Help! car eating a lot of oil.

2001 Toyota Corolla CE, 1.8L, AT, 124,000 miles.

For the past two years or so (40 K miles worth), the car has been eating about 1Q of oil every 1 thousand miles. So I've been just checking the oil regurarly, and adding it as necessary (5W-30 dino.) Would this kind of oil consumption be considered borderline 'normal'? Several months ago, I had the car looked at by an indepedendent mechanic (Charley's Garage in Boulder, CO - specializes in Jap autos; highly recommended by many locals), but he didn't find any problems. There are no visible oil leaks, no smoke coming out of the tail pipe. The car passed Colorado emmissions about a year ago (though I don't know if it would today :)

This is my wife's car, she only drives it around the city, and she's a pretty careful and conservative driver. Usual speeds: 30-50mph.

Over this past Memorial Day weekend, we went on a road trip from Denver to New Mexico. We did about 1,200 miles in three days, and it was mostly highway driving at freeway speeds - 65-80mph. To my great surprize and frustration, I had to ad 5 quarts of oil during our trip

- 1Q every 240 miles, on the average. What could have caused such a big jump in oil consumption? Is it possible that the car eats more oil at higher speeds/higher rpms?

I am going to have the car checked by a mechanic this week, but I wanted to hear your opinions.

TIA

Reply to
bubbabubbs
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Your car is consuming oil at an unusually high rate. Loss is either by consumption or leakage. Did Charley's inspect the spark plugs, cooling system, inside of tail pipe, emissions test, inspect the O2 sensors, ect.? Do you notice any sign of oil where the vehicle is parked? Do you notice any on the ground after running the car parked at operating temperature? Adding five quarts in twelve hundred miles is quite a bit IMHO, there will be a clue somewhere as to where the oil is going.

Reply to
user

Now, most of my experience with Toyotas involves 80's models, but I did have this happen on three Toyotas.

Check the engine bay and underneath the car for oil spray. What had happened to three of my Corollas was the oil pan bolts worked loose, and the engine would spray oil under operating conditions. Carefully check the torque on the oil pan bolts to see if they are tight enough.

I had an 80 that was using oil at an alarming rate after 80,000 mile, and this was the culprit. Also an '85 doing the same thing.

Reply to
Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B

That is definitely NOT normal. Take it to another mechanic.

For comparison purposes, I own a 2002 Tacoma, 60k miles. I still have the first quart of oil I bought when the truck was new. I've used half the quart. My son's got a '96 Camry with 90k miles. It's used 1/2 quart since he bought the car, and he's put 15k miles on it. Three Toyotas we've owned in the past have been similar, in terms of almost zero oil use.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

check oil pressure sending switch, normally a $7 part that sits immediately by oil filter housing

the o-ring may have failed and would spray oil only at high rpm conditions but leave no visible residue

Reply to
Nate

If the inside of the valve cover is coated with soft black deposits, check PCV. Otherwise it could be valve seals. VW claimed 200 miles a qt. was normal, until the EPA forced them to issue a recall.

Reply to
do_not_spam_me

Agreed, this is 'way too much oil disappearing, and if it's not coming out the tailpipe as smoke, it's sure going somewhere....as has been suggested. An engine that spews it out at high rpm's such as highway driving is definitely faulty, and a careful examination should reveal where it's going. Good luck!

Reply to
mack

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Ed

Reply to
Ed White

Sounds to me like a leak .probably the oil pan gasket , or timing chain cover.

A quart every 240 miles ? You would be laying down a smoke screen if it burned that much and prrobably get pulled over for poluting

Ed

Reply to
mred

Interesting writing, but there is no way you can suggest that the OP's situation is normal. If he was talking about a Dodge mini-van, then maybe. But not a late model Toyota.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

Dodge minivans are actually one of the best selling vehicles. They're not bad.

Even if they were a bad vehicle, drinking that much oil (if the car wants to _eat_ oil, it is called "coal") is not normal.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

The sales figures are in no way related to the unique stench and smoke I see while driving behind many of them, and I'm not talking about ancient ones either.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

Thanks a lot for all of your feedback. I am taking the car to a shop tomorrow, and will post the findings/results.

One more thing I forgot to mention: The acceleration is sluggish from a full stop. No way I can spin the wheels on dry pavement, which I should be able to do even with this moderately-powered car (not that I would _want_ to spin the wheels for fun.) I've been meaning to have the mechanic check that as well. Could that be a spark plug problem, which could be contributing to the oil consumption problem?

Cheers

Reply to
bubbabubbs

More like the other way around - spark plugs tend to foul in engines that burn oil.

Reply to
Tim B

No, it is not normal. I was suggesting that the car is using a lot of oil all the time, but it is being masked by blow-by. When he runs it harder on a long trip, the blow-by products evaporate and the true level of oil consumption is revealed.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

My guess is that your engine is worn out. A compression test will probably reveal low compression.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

I don't think so. A working catalytic converter should be able to handle a quart every 240 miles - at least for a while - particularly if the engine is as worn out as I suspect. In addition to the oil, there is a lot of energy going out the exhaust, feeding the converter and keeping it good an hot, allowing it to handle the oil. The "sudden" increase in consumption on a trip is a classic symptom of an engine with worn compression rings. Of course there probably are leaks. If the compression rings are shot, the crankcase pressure goes up and oil is forced out of every seal and through the PCV system.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

IIRC, the oil pressure sending switch has a tapered pipe thread and does not use an O-ring. The housing itself may be leaking, although at the rate the OP mentioned, there should be signs of leaks like oil on the ground.

Reply to
Ray O

A quart per 1,000 miles is considered acceptable for warranty purposes. If you are using 1 quart per 240 miles, the engine has a problem somewhere. If it has not been regularly maintained, the rings could be stuck or worn.

Reply to
Ray O

If it's the worn rings, how much would that cost to get fixed?

Reply to
bubbabubbs

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