Look Who it Was Random video

My Car Had A STROKE!!!

780 views · Published 30 April 2015 · 9:18 · Indexed 4 November 2026

Channel: jaykay18 · 2015 · Howto & Style

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Originally recorded April 21, 2015.

Not one of my finest moments.  Not one of my proudest moments.  Not the greatest video I've ever made.  

My car felt "funny" for a moment when coming home the other day.  It went away just a few moments later, and all was fine until several miles later, I heard a tapping sound.  Limped it home, found the oil was low (bottom mark).

Somehow it appears something in the engine didn't get oiled properly.  How and why so suddenly?  It seems this car doesn't give much warning when something catastrophic is going to happen.

I've noticed previously my oil light was acting a bit funny.  It is sometimes slow to respond.  While the video doesn't do it justice, sometimes I could shut the key, turn it right back on, and it would be 3 or 4 seconds until it would come on.  Start the engine, it goes out.  No warning, just like my transmission.

Apparently this model year was cursed.  It was the first year for this engine, the VVT-i, which replaced the previous VVT engine.  While it's a real nice performer, it was plagued with bad valve seats (producing blue smoke on startup), and worn head bolt threads.  I've heard that higher-mileage engines head bolts will strip out, which takes quite a bit of work to repair, if you can even find a shop that will do it.

Lesson learned.  Always check your oil.  While the car is not leaking oil on the ground (it does seep from the valve cover gasket), I've also heard that these engines consume oil at higher mileage at a quick rate.  The worn valve seats (which manifest around 50,000 miles) allow oil into the combustion chamber, causing the blue smoke at startup.  I really wonder if that smoke "poisons" the catalytic converter, leading to the perpetual P0420 code.

This was the first of this style Camry for years to come, I'd expect they worked out a lot of the bugs in later years.  While you never can tell what life will bring you, it's sometimes better to go with old and familiar rather than shiny and new.

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