What to do to slow down oil burn? 2010 Prius

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Originally Posted By: circuitsmith
Is it still 1qt per 4000 miles?
That's normal, let it go.


^This.

If it's fairly consistent and not increasing then there's no point in worrying about it. The engine is running ok, you just need to top off between oil changes. That's not really such a big deal. It seems that this issue is causing stress and aggravation way out of proportion to the magnitude of the problem.
 
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Aside from trying a thicker(10w-30) or high mileage oil and checking the PCV valve I would venture to borrow your Pop's ride for an "Italian tuneup" w/ a bottle of fuel system cleaner in the tank and have at it.
 
It is burning around 1/2 qt every 1,000 miles or so. I will double check my records but it is about that.
 
why use a 0w oil unless it's winter? Top it off with 5w20 unless you're expecting it to get very cold. 1 qt per 4k doesn't seem all that bad.

thicker maybe? is admixing 5w30 out of the question for that engine?
 
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Originally Posted By: xBa380
It is burning around 1/2 qt every 1,000 miles or so. I will double check my records but it is about that.

Ok that's a bit worse than the 1qt per 4000 miles that you estimated previously. I'd still try a few more OCIs of a high mileage 5W30 and then re-access the oil consumption. Why don't you try a few 5-6 kmile intervals of maxlife.
 
I just put about 1qt of top-off into the Prius today... I topped it off 1,200 miles ago and already needed about 1qt of top-off... Looks like it may be getting worse.

There is about 1,000-1,500 left on this OCI and I will drain and refill with another 5W20 HM type of oil and possibly drop in some Kreen at the last 500 miles or so of that OCI to see if that does anything at all.
 
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Originally Posted By: xBa380
I just put about 1qt of top-off into the Prius today... I topped it off 1,200 miles ago and already needed about 1qt of top-off... Looks like it may be getting worse.

There is about 1,000-1,500 left on this OCI and I will drain and refill with another 5W20 HM type of oil and possibly drop in some Kreen at the last 500 miles or so of that OCI to see if that does anything at all.



What sucks is if its under warranty they'll tell you its normal oil consumption. If you do go the Kreen route give it 1,000 miles vs. 500 miles, it needs time to work.

If that doesn't work, and you exhausted all possibilities I'd consider unloading the car, that kind of oil use [1,200 miles to a qt.] in such a new car would drive me nuts! Opinions vary!
 
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
I would say this is very uncommon in prius, especially with low miles. I noticed 200cc of oil consumption in the first 10,000 miles and zero in the second 10,000 miles in my 2010 prius. Sounds like it should be a warranty issue, except 1qt in 1000 miles is the Toyota threshold for action. I know, this is ridiculous.

If the car is still under warranty stick with TGMO and try to determine the source of the oil consumption by eliminating all the obvious suspects such as PCV replacement etc.
You're right on the threshold for Toyota action.
If you can't rectify the problem make an official complaint to Toyota, exaggerate the consumption a bit (800-900 miles/qt) and don't give up.
Oil consumption should not be this high on a Prius in top condition and you can site examples of Prius's that consume little oil.
If it were my car I would not let Toyota off the hook until the problem is fixed; a new engine under warranty if necessary.
 
Well the car is under the extended warranty my dad bought with the car, but when we did the oil consumption test with the dealer and all that, they refused to do anything because it was within normal specifications as per the manual for normal consumption of less than 1qt every 600 miles... My dad even tried calling Toyota Corporate directly and they refused to do anything as well saying the same thing. So we tried... But they would not do anything.

I will see how the MMO does and Kreen for 500-1,000 miles on the next OCI and go from there. Thanks for the help everyone!
 
I would think that passing an emission test would possibly be difficult with oil consumption of 1,000 miles/qt.

So the car was bought used?
I would not let this go and would consider sueing in small claims. It is not difficult finding any number of "automotive experts" that wouldn't hesitate to agree that 1,000 mi/qt is excessive for a modern engine.
 
Originally Posted By: xBa380
Well the car is under the extended warranty my dad bought with the car, but when we did the oil consumption test with the dealer and all that, they refused to do anything because it was within normal specifications as per the manual for normal consumption of less than 1qt every 600 miles... My dad even tried calling Toyota Corporate directly and they refused to do anything as well saying the same thing. So we tried... But they would not do anything.



They did exactly what I thought they'd do. There are tricks you can do to get the oil consumption up a bit, easily in fact. That will force their hand so to speak. PM me for details if you'd like. Sometimes you have to play hardball with these guys.
 
Car was bought brand new. Did mostly 5K Toyota 0W20 OCI's until they announced 10K OCI's were fine, then we did that. Always used OEM filters and all that as well. The consumption has been only in the last 20K or so it appears (at least at this level). Currently at 87,000 miles on the ODO.

That is the reason my dad is so concerned actually, passing emissions tests, the Cat Converters getting damaged, the burn getting even worse, etc... If it was just topping it off, that is really not a big deal. But the consumption is quite significant...
 
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I would really avoid low viscosity oils, esp for that particular situation; I'm not a big fan of high VI index oils either, but they have their purpose in cold places like OH in the winters; mobil makes a 0w30 you could consider for that season.
 
Originally Posted By: xBa380
Well the car is under the extended warranty my dad bought with the car, but when we did the oil consumption test with the dealer and all that, they refused to do anything because it was within normal specifications as per the manual for normal consumption of less than 1qt every 600 miles... My dad even tried calling Toyota Corporate directly and they refused to do anything as well saying the same thing. So we tried... But they would not do anything.

I will see how the MMO does and Kreen for 500-1,000 miles on the next OCI and go from there. Thanks for the help everyone!


Wow..they really say normal consumption is up to 1qt every 600mi?? That's a qt. each tank of gas!!
 
Originally Posted By: Mark_Walk
Originally Posted By: xBa380
Well the car is under the extended warranty my dad bought with the car, but when we did the oil consumption test with the dealer and all that, they refused to do anything because it was within normal specifications as per the manual for normal consumption of less than 1qt every 600 miles... My dad even tried calling Toyota Corporate directly and they refused to do anything as well saying the same thing. So we tried... But they would not do anything.

I will see how the MMO does and Kreen for 500-1,000 miles on the next OCI and go from there. Thanks for the help everyone!


Wow..they really say normal consumption is up to 1qt every 600mi?? That's a qt. each tank of gas!!

Exactly! It's a rediculous assertion. IMO it's time to play "hardball" with Toyota as demarpaint suggested.
 
It sounds like you have been doing nearly 40K per year. At that rate you must be running on the engine nearly all of the time. I would think that 10K OCI may be pushing it in your situation. My comment doesn't help your situation though...
 
Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
Originally Posted By: Mark_Walk

Wow..they really say normal consumption is up to 1qt every 600mi?? That's a qt. each tank of gas!!

Exactly! It's a rediculous assertion. IMO it's time to play "hardball" with Toyota as demarpaint suggested.


Or not ruin your engine with thin 0W oils in warm weather and over extended OCIs.

Run a decent 30 weight oil, the lower the VI in the summer (manual permitting) the better. Lower VI oils are generally more resilient to shearing out.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/oilshear.htm
 
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Originally Posted By: GMorg
It sounds like you have been doing nearly 40K per year. At that rate you must be running on the engine nearly all of the time. I would think that 10K OCI may be pushing it in your situation. My comment doesn't help your situation though...


My 2011 Prius has been on 10k intervals with 0w20 and has no issues - and the UOA I posted here confirms it. I drive it very hard and with mostly highway miles, so the engine is always running.

The OP may consider changing the PCV valve, but its a major PITA to reach and requires a 22mm. The valve had thread locker on it and needs to be unscrewed with a wrench...and due to the spot, you can only turn it 1/6th a turn at a time!



There's really not a whole lot he can do about the consumption, other than trading the car in. I would just continue adding oil.
 
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