Sludge on a 3.4 V6

[peter78]

Here are some pictures of a 4Runner that has sludge in the engine. It is truly a scary picture, if I was rating the pictures, I would give them a "R" rating.

On the plus side I haven't heard of too many stories of sludge forming in the 3.4 V6, but I think it does show the benifits of changing oil often.

(WARNING: This link shows graphic pictures, at least to a 4Runner lover it is graphic.)

http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=002653;p=

 

[Sac State]

An old girlfriend had a '92 Isuzu Trooper. The engine seized and when the Isuzu dealer tore it apart the engine was sludged like these pictures. She swore she had changed the oil every 5000 miles, the dealer claimed otherwise and by the sludge example it was a total loss. Isuzu repaired after a lengthy battle. Quaker State was the brand used and Isuzu claimed Quaker State is the worst oil on the market. Bottomline, this engine had the oil cooked due to scorching of the oil between changes. Either extreme condition or extreme time between changes in the only reason this happened.

 

[peter78]

A friend of mine is a Service Manager at a VW dealership and he says Penzoil is like Quaker State. In other words he thinks it stinks.

After reading the thread, I see they bought it used. You never know how the car was taken car of before they bought it. Of course it could of been a coolant leak too.

 

[Sac State]

Yeah, that is the BIG million dollar gamble when you buy a used car. If the person before you did not change the oil, or other maintenance, it will spell doom for the unlucky person who buys the vehicle pre-owned. The above stated Isuzu should have been totaled, the engine was a mess and the transmission kept crapping out. She went through two tranny's the three years we dated. I guess she went through guys like Isuzu parts.

 

[JungleJim]

A friend of mine is a Service Manager at a VW dealership and he says Penzoil is like Quaker State. In other words he thinks it stinks.

That's interesting, because I've had a different expereince with Penzoil. I have a 1987 Golf which has had nothing but Penzoil since the first oil change (purchases it from my father and he only used Penziol). It currently has over 194,000 trouble-free miles. All oil has to pass ASE standards.

Or it could just be the superior engines that VW built in the past

 

[peter78]

Jungle Jim, if you read the thread about the sludge engine you will see that some people don't like Penzoil either. My friend said the oil is from the same area and the same type of oil as Quaker State and it tends not to hold up. Then if you read more of the thread you see some people defending Penzoil. I remember Consumer Report doing a test and saying all the oil they tested seemed to hold up the same. My feeling is that changing the oil often is most important.

Here is a quote from BOB IS THE OIL GUY at that site on that thread:

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" Toyota is the ONLY engine that has those gears on the heads. As Gman pointed out, those gears are notorious for shearing down a normal oil in viscosity. We have evidence that in the normal v6 sludge engines, a 30wt oil(castrol gtx) will shear down from a 30wt to a 20wt just inside of 3500 miles confirmed with oil analysis and no evidence of any contaminants. There is also evidence that shows anyone that did 3k drains did not in-fact have any sludge issues. There is also evidence that only certain engines had this problem and most times it was ones that had tight engine compartments, where air flow was lacking and had smaller oil sump capacities. "
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As you can see he is slamming the oil I like, Castrol GTX. He also doesn't like Toyota engines much either. He also mentions that people that change their oil at 3,000 miles do not have sludge problems. Just more to think about.....