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87 Corolla oil consumption drop

Folks,

Sorry for the on-topic post, but this one is a puzzler to me.

87 Toyota Corolla FWD auto, 4A engine, 135K miles

When I bought it, and as my wife has driven it, it has burned a quart of oil every 10 days to two weeks. A telltale but faint blue cloud was in evidence occasionally when accelerating from a stop.

Over the last two months I've been driving the car. I've added one quart of oil in the past 2 months. I haven't spotted any blue cloud either.

I'm not complaining mind you, but I am curious why the difference.

Driving has been about the same, in-town trips mainly to work and back. Commute is 10 miles one way for me, 7 for her. I leave the car in the lot all day; she generally runs one or two errands. I tend to be a much more aggressive driver; unlike me, she rarely accelerates hard enough to kick the transmission into low. Outdoor temperatures - hey, this is Central Texas. Hot, hot and D***ed hot, throughout.

For the record, there's no evidence of either coolant or gasoline in the oil; motor oil remains clear and smells normal. Fuel mileage and engine temperatures are normal. No white or black smoke in the exhaust.

-- Mike Harris Sure, I'll drive your car around for a while, $100 Cheaper than new rings Austin TX

Reply to
Mike Harris
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Without actually looking at the car to see what was causing the oil consumption and blue smoke before, it is difficult to tell why it cleared up. Blue smoke could be due to oil getting past the rings or valve guide seals or due to a head gasket problem. If the car was parked for a long time, then driving it may have freed up sticky rings.

Reply to
Ray O

Just don't let it happen again! ;)

Souunds like the car wasn't driven a lot and something taht had worked loose reseated itself...?

What are you using for oil? My Supra would smoke after sitting for a couple days, then I started using 'high mileage' oil, and I can let it sit for a week without the ol' blue cloud.

Reply to
.//Hachiroku

It was probably sitting for a while. Go to the local auto supply store and get a product called, DURALUBE. It will likely stop the smoking and cool the ngine down at the same time.

Hauli

Reply to
Hauli

I think you answered the question. It's your driving. My ex would sometimes complain about her car idling funny. The car was too new to behave like a two year old Chrysler mini-van. We'd switch cars for a day, and her car would run fine afterward. Whenever I asked our mechanic about it, he was too busy to explain. He'd just say "Keep doing that. I'm not gonna take your money for doing the same thing".

For absolutely irrefutable proof of this theory, open the vents any time you're behind a corpse who's driving 23 mph in a 40 zone. Savor the smell.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

Ouch, the only time my Supra used any oil it had a vacuum leak from a bad PCV rubber hose on the valve cover. Don't ask me why it did that (maybe positive crankcase pressure) but it has another 50,000 miles on it now and only gets 1/2 quart low or so between oil changes @10,000 miles.

Reply to
Danny G.

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