Camry ran low on oil, what do you suggest?

[ThirdeYe]

Originally Posted By: zach1900
Originally Posted By: Or
You should look into the oil consumption thread on these engines in the correct sub-forum at Toyotanation.com. There is an active TSB on oil consumption in this engine and dealers are testing and repairing (new pistons and rings, I believe) from (I think) 2007 to 2011 models.

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/104-5th-6th-generation-2002-2006-2007-2011/

If she had registered the VIN at Toyota as the owner, she'd eventually receive a letter. I don't think it is restricted to original owners (I am not part of the class, but aware of it as I am a moderator on that forum).
Not quite, the 2010 Canmry used an entirely different engine, I have never seen anything beyound 2007 and a few 2008s affected/


Yep, from my research it's mostly the 2007 and 2008 models that were affected by the defective piston ring design.

 

[jacky]

keep us updated on if the car is consuming oil and its basic condition. i enjoy reading this kind of stuff

 

[crazyoildude]

older toyotas yes but from 2005 and up to the new ones we see many toyota engines with under 100,000 miles needing complete rebuilds they are not what they used to be not even close! That Toyota engine happens to be one of the better ones

 

[CT8]

Fill it up with oil and see what happens. I doubt a teardown and inspection will be cost effective at this time in the cars life.

 

[jdavis]

Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
older toyotas yes but from 2005 and up to the new ones we see many toyota engines with under 100,000 miles needing complete rebuilds they are not what they used to be not even close! That Toyota engine happens to be one of the better ones


Or theres just more vehicles and more people buying them therefore you see more.. I can't imagine many Toyota engines needing complete rebuilds under 100k miles unless they were lacking even basic maintenance.

 

[zeddy]

Fwiw

Our family's extra car was a 99 Camry 4 cyl that was driven sparingly. My girlfriend used it when she came into town to shadow some doctors. I get a phone call from her saying that the Camry just stopped running and she was able to get the engine started again but it died shortly thereafter.

At this time, the car probably had not seen an oil change for the better part of two years. Towed it to the mechanic and they said the engine had no oil. They filled it up with whatever bulk oil they had and the engine was fine.

The car was used another 2 years after that by our family. My friend bought it from us (full disclosure given) and drove it another 2 years and some 30k miles. Engine ran fine like it was no big deal that it was run out of oil.

 

[BradleyB]

I would suggest doing what everyone else has suggested....change the oil with either a semi-synthetic or fully synthetic oil in the proper lubrication (5w30 probably) and I would get the best oil filter that I could find (Bosch, Mobil 1, Wix, Purolator Pure One) to get as much sludge and contaminants out of the motor as possible. I would then change the oil and filter after maybe 1,500 to 2,000 miles to make sure that the oil and filter are not extremely dirty and then go to maybe a 3,000 mile or so oil change interval. Unless the motor is knocking, she should be fine. I would just try to put the fear of god into her to make sure she keeps an eye on the oil level for now on. I have a 2004 Camry that just rolled over 200,000 miles and I just went out and checked the oil level. It was maybe 1/6 of a quart down at the most with 3,000 miles on the oil change. The motors in Toyotas will last 300,000 to 350,000 miles with no trouble if you change the oil and use a good oil like Mobil 1 which I have used. Unless something breaks, I would think my motor could even go to 400,000 miles with no problem.