I have a 2002 Toyota Highlander V6 with 130,000 miles which had exhibited
>negligible oil consumption between oil changes -- that is, until about a >month ago.
>
> Just as I was arriving home from work, I saw the low oil pressure light
> blip on for a moment. When I checked the oil level, I found almost
> nothing was showing on the dipstick!
>
> I refilled it to the full line and have been monitoring it every few days,
> checking it first thing in the morning before starting to make it easy to
> see the oil on the dipstick.
>
> It is using about 1 quart of oil (Mobil 1 synthetic - I've used synthetic
> oil since the 10,000 mile mark) every 5,000 miles now after using nothing
> during the first 120,000 miles. There are no visible leaks, and I don't
> see anything unusual with the exhaust to show oil consumption.
>
> Any idea where the 1 quart of oil every 5,000 miles is going?
>
>
> Bud H
>
>
It took 4,000 miles for level to go from the high to low mark on the dipstick.
A surprise, however. It took TWO quarts of oil to fill from the low to high mark. Something I was not expecting. (All levels taken on level ground first thing in the morning before the vehicle was started.)
So the oil consumption rate is 2,000 miles per quart of oil, not 5,000 miles per quart as I thought previously.
Bud H