Gumout Regane

Update:

Checked out Canadian Tire and Walmart today, looking for the cheapest brand name pure synthetic oil I could get my hands on. Struck gold at Walmart where the daily "rollback" today happened to be Penzoil Platinum @ $20 for a 4.4L jug. For price comparison (just to list the cheapest alternatives for comparison):

Supertech Dino (another rollback) was $8 for a 4L jug;

Castrol GTX Dino (another rollback) was $11 for 4.4L jug;

Supertech Synthetic was $29 for a 4L jug;

Castrol Syntec was $29 for a 4.4L jug;

and Canadian Tire's only synthetic on sale was their inhouse Motomaster Formula 1 Synthetic @ $21 for 4L.

Regular prices are typically about $18-$20 for brand name dino, $25 for high mileage, and $30+ for synthetics (except Formula 1 and Supertech which are always a little under $30).

If I had extra cash I would have bought a case of PP at that price. Anyway I cracked it open and added the 250 ml (approximately) needed to bring the oil level to the full mark. So my short OCI Frankenblend consists of (asuming my memory is correct and oil capacity is 3.6L):

2.6L of Toyota shop oil (dino);

0.75L of Castrol GTX High Mileage

0.25L of PP synth.

I've seen a Valvoline "additive" at Walmart that they market as a "stop leak" under their MaxLife trade name. It comes in a $10 1L bottle and they warn on the bottle against mixing it with high mileage oils. I think its just a concentrated version of their MaxLife oil, probably containing the same additive package they put in their 4L bottles, but in a more concentrated synthetic blended base (70% dino, 30% synth maybe)? Thinking ahead to my next oil change, I'm going to take the plunge and go with the PP and this Maxlife "stop leak" stuff as an additive package, in the recommended ratio. The goal is get the sludge cleaning power and improved cold temperature of the PP combined with the sealant protection of Maxlife. I'll leave the Mobil 1 filter on it that I put on today for that oil change, but do both at shortened intervals. Maybe 3,500 km for the current frankblend, and then stretch it a bit further to 5,000 km on the PP + Maxlife mix. After that I should have a pretty clean engine and a nicely dirtied (but not blocked) oil filter. Then who knows.

Anyway that's a bit off topic from the Gumout experiment. More on topic I'm about 1/3rd of the way through the poist treated, mostly virgin fill up, and despite the sludge, the gains in throttle response and acceleration remain. If anything, it may have continued to improve a bit.

One one other side note: When I took off the Honeywell Defense oil filter, the oil inside it was as black as tar; and, despite the initial darkening of the oil I noticed the first day I did my Gumout highway runs, it had (even before changing the filter), lightened in the interval between that first day and the oil level check before and after changing the filter. Yet all that visible sludge is there, which I hadn't noticed before the Gumout treatment. So I'm at a loss as to where it came from. It had to have been there for awhile, just likely caked on some place(s) I couldn't see before the Gumout loosened it enough to "float" up to the top of the crankcase and onto the cap? Anyway, between the Mobil 1 filter, ramp, and PP, I spent a decent chunk of change but I think its well spent.

-Spyder

I was trying to say before, and now I'll say again, I would be scared of all those clumps!!! Why not forget about adding additives for now, they may be whats loosening caked on stuff left from abuse. By adding more additives and expensive oil you may be causing more problems. The filter is what will collect them, so if it were me I would just keep changing out(the cheapest)the filter(then eventually the oil) until you don't see any clumps. Unless you have another problem(s)eventually the oil will clear up. The last thing you want is for gunk to clog oil passages, that will kill your motor.

Regain is to clean the combustion/fuel side, it does nothing, for or to,the oil.

I was trying to say before, and now I'll say again, I would be scared of all those clumps!!! Why not forget about adding additives for now, they may be whats loosening caked on stuff left from abuse. By adding more additives and expensive oil you may be causing more problems. The filter is what will collect them, so if it were me I would just keep changing out(the cheapest)the filter(then eventually the oil) until you don't see any clumps. Unless you have another problem(s)eventually the oil will clear up. The last thing you want is for gunk to clog oil passages, that will kill your motor.

 

Regain is to clean the combustion/fuel side, it does nothing, for or to,the oil.

The filter is changed. PP for the same price as what good dino usually goes for was just too good to pass up. The amount of PP that's in the pan now is too small to do anything other than keep the crankcase full. The next oil change is still undecided. The PP + MaxLife is one possibility. Another might be creating my own synth blend by using something like 20% PP and 80% dino (even cheap supertech dino). The main points are that my next two OCIs will be shortened (3,500 km on the first, maybe 5,000 km on the second) and that this new filter should be good until I do the second change. By then those clumps should be in the filter and on that second oil change I'll change out both the oil and filter.

Goal is to get rid of these sludge clumps as gently as possible and without creaking a problem somewhere else The method is why I'm tossing ideas out there - I have until the next oil change to commit, and I'm not commited to anything yet beyond getting ideas.

-Spyder

As a junior scientist since you've seen clumps, I would forget about everything and change out the filter in about 1,000 miles to see whats up! If you see less gunk in the filter and the valve cover you probably will see the oil that's in there getting lighter. At that point I would just use regular Pennzoil with a 3,000 mile change interval, it's cheep and will gradually move the deposits so they can be filtered out.

Many years ago I saw a demonstration of what filters do. The black you see is carbon and when you change the filter it will get lighter in color in real time, as you are watching if you had a clear plastic tube inline. But you will never see it get clear because the filter doesn't filter down to ~1 micron.

If I had 7,000 miles on my oil and just changed the filter the oil would get clearer.

As a junior scientist since you've seen clumps, I would forget about everything and change out the filter in about 1,000 miles to see whats up! If you see less gunk in the filter and the valve cover you probably will see the oil that's in there getting lighter. At that point I would just use regular Pennzoil with a 3,000 mile change interval, it's cheep and will gradually move the deposits so they can be filtered out.

 

Many years ago I saw a demonstration of what filters do. The black you see is carbon and when you change the filter it will get lighter in color in real time, as you are watching if you had a clear plastic tube inline. But you will never see it get clear because the filter doesn't filter down to ~1 micron.

If I had 7,000 miles on my oil and just changed the filter the oil would get clearer.

When I last checked the oil, around the same time I changed the filter and added that small amount of PP (yesterday) to top it up, the sludge was really bad. There were clumps of it on the crankcase cover and big deposits visible through that hole. If I had to speculate, I'd guess this started around the 50,000 km mark when she missed an oil change and drove 12,000 km on plain dyno. She put about 10,000 km on it per year (I've put 7,500 km on it since May 6 when I took possession, our driving habits are a little different , and except for that missed oil change, she changed it every 4,500-7,500 km. She also had the coolant changed by the dealer every 2 years with toyota long life, and the transmission fluid drained and refilled a little ahead of toyota's specified schedule. Overall she took good care of it. But between the missed OCI and her driving habits (mostly short trips, almost no highway, lots of stop and go driving, and a lot of idling in the winter to warm the car up with its remote start), sludge formed somewhere. And doing that on any car would create it, so I'm not blaming the car or its design. It wasn't visible when I bought the car, but I know I couldn't have created it in the last 7,500 km. I may have loosened it somehow, but it had to have been there for quite some time to be able to see so much just through the crankcase hole.

Now that I know its there, its just a matter of cleaning it out as gently as possible. The Mobil 1 filter and PP were probably overkill, but I was sold on the Mobil 1 filter for its ability to trap smaller particles than conventional filters, and the PP just happened to be the cheapest synthetic on sale. I've seen many recommend synthetic oil for removing sludge; yet I don't want to go 100% synthetic because it may clean "too well" and increase oil consumption. So there in lies the catch-22. And the stripped base pan adds another level of complication, as do my worn out tires (1 in particular) which I need to replace soon.

The car definitely has some kinks to be worked out, but I'll get them done. Its a learning experience I've enjoyed, and when I run out of things to do with this car I'll probably look at finding a 2nd Corolla just as a project car. But first I have to tame this beast

-Spyder

Instead of 100% PP, why not just go with something like Valvoline MaxLife synthetic blend and use an OCI half the recommended amount?

You'll be changing a lot of oil but it will clean things out. An even cheaper option but would be a diesel grade oil.

Good news, I thought the last time I bought regular Pennzoil it said the words 40% clean like the synthetic does. I was right! Walmart $13.50 for a 5 quart jug. So between Regain for fuel and Pennzoil for the crankcase, your car gets a treat fiber wise! Roto-rooter.

Good news, I thought the last time I bought regular Pennzoil it said the words 40% clean like the synthetic does. I was right! Walmart $13.50 for a 5 quart jug. So between Regain for fuel and Pennzoil for the crankcase, your car gets a treat fiber wise! Roto-rooter.

I agree. I`ve been wanting to try a fully synthetic oil lately, and when I made the decision to do it PP happened to be the rollback of the day. At $9 less than the cheapest synthetic (Supertech) at Walmart, it was a no-brainer. I`m already using some of it just to keep the crankcase topped up (I have no qualms about mixing dino with high mileage and synthetic; I stick to the same grade though, and I never mix two different high mileage oils). If oil consumption stays the same (less than 1L per 5,000 km, provided I keep the needle under 75 mph), I`ll stick with pure PP (I`ll buy it at rolled back prices if it does this, and buy it in bulk).

I`ve also ordered a new PCV valve from Toyota which I`m hoping to have by tomorrow (with any luck), and if its in by then it`ll be put in over the weekend. My PCV valve is factory and has never been cleaned, and at $10 for the replacement I figure its just as well to swap it out with a new OEM. I tried to tackle the IAC but whatever the screws are that`s holding the module on I need to remove to get at it, they`re so badly corroded and stripped I haven`t been able to remove them so far (although I only made one attempt). They may have originally been Phillips. Maybe with a decent set of pliers to get a better grip, and lots of PB Blaster to loosen them, I might have more success.

The first PP run will be a short OCI (maybe 5,000 km) and I`m seriously thinking about seafoaming the crankcase before I change the current blend out (it has less than 1,500 km on it now, and I`m shooting for about 3,500 km before it comes out and the PP goes in). If consumption increases, I`ll buy a quart of fully synthetic MaxLife and top up with that, then see what happens.

If consumption remains an issue (less than 1 quart per 5,000 km is acceptable to me) on the PP, then after that 5,000 OCI I`ll try a run on 100% full synth Maxlife.

The ultimate goal is to get the lower pour point and cold crank ability of synthetics, for our harsh Canadian winters, and to eventually extend the OCIs as the engine begins to clean up. I`m not shooting for anything too far out there in terms of OCIs. But I think 10,000 km OCIs on PP with either Mobil-1 EP or Toyota long filters is attainable (and even a little on the conservative side). It`ll be done incrementally though.

-Spyder

Results for first post-Gumout treated tank of gas:

Odometer: 103,563 km

Distance since last fill: 389 km

Liters used: 33.1L

Mileage: 8.5L per 100 km (27.7 mpg)

This is a drop from both my previous fill and my typical 30 mpg before Gumout, although there are a couple likely causes it for it:

1. Much more city and less highway then both the Gumout run and my usual driving habits. My tires are getting so worn that I`ve been avoiding the highway as much as possible. Typical ratio is about an even split, and on the Gumout run it was 70-80% highway. This run was closer to 20% highway, if that.

2. Low tire pressure. I`ve been neglecting to fill my leaking rear passenger tire (needs to be replaced soon) as often as I used to, and in having to fill it more and more frequently, I`ve also been neglecting the rest. I typically over-inflate to 40 psi. Only one tire`s been holding that. The worst on the other three I`ve seen on this fill were 32 psi, 21 psi, and 18 psi. The lowest numbers are on my rear tires that I`m planning to replace asap.

3. Smaller `sample` mileage. I replaced my PCV valve today and then hit the gas pump next door and filled where I usually do (quarter mark on the fuel guage). Previous fill it was below the empty mark and I waited for the gas light to flash on before fillingh.

The factory PCV valve was badly gummed. Actually, that`s an understatement. It was down right filthy. Best $10 I ever spent. Between the Gumout, replacing the air filter, cleaning the MAF O2 sensor and throttle body and butterfly valve, and now replacing the PCV, the work and small associated costs (this has all been easy DIY stuff) are beginning to pay big dividends.

I`ll find out tomorrow morning when I get off work after my 12 hour shift if the PCV was also the culprit behind the cold start issue I`ve been having (though it needed to replaced either way). If it has, I can scratch another item off the to do list; if not I`ll eventually have to figure out a way to get the stripped phillips screws off that are in the way of the IAC valve.

-Spyder