1994 2.2 Blow By
 

Have a 94 Camry with the 2.2 engine. Have extreme amounts of blow by in the crank case. When idling if you pull the oil filler cap, air gushes out and spits oil out. Same thing if you pull the oil dipstick out, oil spits out of the tube. Have not ran a compression check yet, but expect to see decent near equal readings. The pcv valve and hose have good suction and appears to be working normal. Doesnt seem to burn any oil, but sure does push oil out from the pressure when driving. Anyone else had this issue? And what did you do about it? Thanks, TB

sounds like you have a broken piston

The oil really gets slung around inside the valve cover. Owners have accidently left the cap off, the result being the engine ran out of oil and failed.

lol, thanks toyo, no the oil cap did not get left off. It has huge amounts of pressure in the crankcase. I would agree with resx that it might be a broken piston, or a ring problem. It just runs so good, was hoping for a miracle. I need to pull the plugs and see what they look like, and at least determine which cylinder if any is causing the problem. Was really asking for more specific answers from someone who had to address the issue and what they had to do to correct it. Possibly a head gasket? TB

To solve your question must first understand what it it is.

The engine has blow-by, how do you know this?

Is oil blowing out the tail pipe?

How much oil do you need to add per 1000 miles to keep the oil level constant.

If you remove the oil filler cap when the engine is running oil will blow out, this is normal.

Ok toyo, forget the term "blowby". There is extreme amounts of "crankcase pressure". As stated before, when at idle if you pull the oil filler cap off, air pressure gushes out (alot of air pressure). Too much pressure for the pcv to compensate for and its pushing oil past some seals. Same thing if you pull the oil dip stick out, air pressure comes out there, as well as some oil (which is understandable that oil may come out of the dip stick tube while running). And yes, some oil might be expexted to spittle out of the filler cap if running at a high rpm. Adding oil is not measured in 1000 miles, you have to add oil if you drive 10 miles lol. Anyhow, the pressure in the crankcase is too high, just wanted to know if anyone had diagnosed and found the cause in thier particular instance. Thanks TB

if pressure comes out of the oil cap it is due to the engine building pressure in the crank case, either the pcv valve is stopped up and not working or you have a piston problem.

One other question is: did this problem start abruptly or over time?

You stated the PCV system was working OK.

A compression or leak down test may aid in diagnosing the problem. When the plugs are removed look for any oil soaked plug(s) or any that are substantial different in appearance from the others.

On this model of engine a blown cylinder head gasket is uncommon unless the engine was severely overheated (such as running out of coolant). Then the typical issues are air in the coolant and continued overheating problems.

Given the amount of oil lost and extreme crankcase pressure assume would assume something is broken. Excessive amounts of air and oil (blow-by) are being allowed around the piston leading to high crankcase pressure and high oil consumption.

If the problem started abruptly it may be a broken piston as resxwni01 states, a hole in the piston or broken piston rings (more common).

If the problem occurred over time the engine cylinder walls and rings may have worn to point of excess clearance and or glazed the cylinder walls and no longer allow ring seal. Typically all cylinders would have equal but low compression.

The piston oil control ring(s) could have become stuck. This would lead to increased oil consumption but not to the extent you are experiencing. The piston compression rings would still seal the cylinder thus compression may still be OK.

There are many methods of attempting to unstuck oil control rings such as filling the cylinder with a solvent and allowing the ring to soak. However most likely this will not work.

Pulling the head may reveal the problem or signs of it such a scored cylinder wall.

As to the fix, unless there is something else going on that is not stated the engine will need to be taken apart.

it is defiantly not a head gasket