.

In fact, I posted on Edmund's Town Hall in early 2001. I was permitted to post just 15 days. You see, the moderators said that the "regulars".....translated--those protecting the interests of Toyota....were offended by my Toyota owner organization under the issue of "Toyota sludge." Despite not being able to post after that on the site, almost 6,000 posts accumulated on the subject of Toyota sludge. A "Pilot13" came around to defame me in my absence. He implied just as the quoted poster has done that I was the the one who started the postings about Toyota sludge. This "Pilot13" called Toyota sludge a big HOAX! Imagine that....especially in light of the fact that Toyota acknowledged the problem one year later!

Let me set the record straight, though. I was NOT the one who started such postings. There were Toyota owners complaining about major engine failure in a newer model Toyota with low mileage long before 2001. Posters were there in 1999 doing the same thing. They were ridiculed (actually defamed and discredited) just as I was by corporate protectors. On the other hand, hundreds of vehicle owners continued to seek out the consumer advocates. Much to the chagrin of those who sought to protect Toyota's interests, the issue of Toyota sludge became a very hot topic. Why, at the the Complaint Station, the Toyota forum was the most popular site among hundreds of individual forums there. There were tens of thousands of postings at the Toyota site.

The truth is that Toyota sludge is still an issue currently because Toyota has continued to stonewall Toyota owners in this matter. Despite being the original owners of the vehicles, many (we don't know how many because Toyota STOPPED sending out the 3.3 million letters it promised to send out) owners never got one letter from Toyota about this issue. Many more owners encountered service techs and managers who said they had never heard of "Toyota sludge." Many others found that the dealerships said the engine failure wasn't sludge but that they didn't know what caused it. In most of these cases, the owners had changed the oil every 3,000 miles. Toyota didn't intend of documenting engine failure in cases of every 3,000 mile oil changes.....it just wouldn't look good, I suppose!

Flipside909, I am not sure how you got your information, but it is inaccurate, to say the least. I have never sued a lawyer. I did provide owners of the Dodge Caravan (and other Chrysler models with Bendix ABS DEFECTIVE BRAKES) minivan the name of an attorney who did end up filing a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT against the automaker for a serious and expensive defect in the ABS units. The action was successful, but Chrysler kept the problem hidden from those owners, too. Many hundreds complained of never learning that the brakes were to be fixed under an agreement with the government following an investigation. Pour Wolfgang Reinhart, the lead investigator, ended up dying during the investigation...he was only in his 40's. Thankfully, I donated my failed brake parts to him during the investigation (my van experienced essential total brake failure 2 days before a Girl Scout camping trip). Those defective brakes caused countless accidents according to the NHTSA database. Chrysler tried covering up the problem with some lame brake pedal "bandaid" fix. Internal documents show that Chrysler knew about the problem long before all the brake failures started happening. The company said nothing, though, to its "valued customers."

I hope, Flipside909, that when you post information that you will be sure to check it for accuracy. I think that credibility is important to any poster....would you agree?

If you would like more information about the Toyota sludge issue, be sure to visit the petition website and the Toyota owners' group. This issue is far from over; thousands of owners are experiencing sludging at low mileage and in the presence of proper maintenance. These are the FACTS.

As for whistleblowing....no, I can't take that credit. I simply took internet action and organized Toyota owners so that they could voice their collective concerns. I think that the true whistleblowers will be those Toyota/Lexus employees who take a stand for uncovering the truth and who are willing to face the wrath of a company that seemingly will stop at nothing short of deceiving its customer base and the public at large. I have heard the word "lies" used far too many times when Toyota owners recount their experiences at Toyota dealerships when the SLUDGE MONSTER hits! I think you get my point.......

Please, Lexus sludgemobile owners, speak up about your cases......

Charlene Blake

flipside909

Welcome to CL Charlene.

As for my own experiences with the 1MZ-FE V6, they are fact and I will stand behind them as I have defied the odds. I'm not affilated, employed or paid by Toyota but a very proud and meticulous Toyota and Lexus owner. I have over 97k miles on my 1999 Solara SE V6 Manual and the vehicle has been trouble free as my previous vehicle a 1995 Toyota Avalon w/a 1MZ-FE V6 and 105k miles before I sold it. Perhaps i'm one of the lucky to not have the sludge issues people are experiencing. I highly believe in credibility, but it is ironic you mention this as internet searches query alot of negatives associated with your name. Perhaps you can enlighten us otherwise. Good Luck to you and your cruisade whatever it is.

antisludge

Hmmmm....not sure what you are referring to....perhaps the corporate-protectors who have chased me all over cyberspace to defame (i.e. post "negatives") and libel me. You will find far more positives related to vehicle owner organization than negatives. Why else would so many owners seek out suggestions about what to do with corporate stonewalling when sludge hits? I've corresponded with thousands over time and many have been devastated when sludge has hit within warranty and Toyota refused to lift a finger to assist.....even after the "Customer Support Program for Engine Oil Gelation." I've had some owners write to say they were near bankruptcy (or actually filed following the problem) when Toyota repossessed their sludgemobiles. You see, it is a bit hard to pay for an engine when the vehicle has less than 50K miles and you have a significant loan to pay off!

Yes, you will see readily the corporate-protectors who infiltrated every web site that I have posted on.....all in an effort to SILENCE me. This is quite a common practice in the corporate world. You will find the same thing happening when advocates organize those who have been hurt by medications/drugs from the large pharmaceutical companies or by devices such as breast implants created by large medical device manufacturing companies. It isn't rocket science.....these companies will defend their respective names no matter what REAL DEFECT surfaces in their product line.

Anyway, your scenario is certainly not typical among those who own the affected Toyota vehicles. Where are those Toyota's that supposedly make it to 200,000 miles and beyond? I have yet to see a sludgemobile make it much beyond 100,000 miles. Most fail well within the engine warranty period, unfortunately.

But....happy searching on the Toyota sludge issue.

Charlene Blake

P.S. Note that there is a space between "a" and "lot." I witness the error a lot.

VVT-i

Welcomes to CL antisludge.

Flip is not work for Toyota, but he's just one of those Toyota/Lexus owner that loves the car and do a regular maintenance, such as oil change. The problem I've seen about the sludge engine from the Camry/Avalon/ES or the RX300 are from the people who don't take care of their cars. Some of them go between 15K-25K miles without oil change or not even check the oil level.

I don't know how many Toyota/Lexus with V-6 engine on the road today, but only, may be less than 1% are whinning about the sludge problem. If you do your regular maintenance this problem won't happen, ever. The car is just like everything else in your life. They need some regular maintenance.

If this thread getting worse I will close it, so please be polite.