'01 Prizm using oil

[Mark Larson]

Hey all, I have an '01 Prizm with about 77k miles on it. I've owned the car since June of this year and have noticed that it burns a lot of oil. I have used Supertech 5w30 synthetic but it still burned a lot.

In fact, I recently did a 2-day roadtrip, sustaining 80-85 the whole way, and the dipstick was almost dry each morning after covering about 700 miles every day. Took a couple of quarts to get it to full.

Any idea if this is the norm for these engines? I've had 15 year old domestics and a 10 year old Mazda which burned less oil (but those domestics had their own problems).

Right now I have Supertech dino 10w40 in it, trying some thicker oil to see if it'll help. Its still burning, but I haven't been driving much so I don't know if the rate is the same.

[Bitter]

there was a designt flaw which caused the rings to stick on the pistons and the engine to burn alot of oil. for some reaon some oils seem to coke up behind the rings and stick them inplace allowing oil to pass into the combustion chamber and burn. i'd suggest trying some oil additives like marvel mystery oil or something else that is claimed to unstick rings. i'm spacing out on the other one i'm trying to think of right now.

[94_Rolla_Guy]

hello welcome to the oil burning family, less common on the 1ZZ-FE but still a problem, the majority of the problems reside on the 7A-FE (93-97 corolla 1.8L) just search "7A-FE oil burning" or similar stuff

Over the two different engines i have had in my car both have burned oil.. I have played around and found that some oils burn less (castrol GTX 10W-40) and castrol products in general seem to work well. i have tried a few different flushes and treatments with next to no luck most of the time the treatments increase the consuption.

My advice is let it warm up a little like until the temp gauge reads something, run it gently until up to temp, keep the oil no more than 1/2 a quart down, more can cause unstable oil pressure hence engine damage.

do this and you should see the consumption go down and become a little more manageable

[Mark Larson]

Yeah I try to check the oil every few days and add as necessary, but the overwhelming feeling is that a 2001 Toyota should not need to be babied like that. With just 3.9L of oil capacity, its all too easy to starve the engine.

Its the VVT-i model, does that mean its the 1ZZ-FE? Wasn't that good for a bit more hp in the Celica?

[Bitter]

Originally Posted by 94_Rolla_Guy

hello welcome to the oil burning family, less common on the 1ZZ-FE but still a problem, the majority of the problems reside on the 7A-FE (93-97 corolla 1.8L) just search "7A-FE oil burning" or similar stuff

Over the two different engines i have had in my car both have burned oil.. I have played around and found that some oils burn less (castrol GTX 10W-40) and castrol products in general seem to work well. i have tried a few different flushes and treatments with next to no luck most of the time the treatments increase the consuption.

My advice is let it warm up a little like until the temp gauge reads something, run it gently until up to temp, keep the oil no more than 1/2 a quart down, more can cause unstable oil pressure hence engine damage.

do this and you should see the consumption go down and become a little more manageable

oh no no no, the early 1zzfe's are notorious for sticking the rings, alot more than the 7afe's.

[dgoodhue]

My 02 has 56K miles on it and the previous woman owner seemed to baby the car (I have the oil change records) I am basically not buring any oil (last oil was down 1/4 quart) All I know is that I am going to be BS if this car starts burning oil anytime soon. I bought it to be reliable and get good gas mileage.

[tnmk]

Personally I'm inthe middle of replacing rings and valve seals in my '93. It only has 57,000 miles on it. I was burning about as much as you say you are.

Cylinders look good and it's not gummy inside. I'm hoping my little "rebuild" will do the trick. It's a lot of work to do, but the car is in excellent condition, so as long as it stops burning oil, I'll be happy.