I would consider what you did to be over and above what 99% of technicians would do. You are a breed apart. Good on ya!

You’ve given me more hours of training than I’ve ever gotten from the factory or from the dealerships.

2 serious issues with this video. 1) when you dropped the 10mm socket, gravity was not announced. 2) excessive amounts of brake kleen was not used. I am disappointed.

I think you're the best mechanic on youtube. You do every hard thing there is that's needed to be done, you do it the right way, and you don't lie to or cheat the customers. And you never get a bad attitude about the hard stuff you do all day. Honestly you oughta open your own shop - the word would spread and you'd be fixing everyone's car in 100 mile radius in no time.

Snap-on paycheck collection truck ! Very good !

Don't we all feel like we're running on a dead cylinder but we feel OK some days?

Owned a 2010 Toyota Camry with the 2.5 best car I've owned had 270,000 miles and never missed a beat. Too bad she got T-boned by a guy who ran a stop sign last year 😭

"paycheck collection truck" Love it, some things never change. When I worked in a shop back in the 90's I was blessed to have inherited a full set of engraved proto tools from my father so I never really needed to venture to the tool truck. I did however notice that most of the time the guys going to the tool truck where not coming back with tools, but rather going to make 'tool support payments'.

about 3 years ago here in the uk a friend of mine had a ford smax (2.0 duratec) he had a stuck oil control ring on no 4 cylinder and it was drinking about 1 pint of oil every 10 miles. he had just lost his job and had very little money. i did what ray did there and added a compression test. because he didn't have much cash and was going to scrap the car (no loss it trying something different) i came up with a idea, i went to the petrol stn and got 40 ltrs of e5 petrol came back and added 1/2 ltr of acetone to it then pulled the spark plugs and set pistons no 1 and no 4 to the bottom, drained the oil replaced the sump plug disconnected the battery and" put the petrol in where you usally put the oil" as he said, checked the dipstick to see if the level was above piston 4 and left it 4 days to have a good soak. then drained it out. put some 2 stroke oil in down the spark plug holes and had rotated the engine 360 degrees (very slowly to break up any sofened sludge in the piston ring gaps and the vibration on the pistons going up n down to help break up the carbon). then refilled the crankcase back up with the fuel id just drained out and filled it back up above piston 4 left it again another 3 days. then drained it all out (the fuel that came out was black/sludgy) left it for 1 hr then replaced the sump plug. then put in some 0w40 (thin oil) and used a drill and socket to turn the engine over at the pulley (get the oil flowing round the engine).. drained that out then changed the filter and put some castrol magnatec 5w30 oil (quality stuff) in to the correct level, reconnected the battery put the plugs back in and started it. he used it daily for 1 month and no oil burning. he had to sell it due to funding. he didn't even get chance to advertise it as the next door neighbour to him baught it as hed watched us doing all this work.(and seen all the muck&sludge come out when i drained the petrol/acetone out) still going strong to this day as his family car and still not burning any oil. not a good way to do things but if youve nothing to loose and your condemming the engine due to a stuck ring worth a try. paid off for him.

Ray you are ever the professional. Just by the job notes you concluded that the other shop had done their homework, but you still honored the customers request for a 2nd opinion, going the all the way to ensure there was no other possible cause. It is an honor to watch you work my man!

A lot of mechanics say “take my word for it” and I’m like hell to the no!!! But you sir I most certainly would take your word for it!! The honesty in you is by far the best I’ve seen!! You sir are a rockstar!!!!

It's rare to see a camry engine fail... camrys for the most part are legendary with reliability

For what it’s worth, I saw a video recently on another channel that talked about Toyotas specifically where owners stretched the mileage between oil changes near the maximum of 10K miles. As miles accumulated, over 100K, the oil rings (particularly on the end cylinders) become fouled and stuck and are no longer able to control cylinder wall oiling. It looks like this car may be suffering that from that malady. The creator of that video urged owners to change their oil more often as the 10K spec was the maximum interval spelled out in the owner’s manual.

I probably would have done an injector drop test over swapping injectors. Props for not bashing the other shop for their diagnostics, which turned out to be spot on.

I have no clue about mechanics, no clue about hand or power tools, no clue about DIY, or anything to do with repairs, maintenance or replacement. I guess I must be dollar signs for technicians ? I love your channel, I love your enthusiasm and you're obviously good at your mechanicalism (new word) I've binge watched a heap of your posts and it's lovely to see how you are evolving. Your humour is intensifying, as is/are your hand gestures. I will continue to watch. We all need a Ray of sunshine in our lives - Thank you !!!!

"Ray's cunning linguistics reduced to one simple statement: "OW THATS HOT!"🔥

This era of Camries suffered from people not doing enough oil changes. The manual said every 10k (People did not read fine print) . Many of these engines suffered these failures due to that. Customers that did the 5k or less intervals rarely had these issues. Carcarenut had some videos on this very thing on his channel. Hes a Toyota Master Technician so he would know. Great work Rain Man!

Absolutely tremendous video. The drama of waiting to see if it was cylinder #1 or #4 was breathtaking. Thanks for your work both visually and verbally. You are a terrific detective, teacher, and storyteller.

That "paycheck collection truck" comment was spot on!

08 or 09 Toyota had a problem with oil usage. There was a recall, my wife's car had the recall taken care of and oil usage dropped to near zero. New rings and cylinder hone was performed. Her car had about 92,000 miles on it at the time. the car now has about 175,000 and still going strong.

Oil change interval was 3000 miles on the wife's 2007 Camry - purchased new, and I changed the oil myself - so I know it wasn't neglected. I even drew out the extra 1/2 pint of dirty oil thru the drain plug with a vacuum pump each time - drain plug is higher than inside of oil pan. Started burning oil badly at 100,000 miles, but I switched to10W-40. Oil usage dropped tremendously. I was really disappointed with Toyota on this one, and it will be driven into the ground. Now at about 180,000 miles.

THIS is a textbook example of what happens to this specific engine when you extend oil changes out past 5k miles on a regular basis...

Signs that you have been on this channel too long: Everytime he finishes a screw you go -click- before he does. I had a feeling that this was headed towards engine disassembly for the proper diagnosis.

Great job Ray, when I was a working mechanic the boss would have said that I was spending too much time and there was a yard full of other cars out side. I commend you for pressing on to find the actual cause of the problem.

My step father had the same model year and the exact same misfiring issue but on cylinder 3, and it was at almost the exact same mileage. This was sometime in 2017 and Toyota dropped a whole new motor in his car under warranty due to some recall. Now, that said, I believe his issue was related to a failed cylinder head and not a failed ring but it may be worth a look to see if I'm right or just losing my mind in my old age. He still drives that car, too, it has almost 300k miles, but obviously on its second motor.

Long time Tv watcher. Just wanted to jump on the Phone and drop a comment. Good Channel and content keep it up , 💪

We need more like Ray.

I love the way you investigate every path until you have exhausted all alternatives...

I change my oil every 3,000 miles. Toyota says 10,000 miles. Nice video. Thanks for going above and beyond.

Outside of a leakdown or compression test, I don't know what you could do differently. I liked your process of elimination, only cost time and didn't use a parts cannon. As a DIY guy, I've never acquired a borescope which definitively told the story. But again, good process, Ray.

4:59 hot damn this new camera Ray has makes me happy

R07 Camry blew up at 67,000 miles parts flying everywhere

The coil-per-cylinder setup used in cars today just makes so much sense, along with the ECM controlled spark timing. I had a '66 VW beetle, points and high-voltage distributor- only slightly advanced from stone knives and bear skins.

Strange that one cylinder would be so worn out and the others still good.

I laughed out loud when you identified the Snap-on Paycheck Collection Truck. So true!

Gotta change your oil often kids! None of this 10k mile oil changes. Sometimes I just change my oil or do a trans service on my cars for fun. Even if I’m not due. Fluids are cheap, repairs are expensive!

That Camry was made at the end of Toyota’s problems with the piston rings. The rings didn’t seat right causing oil dilution. They were oil burners, especially at that mileage.

Sneaked that plug change in under the radar lol

@5:10 shawn james - through the valley :O one of my favorite!!!!! awesome video and shop music!!

I really enjoy your ‘detective’ skills. I’m more of a ‘take it to the shop, tell them it’s broken, and please fix it’ sort of guy! I play Rainman Ray Bingo too! I try to preempt your comments such as ‘reverse clickage’ and ‘you’re coming with me’, scoring a point each time I get it right. Great fun! As I’ve said before, I’m not really a car enthusiast, and I can’t knock a nail in straight, but your videos are a constant source of entertainment for me. Thank you.

We have a 2010 Camry 2.5 with 308,000 miles on it without any problems. Oil was changed on time every 5,000 miles. I wonder if their problem was a bad batch of rings or just not changing the oil enough as others have said.

I enjoyed your “paycheck collection truck “ comment. Had a mechanic friend who often made similar comments.

I always use cheap sockets in what is considered drop zones, that way it's real easy to say bye-bye.

I like the way you went the extra mile for this guy, looking for something less likely. I am surprised you didn't do a compression or leakdown test when you had the plugs out. Old school and time consuming, but hard to dispute results if compression for cylinder 4 is in the toilet. If compression is low, you don't need to wonder about leaking injectors or valve stem seals.

Important to do 5000 mile oil changes to keep rings from sticking/seizing

Good job Ray you really investigated the problem whent extra steps instead of just throwing money at it

My 97 camry has 314k miles, runs like new, dont burn oil, oil change every 3-3.5k miles. But i got it with 290k miles. For 500$

Probably another Toyota following the recommended 10K oil change interval. I had a 03 Camry that I bought with 180K that was smooth as silk. Sold it with 230K a couple of years later for $500 more than what I bought it for because of 5K oil maintenance and keeping it clean

Man! You really dig in to isolate a problem. You remind me of a very young me. Different trade. Same kind of determination to find a problem. Ole Geezer Gearhead here. Thanks again Ray, for an informative video.

My 2010 camry with the 2.5 has 347,000 original miles...best car i ever owned

“Pay check Collector Truck” - wonderful

Thanks for taking us through an honest troubleshoot! Peace Man!

Great video quality and nice close ups! Very pleasing to watch. I always admire how you are able to work and record everything at the same time 😮

This is why you change your oil at 5000 miles or 6 months max and not a drop more. I do mine between 3 and 4k, which is about every 3-4 months.

27:52 Anyone else happy this wasn't done whilst Ray was toodling down the road?

Having owned two of the previous generation 2az-FE Toyotas, I found your diagnosis spot on with a common oil burning issue and premature ring failure. Too many owners neglect the oil change interval. Save a few bucks and spend a few thousand throwing in a remanned motor. Keep up the great content!

I see a few comments in here about running a compression test - absolutely pointless to do so, given the scoring on the cylinder wall. Only solutions are rebuild the engine, replace it with a new or good used one, or drive it until it dies. Given it’s a thirteen year old car and they’ve just probably spent $400 on it to determine the fault, I’d live with it or scrap it for parts.

You weren't out of range of ALL your fans - at least one in the UK was enjoying your thourough and comprehensive diagnose - ing. It seems the 'last forever' toyota engine might be a thing of the past.

Plug 1,2,3 looks super Consistent same coloring on ground strap @6:13 @Rainman Ray's Repairs

Really logical solid diagnosis there. Thanks for the effort you put into these!

I've had more than one car with a dead cylinder, and twice I removed the rockers (or just the pushrods on the old Valiant) so the valves didn't open, and no blowback into the crankcase, no worries 👍 I drove on 5 cylinders for many miles, even off road was great being auto they didn't have enough power to get stuck, actually one of my sparkplugs had zero gap after being hit by a piece of the piston, I diagnosed broken rings that eventually hammer their way to the top (the Toyota) but the Valiant had a melted valley down one side of the piston.

I was hollering at you to sway the coils after you inspected the plugs. Then you did. Glad you listened!

I take it back; the titles are brilliant.

I was so glad to hear you go for swapping the the injectors. It’s definitely a way to see if it’s a leaking injector.

Would be interesting to know what the customer ended up doing. Even if that was only to say they will think about it.

Again you astound me with your dogged determination to track down a problem.

I have replaced valve seals on a Corolla with out pulling the head. The fix worked.

Swapping injectors and coils would be what I tried as well. Other than tearing down the engine and no boroscope, I don't see any other way of trying to isolate the issue. Not exactly a way to determine an issue, but it's a good way to eliminate parts as part of the problem.

Good video. The clean piston area next to the damaged cylinder area is indicative of oil passing as well.

i had a toyota corolla when i was 20 yrs old that had 250,000 miles on it and piston rings were fine..... everything else was going out but the engine was solid.!!!

Dude! I'm halfway done and I just have to say you are the best! "paycheck collection truck"!

Hey Ray, if you are always hot and sweating alot, in my experience for me it was a symptom of high blood pressure. They say there are no symptoms of high blood pressure, but in my case it was excessive sweating. If your BP is OK please disregard my previous statements. If not, get it taken care of. I have learned so much from your videos. Keep up the good work. Guy Franks

This diagnosis is right in line with what @TheCarCareNut has been talking about for a while. He showed an engine recently in which he claims 10k mile oil changes eventually cause the oil control ring to seise, after which it digs a divot into the cylinder wall.

This is so crazy. I watched about 20 of your videos before realizing you are in Sarasota. My dad works at Wilde Lexus as a tech. I grew up there.

I can tell you are a true mechanic just by the fact that losing a 10mm socket didn't set you back an hour looking for your backup 10mm. Kudos

It would have made sense to do a compression check while the plugs were out the first time.

I feel for the person who owns this car. Toyota/Camry engines should last a lot longer than 110K miles.

snap on pay check collection . mega love it ray

You just drove past my parents old winter shack close to Catamaran on Clark. They were “snow birds” until about 10 years ago.

nice video Ray

That's the problem with the diagnostic codes, some customers don't realise that the mechanical part of an actuator could be at fault but it's only pointing you in the general direction that then needs a good technician to diagnose the mechanical fault. Say the mechanical part of the solenoid could be damaged or sticking but the electronic part is ok, the e.c.u. Will only be able to test the circuit but that would show as OK so it will only be able to say there's a misfire in the cylinder using other sensors on the engine.

It probably has something to do with Toyotas recommended 10k oil change intervals which is dumb. Great video Ray.

Car care nut explains the issue in detail.

I was so sad 😢 I really wanted it to be the fuel injector and for you to be the hero!

when the sparkplug gets fouled just do a compression test on that cylinder. it will have bad compression.

I feel for the car's owner. Not too many miles for the engine to fail.

I was really cheering for the little 'yota. You know you could have saved a lot of time by agreeing with the previous shop, but you didn't. That's awesome! You are the man.

Thanks for the wonderful training lesson. That borescope did the trick.

Good differential diagnosis, Ray. However, you broke an iron rule in the wrenching business: Never remove or install a spark plug with a power ratchet (air or electric). Its far too easy to strip the threads out of a cylinder head.

It might just be a weird glitch that my app is producing but it seems like there's video artifacting starting around 11:45

Borescope is my best friend. Saves me a lot of work.

You are within the range of this fan! Thank you for your videos.

You need to do both a compression and a leakdown test, that will tell you if there is a "mechanical" problem with that cylinder when compared to the others.

Hey Ray just wanted to let you know iv see these engines (2ar) throw the rocker arm off and cause a misfire at higher rpms. If you pull the valve cover you'll see it. If you had the original freeze frame data you would see the original light was thrown at really high rpms.

A real good scope to see inside the cylinder is a good investment.

I have seen this A few times because Leaking Fuel Injector as you accelerate the leak gets larger and larger at higher speeds @Rainman Ray's Repairs

Interesting diagnosis this one. I wonder a couple of things - if there's much smoke coming out the back and if a compression/leak down test would reveal anything further on that cylinder (compression vs. oil control rings, valves etc).However, I guess the physical evidence is there in those 'scope photos. From my understanding, the ECM primarily cuts fuel to avoid damaging the catalytic converter from unburnt fuel... if that fuel isn't combusting, maybe it is indeed fuel on that cylinder and not oil. Or maybe both. Probably redundant, since it looks toast.

If indeed the oil ring of piston 4 is broken, then draining the oil and checking the oil pan bolt for any evidence of oil ring chunks could provide extra data (assuming magnetic oil drain plug).

I got my Toyota Camry 1998 has 305,623 around last time I looked at it Is been a very good car 🚗

Thanks for the video, always enjoy watching!