bhunter

iTrader: (3)

Recently someone wrote that for noisy vtc's they use not only the Toyota filter but also they use 10W40 Castrol GTX instead of the 5W30. I had not heard that before. Any of you old timers back that up? What does that do to gas mileage? Any reason not to do that?

Greeny

iTrader: (43)

I have tried a heavier weight oil[20w50] to quiet mine down With no luck. My gas mileage did suffer as a result...

so i just went back to castrol 5w30 synthetic blend..and keep the radio turned up..

kiyakerz

iTrader: (7)

not sure, but everytime i bring my car in to get hte oil changed, the guy at the counter stares at me like i'm insane because I'm holding a toyota filter.

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

a 10w* motor oil may keep them quieter on startup because it's thicker, but that's only once the oil gets up there.
the whole point of using the 'yota filter is that it's supposed to have an anti-bleedback valve (like Wix does) to keep some pressure already built up in the system.
that's the theory behind it at least

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

Learn how to change your own oil.

garbury

iTrader: (4)

LOL, amen...

But, with the prices of oil, you only pay like 5 bucks more to have someone else do it and dispose of the oil and ish. Pretty good deal, $12 oil changes are almost cheaper than a standard filter $4 and oil $7.

I still would never pay someone to do something I am fully capable of. Its an expression of my manliness .

BTW I use(d) 10W40 in both maximas, but I'm in AZ where temps rarely drop below freezing and are consistantly 90s+

VEvolution

You didn't get that from me, did ya? Well, it's true. Ever since I installed the Toyota filter about a 120 miles ago, all was quite up until this evening. And I think that was only because I was a bit too hard on the engine the night before. But it went away after warm-up, so Im happy. And the 10W40 Castrol GTX was only used because somebody said it keeps theirs quite as well. Does anybody know if all 10W40's are the same? Cause I noticed the Exxon was alot cheaper.

seanneal

iTrader: (1)

If your VTCs are already noisey, no combination of oil and filter is going to quiet them down (for long). I grounded my VTCs and did not notice a difference in performance on my old beater. The VTCs have been quiet ever since, however.

VEvolution

Mines were noisy, but once I put the Toyota filter with the fresh oil, I get it about 5% of the time compared to the 60% I use to get.

MrGone

iTrader: (30)

I use Castrol GTX 10w30 and Napa Gold (wix) filters.

Jeff583

Same here castrol GTX is the only way to go, ive tried different oils and castrol seems to be the best.

MrSector9

iTrader: (4)

As far as the grounding thing, I grounded mine since they were noisy, then i was having weird idle problems so i tried ungrounding it (just incase/simple to remove) and for some reason they were quiet... I am not complaining thoguh,tomorw they will be noisy now :P

I used a Wix filter last time i changed

momaxima92

AMEN! I finally grounded my VTCs, and the "little man with the hammer" is G-O-N-E!!! Should have done this years ago - I drive my max like a grandma anyway - no noticeable difference in performance, AND I've regained my sanity, or at least a bit of it....

thajones

iTrader: (4)

^^^ now that's what I was wondering. Someone in another thread said I WOULD notice the difference in power.

It is rather embarassing to start your car up in a parking lot and it sounds like who-dun-it-and-why

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

You will notice a loss in power. But the entire power loss will all be above 5K rpm. If you drive your car like a granny and keep it under 5K rpm, then you will not notice any power loss. But if you go WOT above 5K, you might notice your will will still make all this noise, but it won't move as fast. Someone up here dyno'd it at a 12hp loss in power on top end.

MrSector9

iTrader: (4)

12 hp loss over noisy vtcs? or 12 hp loss over fully functional non noisy vtcs.

BJ White

thajones

iTrader: (4)

Now I thought the VTCs bumped up the LOWER end of the power spectrum. That's what I read anyway, kinda the opposite of VTEC.

I'll trade 12 horses and make them up somewhere else

MrSector9

iTrader: (4)

They advance the timing so that you can have lots of torque and then the horsepower numbers...So ina way they aid in the lower end since they can set the timing so you get the big torque output.

If it wasnt for the vtcs you would have to pick if you wated the big torque or the higher horsepower rating.

BJ White

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

Over noisy VTCs... which AFAIK, noisy VTCs don't nessecarily lose power compared to perfectly good VTCs. But I know it's possible for the VTCs to fail. If the solenoids fail, they won't engage. But just having noisy VTCs, I don't think you are losing any power.

But VTCs were designed to give the VE some extra low end power. When you press the gas, they should be engaged. When you reach a certain rpm, they turn off and you experience the normal top end power that you would have had if the VTCs were never created. But, when you ground the VTCs, the cam advances and you only get normal low end power and the VTCs never release at that certain rpm and you experience a loss in top end power.

So, BJ, you explained it correctly. I just wanted to clear it up a little bit.

MrSector9

iTrader: (4)

haha I can understand it in my head but i am a horrible teacher

Well I was wondering about the noisy VTC thing since I kwno they grow noisy due to weak springs so I thoguht that might have affected their ability to retain the spring set position.

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

Naw, oil pressure, driven by the VTC solenoids, advance the actual cam position. The stuff that does the clicking is within the VTC sprocket. The spring inside the VTC sprocket casing gets weak and I am guessing the helical gear that's inside the casing smacks into the top of the inside of the sprocket. That's the only thing I can possibly see that can cause that ticking noise.

xx-Marshall-xx

iTrader: (15)

I just registered to this forum and EVERYONE seems knolegable about the maximas....im a new maxima owner and i love it i have the 1993 5-spd SE VE30DE engine and I DO have the VTC noise...and im REALLY looking to fixing it myself but...it says its not meant for a beginner...."if you can do a 5 spd trnny swap you can do this" but the only real hardcore thing ive done to a car was switch out a clutch my friend burned lol anyways im deffinatley learning more about the stupid VTC's noise and im really looking to get it fixed in stead of hiding it....then switching to the synthetic oil and toyota filter.

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

donate, then search for the threads on rebuilding them. there are a couple out there

MaXtUneD

iTrader: (2)

I use Castrol Synthetic blend 10w40..The oil filter I have been using for some time now is the blue Purolator one..Not the cheap white one...I only get the ticking like once in while, but most of the time, no noise...**Knock on wood**

Harvs94max

iTrader: (5)

from my short expierence with the vtcs i found that the yota filter and mobil 1 full synthetic worked good to hush them for a little bit but it would always lurk back in about 500 miles as far as grouding them i did it for about a day and hated that fact that i was losing power and i could definatley feel it big time up top
i think the only way to solve the problem is to rebuild them or get new ones the process is straight forward and can be done in an afternoon im so happy i put in new ones ive driven the car about 5000 miles since and havent herd a thing

kiyakerz u need to learn to change ur oil ive herd of some pretty messed up story from those lube places.....draining the trannyfluid and sending a car down the road with 8 quarts in the engine i dont trust anyone with my car

VEvolution

How much did it run ya?

Harvs94max

iTrader: (5)

muhahaha only 200 for new ones (i got a sweet deal) but rebuilding them isnt real expensive

xx-Marshall-xx

iTrader: (15)

200 for new VTC's? or the springs...the book tells me or read online that the (idk what) is about $65 to buy and 10 - 20 shop hours and abouit $600 for a mechanic to repair them...

VEvolution

So it's not really all that expensive then. Just gotta be able to actually do it yourself I guess.

Harvs94max

iTrader: (5)

yep 200 bucks for brand new vtcs not the rebuild kit i stumbled upon a nice deal but yeah i think (not sure) but if you were to rebuild them yourself and do all the work it would be under 200 bucks its just the fact that most people dont want to play with the insides of there engine and its kinda time consuming i think i could do it now in under 2 hours with an extra hand

PunkFriday

everytime i get that filter, it just looks... small. maybe i am getting the wrong one. for a 1998 corolla, right? man, i'd feel dumb if i screwed this up.

VEvolution

I don't know about the 98' Corolla thing, but just get it by the parts # to be sure. I don't know how it is where you live, but around here they changed the "90915-YZZA2" to "90915-YZZF2". Your best bet is to ask for the old #. They know what you'll need. The one Im getting is black with white lettering and very small too, but according to the experts here, they work. I also don't get anymore clacking. So... Good enough for me.

xx-Marshall-xx

iTrader: (15)

the clacking stopped when you put the new filter on?....cuz i herd if you have the clacking you cant make it stop...unless you fix it then you put the filter on and you can prevent it from happening again

bhunter

iTrader: (3)

The filter does make SOME difference depending on how bad it is. On my three it stopped one from clacking and made the other one somewhat better. The third one with 177K never clacks.

todamax

iTrader: (6)

The toyota filter did not make one bit of difference on my car. Neither did the Amsoil.

VEvolution

Yes, the clacking stopped completely after I put the new filter on. If you stick your ear right onto the top of the engine you can hear them clacking as if they had a silencer on them to shut them up. But with the hood closed, you really can't hear anything. If the filter doesn't help you then that means your VTCs are on the way out. I just got the car, so Im guessing the previose owner heard the clacking, got scared, and sold it. Since the filter is helping this much, Im hoping the VTC problem on this car started fairly recently, and Im pretty sure it did.