Residue on dipstick

Mar 13, 2005 Last reply: 21 years ago 4 Replies

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griffin 21 years ago

I am lookin at buying an '01 Corolla CE+ with the VVTi but when I looked at the dipstick it had some oil residue (?) on the dipstick that I had to use my fingernails to scrape off. It smelled and looked pretty clean but at the very end of the dipstick it was really stuck on there. Is this something to be concerned about? We already own 3 Corolla's ('93, '95, '97) but none have this. Is it due to the different engine? Is it from the car sitting for awhile? Is the engine going or were some oil changes really late?

Also, all of the Corolla's we own had to have the timing belts replaced around 100k but I've heard that these VVT-i's have a timing chain and that it isn't likely it has to be replaced. Is this true? Will it ever have to be replaced, when, and how much $? Also, how much more HP does this engine have over our other plain 1.6's?

Thanks for any help!

griffin '93 Corolla DX '95 Corolla DX '97 Corolla SD '85 Jeep CJ7

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Richard 21 years ago

Sludge cause by oil/water/acid and solid contaminants. Car needs an oil change and perhaps more frequent changes or a switch to a better oil.

Richard.

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Wolfgang 21 years ago

brown baked on stuff is pretty normal ---sludge is jello, greasy like.

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hachiroku 21 years ago

Commonly known as 'varnish' which is a residue from carbon-based oils, fuels, etc. Common, nothing of concern.

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invalid unparseable 21 years ago

Oils and additives with high levels of viscosity index improver have been implicated in varnish formation. Sometimes causing sticking and cracked rings! Avoid STP and wide viscosity conventional oils like 10W-40, etc. But one cannot tell if it is sludge turning into a solid compound or varnish or a combination of both. Use quality oil of the recommended viscosity and change it at least once every year or every 15,000 miles and you should be ok. Better still, use Mobil 1 and change it twice a year. (Just joking about once a year for conventional oil).

Richard.

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