Toyota Avalon sludge?

Do you have a sludge problem?

Changing your oil somewhere before 5,000 miles between changes will solve this problem. And don't use Wal*Mart stuff.

That wasn't the answer the O.P. was looking for. And oil shouldn't HAVE to be changed before 5,000 miles accrues. It's a Toyota screwup in design, and has been recognized for that.

You're absolutely right!!! I change mine at 3,000-3,500.

But then, you're right again. Litigation for poor maintenance is much better than regular service, isn't it?

Uh no, poor design is.

. your 1998 Avalon is used??

very interesting

waterboy

Perhaps I misspoke. It doens't happen too often.

When did YOU get the car, and has it had regular maintenance as spelled out in the Owner's manual? I worked in a Toyota dealer for a year, and the only cars we had come in with sludge problems were those where the owners changed the oil every 20,000 miles whether it needed it or not.

If the oil changes have been done at least according to the maintenance section in the back of the owner's manual, then sludge should not be an issue.

First line of defense (on the part of the Toyota service department) is a BG engine flush.

One guy here recommends running Sea Foam for about 100 miles which, if sludging is light, will work.

A Toyota garage will perform the BG flush first. This seems to be about

50-50, cleaning the engines where the owner wasn't too abusive, but won't help a majorly sludged motor. This requires removing the oil pan and the head and cleaning all moving parts.

I would try a flush myself first, esp on a 10 year old car. You didn't say how many miles. A Toyota dealer may bang you up to $138 for the flush.

The best thing to do, as I said, is to change the oil using a good grade oil like Castrol, or going to a synthetic like Mobil 1 and changing the oil religiously.

Do you think the motor is sludged, or are you just being precautionary?

Haciroku: Yes, I change my oil at Toyota Escondido at every 3 to 4 months. I use whatever oil they give me. The Toyota Escondido engineers found a "slight sludge" problem during one of their multi-point inspections. They stated that it wasn't that bad. I don't see any leaks or such; so, I guess I will go to them with your advice about a sea foam cleaning. I bought it from an Uncle who kept up the oil changes; but, he didn't keep too many records of other repairs. I recently had the same Toyota engineers put in a new water pump and timing belt; as well as, some other new belts. No problems so far. Thank you for your advice.

Keith Lee

Any time, Keith!

The dealer won't use Sea Foam, they will go for the BG system flush.

Since they said there was a 'slight sludge problem', this will most likely take care of it.

Good luck! It's good to see you keep up with the oil changes. If not it could have been "...a major sludge problem..."!