Corolla eating oil

1 quart per 10,000 miles is negligible. It's not enough to matter in any case since you will change the oil before it goes below the 'fill' mark on the dipstick.

I would monitor the rate of consumption and worry about it if starts to accelerate significantly.

Thats not a bad consumption rate. The 4A/7A series engines really don't burn much oil at all normally. As a mechanic I wouldn't acknowledge a consumption test done longer than 3000 miles as the oil needs to be changed soon anyway. How low is it at 3K? I bet its just at or below the full line. All you need to do is perform 3K oil changes and you will have no problems. Thats about $100 a year (or $30 DIY) to keep your engine in great shape.

Infact I just thought about it, and at that rate you are probably just experiencing a slow external oil leak. Valve cover gasket, distributor O-ring, and rear main seal are the common culprits of the

93-97 corolla engine family, in that order.

One thing Id ask is what kind of driving do you do? If youre usng regular dino oil, especially a cheaper brand (not pennzoil, GTX or chevron), and running 5k intervals around town without analysis, Ide be VERY careful. Youmight be experiencing higher than normal wear. That said, I dont thinkj high wear at 60K on one of these engines should be eating up much oil. Ill bet it is either because of driving practices (do you drive with rpms over say, 3k regularly at extended length? Or, do you do a lot of cold startups mainly? Thise things will do it, probably at a normal consumption rate like you have of 1qt/10k. he previous poster noted about oil leaks... Very possible, but as far as I have seen, newer cars dont usually have nearly as many oil leak problems, so it would seem odd to me, but I would definitely look around your engine, especially on the underside and look for signs of oilyness.

JMH

Approximately 10/11/03 03:14, Dan uttered for posterity:

That isn't particularly bad oil mileage even on a new engine. However, if your engine *changes* its oil consumption habits, something has changed in the engine.

It may be a leak rather than burning the oil. Check around the engine, bottom of engine, etc. before bothering with looking for consumption.

Emissions control junk can also fail, causing a quick jump in oil consumption.

Hi All,

Thanks a lot for your inputs. Well, indeed, there is a small leak at the oil pan, but it's been there since I bougth the car. I do some hills climbing daily, however I usually don't exceed the 3k line on the RPM meter. I have noticed the increase in oil consumption after the car has been at the shop for an "induction cleaning" of the fuel system. The shop owner took the car after this cleaning to a "test ride" which I haven't attended (unfortunately) and I don't know to what RPM he took the engine... So I suspect it's been abused for a short while. Anyway, I now use synthetic oil and change it at 6k miles intervals.

--D.

This is what not to do if you "know" there is a leak and you do not fix it. The synthetic oil will make it worse.

Please take lots of pics and let us all have a good laugh! LOL!!!

Reving the engine over 3k rpm's does not in any way constitute abuse. Sure, if you left the transmission in second and drove down the highway with the engine buzzing at 5k for a half hour, that would be abusive, but reving the engine out from time to time is no worse for your car then an occasional sprint would be for you.

Harry

Reving the engine over 3k rpm's does not in any way constitute abuse. Sure, if you left the transmission in second and drove down the highway with the engine buzzing at 5k for a half hour, that would be abusive, but reving the engine out from time to time is no worse for your car then an occasional sprint would be for you.

Harry

Well, actually the synth didn't make the consumption any worse. And the leak was there also when it didn't eat almost any oil. So it doesn't seem to be related.

Modern synthetics such as M1 often contain seal swellers which will actually stop minor leaks.