I now hate Ford with a passion.

[dazzler]

Hey Russ

Yeah I agree. I'm a mechanic, well was 20 years ago, and have built a lot of race engines over the years for rally cars and never had a sludge problem.

The only way I learnt about the flush was when it was on the Toyota invoice for my wifes new Rav4 and I said "what the" and they said it was standard with all the toyota engines.

Beats me why the engines would do it. The current 4 cyl twin cam engines in the rav, camry, avensis etc are all descendants of the 4AGE twin cams that have a fantastic history and I cant remember oil sludging in them. Toyota 4cyl diesels absolutely . The old 2L and 3L diesels would do the big end bearing if the oil change was neglected much at all.

I wonder if its the euro 2 and 3 regs that are somehow keeping the emissions in the engine and thats sludging them up.

Was it the 4cyl camry?

[Rossluck]

Was it the 4cyl camry?

Yep, 2.4 litre. I also had truck with a 2L diesel in which the oil pump died and caused me all sorts of problems.

But this isn't an anti Toyota thing with me. I have enormous respect for their vehicles. It's just that quality seems to be regressing a bit with all of the manufacturers at the moment. Maybe it's the Koreans putting pressure on them.

[dazzler]

Yep, 2.4 litre. I also had truck with a 2L diesel in which the oil pump died and caused me all sorts of problems.

But this isn't an anti Toyota thing with me. I have enormous respect for their vehicles. It's just that quality seems to be regressing a bit with all of the manufacturers at the moment. Maybe it's the Koreans putting pressure on them.

Ahhh so, you make cheep cheep or we nuke nuke

[woodbe]

Toyota quality is very good, but their dealers are suspect just like any other car dealer.

I still remember a Toyota Service manager telling me that 'they all do that' as the gearbox crunched gears changing up to second gear. He quoted (then) $3500 to fix the gearbox and I made him look like an idiot by buying one from a wreck for $300 and making him fit it. *it was perfect*

woodbe.

[m2c1Iw]

Ahhh..... the old "they all do that". I prefer "never seen that before"

[Poppa]

I've had Toyotas that I've loved (and never had a serious mechanical issue with one of them). But I've now got a 2000 AUII Falcon, and I love this car. It is a very nice car to drive, goes brilliantly, and the servicing is cheap and fantastic at my local Ford dealer. I'm a Ford convert.

[mixin]

I have a 2006 Camry V6 as a company car. While it is very reliable so far (only needing attention once apart from services) I am very disappointed in the absolutely terrible fit & finish of the overall car.

Parts of the dash don't line up, the radio sits out further on one side than the other, I had to bend the tops of the door frames in to lessen the wind noise (which is still there).

I cannot see how they can make a lexus out of effectively the same architecture & shared components, when a 10 year old VS commodore is a lot quiter to drive down the freeway.


On the subject of oil sludge, a while back we had a Wynns representative do a presentation at a car club meeting. He showed us photos of the "meatloaf" of oil cake/sludge that is common in ford transit van/trucks with a particular engine, and noted that it is becoming a huge worldwide problem. He described an oil flush product they sell, and gave us all a sample at the end.

I used the oil flush when I did the change in the car (5L Holden) and the oil pressure improved more than it normally does with the new oil in it). Since then I have done it twice more. I had the rocker covers off it a few weeks back to change the weepy gaskets, and they were nice & clean inside - all they had was that varnish coloured stain, and absolutely no sludge. I'm sold on it.

[Iain]

What's it called???

[Zed]

i remember reading someehere that fords credo is/was "we are a finance company that uses cars as a mechnism to get the repeated payments to happen"

[mixin]

What's it called???

If that was aimed at me, then it's Wynns Oil Flush.

You put it in while it's warm, idle it for 15 minutes or so to circulate it, then drain the oil as normal.

[Iain]

If that was aimed at me, then it's Wynns Oil Flush.

You put it in while it's warm, idle it for 15 minutes or so to circulate it, then drain the oil as normal.

It was aimed at you and thanks, may give it a try

[Poppa]

My local Ford service department uses Wynns with every service unless you tell them not to. At my most recent service for example, they told me that they'd looked at the engine oil and it was starting to look dirty, so they did a complete flush. They rang me and advised of this before they did it to get my OK. This is the first service since I've been taking the vehicle there that they've suggested this. They normally use the Wynns oil and fuel additive products at every service. After my most recent service my 7 year old car drives like a new car. Maybe I'm just lucky and live near a Ford service department that offers unusually good service, but they've really made a convert of me.