Piston Slap - what will ultimately happen to the engine???

[GarrettMacD]

Don't normally venture into this section, but desperate measures and all that!

Wife's Toyota Previa is suffering from Piston Slap. Now, I understand what it is, i.e. that it gradually makes the bores 'oval' shaped, thus allowing ingress of oil past the piston rings. I can source a replacement engine from API, but am having trouble getting someone who can fit the engine quickly - we need the car to go to DisneyLand Paris next week, and nobody can fit a replacement engine in time.

So, the questions are;

1) What are the ultimate effects of piston slap?
2) How much extra damage will be caused by a 900-mile drive, albeit mostly motorway and restricting the revs to 3000rpm?
3) Are there any oil additives I could try to lessen the onslaught?

Thanks in advance for any comments

Garrett

[Boosted Ls1]

Piston slap can be normal on some engines and needn't always be considered a big problem.

Does it do it when cold, gradually diminishing once the engine is warm. If so, no big deal. Does it to it under load or high rpms? If so change the driving style.

Does the engine smoke from the exhaust when you put your foot down, ie oil blowing past the rings? If not, again no problems.

Basically, if the car's not a smoker and drives ok I'd have no worrys about taking it on a long journey.

Boosted.

[GarrettMacD]

Boosted Ls1 said:

Piston slap can be normal on some engines and needn't always be considered a big problem. Does it do it when cold, gradually diminishing once the engine is warm. If so, no big deal. Does it to it under load or high rpms? If so change the driving style. Does the engine smoke from the exhaust when you put your foot down, ie oil blowing past the rings? If not, again no problems. Basically, if the car's not a smoker and drives ok I'd have no worrys about taking it on a long journey. Boosted.

Thanks for the reply Boosted.

When cold, the engine emits more smoke than I would normally expect, it also smells a bit, as if it's burning oil. There was also an issue with a blowing exhaust which skewed it a bit and caused the car to fail its MoT on emissions - but the nex exhaust pipe has rectified this, and emissions are now normal. If I place a piece of tissue at the exhaust outlet there are no spots of oil, just a bit more fumes.
When I accelerate there is no discernible oil being dumped out of the exhaust, so I think we can live with it for a while at least.

Thanks for the info.

Garrett

[renegade07]

i think im getting piston slap?! does it occur, at really low revs..say under 1500 when the engines cold?