Engine consuming too much oil

[SilverNitrate]

I started to notice that my engine is consuming a lot of oil. I had the gasket recently replaced since it was leaking ever since I converted from regular oil to synthetic a while back. Now, after driving for a while (couple of months or so) my low oil warning would light up briefly come on and when I check it, I am almost out of oil. Has anyone have this experience? The mileage on my car is just around 73,000 miles.

[dorman68]

Very common for the 8th gen 2002-98 Corolla with 1zzfe engine. The piston rings get carboned or gummed up and stick resulting in oil consumption. The only real fix is installing new piston rings. Updated pistons from a later engine is also a good idea as they have more drain back holes in the ring grooves. Some guys have had luck with seafoaming the engine to remove some of the gunk on the rings, this has greatly reduced but not eliminated the oil consumption issue.

[fishexpo101]

A compression test and leakdown test would be next on my list to check. See if the rings or the valve seals are the culprits for the oil consumption. Compression test to see what the numbers look like (should be between 145-218PSI, with no more than 15PSI variance between cylinders). If that checks out - squirt in a small amount of oil into the sparkplug hole, repeat the compression test and see if the compression shoots up. If it does - mostly likely you have "stuck" piston ring issue. If the compression doesn't change that much - you probably have a leaking valve seals.

Another culprit is a the timing chain tensioner. Has an o-ring that can shrink over time. Can cause a significant amount of leaking. Mine has recently started to do this - have a 2002 with over 150K miles on it.

Do you notice any smoke on startup? Especially after the car sat for some time? Could be valve seals. If it smokes on hard acceleration - more likely to be rings. As note that a car can consume a fair amount of oil and not show any visible signs from the exhaust.

[Danimal7]

These engines are prone to engine sludge buildup, so take good care of them.

[Bdub215]

Originally Posted by fishexpo101

A compression test and leakdown test would be next on my list to check. See if the rings or the valve seals are the culprits for the oil consumption. Compression test to see what the numbers look like (should be between 145-218PSI, with no more than 15PSI variance between cylinders). If that checks out - squirt in a small amount of oil into the sparkplug hole, repeat the compression test and see if the compression shoots up. If it does - mostly likely you have "stuck" piston ring issue. If the compression doesn't change that much - you probably have a leaking valve seals.

Another culprit is a the timing chain tensioner. Has an o-ring that can shrink over time. Can cause a significant amount of leaking. Mine has recently started to do this - have a 2002 with over 150K miles on it.

Do you notice any smoke on startup? Especially after the car sat for some time? Could be valve seals. If it smokes on hard acceleration - more likely to be rings. As note that a car can consume a fair amount of oil and not show any visible signs from the exhaust.

i've got that tct issue too. but i think its my oil. i read somewhere on here that mobile 1 EP (which i use) would cause leaks in cracked rubber. and i wasnt leaking any oil until i switch to synthetic... and this amsoil that i just ordered is probably going to leak through that tensioner as well.

[SilverNitrate]

Well I just had my emmisions check done last july and it passed. I don't see any smoke on the tail pipe unless it is cold outside. I might try the compression test first. I don't know if this is relevant, but sometimes when I accelerate, I can hear like water moving....not sure if it is oil. Any recommendations on what synthetic oil is good to use to clean up some sludge build up? It might help with the piston rings.

[fishexpo101]

Almost all the synthetics will help dissolve engine sludge - since they generally have more solvency than conventional oil. Those recently, the quality of conventional motor oil is exceeding some "synthetics" - spec's wise.

With engine deposits or sludge, the key is frequent oil change intervals with good filtration. You don't want to run the motor if the filter is completely packed full of sludge or other insolubles. At that point, the filter will just go into full bypass, and you are basically circulating dirty oil.

As for synthetics causing leaks - not as an issue now as it was in the past, but due to their higher solvency, they can eat through seals and cause a non-leaker to turn into a leaker. Keep in mind that the engine would probably starting leaking, regardless of the oil used, just that in some cases - synthetic oils just sped things along.

[dizwiz24]

this probably isnt what you want to here, but here is what I did and it worked.

I bought a beautiful '01 Prizm 5spd with 81k miles for a steal of a price last summer. Turns out, it burned oil(about 1 quart per 800 miles) and likely thats why they sold it. I did a compression test and compression was low (i cant remember the numbers, but im talkign waaay low on 2 of 4 cylinders).

I called up junkyards and found a wrecked 07 corolla w/4k. Engine was still good.Believe-it-or-not the 07 corolla still used 1ZZFE engine. I bought the engine for $1100, and borrowed my uncles engine lift.

Never swapped an engine before, but did it in my garage. Was the easiest car to work on - although the car was down for 3 weeks. I also installed new clutch and axle halfshafts while at it.

Works great, zero oil consumption, 40+ MPG on highway.

sucks. but thats what I did.

[SilverNitrate]

If I do end up having to buy engines, what engine models would fit the 99 corolla with little to no modification?

[Crowbar911]

The oem engine is 1zz-fe, so that bolts right up.