1MZ-FE Sludge - Oil Pressure Fix and Test - Toyota Highlander

The Toyota 3.0 liter V6 1MZ-FE from Highlander, Camry, Lexus RX300 seems particularly prone to sludge. Accumulation of sludge in the oil pan and the oil pickup tube strainer can lead to loss of oil pressure and engine damage. If you're lucky, you catch the problem in time before you lose the engine. STOP IMMEDIATELY IF THE OIL PRESSURE LIGHT COMES ON. On this engine, we clean up the sludge, and we test the solution by verifying the operating oil pressure with a oil pressure gauge. The pressure gauge must havea a 1/8 BSPT adapter to fit on the Toyota oil pressure port. See how to use readily available tools to test the oil pressure and verify the fix. On some engines, cleaning up the sludge from under the valve covers, the oil pan, the oil pickup strainer, and the oil pressure sender/switch can restore oil pressure, if the problem is caught and corrected early enough. For this engine, post-fix, the warm pressure at idle is stable at about 25psi.

[muas]

This video save me alot of time with my 2002 highlander. Had low oil light come on while driving. Then it would shut off the engine. Had to clean the oil strainer and solved my problem.

[Dansk]

Good stuff. If you are unsure or don't want to do this professional work or don't have time, the trick here is to switch to full synthetic and change oil periodically. You don't want to just flush out the sludge at once. This might cause issues. Then after 3 or 4 oil changes, do exactly what this guy did and maintain synthetic and 3-4k oil changes. Should do 500k easily

[ChristopherBShute]

Same as my 1997 Lexus ES300 with basically the same engine. Thanks for that. Didn't know until now.

[abdullahassafiri]

Hi, great video. I just bought an import estima 2004 3.0l 1mzfe vvti engine previus owner stated he used 15w40 castrol its done 140, 000kms what oil would you recommend i use instead thanks

[natevanlandingham]

Curious if this owner had used synthetic oil in this engine. This is a known problem with this engine and it's recommended to use synthetic with this engine to try and avoid this problem.

[Yes-bgnr]

is it a decent idea to put oil cleaners like lucas or seafoam into the oil that are made to break down build up? like will it help reduce the sludged oil?

[rhpham]

Owner probably extended his oil change intervals way too long. Happens. I do mine at 4k. I’m at 350k miles on my 1mzfe. Still running well

[DMJ]

Mileage of vehicle and type of oil used.Conventional/Synthetic? Along with oil change history if possible?

[dreece]

Did you use any snake oil or chemical to get the doodoo out of the top of the engine? Just wondering if there is anything that will break it up “quickly and safely”

[ucallthatatweet]

What would be an easy way to get an oil pressure gauge to work on that Highlander for normal driving? I'm mostly wondering if it would require any parts other than the gauge and wiring from the sensor to the gauge.

[mrkrmjr]

Have a 2006 Highlander w 3MZ-FE bought used 2 yr ago .. changing the front valve cover & WOW. Chocolate cake & shiny black solid sludge ... was running fine. Cleaned the valve cover which had the air/oil separator totally clogged. Ran transmission fluid & engine cleaner ... didn't touch the sludge ... now have oil light ... little knocking. Not sure if we should vacuum. Where does the oil go when looking down at this mess?

[sleestak]

Hey man, I'm about to buy an old 1999 avalon. How do I check for engine sludge aside from checking the oil cap and are there any other issues with this engine?

[iwantequinox]

I have lexus es 300 2002, this engine is kinda calm in driving, so i am looking to add oil cleaner or not... its only 150k km. Only thing i know it was in bad hands last 5 years

[Sci-Mon]

This is pretty much all you can do on this engine unless the owner wants to spend an arm and a leg on tearing apart the rear valve cover and removing the cams for cleaning. Synthetic oil only and 1, 000 miles intervals until it clears up should help with draining the sludge

[beamishlotus]

My Oil light started blinking then stayed on after starting my car up, then when I was going to put my car inside the garage, i kinda felt like it was failing fir a single second so I turned the car off quickly, gonna try cleaning the pickup tube in these days, just hope I’m not late, I’m so worried about my Camry, it only has 132k miles and did my last oil change this January, used Mobil 1 Advanced Synthetic along with Lucas HM stabilizer, always checked the oil level each month up to today and it’s still full, I’m just praying it’s a bad pressure sensor and some sludge on the oil pick up tube cause I’m worried as hell, don’t wanna have to give up on my car yet 😔

[johntran]

Use your scan tool to check for oil pressure.😁