How To Spot and Repair the Oil Clogging Challenge That’s Killing 2022 Toyota GR86 Engines

A scary and probably prevalent oil hunger drawback with the 2022 Toyota GR86 has been popping up on our radar not too long ago. Anecdotes of sealant clogging up oil tubes and killing engines at the moment are widespread sufficient to start out large discussion board threads. We now have but to see a service bulletin from Toyota, however right here’s how you may proactively defend your automotive your self in case your supplier’s service division gained’t assist.

This nugget from our August 2, 2022 put up on the topic lays out the context for what we’re speaking about:

The “gasket” referred to in that quote is a strip of RTV sealant that’s laid onto the mating floor of the oil pan. As you might know, the oil pan is mainly a bit bowl on the backside of the engine. It’s sometimes the place you’ll discover the oil drain plug that you simply crack open to do a lube change. On the 2022 GR86’s 2.4-liter boxer engine, which is shared with the 2022 Subaru BRZ, the oil pan is sealed up with a bead of RTV sealant to maintain it from leaking oil.

RTV stands for “room-temperature vulcanizing” and is so named as a result of it turns right into a viable gasket materials quickly after it’s squeezed out of a tube. Based mostly on experiences from homeowners linked above, it certain appears to be like like that RTV is both melting (probably because of high-rev driving making the oil notably sizzling) or simply slathered on too excessively within the first place.

Regardless, as soon as that occurs and the goo will get sucked into the oil pickup tube (mainly a straw that pulls oil out of the pan) it could actually clog an successfully inaccessible filter. Not the user-removable oil filter—this half is a strainer on the high of the pickup tube contained in the oil pan. If oil can’t circulation by way of that tube, it could actually’t lubricate the engine. With out oil, it doesn’t matter how briskly you drive, your engine’s going to grab up and break briefly order.

Dropping an oil pan to see in case your GR86 or BRZ is affected by this problem just isn’t a trivial process. However a couple of YouTubers on the market have not too long ago shared good insights and instructables on DIY’ing this drawback, which I’ll share and annotate for you.

Self-described former Subaru Grasp Tech Ezekiel right here has an amazing video on the CM Autohaus channel with steps you possibly can take to mitigate sealant-related oil failures in these automobiles with out taking the plunge on eradicating the pan. He offers the automotive a colonoscopy with a borescope (digicam on an extended flexible line) to peek contained in the oil pan by way of the drain plug, after which cuts the oil filter open to examine it for RTV particles.

When you try this and don’t discover any RTV, you is perhaps good. However because the video host says, it’s nonetheless not attainable to test the strainer with this methodology.

When you’re trying to be completely certain your FA24D engine’s oil pickup strainer is clear and clear, YouTuber Justin has a really concise breakdown on oil pan removing, strainer cleansing, and re-installation on The BTR Storage channel.

Getting the bolts off should not be too laborious, since 2022 model-year automobiles aren’t sufficiently old to be rusty but. However prying the pan off the engine goes to take persistence and leverage. Then peeling the outdated RTV away, even when a few of yours has melted, might be a tedious endeavor too.

As Justin will present you, as soon as you have painstakingly pulled the pan, be sure to rigorously however fully get all of the gunk yow will discover out of that oil pickup tube. A protracted, skinny decide is your buddy.

That video contains torque specs and this useful screenshot of the automotive’s manufacturing unit service handbook:

There’s a motive oil pan substitute tends to be sort of costly—the job is a ache within the ass. Justin’s video there makes it look breezy however when you’re a novice wrench, I wouldn’t take this on until you’re keen to dedicate lots of time to it. Justin additionally takes pains to repeat that, earlier than you do something, you need to discuss to your dealership to see if they will deal with this for you beneath guarantee. Ezekiel from the opposite video brings up the purpose that the dealership doesn’t have a lot energy in such issues and suggests reaching out to Toyota company. If that’s your transfer, the Toyota Model Engagement Heart could be reached at 1-800-331-4331.

Both method, collect as a lot intel as you possibly can earlier than you begin turning bolts in your brand-new GR86.

I will reiterate that as a result of these automobiles are so new, you shouldn’t have an excessive amount of rust to take care of when you do determine to take this challenge on. However scraping that gasket off must be performed rigorously. You actually don’t wish to mar both mating floor, and pulling RTV just isn’t like eradicating a sticker. You’ll be scraping and prying and cursing and crying for hours to get the outdated stuff off, even on a automotive’s first oil change. Don’t lose persistence and scratch it otherwise you might need leaks!

And naturally, once you’re re-installing, you’ll wish to select an distinctive high-temp sealant and lay it down very rigorously. I’d suggest performing some discussion board analysis on what individuals are utilizing. In actual fact, I wouldn’t be stunned if an aftermarket gasket is launched quickly to deal with this.

When you undergo all this work solely to find that, hey, your oil strainer was effective and never clogged in any case, a minimum of you possibly can re-seal the system with an RTV you belief and sleep soundly realizing your Toyobaru will not have a coronary heart assault on the observe. At the least, not due to this problem.

As for making guarantee claims, I get the sense that Toyota will maintain out so long as it could actually to keep away from re-sealing the oil pan of each GR86 and Subaru BRZ that is on the street. However the firm has been made conscious of every part we have written above and hopefully will work out some sort of answer that works for homeowners and sellers.

Up to now, Toyota has not issued any official response or acknowledgment to the allegations that this oil strainer clogging and subsequent hunger is a mass problem and/or lined by guarantee. Upon direct inquiry, the company reply was predictably imprecise, however right here you go:

I requested for a follow-up about pending service bulletins on this and can replace this put up if I get extra perception. Utilizing an excellent old style gasket, or perhaps an RTV with higher warmth resistance looks like a reasonably simple repair to me, however I don’t engineer automobiles, I simply drive ’em and sometimes make “vroom-vroom” noises with my mouth.

When you’ve got a Toyobaru (Toyota GR86 or Subaru BRZ), notably a brand new one with this new engine, don’t hesitate to hit the remark part with your individual insights and expertise. We’ll proceed investigating and do every part we will to assist fans take pleasure in their automobiles with peace of thoughts, not in worry that some extreme oil temps would possibly give their automotive the automotive equal of coronary thrombosis.

When you’re even contemplating dropping the oil pan in your BRZ or GR86, I might think about you have already got basic items like gasket scrapers, picks, and naturally, an excellent ratchet set. However this put up additionally mentions a borescope—that is a bit extra of an oddball. Verify some native auto components retailer to see if they will mortgage you one without spending a dime. Of the simple Amazon choices, this “Hiacinto” mannequin appeared probably the most interesting to me for its extra-tiny digicam stick. When you’ve got an Android telephone, this attachable borescope digicam from Klein Instruments is less expensive and I’ve had good luck with that model.

As for RTV sealants, Permatex Extremely Gray is commonly peoples’ default however I simply discovered this Permatex Optimum Gray stuff promising “excellent resistance to oils” and warmth resistance of 700 levels(!). In case your oil will get that sizzling, you have obtained larger issues than a clogged strainer.

The Drive could get affiliate charges when you purchase stuff from these hyperlinks however that is not my division and I do not get Permatex kickbacks. These are just a few beginning factors I believed a few of you would possibly discover useful.