Any Corolla people/experts here?

[chrismartin]

I was driving my wife's '03 Corolla (101,000 miles on it) on the highway yesterday around 70-75 mph. When I went to pass someone I gave it gas, it down shifted, the RPM's went up and the car went. A second later the engine oil light came on and the engine started making a VERY bad noise. I pulled off the road, checked the oil and the oil level was fine.

I had my good friend tow it. When he showed up he started the car immediately shutting it down only to tell me the engine was toast, that I had spun the bearings.

I've been doing some searching and am hearing about the Toyota oil sludge problem.

Does this affect my car?

I've used 100% synthetic oil changing regularly since I met my wife (car had 36,000 miles on it).

Any help would be appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[Annoyed]

I had that happen on a GMC truck I had once.. V6, 231 engine, passed something on an interstate, oil light went on, and in the 5-6 seconds before I could get to the shoulder & let off, the engine burned itself to a cinder. In my case, the oil pump had failed.

Sounds like something obstructed oil flow, or perhaps the oil pump failed. Either way, engine is likely toast at this point.


No way to know without hauling it apart.

 

[chrismartin]

I'm thinking my oil pump also let out.

101K on the clock though for a Toyota isn't much.

Found a used engine for $1,000 with only 17,000 miles on it. I'll be putting that in this weekend.

 

[Uneek]

I believe the sludging issue is with the 1MZ, the old 3.0 V6 used in the Camry, Sienna, Avalon, Highlander, Solara, ES300 and RX300.

 

[MikesToy]

Good luck on the new (used) engine. I would pour "Restore Engine Flush" and have another oil change at the dealership and put 5W-30 Mobil 1.