recommend oil for toyota 7afe

[kenkass]

I have a corolla with the 7afe 1.8l DOHC engine, running the ARX first cycle, getting close to changing. Currently I drive about 80 miles a day of pure highway (75mph). It seems to be burning somewhere around a qt every 600mi or so. Currently I am using a wix filter, and castrol GTX 10w30. No signs of oil deposits on the rear of the car, and runs smooth with good power..... The car is at 214000miles. I have done all the basic tuneup stuff, change tstat (stuck open), rotor, plugs etc. Getting 33.4mpg which is right on target... Dont have any leaks - knock on wood.

So I am wondering is there an oil that might be consumed less on the highway? There seems to be nothing wrong with the car other than the oil disappears..... Given the amount I drive I would greatly prefer to stick with cheap oil, syth out of question at 200k, and high milage is kinda pricey for doing changes every couple months.... but if that will really solve the burning...

thanks so much for any help you can provide
-ken

 

[Bob Miller]

I'd suggest a try of Valvoline Maxlife.

at 214k miles, I'd probably go to a 10W-40.

At 220k miles on a honda prelude, that stopped any oil issues for me.

 

[TR3-2001SE]

Delo 15W-40 slowed the consumption to near nothing on my sons Mazda Millinia that had consumption problems. He was using 5w-30 and in 2000 miles it had become 20w oil. The Delo does not thin out over the miles and can go up to 6000 miles on a change without any concern. It is a little expensive but he buys it in the gallon jug for about 6 dollars.

 

[kenkass]

the delo stuff looks good.... im open to trying, I am having trouble finding places that sell delo stuff... googled it no real luck.... any idea where to buy.... and 6/ gal!???!! i pay $8.99 for a gal of reg gtx... WOW

I never even thought about this but should I stick to regular non HM oil for the rinse phase of ARX? My oil is looking VERY dark right now, so anticipating good results.

 

[Drew99GT]

I have a 94 Corolla with the 7AFE! My consumption was slowed a bit with Auto-RX, but like you, I do 100 miles a day of highway driving, so it still consumes about 1 quart every 1500 miles or so. Consumption was slightly decreased also by using 2 quarts of 20w-50 mixed with 2 quarts of 10w-30, but that's a no go for winter conditions. I'm just gonna stick with 10w-30 Trop artic for the winter as it has great cold weather properties. The HM oils never really solved my oil burning either and stay away from them for the Auto-RX rinse as they have esters. I'd stay clear of 15w-40 for winter. I think oil burning in these engines which run at close to 3500 rpm on the highway is just the nature of the beast. I think you'll notice your engine performance drastically improve after RX. I get 36 mpg highway now and engine braking was greatly increased after Auto RX, so compression was obviosuly restored. I'd just stick to el cheapo 5w-30 for winter since Iowa gets bitterly cold and see if Auto-RX slows the consumption. If it doesn't, try 15w-40 during the summer, as that is what my combination of 20w-50/10w-30 basically was.

 

[kenkass]

wow Drew, some great insights!

I'll stick to reg oil, may try valvoline or havoline regular stuff since they seem to be well liked here.

I just pulled 34.8 mpg on my last tank, pretty good engine breaking too... Sounds like you have a manual as well. I read somewhere here manuals may burn more? Any thoughts why our engines burn? I'm also using 10% ethanol blend, can this effect burning?

If it keeps burning I may try a catch-can. Im also wondering should I get a toyo OEM PCV? Right now i have borg warner.

btw... what is ur corolla at mile wise?

 

[Drew99GT]

Mine has 111,000 miles. I really don't know why they burn. In my car's case, I think it partly may be due to previous owner neglect. She was a good quart and a half low when I bought it, but it runs good. I also think part of it is the rpms you have to run these hampster powered cars at to get any kind of performance. PCVs are PCVs in my opinion, although I had a Purolator in my car and it was rattling and making weird noises at idle so I bought an OEM. Still burns oil just the same and no difference in how it runs so that was liekly $10 wasted. The catch can may be a good idea as my PCV valve always has tons of oil in it and so does the hose.