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Light varnish in '06 Prius

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Mike Mc, Apr 12, 2012.

  1. Mike Mc

    Mike Mc '16 Prius 4, '13 Prius 3

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    A few weeks ago I changed the oil pan because someone at the dealership over tightened the drain plug and a few of the threads from the pan were sticking out. When I got the old pan off I noticed the screen was clean but the inside the pan and engine had a thin light brown varnish throughout.
    The car has 170K miles so I suspect a little varnish is to be expected particularly because the dealership did most of the oil changes with dino oil. I have done 3 changes with Mobil1 and Purolator filters. I have not noticed a change (peering through oil fill cap) in the appearance of the varnish. Should I just continue driving and using the synthetic oil and not worry about the varnish or should I try to clean the engine with a little MMO or Auto RX?
     
    #1 Mike Mc, Apr 12, 2012
  2. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Yes, if it's running alright then that's what I'd do. My personal opinion is that a light varnish doesn't really hurt anything anyway.
     
    #2 uart, Apr 12, 2012
  3. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    I'll second that
     
    #3 Britprius, Apr 12, 2012
  4. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    #4 wjtracy, Apr 12, 2012
  5. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Yes dino oil burned in residue. In a motor with that much mileage since you already cleaned the sump filter I would not use any additives.
    Just keep using Mobil 1.

    Btw, you should check the Variable Valve Timing oil filter too with that much mileage. Its a tiny oil filter that filters the oil that drives the VVT timing cam.

    The access port to that filter is located under the intake manifold.
    And requires a hex socket.

    If interested please check my old posts as I have a good write up on it.
     
    #5 edthefox5, Apr 12, 2012
  6. Mike Mc

    Mike Mc '16 Prius 4, '13 Prius 3

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    wjtracy- Looking at the mobil 1 pic's the light varnish i was speaking of is more like the after picture...so i guess i'm ok/ thanks all!

    edthefox5- I will have to look for that one...I'm not afraid to turn a wrench so that one sounds like a rainy day repair.
     
    #6 Mike Mc, Apr 13, 2012
  7. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    If you can pull the oil pan the VVT filter will be easy for you.

    Be aware you need a hex on a socket not a key as the hex bolt is in there so tight I needed a breaker bar to get it out. They really socked it down.
     
    #7 edthefox5, Apr 13, 2012
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