Engine Oil Solidification - Allion

[SAB]

Hi Guys,

I'm using an Allion 240 (2002) sedan. I recently saw a same model in a garage brought to repair due to condensation(solidification) of engine oil.

can anyone please advise me to sort-out the followings.

1. Is it a common problem for VVT engines?

2. What are the reasons for it ?

3. What are the remedies for it?

4. How much will it cost?

Your advises are highly appreciated.

[Uditha88]

Isn't it just a matter of change oil ontime.

[GayanR]

I think regular oil changes would keep away from that problem.No special sort outs necessary

[Rumesh88]

  On 5/21/2013 at 8:18 AM, SAB said:

Hi Guys,

I'm using an Allion 240 (2002) sedan. I recently saw a same model in a garage brought to repair due to condensation(solidification) of engine oil.

can anyone please advise me to sort-out the followings.

1. Is it a common problem for VVT engines?

2. What are the reasons for it ?

3. What are the remedies for it?

4. How much will it cost?

Your advises are highly appreciated.

It is not common to VVT engines but when it happens in a VVT engine it is more significant than in a normal engine. This is because VVT depends on engine oil pressure to shift the cam position under ECU control. The reason is over exposure of oil to high engine temperature (and the resulting "cooking of oil"). The remedy is as commented by Uditha88 and GayanR to change engine oil "on time". Now comes the question when is the "on time" oil change. Is it correct if you depend solely on the Km reading and change your oil every 5000Km (3000km or whatever depending on the type of oil)? If you drive in heavy traffic every day you need to change oil more often than the above limits. Are you asking for the cost of engine clean up? Well there had been many threads on the subject in this forum including the interesting approach of "English clean up". You will definitely find them interesting to read.

[Komisiripala]

good god no, its a common problem for people who have no love for their cars or don't give a penny about maintenance. just change your engine oil on time and this will never happen

[SAB]

  On 5/21/2013 at 8:47 AM, Uditha88 said:

Isn't it just a matter of change oil ontime.

  On 5/21/2013 at 9:43 AM, GayanR said:

I think regular oil changes would keep away from that problem.No special sort outs necessary

  On 5/21/2013 at 11:16 AM, Rumesh88 said:

It is not common to VVT engines but when it happens in a VVT engine it is more significant than in a normal engine. This is because VVT depends on engine oil pressure to shift the cam position under ECU control. The reason is over exposure of oil to high engine temperature (and the resulting "cooking of oil"). The remedy is as commented by Uditha88 and GayanR to change engine oil "on time". Now comes the question when is the "on time" oil change. Is it correct if you depend solely on the Km reading and change your oil every 5000Km (3000km or whatever depending on the type of oil)? If you drive in heavy traffic every day you need to change oil more often than the above limits. Are you asking for the cost of engine clean up? Well there had been many threads on the subject in this forum including the interesting approach of "English clean up". You will definitely find them interesting to read.

  On 5/21/2013 at 1:31 PM, Komisiripala said:

good god no, its a common problem for people who have no love for their cars or don't give a penny about maintenance. just change your engine oil on time and this will never happen

Thank you very much guys for immediate responses.

Now I understood that those mechanics (????) have no idea abt it at all. When I asked abt the reason for that, they told it's a common problem for VVT engines in Allions, 121 and Vios.

Rumesh's explanation is very important. Thanks again guys.

[kush]

It is not only the regular change but also you need to use the correct grade of oil and filter.

Remember oil get contaminated with the mileage and age go by the manufactures recommendation.

Generally every 5000 km (petrol) or 6 months works for most of the cases. For diesels and turbo charged engines at a more frequent interval.

Most of the cases the engines get ruined because the owners drive (home/ garage) with low oil pressure. In case of oil light indicator lights up in your dash “DO NOT DRIVE”.

[Uditha88]

  On 5/22/2013 at 3:04 AM, SAB said:

Now I understood that those mechanics (????) have no idea abt it at all. When I asked abt the reason for that, they told it's a common problem for VVT engines in Allions, 121 and Vios.

Well, regarding "common problem for VVT", there might be a requirement for extra care when you have VVT engine than any other tech. That might be the fact that Mechanic tells.

Anyone who has sound knowledge about VVT technology & how it works would add ideas here.

[Davy]

Spotted this at my mech's garage when I went there a couple of years ago and I thought this was worth a couple of photos. This is an Allion which was owned by a person who thought that his car could be driven forever with just topping up his tank.

Sharing to stress the importance of routine engine maintenance (oil changes especially):

Yes, the metal plate on the right has all the sludge that was removed from the engine cover.






As the others have stated, just change your oil on time, and this will not happen.

[Pericles]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="Rumesh88" data-cid="240347" data-time="1369134982"><p>

Well there had been many threads on the subject in this forum including the interesting approach of "English clean up". You will definitely find them interesting to read.</p></blockquote>

Thought it was called an Italian tune up? Or do you mean something else?

[Sylvi]

Members,

During year 1970/80. I used to change Engine oil ever 1000 Miles. Now we have improve oils therefore it is not necessary to change as early.

Average oil change is about every 5,000km petrol engines. So this is roughly every 5,000km or every 6 months, which ever comes first!

Diesel engines should change early. It is better every change oil filter is changed, with high quality new one.

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

[RWD]

even regular oil changes are not enough. my engine is dual VVT-i with direct injection. I am a freak for maintenance and have my synthetic oil changed every 5-6 months as I do not drive long distances and my mileage is low. You have to do a full de-carbonisation every couple of years and even then you'll notice a significant amount of carbon build up thanks to the poor quality of our fuel and stop start driving conditions. this will ensure your engine is performing optimally.

[Rumesh88]

  On 5/22/2013 at 5:22 AM, Pericles said:

Thought it was called an Italian tune up? Or do you mean something else?

When you keep the engine revved up at high RPM to flush out carbon build up it is called an Italian tune up. It is the use of concoction of diesel/kerosene/gasoline/ or whatever to flush the engine sludge that I referred to. Both approaches are highly controversial.

[Supra_Natural]

  On 5/22/2013 at 6:14 AM, Rumesh88 said:

When you keep the engine revved up at high RPM to flush out carbon build up it is called an Italian tune up. It is the use of concoction of diesel/kerosene/gasoline/ or whatever to flush the engine sludge that I referred to. Both approaches are highly controversial.

The Italian Tune up is "Controversial" only if you're a Thel hinganna... Otherwise, it works pretty well... Its not simply keeping the engine revved at high RPM btw, its actually just taking the vehicle on a good hard drive and working it up and down the rev range, with emphasis on keeping it at higher engine speeds for awhile. This sort of thing usually horrifies the average sri lankan allion/141/hybrid driver because obviously it burns more fuel while you're at it.

[The Don]

  On 5/22/2013 at 6:14 AM, Rumesh88 said:

When you keep the engine revved up at high RPM to flush out carbon build up it is called an Italian tune up. It is the use of concoction of diesel/kerosene/gasoline/ or whatever to flush the engine sludge that I referred to. Both approaches are highly controversial.

So Rumesh, what is a sensible approach to "flush" the engine sludge if such a thing is possible. Up to now the only approach I know of requires you to disassemble the engine.

[kush]

  On 5/22/2013 at 2:44 PM, Supra_Natural said:

The Italian Tune up is "Controversial" only if you're a Thel hinganna... Otherwise, it works pretty well... Its not simply keeping the engine revved at high RPM btw, its actually just taking the vehicle on a good hard drive and working it up and down the rev range, with emphasis on keeping it at higher engine speeds for awhile. This sort of thing usually horrifies the average sri lankan allion/141/hybrid driver because obviously it burns more fuel while you're at it.

Agreed, once in a while you should get the engine to the red line to get the VVTi of DVVTi to do their work.

You don’t need to speed to do this, on an open road just floor the throttle let the engine rev. This will give a work out to your valve train and also to your auto box.

[SAB]

  On 5/22/2013 at 4:02 AM, kush said:

It is not only the regular change but also you need to use the correct grade of oil and filter.

Remember oil get contaminated with the mileage and age go by the manufactures recommendation.

Generally every 5000 km (petrol) or 6 months works for most of the cases. For diesels and turbo charged engines at a more frequent interval.

Most of the cases the engines get ruined because the owners drive (home/ garage) with low oil pressure. In case of oil light indicator lights up in your dash “DO NOT DRIVE”.

Good stuff guys,

Can anyone please let me know the correct grade of Oil for my car?

[Rumesh88]

  On 5/22/2013 at 2:44 PM, Supra_Natural said:

The Italian Tune up is "Controversial" only if you're a Thel hinganna..

Agreed! ..And they are the majority, Aren't they?

  On 5/22/2013 at 5:05 PM, The Don said:

So Rumesh, what is a sensible approach to "flush" the engine sludge if such a thing is possible. Up to now the only approach I know of requires you to disassemble the engine.

According to my observations, it takes sometime even for a badly maintained engine to accumulate enough sludge to interfere with the normal operation. This is because the sludge first appears on areas with low oil flow such as the cam assembly and the screens. If the sludge formation is at its initial stage (not like the one in Davy's pics) an engine flush (or even a few frequent oil/filter changes) would clean up the screens but not the deposits on the cam assembly. Again if the sludge is hardened on the sump-end screen it is better to take out the sump and clean it. VVT OCV screen too can be easily taken out and cleaned. But if it is like the one in Davy's pics above we would do not have much choice except to disassemble the engine. Then of course you can get a sparkling clean engine!