My 4 runner spends at least 1/3 of its time on dusty, gravel roads or sandy roads. I’m religious about changing the oil and filter at 3,000 and the air filter every other oil change. Both of these preventive steps are a lot cheaper than an engine overhaul.

I think you should use a quality oil but changing the oil more often and having a clean air filter are probably more important.

The other thing I do is never change the oil when the engine is cold. I always plan my oil changes around at least a 30 minute road trip so the oil and engine are warmed up, the oil is hot and everything is in suspension so hopefully a lot of it comes out when the plug is pulled.

I am going to be taking a look at the PVC valve though thanks to this thread.

I got my present runner at 110000 currently its at 220000, I’d like for it to run a few more miles.

 

Its Water in the oil.

 

they were not talking about that kind of sludge

 

i remain in shock..

 

i swear i watched that kaboom video like 5 times!!!!

 

Very interesting read. For reference, here's a pic of my passenger-side head from a few weeks ago (valve cover gasket change). I purchased the truck new, with 2 miles on the clock, and it now has 191,000 miles. I've changed the oil every 3,000 miles using Castrol 5/30 GTX and Toyota filters.





Andreas

 

That is how they are supposed to look, and what we expected when we popped the valve covers. Change your oil and make sure that PVC is not clogged.

As an update, Sludgy, as we call the Runner, is still going strong. John has been up to Tahoe skiing about 10 times this winter, she drives like a champ. At this point I would say that we successfully saved her with our crazy cleaning plan. We still have not pulled the pan to take a look at it after the Auto RX treatment, that damn front differrential makes it hard to get the ambition to do it.

A project that I am glad is behind us. Now, I need to do a 3.4 swap into my 89 Runner.....

 

if your ever in utah and wanna drive my 3.4 swapped 91 to get a feel let me know!

 

Just an FYI--ATF has a lot of detergents in it.

Personally, i wouldnt of worried so much--i would of used a thin Syn oil with ATF and changed every 500 miles for a while then ran it. but that is just me----if the motor blew i would replace and be done--

Its that accountant desease i picked up in college --if it cost close to or more than what it would cost to fix it--then why bother?

Good work though......

 

HOLY MOLY....
Wow, now I am worried all to hell. I came searching for an answer to my random startup smoke-screen...billowing clouds of thick white smoke, and when I last checked my oil it was a quart low, and when I added a quart I was shocked at the sludge in and around the cap and fill hole...I truly fear what's going on inside!! I am the second (?) owner, she's got nearly 180,000 miles on her, and although I haven't TOTALLY neglected her, there's no telling what's just been lurking around inside!!!
Oh, my head is swimming...I'm about to start Paramedic School and really am not going to have time for a project!!

 

Stop Worrying--pull a valve cover and check it out. If it is sludged--run ATF and some 5w/30w. Keep doing that for a while and then just run it. If it is damaged--then there is nothing you can do--the damaged is done.--Run it till it goes.......

Also, what kind of oil are you running? Synthetic helps oil consumption. The white smoke could also mean worn/damaged valve guide seals----or oil in the PCV system

 

White smoke is a classic sign of coolant in the combustion process, blown head gasket or somehow the coolant is getting in the intake. IIRC blue smoke is burning oil, but I'm not really a smoke expert LOL.

 

Thanks hross and goat...here are a few other little peculiarities:

1) When it smokes...it SMOKES. Like a structure fire...like, embarrassed beyond belief in the upscale food/retail parking lot after lunch with my friends...no smoke in the morning before I met the guys, but smoke screen after lunch. My friend's text: "Damn! Your truck smokes like Lindsey Lohann at an AA meeting!" Then, later, when I try to show someone, NOTHING. I can't replicate it when I want to.

2) had the power steering whine for a while, and the other day I lost all power when merging (right turn) onto another highway at about 40mph...added fluid, and the whine AND smoke went away. Searched "POWER STEERING SMOKE" and found some interesting comments about Toyota and Lexus Power Steering pump valve getting clogged and causing fluid to be pumped into the system...causing the smoke. Some people replace the pump, and many just bypass or plug/cap the valve, as it really doesn't do anything (makes parking lot steering 'looser"). I am nit sure what or where to plug and cap, so I need to get underneath the old girl and check it out.

3) There appears to be no oil in the water and no water in the oil...

I REALLY hope it's the PS Pump valve thing...I can easier afford doing this than even having to buy a replacement valve cover gasket.
*****
If I DO run the ATF and 5W30, what ratio quart-to-quart do you recommend?

 

What does the smoke smell like? Burning coolant smells kind of sweet, burning ATF probably smells like burning oil, but can't say for sure (not really a smoke monster expert, but I do like Lost lol)

 

Let it smoke and sing the batman song when it does it!!!

 

I WISH my smoke monster was the one in LOST! I'd WELCOME it! (And it's chittering-chattering sound as it coils out of my tailpipe..)

It's not sweet, per se...not like when you get a busted coolant hose under the hood. It's more of an acrid smell, not choking though. The smoke is a dense white, with no blueish hue...some firefighter smoke description, huh? Hmm...maybe I can borrow a gas-analyzer from the local FD??

 

HAAAAA!!! Now that was fargin funny--

Yes, 1997 still had the vacuum operated pressure valve coming off the power steering pump but I have never seen one go bad......Doesnt mean it cant happen.

Your smoke sounds like ATF versus Motor Oil--here is what you do:
**Buy a 6-pack of beer
**Tell your girl to you got truck work to do and she better have lunch and dinner like Johnny on the spot
**drink couple beers with the hood open
**look at the PS pump and locate the VACUUM lines going to the pump (the valve is a small silver cylinder looking deal)
**When the GF comes out asking if you know what you are doing, dont answer the question--ask her where's lunch
**Pull off both hoses and start truck (Pretty sure it has two hoses)
**Turn steering wheel and see if oil comes out or use a vacuum gun and see if you can suck some fluid out
**If no--check Brake Fluid--it also burns white versus blue but that would mean you need a new brake booster or Master Cylinder
**Yell at your girl to come outside and ask when is dinner--

This is only going to take you about 30 minutes tops so stretch it out and enjoy the day........

 

Dont get that crap all stirred up, run it until it drops, rebuild it, then pick ONE type of oil and stick with it...all those chemicals dont mix well.

 

Mike, unless you or your friend are planning to drop the oil pan after doing a flush, I would not consider messing with it. I had experience with this before. I did an engine flush to a Mazda rx7 and did not dropped the oil pan, the engine died a week later. The moment you start disturbing all that slush even if you only removed by hand, you run the risk of getting some of it down to the pan and clogging the oil pickup. So if the oil pan is not coming off, Trust me leave it alone.

 

Yeah, I agree with traxxi. I read this 5-year long thread on a BMW forum where the guy bought a sludge monster at about 36,000 miles: http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94785


This was the view through the oil cap with 40,000 miles on the engine. It turned out he bought a car that went from 0 to 37,000 miles with one oil change! (at 16,000 miles):


If you fast forward to the last page he's at 90,000+ miles now and it still has lots of visible sludge but its running fine. His advice was basically to run it with frequent oil changes and don't let it get any worse. He did autoRX it at one point but it didn't seem to help much.