What makes engine oil thicken?
When conventional oil contaminants break down, they coat the components with varnish, various deposits and sludge and leave the lubricant thick, extremely hard to pump and with very poor ability to transfer heat. Cold temperatures are on the opposite end of the spectrum and cause the oil to thicken.
What is the number one cause of oil failure?
The most common causes of engine oil starvation are a faulty oil pump, high mileage wear and tear, which results in an excessive gap between the main and rod bearings, or not changing the oil and oil filter as scheduled.
Why is my Toyota engine sludging and gelling?
Many recommend using synthetic oil to avoid the problem. What causes the problem In some situations, oil additives are burned off or destroyed; then oxidation occurs and pollutants congregate in the oil, producing sludge and varnish.
Why does Toyota pay for oil gel damage?
While Toyota staunchly maintained that any such “oil-gel” problems are attributable to owners’ abuse or poor maintenance habits it did set up a mechanism to reimburse complainants. The language of the settlement appears to include reimbursement to those people who may have already paid to have their sludge damage repaired.
What kind of oil does a Toyota engine use?
Both four-cylinder and six-cylinder Toyota engines of the late 1990s and early 2000s have been prone to oil gelling or “sludging,” which could affect cars that were only a couple of years old. Before buying a used Toyota of this era, it may pay to look under the valve covers for “sludged” oil. Blue smoke may be one symptom.
Why is Toyota not doing an oil change?
Toyota wrote that it “is taking this action because a very small number of customers have reported engine damage from motor oil breakdown, also known as oil gelling or ‘sludging,’ a result of oil change intervals delayed beyond the factory-recommended schedule.