My 2001 Corolla with almost 154,000 miles goes through an engine's worth of oil in less than 630 miles (!!!!!). It's not leaking it as far as I know...
The rear bumper has a lot of sootiness to it, and if you allow the engine to just sit and idle, and put something in front of the tailpipe for a few seconds, a lot of little black drops will begin to appear on the cloth or a hand.
What should I do? I need this car for work and school, as I drive nearly 30 miles one way, daily. I'm poor. I still owe $3800 on it. I bought this car originally thinking that I would receive an awesome built Toyota that wouldn't have any problems. This was before I knew about the engine problems.
So your getting about 150 miles to the quart, thats bad.
You can run it and keep putting oil in( expensive and mainly you run the chance of running out of oil ) or you can put in a junk yard engine ( 2003 +) with the new pistons ...or rebuild it.
150000 miles is low IF you have not run it low on oil yet.
If you can do the work yourself you can pull the engine remove the pistons and clean them( remove all carbon from piston ring groves and holes)hone and re-ring it . Break it in with dino oil and then run just synthetic oil for the rest of its life. That would be your cheapest option.
Before doing anything to the engine, I would try to remove the spark plugs and put a little bit of Automatic Transmission Oil in each spark plug hole. (Don't put too much). Start the car (you will see smoke it's normal). Drive around and if after 680 miles you don't notice any difference, do a Rislone treatment.
So your getting about 150 miles to the quart, thats bad.
You can run it and keep putting oil in( expensive and mainly you run the chance of running out of oil ) or you can put in a junk yard engine ( 2003 +) with the new pistons ...or rebuild it.
150000 miles is low IF you have not run it low on oil yet.
If you can do the work yourself you can pull the engine remove the pistons and clean them( remove all carbon from piston ring groves and holes)hone and re-ring it . Break it in with dino oil and then run just synthetic oil for the rest of its life. That would be your cheapest option.
Unfortunately, this car has probably been run low at least a dozen times (I'm not sure of the total count).
So what are we talking when you know this little bit of information? Will it have to be a full rebuild?
Also, would a 2003-2004 engine be a drop in replacement with no problems? I was thinking about an 03-04 engine, but I'm not totally sure if they're bolt-in compatible.
The 2003-2004 engines can be dropped in - you'll have to reuse your existing intake and exhaust, assuming you are going to reuse the existing transaxle to save costs - everything else just bolts up. If you really just want to get a the possible source of the oil consumption - just a the short block is all you need (everything below the cylinder head).
Another option is to see if you can rebuild your existing engine. But seeing as it has been run low more than a couple of times, might be best to cut your losses and swap engines. If you do the work yourself, would not be too bad, cost wise. If you are having a garage do the work, might be cheaper to just buy another car.
Unfortunately, you got unlucky with your later 8th gen - not all consume oil, there are some that definitely have oil issues, but the majority of them don't consume any oil at all. My 2002 is at over 185K miles, bought new from dealership, doesn't burn a drop.
Before doing anything to the engine, I would try to remove the spark plugs and put a little bit of Automatic Transmission Oil in each spark plug hole. (Don't put too much). Start the car (you will see smoke it's normal). Drive around and if after 680 miles you don't notice any difference, do a Rislone treatment.
I have seen several of these engines( 1ZZ oil burners) torn down. When the rings are stuck on these, there is NO soak that will remove the carbon short of lye and in the concentrations needed it will damage the piston/ head head if done on the car.
Would it be safe to swap the head from my car to a short block, even if it has 154k miles on it? I've heard that could cause issues with compression and blow-by on the valves.
Regarding the 03-04 engines, did they all come with the new pistons from the factory? Did any of them have any of the problems that these 00-02 engines had?
Depends on what electronic catalog that you are looking up says.
According to DNJ Rock - the 1998-1998 Corollas, all 8th gen Prisms, and 1st gen Pontiac Vibes (not Vibe GT) all used the same pistons. The 2000-2006 Toyotas (Corolla, Matrix, Celica GT) all used the others. Other say that the 1998-1999 used one type, 2000-2002 used another, and 2003+ used something else. According to the Toyota EPC - the later 8th gens and early 9th gens had the same part number for the piston. If that was an updated number, it didn't make any mention of it.
Most of the common model years that seem to be affected by heavy oil consumption, atleast on forums as these, seems to the first two model years coupled with a 3-speed automatic.
As for problems - the 9th gen engines were pretty decent, their 5-speed transmissions though, didn't seem to fair as well as the 8th gen transaxles. As for oil consumption - very few 9th gen Corollas/1st gen Matrix/Vibe seem to be as afflicted as the 8th gen - but that might only be a matter of time. There are a few that have similar oil consumption levels - so there is no guarantee that swapping engines will mean the end of oil consumption.
Given the mileage and the history of the engine (both known and unknown) - probably safer to move just the intake and exhaust - keep the 9th gen cylinder head. The camshaft profiles were changed slightly for the 9th gen, more midrange HP by sacrificing some lower end power.
I'd start saving up for a swap, rebuilt, or newer car. In the mean time, you can try running a high mileage engine oil - like Castrol GTX HM or Valvoline Maxlife HM in the 5w-30 weight. Try to resist running any oil thickeners or heavier motor oil - as they will just quicken the wear on the engine (granted won't burn as much, but in turn fail more spectacularly later). Those higher mileage oils have a beefier additive package to help with consumption / protection. Dribbling ATF, AutoRX treatment, Rislone, MMO, Lucas, etc. - some have been able to get some relief from oil consumption, help stretch out how much time you have to work with. If they don't work - you wouldn't have spent much either. Definitely worth a shot for now.
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*Sigh* What to do?
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