2007 Toyota Camry Oil Change

ROCHOW

MEMBER
2007 TOYOTA CAMRY
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
75,000 MILES

I took my car to a local Jiffy Lube for an oil change. After I left, we headed out of town. As we were driving, a huge puff of black smoke came out the back end. We called Jiffy Lube and they said that sometimes this happens after an oil change. If it continues for a week, bring your car back and we will take a look at it. We drove the car for 600-700 miles that week and it continued, so we took it to a Toyota dealer. They told me that there was very little oil in the car and it still had a Toyota filter on it. They said that the oil in the car was black, and less than 1 quart. It looks like they drained the oil but did nothing else. We are now at the point of dealing with Jiffy Lubes Insurance Company. The took the top of the engine off and noticed that there was sludge in the engine. They do not want to cover any repairs as they are saying that it is my fault for the engine burning oil due to lack of maintenance.

Questions:

Can a car run without oil in it for 6-700 miles without doing any major damage?

Could the sludge in the engine keep the engine lubed for the time we operated it without oil?

Could operating a engine for 600-700 miles with no oil cause the engine to sludge up even faster?

Thank You!

1 Reply

JAMES W.

MECHANIC
2,394 POSTS

This is we call a "toughy". Sludge buildup in an engine occurs over a long period of time usually due to lack of oil changes. The oil filter will collect as much carbon as it can and the rest collects on the inside of the engine, usually under the valve cover. What type of "engine damage" are you looking at? What did Jiffylube say about the Toyota filter still being on the motor? What amount of oil comsumption did you have before you had the recent change? Please advise.