my girlfriend has a Toyota Echo and I thought it was leaking oil as she received the oil warning on her dash and found out it was empty. Apparently, when we took it to Pep Boys, they concluded it wasn't leaking, just burning too much oil. We tried half a bottle of the Lucas Oil Stabilizer on July 3rd. I checked the oil today and it looked like it burned a little less than a quart. Clearly it's burning too much. Should I have used the whole bottle of Oil Stabilizer? Has anyone else had any similar problems? I'm fairly green at car maintenance but with the help of the internet, I was able to do some repairs on my VW Passat. Any information would help. Thank you!
I don't know the exact cause but oil burning is a common problem in older Toyota's. I've had a 1991 Camry and 2000 Corolla that both burned a lot but had no other issues. You might can slow it but it's hard to totally stop
If she plans to do anything but drive the car into the ground and replace it then its best to find the cause of burning oil and fix that.
Additives only do so much and keep in mind the car was meant to run using oil. Not oil and whatever additive.
They can work, but are just a crutch.
Not sure of your situation but these cars are so easy to work on if you have a decent set of tools. You can do so many of its maintenance in under an hour or so.
I would try and figure out why its burning oil and take care of that. In the meantime just buy some cheap oil and be sure to keep an eye on the oil level.
__________________
96 Supra
92 VR4
02 ECHO (never thought i'd see the day, but I love it!)
Can anyone give me anymore information? It seems that the car only burns excessive oil in city driving. I know this because it burned only a quart in 3000 miles since she just took a trip to Maine from New Jersey and back. By the time she got back, she was due for an oil change (she got one before she left). I just gave her an oil change today using Valvoline 5w-30 Max Life. I'm hoping Synthetic oil is the answer. Is there any routine maintenance type things I can do to help the oil consumption?
I would replace the pcv valve with an oem Toyota part, perhaps its not functioning properly and sucking oil from the crankcase. I also might suspect stuck/gummed up piston oil control rings the only real way to fix this is to overhaul the engine. Sometimes seafoaming the engine frees up the rings all the way or partially thus reducing oil consumption. For now I would try the new pcv valve and the seafoam treatment and see what happens.
__________________ 2005 Corolla LE - Impulse Red - Auto Trans - 1ZZFE - 86,000mi 2003 Echo - Auto Trans - 96,000mi. - slow as dog-dirt - I'd rather put my money in the bank than in the tank!!!!!
I would replace the pcv valve with an oem Toyota part, perhaps its not functioning properly and sucking oil from the crankcase. I also might suspect stuck/gummed up piston oil control rings the only real way to fix this is to overhaul the engine. Sometimes seafoaming the engine frees up the rings all the way or partially thus reducing oil consumption. For now I would try the new pcv valve and the seafoam treatment and see what happens.
dorman68, I sincerely appreciate your response! I will try replacing the pcv valve. Is it an easy job to do? I know you have to take the cover off the engine, but as for replacing the actual valve, how do you do it? Also, is there a way to check the valve to see if its bad?
Which seafoam do you recommend? I'm going to try both this weekend.
The pcv valve is very easy to replace. The pvc screws into the driver's side of the valve cover. Soon as you remove the plastic engine beauty cover you can see it. Usually on a good valve you can hear the insides rattle when you shake it. On a bad valve the insides are gummed up and don't move freely. IN my opinion it's cheap insurance just to go ahead and replace the pcv valve anyway. As for the seafoam , I use the "Seafoam" brand at Advance Auto, I'm pretty sure you can get it anywhere.
__________________ 2005 Corolla LE - Impulse Red - Auto Trans - 1ZZFE - 86,000mi 2003 Echo - Auto Trans - 96,000mi. - slow as dog-dirt - I'd rather put my money in the bank than in the tank!!!!!
The pcv valve is very easy to replace. The pvc screws into the driver's side of the valve cover. Soon as you remove the plastic engine beauty cover you can see it. Usually on a good valve you can hear the insides rattle when you shake it. On a bad valve the insides are gummed up and don't move freely. IN my opinion it's cheap insurance just to go ahead and replace the pcv valve anyway. As for the seafoam , I use the "Seafoam" brand at Advance Auto, I'm pretty sure you can get it anywhere.
Thanks a lot for your input. I ordered the following PCV Valve
As it was $5 which included shipping. I figured why not, since it's so cheap. I did further research on the PCV Valve and it totally seems like it could be the problem since my girlfriend would go on for stretches without getting an oil change and apparently PCV Valves go bad when you don't get oil changes properly. I assume the fat end is the part that screws into the engine and the thin end has a hose on it or something?
1 quart in 3000 miles is not ridiculous oil consumption. Might wanna train the GF on how to check the oil....
How many miles are on this car?
I know it's not a lot, which is why I mentioned that's how much she burned during her nonstop highway driving to Maine. I was trying to say that in city driving is when she burns way more than that.
At that mileage (depending on the vehicle's maintenance history) a quart every 1500 miles really would not be unheard of. It's not the norm, but if the car is not fouling spark plugs or smoking, I'd keep a check on the oil and keep truckin.
Burns more in city driving? That's exactly the opposite of the notorious Gen 8 Corollas. You would think higher RPMs would mean more burning on the freeway.
I changed the PCV Valve although the old valve seemed to rattle, but who knows, it may be a bad piece anyway. I checked the tubing going to the PCV Valve and it seemed okay, although the other end of the tube had a bunch of gunk inside (I mean the opening that you connect the tube to). It just seemed really dirty, globs of dirt. She has driven 228 miles and it doesn't seem to have burned any oil. Who knows, maybe the fact that I used synthetic 5w-30 oil may have fixed it (although I have heard that if you use synthetic oil in a car that burns excessively, it won't help)? I'm going to try the seafoam next, but is there any other maintaining that I should try other than bringing it to a garage and getting the engine rebuilt? I'm hoping it doesn't come to that.
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