What type of oil Camry 2000

[zzak]

What type of oil should I use?
Details:
1. Camry 2000 LE
3. Chicago, IL. Weather is usually very cold in winter. Under 25F is normal. sometimes it get in negatives.
4. I drive hard most of the time unless if I am not late for work which is rare lol (easy? hard? fast? slow?)
5. I drive long trips to work everyday. 4 days a week i drive 75 miles a day. so thats 75 x 4 and then I go to school 3 days which is probably 15 miles a day so 15 x 3... so in total about 345 miles a week and for work i take highways for school its all local. (short trips? long trips? city? highway?)
6. Car doesn't have any known problems but it has about 148K miles on it. I have to change oil often. Rite now I use 10W-40 only because it says that its good for high mileage lol. I have to add 3-4 quarts a week. I haven't noticed any leakage where I park. Is it normal? does my engine drinks it all lol?

What oil should I use knowing its winter now.

 

[addyguy]

3-4 quarts PER WEEK is insane! That's a quart every 80-100 miles!

Do you see any blue smoke from the exhaust when running at all?

Is this a V-6 Camry, or a 4-cylinder? If it's a V-6, I'd guess it's severly sludged, and the engine is dying from that.

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
3-4 quarts PER WEEK is insane! That's a quart every 80-100 miles!

Do you see any blue smoke from the exhaust when running at all?

Is this a V-6 Camry, or a 4-cylinder? If it's a V-6, I'd guess it's severly sludged, and the engine is dying from that.


Yep! ^^^^^

 

[crazyoildude]

Three to four quarts a week is enough to send blue smoke to the hubble telescope that will foul at least one plug so bad it has to have a serious mis fire
maybe the oil is going through the pcv valve but that too would show blue smoke..check the pcv valve

 

[addyguy]

A recipie to try and fix this:

1. Change your PCV valve.

2. Do an oil change, and for your 4-quart fill, do 3 quarts 15W-40 HDEO (Rotella, Delo...etc...) and one quart of Marvel Mystery oil. Top-off as needed. Run the fill 3k miles.

3. If you're 'adventurous', take the engines valvecovers off to see what is going on inside - it might be full of sludge. If it is, clean it up as best you can, and maybe even think about pulling the oil pan off to see what is there. If this is too miuch, just keep doing oil changes with MMO in them to try and flush stuff out.

 

[mechtech2]

addguy has a pretty good plan^^.
You gotta do something! Your oil use is probably in contention for the most loss/mile award around here!

 

[JHZR2]

yikes! Driving hard is not smart, especially given that you use 3-4 qts per week. your driving practices likely have hurt the engine worse. no engine should consume that much at only 150k.

If you were using none, I'd say M1 HM 10w-30, or just regular M1 5 or 10w-30, changed at the non-severe use interval, and with a UOA now and again to see if we need to shorten it.

Since youre using so much, I wouldnt even use an HM oil, as it is obviously not helping. Id just run a 5w-30 for the winter, and a 10w-30 or 15w-40 for the summer, and see where the oil is going. Any leaks? How about the spark plug holes? if it is being consumed, sooner or later you wont pass emissions, and then youre done anyway...

 

[sunfire]

When you start topping up motor oil when you are putting gas in your car... that's a huge problem. This is the most consumption I heard of for a Toyota. What I putting into my Corolla's engine is what I get out when I do an OC.

Topping up like what your doing can't be easy on your wallet. Its probably worth while to try what addguy suggested so you don't have to pay 3-4 qts of oil with your tank of gas.

 

[sunfire]

Maybe try a 5W-20 just for the heck of it... if everything else fails. Not top up... an OC.

 

[HTSS_TR]

I think OP means 3/4 qts a week, not 3-4 qts ?

 

[calvinnnnnnnnn]

that makes sense, the slash and period are right next to each other

 

[ChiTDI]

But 3/4 qt per week is still a lot and those suggestions to address the issue still apply.

 

[Durango]

zzak,

When I was driving my 89' Camry 4 cylinder I used Mobil 1 5W-30 and had good results but in your climate I can't really say. My guess would be the 5W is fine. I'd check your instruction manuel for what Toyota suggests.

Good luck,

Durango

 

[zzak]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
3-4 quarts PER WEEK is insane! That's a quart every 80-100 miles!

Do you see any blue smoke from the exhaust when running at all?

Is this a V-6 Camry, or a 4-cylinder? If it's a V-6, I'd guess it's severly sludged, and the engine is dying from that.


Yes its a V6 Engine... And my car throws out a lot of fumes. Last night after work when I was warming up my car, I could almost trace it to the roof of the mall approximately 2 stories high...

 

[zzak]

Is PCV Valve easy to be switched? Can someone guide me a little? and whats a good company to buy PCV valve from... thanks

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: zzak
Is PCV Valve easy to be switched? Can someone guide me a little? and whats a good company to buy PCV valve from... thanks


The pcv valve (on mine anyway) is on the back cylinder bank. towards the fire wall,on the left side. I got mine from car quest,and it looked like factory.

 

[heypete]

Originally Posted By: zzak
Is PCV Valve easy to be switched? Can someone guide me a little? and whats a good company to buy PCV valve from... thanks


PCV valves are usually quite easy to change. Find the old one, disconnect the hose, pull the valve out by hand, put the new one in the same way as the old one was, and reconnect the hose. Presto-chango. Takes about two minutes.

You can get the valve at AutoZone for less than $5 most likely.

 

[tig1]

Engine change is in your near future.

 

[RichR]

How many miles on the car?
Is it in decent shape?
Is it worth saving?
If you think it is:
Change the pvc and clean the Trottle body and a new air filter if needed.
Then in a week change the oil and either add ARX or MMO.
Keep any eye on consumption and if you ARX go by the instructios.
If you go MMO (which is cheaper faster.)run it 1k and change again.Repeat.
I have a '99 since new 113+k on it.
Where in CHI are you?

 

[teddyboy]

In our family we have a 97 Camry and a 98 Camry with 202K and 189K respectively. Neither one of them use anything close to 3-4 quarts in a 7500 mile oci using M1 10w30.. I would bet the ranch that if you have maintained the car reasonably well that it's leaking oil someplace. If you can't do it yourself, you should get a reliable mechanic to check thoroughly for leaks.