...so I'm burning 1qt. every 200 miles...

[CD101]

I took a little road trip today. Made sure my oil was topped off last night before I left. Wanted to check the oil after the engine was cooled off, so I just checked it, and I was 1qt. low... maybe more. I'm always at least 1-2 qts. low at every gas fill up (300-325 miles).

I had it into the shop earlier this week with a guy who works on foreign cars (did previous work on my Honda Prelude, and doesn't charge near as much as dealerships)... anyway, he couldn't really determine anything. He thought it was mainly with the ventilation system. He didn't charge me 1 cent since he couldn't find anything. He says it's all internal.

The Toyota dealership says it's blowing blue smoke (the foreign car guy tried to get it to smoke and didn't succeed), and needs a rebuild. I'm aware of the stuck or broken rings, or possibly valve guide seals. They checked compression last time, and said it looked okay.

It's a 2002 Corolla S, 5-speed manual, 114,000 miles. Always been an oil burner since around the 50,000 mile mark.

I've always used 5w-30... any other recommendations?

No idea what to do at this point. One qt. every 200 miles is extremely excessive. Other than getting rid of it, I really don't know what to do.

 

[tig1]

Might step up to a M1 10-40HM or Val max life 40 wt.HM That may slow it down.

 

[addyguy]

Lots of stuff you can try.

First try to 'free up the rings' - look up ARX, engine flushes, piston soaks, de-carboning treatments...see if one of them helps.

If they DON't help, I'd try 'Restore' oil treatment - it's supposed to help 'rebuild' the cylinder walls.

 

[tig1]

addguy,
Good idea. Also MMO soak in cylinders might help as well.

 

[mopar_monkey]

pcv valve?

 

[defektes]

Originally Posted By: mopar_monkey
pcv valve?


I am pretty sure the mechanic and dealer would have checked it. If not OP can pull it out and give it a quick shake, even if it clicks and is the original, replace it. They are cheap.

 

[CD101]

PCV valve was checked and replaced by the dealer a few months ago when I had it in. They said the original didn't look that bad, but recommended replacing it anyway. I will check it again though when I do the piston soak.

I plan on doing the MMO soak tonight. I'll try it several times in upcoming weeks. Will probably even try some Seafoam and/or ARX... I've read good things about all 3 products. I'll see what happens after the piston soak, and oil change... see if any difference in oil consumption.

I will also try stepping up the wt. at next oil change, due in 500 miles. OIC has been 3,000 miles.

Thanks for the input gentlemen!

 

[Drew99GT]

Did you just buy the car? Any known maintenance history? Some of the earlier gen Corollas are known for oil consumption, but a quart every 200 miles usually means major mechanical failure or the rings are locked in place with carbon and sludge.

 

[Gary Allan]

This is some treatable/manageable condition. You're challenging early 70's Vega's for oil consumption. You don't cite any plug fouling or leakage ..compression checks out decent. No operational issues at all.

At that consumption rate, it should be showing enough visible evidence to tell you something is wrong. Your only indication is that you have to add oil.

Any oil showing on the throttle body? If not, then most of it has to be taking that trip to the combustion chamber. If it was directly going into the combustion chambers via the rings, you would show it in terms of compression and you would have pre-ignition and (most likely) see blue smoke.

I reason that this oil is being metered in via the intake charge.

 

[CD101]

I'm the original owner, bought it new 9 years ago. Always kept good maintenance, regular oil changes. Around 50,000 miles it started consuming oil at a faster rate, although not as severe as it is now.

I brought up the concern to Toyota, but they couldn't seem to figure out why. Then all of a sudden 2 years later they're suggesting to get the engine rebuilt, at a minimum of $2500... before they even figure out what's wrong inside the engine.

 

[Drew99GT]

Does it still have good power and good fuel mileage?

I'd try and clean up the rings - do a few piston soaks and run MMO for several oil changes and see if things improve.

 

[expat]

I would do a ring soak with something.
Some people swear by Arx (I don't), but for me, in your circumstances, even if it worked it would be too slow, and you would proberbly burn it up quicker than it could do it's job.
Does the engine smoke under power or during over-run?
What weight oil are you using?

 

[CD101]

Sorry, didn't mention... there are no oil leaks whatsoever. Plugs were badly fouled about 9 months ago. New plugs and it ran great, but still consumed oil.

No operational issues at all. Car runs just fine. However, there is some chattering on acceleration and deceleration. It sounded to me like a ticking valve, but more throaty sounding.

 

[yannis]

I'd check the valve guide seals. It's not an expensive job.

 

[CD101]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Does it still have good power and good fuel mileage?

I'd try and clean up the rings - do a few piston soaks and run MMO for several oil changes and see if things improve.


It still has good power, and my fuel mileage is around 32-35mpg.

Originally Posted By: expat
I would do a ring soak with something.
Some people swear by Arx (I don't), but for me, in your circumstances, even if it worked it would be too slow, and you would proberbly burn it up quicker than it could do it's job.
Does the engine smoke under power or during over-run?
What weight oil are you using?


Engine doesn't smoke at all. I use 5w-30. For a while I was using Maxlife, but it seemed like the engine burned it even faster than dino oil, so I switched back.

 

[Quest]

1qt every 200miles, that calls for a complete overhaul.

Only through overhaul would your mech be able to determine what caused the accelerated oil burning issues. All other suggestions are pretty much useless in your case (don't waste time dwelling on piston ring soak).

Q.

BTW: 1qt every 200 miles and you don't see smoke at all.... Your quart of oil either mysteriously "disappeared" or formed a major puddle in your car lot floor. There's no 3rd possibilities in this case.

 

[CD101]

Originally Posted By: Quest
1qt every 200miles, that calls for a complete overhaul.

Only through overhaul would your mech be able to determine what caused the accelerated oil burning issues. All other suggestions are pretty much useless in your case (don't waste time dwelling on piston ring soak).

Q.

BTW: 1qt every 200 miles and you don't see smoke at all.... Your quart of oil either mysteriously "disappeared" or formed a major puddle in your car lot floor. There's no 3rd possibilities in this case.




Well, there are no leaks anywhere. Like I said in an earlier post, Toyota says it's blowing blue smoke... other mechanic couldn't get it to smoke. I've never seen any smoke, and I'm always looking for it.

 

[Gary Allan]

Okay, so you've got some oil (perhaps) lingering in the combustion chambers and lighting off the air:fuel charge under load. The plugs do get fouled, but not too often ...or rather so severely to account for the consumption rate.

Since you've maintained it in a favorable manner, I can't see the rings being worn, per se~. The valve guides/seals could surely be the source of this. The compression test tends to confirm that ..or rather strongly suggest it.

If it was my ride, I'd find some RTS 5w-40 just to attain a higher visc. I'd then do a double dose of Auto-Rx for 1500-2000. I might keep it longer. I'd pull the filter first to see what it looked like inside.

I'd also tinker with the PCV system to make it harder for anything liquid to migrate to the intake. I'd try and avoid anything that uses a catch can simply because you'll be emptying it at the same rate that you'll be adding it if the flow is the source of your consumption. I would simply configure it to self drain back to the valve cover if possible.


In your case, use any and all varieties of solvent based solutions before investing in Auto-Rx. They're cheap and you have little to lose. In the case of something like MMO, you can up the sump visc and use it more liberally since it will take up some space in the sump and can be tolerated for a decent amount of time vs. the "flush" type solvent that's way too strong to use in any protracted manner.

Since the compression tests showed decent numbers, a head refit/redo wouldn't be out of the question. This isn't an abused engine by all accounts so far.

Buy Rotella T 5w-40 ..or even the 15w-40. The weather's warm enough. If you can find the Rotella 5w-40 T6 buy that. It's a LOW SAPS oil.


Look this thread over a bit. It might have something useful in it for you. PM me with any questions.

 

[CD101]

Thanks Gary, I'll try the heavier visc. oil on the next oil change. Maybe I'll do that first instead of the piston soak just to see what happens, if it's burning it any less.

 

[ekpolk]

I agree with Gary. I'd add that at this point, the up side, if I dare call it such, is that you don't have a whole lot to lose. I'd experiment around with a few things, and see what you can do. If something works, great; if not, you're probably no worse off than you are now.