Oil capacity of '02 Corolla at dipstick marks?

According to autozone.com, the oil capacity is 3.7 quarts without a filter. Generally, you will need another quart if the oil filter is changed. You can confirm this by checking your owner's manual.

5 quarts is close enough as long as you follow the automaker's recommendations in the owners manual and do not add any additives to the oil.

Each mark on the oil dipstick is 1 quart.

Thanks Ray!

I for one would be careful. I know nothing about the Corolla but the

1NZ-FXE as used in the Prius and probably the 1NZ-FE in the Echo/Yaris specs 3.9 quarts with filter so shops just put in 4 which results in an overfill of about 1/4" above full on the dipstick, and poor fuel economy. 3.5 seems to fill it to full and 3.0 seems to be half way between add and full.

03 Corolla- 1zzfe oil change with Purolator L14476 filter is 4 quarts even with oil on the full mark of the dipstick after leak check and drip-down period. I have never had to add oil so can't tell you where low mark is capacity wise.

If you are attempting to change your own oil, always check the oil level before and after starting the engine for your leak check.

I seem to recall that your engine is burning oil, so I suspect that you want to know how much oil to add if the level is low. You should get in the habit of checking your oil every time you fill the gas tank. This gives a fairly consistent oil check interval so you can top off before the oil level gets too low. By the way, too much oil is also a bad thing because the crankshaft can splash the oil, which can cause foaming, which reduces lubrication.

A 1/4" overfill on the dipstick should not cause poor fuel economy.

Four quarts has always been a perfect fit for my 05 with a filter change. I'd never change oil and not change the filter, so not sure about with no filter change. Those filters are pretty small, and almost certainly do not hold a whole quart. I've never had to add oil between changes either. In fact, I never even check my oil level between changes any more as it's always been a waste of energy.. :/

I'm wondering how much driveway slant can affect this. The car is slanted backwards a little in our driveway.

Yeah ok. Well I was actually about to add that quart of Lucas stuff, and if the bottom line is 1 quart down, it should be fine.

If you want to risk wrecking your engine, go ahead and add the Lucas stuff, otherwise, add only the proper grade of motor oil to the crankcase. Whether or not driveway slat affects oil level readings depends on the amount of driveway slant. Check your oil on a level surface for correct readings.

Don't be a gullible fool when it comes to additives for your engine. The folks who designed and built your car know more about your car than the folks who sell additives. If you read your owner's manual, it specifically states not to use oil additives.

If you're wondering how a driveway slant affects the level, very simple. Check the oil level on the driveway. Then park the car on the level. Then compare oil levels. It is going to be different for different people, because the slant is going to be different, and the amount of difference is going to depend on the internal geometry of the oil pan, the internal oil passages (which can affect drainage of the oil back to the oil pan) and bottom of the engine block.

However, you should always be checking the oil level on a level surface. Usually gas stations are level, so you should be checking your oil when you fill up.

Jeff

I love oil additives. They helped send me to college! My dad's company rebuild car engines and sold car parts (but few oil additives).

So, the oil additives ended up making more rebuilding work for my dad.

Jeff

I guess additives are good for someone besides the additive companies!

It says right on the bottle that it wont do that, so I'd be really shocked if it did Ray. Shocked enough to sue them?

Yeah but they may have alterior motives too, being they run repair facilities?

They wouldn't sell many bottles if they said that there was a good chance that their stuff would trash your engine or expensive emissions control components like O2 sensors and catalytic converters.

It is very difficult to sue the companies that sell products that damage cars because they just claim that the damage was caused by the previous owner, or factory defect. With no maintenance documentation and a history of burning oil, they would say that your car was already trashed.

If Toyota Motor Corp ran repair facilities, then someone could claim that they have an ulterior motive by recommending that owners not use any additives but Toyota Motor Corp does not run repair facilities and Toyota Motor Sales USA does not own dealerships or retail repair facilities.

While I was a district service manager for Toyota, I saw no benefit from using additives and actually saw quite a bit of damage to O2 sensors, catalytic converters, fuel injectors, seals, etc. I no longer work for Toyota so the only stake or motive I have is to keep my car in as good condition as I can so I would never put any additives in my personal vehicle.

A friend of mine used to use oil additives to his engine and he had all sorts of problems that I did not see in the my car, which had the same engine. He had oil leaks, poor fuel economy, multiple failed O2 sensors, clogged catalytic converter, the engine started burning oil. We had the same engine in our car, same mileage, none of the same problems because I never used additives.

Would you be interested in buying a bridge in Brooklyn?

This based on what?

Well calling someone a "sucker" implies that there are decent choices available and they chose wrong.

The fact is, my dad was in his 60's when he told me he'd never found both an honest and competent mechanic at any time in his life.

Well the repair facilities are dealerships franchised by Toyota, so come on. :-)

I'm in a bit of a bind here. The car is apparently using a qt of oil per about 1000 miles, but only has 120k miles on it. Do I keep feeding it oil or what? Cant afford a rebuild to stop it.

So I put a can of Lucas Stop Leak in today.

Coincidence doesnt prove causality. He coulda had them anyway.

Nah, dont like the climate either. LOL

But I put it in this afternoon and will see.

If it harms the engine in ANY way, I will likely dump this mechanic and possibly sue Lucas, being the bottle says explicitly that it wont harm engines, seals or parts.

Oh my...

Well I have the oil changed every 3000 anyway, so will extrapolate that and do it in the future, thanks.

But for now, I just added the Lucas. Hopefully it wont screw things up in the 1000 miles befoe the next change is due.

The mechanic only suggested it this time anyway. He said at the next oil change, he recommends using a long mileage oil, which he said is made with regular oil blended with synthetic and may actually help the problem anyway. And I suppose I'd keep changing it every 3000. But he says the blend of that stuff would cost about $10 more per change. Sound good?

Long as my engine wont be destroyed by the Lucas Stop Leak in the next 1000 miles. If there's a serious chance of problems in that short a time period, I can take it to him this week and just get the change done 1000 miles early.