The little Toyota engine that couldn't...
Once upon a time there was a Little Toyota V6 1-MZ engine. And the little engine was becoming weaker and weaker and finally it went to its maker and said, "I don't feel so good; I think that there is something wrong with me." And its maker said, "You would feel better if you would just change your oil regularly. Now away with you, you little not properly maintained engine!"
Now the little engine was really sad because it had its oil changed regularly and at the proper intervals. But, in spite of that, the little engine grew weaker and weaker and weaker. And then it died. The end.
A fairy tale you say; not if you are the owner of the Toyota V6 l-MZ engine that is in all of the Toyota vehicles manufactured from 1997 through 2002. These engines are defective and in spite of proper maintenance by the owners they develop sludge which caused major damage to the engine. At first, Toyota was in total denial and laid the blame for engine failure on the owners. This did not work.
So, in February of Toyota isssued a Special Program notice which essentially stated that Toyota would based on good will on their part (read Toyota was trying to cover their butt in the face of an impending class action suit) would repair or pay for the repairs if already done due to engine sludge.
Toyota called it "gelling". I have never heard of "gel" in an engine; however, I have heard of sludge. Well, in that there are approximately 3.3 million engines involved, this is a mighty huge problem for good ol' Toyota. This special program window was for a period of one year from the date of the letter. Needless to say, this offer went over like a lead balloon.
Especially for owners whose cars were fairly new. The one year window just wasn't long enough. But, what is more from the instant that this special program notice hit the street, everyone realized that it was a bandaid cover up for a more major problem. The engine was defective because Toyota in an attempt to achieve a cleaner burning engine for emission certification had narrowed the oil ports and raised the temperature in the heads to about 260 degrees - about 50 degrees higher than normal.
This resulted in the oil being cooked and turned to sludge
which clogged up the already too small oil ports. What is even worse is that there is a high fuel content in the oil in these engines which lowers the flash point in the oil and reduces the lubricating qualities of the oil. This marks the death knell for the engine; and Toyota had stonewalled these owners and denied them any relief under the normal warranty.
The plot thickens as Toyota recognizing that the one year window wasn't going over very well, Toyota decided to offer an 8 year unlimited mileage warranty against oil gelling (read sludge). This is all fine and dandy; however, what is the owner supposed to do as you nervously hover over the engine and constantly look for signs of sludging. Well, what I did was to send my oil off for any analysis. My car, a 2001 Toyota Avalon with just about 11,000 miles on it and with oil changed 4x in that time did not fare very well.
The analysis came back indicating that there was fuel and
silicon in the oil. The oil viscosity at 210 degrees was below the minimum level - and remember, the engine runs at 260 degrees, so the oil viscosity at that temperature would be grossly below the minimum level.
There is now at last a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Technical Service Bulletin #TC0 Sequence #628, Item # SB628696 which is an investigatory effort into engine sludge in Toyota V6 engine 1-MZ. There is another NHTSA TSB #EG 001957, Sequence # 2, Item # SB 051257 which is another investigatory effort into internal engine noise at idle at normal operating temperature. They sound rather ominous, eh what. Well, they are!
And when you are in either a Lexus or Toyota dealer (both lines have the engine in question), ask the salesman about engine sludge and watch his face. HHHmmmmmm!!! The answer will be something to the effect that "oh that! Toyota has modified the engine and it is alright now". Then ask them to take you to the service manager and ask the service manager to tell you specifically what was done to the engine to correct the problems and what testing was done to ensure that the fix was effective.
You won't get an intelligent answer because, boys and girls, Toyota will not reveal what they have done or put it in writing for it would be tantamount to a confession by them as to what was wrong with the engine in the first place and that it never was the owner's failure to maintain the vehicle properly.
Happy Motoring!
Paul
Langhorne, Pennsylvania
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