engine oil consumption: is this normal?

[e_bunny]

My corolla 2001 now eats up approximately 1 quart engine oil every 1,500 miles (Oil level drops from top marker to the lower marker on dipstick). I only got 30K on it. No leakage was detected so far. Is this because I drive a lot of highway in the past a three months (100mile every day)?

Thanks. I am new here

[5Sfte]

Take it to the dealer under warranty.

[e_bunny]

Yes, I did. But they (two dealer shops already) said that one quart engine oil could last 880 to 12,000 miles according to Toyota guide. My case falls in between so it is normal consumption though I never heard any similar cases except very old cars. They refused to do anything to my car, and asked me to add oil when the oil level ran low.

[cozmo_im]

Originally posted by e_bunny
Yes, I did. But they (two dealer shops already) said that one quart engine oil could last 880 to 12,000 miles according to Toyota guide. My case falls in between so it is normal consumption though I never heard any similar cases except very old cars. They refused to do anything to my car, and asked me to add oil when the oil level ran low.

Hi!

They must check it! Maybe your valve stem seals are bad - on my Corolla, Japanese models from 1988-1992 the valve seals were installed with fault (bad material) on all vehicles with 2E engine, so after 30-40.000 miles oil consumption gets almost 1 quart for 800-1000 miles, sometimes 1 quart for 500 miles. It just starts overnight. I've changed the oil... and then I had to go on long trip so I've checked oil few weeks later and it was on LOW mark!!! I went to my mechanic - he just looked and smile: fill up oil and drive - and change valve seals when you have money to do it (only I must check oil weekly). The symptoms are: blue smoke at startup (ask someone to start your car and then look at exhaust pipe... my car, for example, produces a little bit of blue smoke on startup, you can't see it in the mirror), and blue smoke puff if you are idling for few minutes and then step hard on gas pedal - then you can see some of blue smoke (like puff)... but it dissappears during driving (if it smokes badly every time you step on gas or all the time during drive... it is a bad sign). By the way, bad valve seals cannot damage the engine unless you run out of oil (so get it checked). And also, if the valve seals are gone, the oil consumption will manifest mostly in city driving (stop and go, because material of valve seals detoriate and cannot seal the valve stem properly during frequent temp. changes of engine when you are driving stop-go-stop-go...), but oil consumption is very low or there is no oil consupmtion (in my case) when the engine runs steady (I can drive 500 miles non-stop with just a 0.1 quart oil consumed, but in city driving it becomes 1 quart on 600-700 miles). That's the sings of bad valve seals.
Also, check PCV valve, it can produce similar symptoms... unless you have an oil leak somewhere...

regards,
Ivan

[e_bunny]

Thanks, Cozmo! I didn't see any smoke with any color in the mirror when I drive. But I will definitely have someone check it out next time when I start up the car.

Do you mean if the valve stem seals are bad, the mechanics can't detect it?

I used to have only local mileage on my car. But in the past three months, I drive 100-mile highway everyday. But you said highway drive should consume less engine oil, right? Well, I'd better have this problem clear up. At the same time, I got a bottle of engine oil in my trunk in case...

[cozmo_im]

Originally posted by e_bunny
Thanks, Cozmo! I didn't see any smoke with any color in the mirror when I drive. But I will definitely have someone check it out next time when I start up the car.

Do you mean if the valve stem seals are bad, the mechanics can't detect it?

I used to have only local mileage on my car. But in the past three months, I drive 100-mile highway everyday. But you said highway drive should consume less engine oil, right? Well, I'd better have this problem clear up. At the same time, I got a bottle of engine oil in my trunk in case...

My mechanic knows the problem... so if he detects a little bit of blue smoke on startup and acceleration after a long idling... he knows what to do
But, in most cases the only thing asociated with oil consumption on Toyota engines are bad valve seals, or maybe a faluty PCV valve.
If you are not sure, check the compression. If the compression is in range, then oil consumption is definitely indicating bad valve seals.

If the valve seals are bad (material of which seal is made is getting stiffer and stiffer) then they cannot shrink or squezee when the engine is changing operating temperatures (every engine will change temperature very often in stop-go driving in the city) and oil will leak through them. But, sometimes some of seals will detoriate very bad so you can get oil leak through them whenever engine is working... that may be your case... but, chek it!

And be careful, don't drive Toyota engine wih oil on LOW mark on dipstick... I never let it drop down below halfway between the FULL and LOW mark...

Regards,
Ivan

[RedruM]

thats not cool
send a letter to toyota canada or USA which ever you are
and tell them whats happening and no dealers are even gonna look at it

[e_bunny]

I did call US Toyota service once, and was told that there was no technical support or something like it. So, they couldn¡¯t answer my question. Do you know where I should send the letter to complain/clarify the problem?

One issue is that one dealer told me 1,500-mile drive per quart engine oil is considered NORMAL according to some Toyota Guide, which I didn¡¯t see. Actually between 880 and 12,000 miles are all normal consumptions!!!

I never monitored my engine oil level before this problem came out one night (the engine oil depletion indicator lit up) as my car was still kinda new. The dealers didn¡¯t have my car¡¯s history (I just moved) and were reluctant to fix the problem or even didn¡¯t consider it as a problem at all!!!

Originally posted by RedruM
thats not cool
send a letter to toyota canada or USA which ever you are
and tell them whats happening and no dealers are even gonna look at it

[hopeful]

if you've complained and they haven't done anything about it, complain again.

If they don't do anything about it, and its under warantee, melt the bitch. Drain the oil and drive it to work for a day, act stupid, dont know what oil is, let the engine seize, and then say I told you so you ignorant fuck.

The dealers are dicking you around for sure, no car SHOULD burn oil. Especially a 2 year old toyota.

[e_bunny]

Iwish I had the guts to do such to my car and to the dealers and service people Thanks anyway for your encouragement.

Originally posted by hopeful
if you've complained and they haven't done anything about it, complain again.

If they don't do anything about it, and its under warantee, melt the bitch. Drain the oil and drive it to work for a day, act stupid, dont know what oil is, let the engine seize, and then say I told you so you ignorant fuck.

The dealers are dicking you around for sure, no car SHOULD burn oil. Especially a 2 year old toyota.

[Nx2k]

what's a quart of oil? is there a dime of oil and a 5 piece too?
but seriously what is a quart?

[Jzs147-RR]

I work at Woodland Toyota in quebec we have changed over 6 short blocks because of this problem looks like the pistons are just loose in there.I would get them to take apart your engine and get you a new short block.Tell them its a manufacturer defect and need to replace your shortblock.I am sorry to say these 1zzfe look like they have many stupid problems including changing the water pumps often and the vvti gears making noise.If you where closer i would say bring the car here so i could check it out.

[e_bunny]

1 US quart = 946.35295 milliliters

American just does't follow any international standard. But you Canadian mix things up, right? I remember you use lb instead of kg, but do use L instead of gallon, quart or fl oz.

Originally posted by Nx2k
what's a quart of oil? is there a dime of oil and a 5 piece too?
but seriously what is a quart?

[e_bunny]

Thank you for your info. I will have someone check it out. I wish I could have you work on my car. Unfortunately, we live so far far away

Originally posted by Jzs147-RR
I work at Woodland Toyota in quebec we have changed over 6 short blocks because of this problem looks like the pistons are just loose in there.I would get them to take apart your engine and get you a new short block.Tell them its a manufacturer defect and need to replace your shortblock.I am sorry to say these 1zzfe look like they have many stupid problems including changing the water pumps often and the vvti gears making noise.If you where closer i would say bring the car here so i could check it out.

[REN69]

Yeah.. we usually use Liters instead of Gallons. and I think a quart is almost a liter.