In the last half month, complaints from Toyota owners from all over the country have frequently appeared on the Internet-Asian Dragon, Camry, RAV4 Fangrong, and even lexus ES, which has always been known for its reliability, has experienced engine oil increase/emulsification problems to varying degrees.
It was a RAV4 owner from Beijing who opened the box of emulsified engine oil: March 1 After picking up the car, he only ran18km, and the owner found that the engine oil appeared in emulsifying phenomenon.
After this incident was exposed, it quickly fermented on the Internet, and many people began to sing and even ridicule: "Not bad" Toyota will become a thing of the past?
With more and more cases of Toyota adding/emulsifying engine oil, there are endless mixed reports on the Internet, and many Toyota owners are beginning to worry: Will this problem be as terrible as it is said on the Internet?
The answer is of course no, although the official has not given a detailed test report, at least from the current situation, there is no need to worry, because the problem of oil increase/emulsification is not a "patent" of Toyota and Lexus.
As for the reason, listen to Jianghu Jun to break it down for everyone:
What is oiling/emulsification?
The problem of oiling/emulsification is nothing new.
A small fry in two years and a big fry in three years, regardless of Europe, America, German, Japanese or independent brands, have been "hot searched" because of this problem. Although the problem has always existed, car owners will be worried as long as there is similar news because they don't understand it.
But in fact, before worrying, we should first figure out what is the increase and emulsification of engine oil.
The price increase of engine oil was dubbed by netizens as "buying a car to send engine oil", which appeared on many familiar models.
In terms of working principle, the increase of engine oil means that water vapor and gasoline flow into the engine with the cylinder wall, mix into the engine oil, and cannot evaporate and leave the engine oil level in a short time, thus causing the engine oil to dilute and the engine oil level to rise.
As for oil emulsification, although it is a new word recently known, it is not difficult to understand.
Incompatible substances, usually water, are mixed in engine oil. At the high temperature of the engine, water reacts with engine oil to contain each other, and finally an emulsion is formed.
Why is there oiling/emulsification?
Find out what oiling/emulsification is, and then talk about the reasons for the problems.
From the design point of view, although at the beginning of engine design, engineers have placed three piston rings (two gas rings and one oil ring) on the piston to avoid the intercommunication between the combustion chamber and the crankcase as much as possible.
However, considering the wear of the cylinder block and the smoothness of the piston movement, the three piston rings are not sealing rings, which inevitably leads to some combustible mixtures (oil and gas) and combustion products (water vapor, exhaust gas and incomplete combustion oil and gas) leaking into the crankcase when the engine is working. These high-temperature combustible mixtures will be partially condensed due to the temperature difference between the combustion chamber and the crankcase in the cold state, resulting in the increase or emulsification of engine oil.
On the other hand, it comes from fuel-when the engine is running at low temperature, some liquid fuel will directly leak into the crankcase and mix with engine oil.
This situation is more obvious in the engine with turbocharging and direct injection technology: under the condition of low temperature cold engine, larger in-cylinder pressure and atomized fuel directly injected into the cylinder will cause more serious fuel liquefaction, and the phenomenon of cylinder hanging (cylinder wall fuel liquefaction) is also more frequent. However, the engine with inclined nozzle will have more concentrated cylinder wall suspension area.
In addition, during the operation of the engine, the water in the coolant may evaporate and escape from the cooling pipeline into the engine oil, resulting in the emulsification of the engine oil.
If the professional vocabulary is too obscure, we can also find the possible reasons from the daily car.
First, the weather is cold.
As we all know, it is necessary to preheat the car in winter, especially in the north. When the cold car starts, because the water temperature is enough and the oil temperature is not enough, it will feel that the car is not very strong. If you step on the accelerator hard at this time, the fuel injection will increase, and the fuel will liquefy and hang on the wall, leak into the crankcase, and mix with the engine oil due to temperature difference condensation.
Second, gasoline.
The popularity of ethanol gasoline has affected the engine oil problem to some extent. Ethanol gasoline is a mixture of 90% ordinary gasoline and 10% fuel ethanol, and its water content is higher than that of ordinary gasoline. Although it is more environmentally friendly, water vapor is also one of the main causes of engine oil problems.
Third, frequent start-stop and driving conditions.
Cars that frequently start and stop and work for a long time and a short distance are more prone to engine oil problems. Because the driving distance is short, the working time of the engine is short, which is not conducive to engine heating, and under the condition of low temperature, there is a greater possibility of engine oil problems.
For example, recently, affected by the epidemic, most vehicles have been idle for a long time, and at most, they have bought vegetables for a short distance, which has also laid the foundation for the emergence of engine oil increase/emulsification problems.
The hybrid models of Toyota and Lexus exposed on the Internet can fall into this category. Anyone familiar with hybrid electric vehicles knows that hybrid electric vehicles are usually powered by motors at idle speed, starting and other low-speed working conditions, and the engine will not intervene until it reaches a certain speed. In daily driving, due to road conditions, traffic and other reasons, it is impossible to always ensure high speed, so in the process of frequent acceleration and deceleration, the engine is constantly stopping and starting, which will lead to oil problems.
The addition/emulsification of engine oil is not a "patent"
Back to the recent engine oil incidents between Toyota and Lexus, as mentioned at the beginning of the article, this is not a "patent" of Toyota and Lexus.
If you search for oil emulsification on the Internet, you will find that Nissan, Mitsubishi, Dongfeng Peugeot and Zotye have all had similar problems before, not to mention the increase of oil. Honda's "oil valve" will still be a topic of discussion until now.
After understanding the principle and usage of oil problems, it must be clear that any car will have similar oil problems under specific working conditions and conditions.
It is not surprising that the weather and sudden epidemic during the Spring Festival just meet the two conditions of cold and short-distance work.
Of course, some people will object. After all, there are pictures of oil emulsification on the fuel caps of Toyota and Lexus models on the Internet.
However, if the bottle cap is emulsified, does it necessarily mean that the oil is completely emulsified?
Of course not. When the engine stops working, the forced ventilation system in the crankcase will also be closed. At this time, the high-temperature gases (oil, gas and water vapor) in the crankcase have not cooled yet, and they rise to contact the lower-temperature cover and condense, so there is a layer of emulsion on the cover. This is a phenomenon that all cars will appear more or less, and it cannot directly explain that it will affect the normal driving of vehicles.
The correct way is to measure the oil according to the standard measurement method (refer to the repair manual), and check whether there is a large increase in oil or emulsifying phenomenon.
According to the technical explanation given by Lexus, if the oil level exceeds the F scale by 25mm, you can go to the Lexus dealer for inspection. However, if emulsification only appears on the oil cover, it will disappear after the oil temperature rises after continuous driving or high-speed driving.
(The Fourth Ring Road runs continuously at a constant speed of about 80km/h 150km, which takes two and a half hours; Confirm the situation every 40 kilometers and find that the emulsification gradually disappears)
So, if you are also a Toyota or Lexus owner, please don't worry too much-test the vehicle in the right way and wait for the official response.
If you are not at ease, you can take advantage of the opportunity that most parts of the country are not blocked, and then you will find that your car is as reliable as ever.
Finally, a digression, if the engine oil increases/emulsifies, it will really bring many hidden dangers to the driving safety of the car.
Therefore, whether you are the owner of Toyota/Lexus or other brands, you must check the vehicle before long-term use to avoid similar problems.
After all, you can be safe if you are prepared.
(Note: Some pictures in this article are from the Internet)
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.