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Engine & DrivetrainDiscussions about the engine and drivetrain of your vehicle.
This is a discussion thread titled "01 Camry - No Oil Pressure, 105k Miles", within the Engine & Drivetrain forum, part of the Technical & Vehicle Assistance Forums category.
The oil light on my Camry came on when I was driving home from work Monday night 2/11 (13 mile drive). Checked the oil level - it was full. Took the car to my mechanic Tuesday morning. The oil light flickered on and off and then stayed on during the 2 mile drive to his shop.
He changed the oil then checked the oil pressure. No oil pressure was detected.
On Wednesday, he dropped the oil pan to see if the oil pump pickup tube was plugged. It was plugged and there was oil sludge in the pan. Then he flushed the strainer that goes to the oil pump and rechecked the oil pressure. It has 90 pounds of pressure at idle.
So he replaced the strainer and the oil pan and said the engine didn't appear to have any damage. We picked up the car on Friday night. On Saturday morning, the oil light came on again, flickered off, then stayed on.
My mechanic said to bring it back in, he would have to replace the oil pump. I heard a little ticking or pinging as I arrived at the shop. It was an 8 mile drive. The car has been at the shop while he was waiting for parts.
In the meantime, a coworker just told me about a sludge problem in some toyotas and I found some information online yesterday. I sent the mechanic the information I found on the oil gel settlement. He said he would have saved the sludge if he had known about it before hand so he doesn't have the sludge from the pan anymore.
I'm just not sure what to do next. Should I have it towed from his shop to the toyota dealer?
Thanks,
Jen
2001 Camry LE, V6 with 105K miles, original owner
First rule: never drive with the oil light on. Never. Don't run the car, don't pass Go...don't even think of driving the car. If this engine sludged because of a design defect, Toyota is on the hook (as per the settlement). If other lubrication related failures occur because you drove the car with the oil light on, you're on the hook. We know the first has happened, and my guess is that the second has happened, too.
I have heard of the sludge problem, but couldn't tell you how Toyota is handling cases. My guess is that if you have any chance of Toyota fixing the problem via the settlement, you will have to take it to the dealer (that would be my guess).
If I recall correctly, there was a family of motors that would sludge even with proper maintenance. I don't know the whole story, but even those units maintained as per recommendation were generating sludge. Based on a Car Craft article I read a while back, my guess is that this has something to do with the designed of the cooling passages in the cylinder head. I don't know if this is the root of the problem with this particular Toyota engine.
As Shall said, DONOT drive the vehicle when there is no oil pressure. Tow the vehicle to the stealership to diagonse the problem, it most probably is a sludging issue.
Classic sludge issue.. Where is KR, can you give him some pointers to get a fair deal with TMS and stealerships.
it is caused by not changing the oil enough. period.
but, even though i don't agree with toyota taking
responsibility for it and fixing it for you, take it to a
dealer and ask for help. i have seen them offer help
in many cases and it might work out for you.
when they take one of the valve covers off, ask to see
it. you should be amazed at what you see and realize
that it is caused by the stuff that gets into the oil. if
the oil is not drained regularly, then the "ick" will collect
in various points of the engine and it is downhill from there.
good luck and report back. yspert
My bother-in-law had the same problem and he went to the stealership and they told him the engine seized (they never quoted the ventiallation fault in 3.0L engines) and never talked about why it seized in the first place. Unfortunately the class action lawsuite came a month after he traded the vehicle in and got a new Accord (even if he had the data he couldn't have done anything about it, he is one of those 99% folks who don't know where the hood latch is ... let alone knowing what is happening to the engine).
Toyota are slimy bastardddds and so are their stealerships who TMS keeps on a leach. The stealerships will only talk what has been authorized by TMS.. So, arm yourself with the class action lawssuit and give them a piece of ur mind. They cannnot say the sludge happened becoz of infrequent OCIs becoz the engine itself had a flaw..
Toyota should be like Honda, ack the problem and fix it rather than pass the buck to the owner. Remember the more the stories on the web of stonewalling the more the customers are going to go away from Toyota. Web is the greatest invention in the last few decades, people share their experiences and problems.
I just heard of an old lady here in town that owns & 01 sienna ( i think that was the year) that she had not driven for over a year due to too much oil consumption. She just got a letter from toyota telling her to take it to the dealer & they would take care of it.
This van had 118k miles on it, and toyota completely rebuilt the motor for no charge. Needless to say, she is very pleased.
Sounds like they stepped to the plate in this case.
Good that Toyota stepped up to help her. That is the only way a company could succeed.
I beg to hear from old woman how many Toyota she and her immediate family have bought. How much money she has poured into stealerships to repair and maintain her van etc. My neighbour is a Toyota fan and her whole family drive Toyotas, I hope this woman you are referring to is not like my neighbour who are loyal to Toyota across generations. That may be a reason for Toyota to step up and take ownership of shoddy workmanship.
People like me first time buyers, I bet Toyota will shove a fork into me if I complained about the "legandary build of Toyotas".
My bother-in-law had the same problem and he went to the stealership and they told him the engine seized (they never quoted the ventiallation fault in 3.0L engines) and never talked about why it seized in the first place. Unfortunately the class action lawsuite came a month after he traded the vehicle in and got a new Accord (even if he had the data he couldn't have done anything about it, he is one of those 99% folks who don't know where the hood latch is ... let alone knowing what is happening to the engine).
Toyota are slimy bastardddds and so are their stealerships who TMS keeps on a leach. The stealerships will only talk what has been authorized by TMS.. So, arm yourself with the class action lawssuit and give them a piece of ur mind. They cannnot say the sludge happened becoz of infrequent OCIs becoz the engine itself had a flaw..
Toyota should be like Honda, ack the problem and fix it rather than pass the buck to the owner. Remember the more the stories on the web of stonewalling the more the customers are going to go away from Toyota. Web is the greatest invention in the last few decades, people share their experiences and problems.
I just heard of an old lady here in town that owns & 01 sienna ( i think that was the year) that she had not driven for over a year due to too much oil consumption. She just got a letter from toyota telling her to take it to the dealer & they would take care of it.
This van had 118k miles on it, and toyota completely rebuilt the motor for no charge. Needless to say, she is very pleased.
Sounds like they stepped to the plate in this case.
The Magic Toyota Fairy didn't just come around to do a nice thing. There is more to that story.
Alot of pulling teeth and not using a car for a very long time. Shame on Toyota.
TMS cooperation and the Right dealer along with many phone calls to regional AND corporate is required!
Trust me, I know the drill...from both sides of the street.
The Magic Toyota Fairy didn't just come around to do a nice thing. There is more to that story.
Alot of pulling teeth and not using a car for a very long time. Shame on Toyota.
TMS cooperation and the Right dealer along with many phone calls to regional AND corporate is required!
Trust me, I know the drill...from both sides of the street.
LT
I'm sure there's more to the story. But at least they stepped to the plate.
I wonder if i have any hope with GM on my daughters 99 prizm?
My mechanic checked the sensor and it was working properly. We've been diligent about changing the oil on schedule. The car ran quiet and smooth even when the oil light came on that first time.
We've been assigned a case number after calling the 1-800 number. We have to gather all our maintenance receipts for the past 7 years. We recently moved so it's going to take some searching. We've found all except for one year time period.
I love my Camry. This is the first problem it has had in the 7 years I've owned it. We bought a 2007 Sequoia last summer because we were so happy with our camry.
Re: 01 Camry - No Oil Pressure, 105k Miles - update
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jen
We had the car towed to the dealer and gave them 14 receipts for the oil changes we've done since 2001.
Just got a call that Toyota is covering the cost to fix our car.
On the happy side of cautiously optimistic,
Jen
That is wonderful news to hear. I'm glad they're willing to do that for you.
2001 is around the time they had those sludging issues.
This is why you should choose to buy from a manufacturer that is willing to admit they screwed up. Not only that, but will also fix it, even if the car has over 100k on it.
Good work Toyota.
One of the reasons I call myself--- Only Toyota For Me.
It's too damn bad that they don't build fullsize cargo vans.
01 Camry - No Oil Pressure, 105k Miles
