I have a2202 camry 4 cyl. I bought at 65,000 miles. I drove it for 2 years and had a clanging sound that would come and go. My timing chain needed replaced because the sludge in the bottom of the pan clogged up the tube taking the oil to the chain. I religiously changed the oil every 3,ooo miles, but I still get sludge. Is this an engine that was recalled by Toyota?
Were you using the oil specified for your engine? Did it require synthetic? Of course you don’t know what kind of car it had before you bought it. My guess is the prior owner thought maintenance was putting oil in the engine when the light came on and not much more.
However make sure your thermostat is working properly, That can sludge up an engine if the engine does not get up to a proper working temperature do to something like a bad thermostat or a lot of short trips.
I seem to remember hearing that some Toyotas did have a problem in that area, but I am not sure.You say you changed the oil religiously every 3k miles but it’s anybody’s guess as to how many times it was changed by the previous owner(s) in the first 65k miles. The engine was probably sludged up when you bought the car.
If the situation is bad enough to take out a timing chain then odds are the entire engine has gone downhill.
Hi. My wife’s 1997 Camry LE, 4 cylinder is on its third engine. My wife has been the sole owner of this car and it has been driven gently. The local Toyota dealership’s service manager had “never heard of a sludge problem” on this engine. The recommended oil change interval in the owners manual is 7,500 miles. It is now out of the extended warranty and all I can do is change the oil every 3,000 miles and hope the problem does not happen again.