Oil Pressure

After having goone through all of that, I found a tool tha probably does what I need, WITHOUT removing the plug first!

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shows a tool kit for this sort of thing. I don't know if it works for a Camry. I wonder where I can get one fast?

Reply to
jim_nospam_beasley
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That reminds me of an old joke about a cardiologist, medical student and engineer.

When an engineer goes to pull a plug out of the wall, she goes, gets a firm grip on the plug, and pulls it out surely, but gently.

A cardiologist yanks out the plug out by the cord.

And a medical student trips on the respiratior cord and pulls out the plub with his feet.

The bottom line is never, ever pull out the plug by the wires.

Reply to
Jeff

Auto parts store probably sell the correct socket, Sears hardware probably also has it. BTW, you need to seal the threads with lock-tite.

Reply to
Ray O

Finally, I removed the old switch with a 1-1/16" socket. Unfortuneately, the new one didn't solve the intermittent light, so I must have a pressure problem, after all.

I was listening to the engine in the garage when the light was going on and off, and I could hear a slight raspy sound when the light was on. I wonder if that's the oil pump, or something is not getting its oil. The dip stick shows full.

Reply to
jim_nospam_beasley

I think I know what the problem is, but before I announce my guess, I have some questions...

What model and model year is the car?

Which engine?

What is the oil change history?

Did the engine ever go over 7,000 miles between oil changes?

Reply to
Ray O

The car is a 1996 Camry with 6 cyl engine. Oil changes were irregular, and most close to 5K intervals, but occasionally it went longer. Mileage is 225,000 miles. A lot of daily commuting, 50 to 100 miles per day.

That raspy noise I heard when the oil pressure light goes on is not very loud, and it goes away when the light is off. The engine sounds okay when the light is off.

Reply to
jim_nospam_beasley

I suspect that you have some sludge buildup. You can confirm this by removing a valve cover and looking at the camshaft area. The 1996 Camry is not one of the vehicles covered by Toyota's customer assistance program.

Some other things you can try - one of those oil flush treatments before you change your oil next time, or removing the oil pan and see if there is any buildup on the oil pump pickup screen. Something else that may help is using 5W-30 oil.

Reply to
Ray O

Hmmmm...Camry with a V-6, eh?

The sound he's describing is very familiar to me, having had a '90 240SX and an '85 Celica GTS with the 22RE...that being the tensioner starving out and allowing the chain to slack, and rub up against the housing.

But I am guessing the V-6 Camry had a timing belt and not a chain, so that's not it!

Reply to
Hachiroku

Timing belt...

Reply to
Ray O

What is an oil flush treatment? And can I do that myself? I can't find much about it on the web. I would like to find some good solvent or whatever to clean any sludge, if I find it. I don't want to use the wrong stuff.

This will probably have to wait until next weekend. These things are getting more complicated than they were back in the late 70s. I replaced the clutch on my car back then, and every part was easy to find and reach. (Transmission was heavy, though!)

I looked at taking the valve cover off, and the first thing I noticed is this cosmetic plastic cover on top of it that looks like it's connected to the valve cover with two pop rivets. They don't look like they fit any wrench I ever saw, but they do look like pop rivets, holding this thing right onto the top of the valve cover.

Reply to
jim_nospam_beasley

There are several engine flush products available at auto parts stores. You usually add them to the oil and run the engine for 3 to 5 minutes, then change the oil. These do-it-yourself products are probably only marginally effective, if at all, but they are inexpensive to try and probably wouldn't hurt an engine that is already sludged up.

Actually, the mechanical principles behind engines and transmissions have not changed that much since I started tinkering around 1970. Controls have become a little more complex, but when you look at them one at a time, they are pretty straightforward.

Go to this site for free access to Camry factory repair manuals:

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a 5 mm hex wrench (Allen wrench) to remove the 2 fasteners on the V-bank cover.

Reply to
Ray O

----Lots of history snipped-----

How about actually measuring the oil pressure? You should be able to get a gage for about $30. Fits in the same hole as the pressure switch. Then you can see what's really going on.

Odds are is engine wear is causing low oil pressure at idle. If it's just engine wear, using a higher viscosity oil is recommended. My Camry ('83 with 250K miles) works just fine on 10-40 in the winter and

20-50 in the summer. Temperatures where I drive vary from 0-100 F.

The oil pump can be replaced and some folks do it when the timing belt is replaced.

Didn't catch the year of your Camry. The old 8 valve model used hydraulic lifters. They'll clatter a bit with low oil pressure.

Reply to
Kurt

Ray,

Thanks for the info on the manuals. That is a terrific help.

I just removed the oil pan, because that looked like the easiest thing to do. You are right about the sludge. The oil screen is clogged. I am hopping that that was the main problem. The pipe from the oil screen is very clean inside, though, so it looks like the sludge did not get through it (I hope). I'll try to clean it with brake cleaner, or if that doesn't look good, I'll replace it.

Also, the inside of the oil pan resevoir is heavily caked with crud, and I want to clean as much off before I put the pan back on. Any suggestions on doing this would be very helpful. The upper pan is aluminum, and th elower pan is steel. I would like to use a soft brush and some sort of non-toxic solvent, if there is one. I don't like being down there with brake cleaner.

Reply to
jim_nospam_beasley

I don't know of anything that is non-toxic that will be effective at dissolving the crud, except perhaps a strong detergent. The catch is that the dissolved crud is not very environmentally friendly so using something environmentally friendly to clean it is kind of a moot point.

The best thing to try is to take the pan to an auto shop or machine shop with a parts washer. They can fill the pan with solvent and let it soak for a while.

Plan B is to fill the pan with solvent or kerosene at home and let is soak outside overnight (not in the garage!!), pour the solvent/kerosene into a suitable waste container, and take it to a chemical recycling place. You can try using a putty knife to scrape the inside of the pan, but if there are baffles in the bottom of the pan, it won't be too effective under the baffles.

Last ditch is to replace the pan.

BTW, you need O2 sensor-friendly formed-in-place gasket (FIPG) which is basically a room temperature vulcanizing (RTV) caulk to re-attach the oil pan. Make sure the stuff you use is O2 sensor friendly or you will end up replacing a sensor.

The top of the head may also have some sludge buildup, but if the inside of the screen is clean, you may be in luck.

Good luck!

Reply to
Ray O

Brake Cleaner is mostly 1,1,1 Trichloroethylene, which isn't nearly as nasty as some of the stuff they used to use. Just have a fan at your back so you have clean air, and wear gloves so it stays off your skin.

And be advised that 1,1,1TCE does nasty things to some plastics, so "check for damage in an inconspicuous area" before using that catch bucket or plastic handled brush. (Had a toolbox handle melt once.)

If the MSDS scares you, they're figuring the exposure limits for someone who uses the stuff 40 hours a week for a lifetime, which makes their exposure targets ridiculously low. If you only use that solvent a few times a year for a few minutes at a shot, you have much less to worry about.

If you want to minimize the toxic stuff you can try other things for the initial attack like straight Kerosene, it has a pretty good solvent effect, isn't too flammable and low toxicity. Or WD-40, which is mostly Kerosene and Stoddard Solvent. Then give a final wash with brake cleaner.

As the sooth sage and philosopher George Carlin once opined: "Scientists have just determined that saliva causes cancer. But only if ingested in small quantities, over a very long period of time..."

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

I was planning to use Permatex Ultra Black, which claims to be "sensor safe." Permtex has other gasket makers, like PERMATEX Sensor-Safe High- Temp RTV Silicone Gasket Maker, which is "Formulated for oxygen sensor equipped engines." I don't know what the difference is or whether it matters, but I have a little time before I re-install, so I thought I would ask.

Reply to
jim_nospam_beasley

As long as it is RTV, sensor safe, and designed for oil pan gaskets, it should be fine.

Reply to
Ray O

Mission Accomplished!

I was successful at resolving the intermittent oil pressure light by removing the oil pan and cleaning the oil screen.

At 225,000 miles, the oil screen was completely clogged with pieces of sludge that looked like a lot of small rocks. The inside of the oil screen tube looked clean, with only some resinous coating.

While I had the lower pan off, I cleaned the inside of the lower pan completely and scraped as much of the sludge from the upper pan as I could without removing that one, too. There was a lot of gritty feeling sludge coating a lot of the surfaces.

I used a plastic putty knife, a nylon scrub brush, and sometimes a brass brush, along with mostly brake cleaner and a little acetone to clean the lower pan and the oil screen. I only used the putty knife and the nylon brush on the upper (aluminum) pan.

An oil change with Pennzoil High Mileage 10W-30 and a new filter finished the job.

I tested the repair with about 20 miles of driving and no oil pressure light! Before, It began flashing intermittently after about 2 miles.

Thanks for all the help, Ray. Now I am going to find some assistance on replacing the transmission on my 94 Suburban 4X4. I'm beginning to think that might be worth doing, too!

Regards, Jim

Reply to
jim_nospam_beasley

Glad to hear that the project was successful! After doing all that cleaning and flushing, I would do an oil change fairly quickly, like within 1,000 miles, and then stick to 3,000 to 5,000 mile intervals after that. You can buy reminder stickers at auto parts stores like the ones dealership and quick lube places work.

Thanks for reporting your results!

BTW, that Suburban transmission is going to be heavy! You may wish to rent a transmission jack for that project!

Reply to
Ray O

Ray I have always kind of been curious what would happen using the wrong stuff.

Would it just take out the related sensor's one time? Or would they fail repeatedly until the wrong sealer was removed?

Thanks Dan

Reply to
Danny G.

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