2000 Corolla VE using oil

[RealGomer]

We bought a 2000 Toyota Corolla VE in September. It has the base 1.8L VTEC (?) engine and automatic transmission, and about 63,000 miles. One thing the seller didn’t tell us was the car was an oil burner. Now here’s the kicker. On hot or cold,as in 10 F cold, starts, there is no smoke or odor. There are no drips, puddles, or splashes in the engine compartment or on the ground. I had a service garage look at it and they said the compression was equal across all four cylnders and well within manufcturer’s tolerances. The local Toyota dealer claimed the rings were bad. The car is, however, going through about a quart of oil every 250 – 300 miles. I switched to 10W – 40 from 5W – 30 and dumped some Resotre in the crankcase, but no change. I’d just as soon get rid of the thing but my wife wants to keep it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[jzack]

If you do a search here you'll find a few stories about this issue - not unusal, but seems extreme for your situation? Only thing that comes to mind is that the previous owner didn't do regular oil changes and the block is all gunked up with sludge?

Can't hurt to try an engine flush - others here may have some add'l advice?...

FYI -- Seems folks start to notice this problem for your type of engine at maybe 80k miles or so. My son's '98 with 131k goes thru maybe 1/3 of a quart every 300 miles. Issue is suppose to be related to engine design and sticky rings.

[94_Rolla_Guy]

just for reference VTEC is honda VVTI is toyota... with your oil burning the dealer is right i would bet $1000 its the piston rings, specifically the oil control rings stuck in there grooves. If you search on here you will find many 93-97 owners and 98-02 members with similar problems...

I have some expirience from my 94 and its consumption issues i will sum it up

- Castrol GTX seems to have the least burn off
- you can use 10W-40 but i would NOT use anything heavier IE 20W-50
- Flushes or cleaning products don't seem to do anything some make the consumption worse
- The engine will last quite a while burning oil, provided you keep oil in it
- Keep the oil level no lower than halfway down between the Low and High marks, lower and you can get drops in oil pressure that can damage the bearings
- Do the oil changes consistantly don't neglect oil changes or your oil consumtion will most likely get worse
- The compression results will be high like you said, a leak down won't find anything either..

[ghost_ryder35]

Originally Posted by RealGomer

We bought a 2000 Toyota Corolla VE in September. It has the base 1.8L VTEC (?) engine and automatic transmission, and about 63,000 miles. One thing the seller didn’t tell us was the car was an oil burner. Now here’s the kicker. On hot or cold,as in 10 F cold, starts, there is no smoke or odor. There are no drips, puddles, or splashes in the engine compartment or on the ground. I had a service garage look at it and they said the compression was equal across all four cylnders and well within manufcturer’s tolerances. The local Toyota dealer claimed the rings were bad. The car is, however, going through about a quart of oil every 250 – 300 miles. I switched to 10W – 40 from 5W – 30 and dumped some Resotre in the crankcase, but no change. I’d just as soon get rid of the thing but my wife wants to keep it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

replace the piston rings and valve stem seals and call it a night

[prophase]

Originally Posted by ghost_ryder35

replace the piston rings and valve stem seals and call it a night

In my view, that would not even be worth the money to do such a job on a VE.

[medicstudent01]

There seems to be a problem with the oil control rings on the 1.8 engines.

Most people blame it on crappy matinence, but its a design flaw by Toyota. To many of these engines use WAY to much oil. There is NO REASON a car with under 100K should be using 1qt of oil every 200 miles
The only solution is to tear the engine apart and replace the rings, or replace the engine. THEN you will have to replace the o2 sensors and the cat converter, possibly the egr valve as well.

Anyone up for a class action lawsuit.

[RealGomer]

Sorry about the incorrect engine moniker.

As to the class action, I'd go in but Toyota already got sued once over the Camry engines getting sludged up. Maybe trying to hit the FTC first then do the class action. Where I live, we have the King of Class Actions - Stan Chesley.

One last comment. Would $900 for an engine with 25,000 miles be a good price? There's a really reputable salvage yard nearby that has one pulled for a 2001 Corolla.

[NiceSR5]

Originally Posted by ghost_ryder35

replace the piston rings and valve stem seals and call it a night

Call it a night, a couple of mornings, and two weeks hitching a ride to work.

I don't know if anyone would take apart an engine just to replace piston rings and valve seals. I know I wouldn't. If anything I would change pistons to see if compression can go up along with the rings or deck the block and head.
I help rebuild an 82 Toyota 1.8 once and set a budget of $800.00 with machine work and parts. We ended up spending $400.00 more on another cam and aftermarket headers. Seems like when we want to improve something with our cars we always tend to go a little overboard. I always do.

[diver9000]

What year is the engine? Does the transmission come with it? You can find engine/tranny combos all over the place for that much. Its a little high unless its an almost new engine.