Re: Mystery oil consumption - 2002 Highlander V6

"Bud H" <budh@REMOVETHISwmis.net> wrote in message news:...[color=blue]
>I have a 2002 Toyota Highlander V6 with 130,000 miles which had exhibited
>negligible oil consumption between oil changes -- that is, until about a
>month ago.
>
> Just as I was arriving home from work, I saw the low oil pressure light
> blip on for a moment. When I checked the oil level, I found almost
> nothing was showing on the dipstick!
>
> I refilled it to the full line and have been monitoring it every few days,
> checking it first thing in the morning before starting to make it easy to
> see the oil on the dipstick.
>
> It is using about 1 quart of oil (Mobil 1 synthetic - I've used synthetic
> oil since the 10,000 mile mark) every 5,000 miles now after using nothing
> during the first 120,000 miles. There are no visible leaks, and I don't
> see anything unusual with the exhaust to show oil consumption.
>
> Any idea where the 1 quart of oil every 5,000 miles is going?
>
>
> Bud H
>
>[/color]

It took 4,000 miles for level to go from the high to low mark on the
dipstick.

A surprise, however. It took TWO quarts of oil to fill from the low to high
mark. Something I was not expecting. (All levels taken on level ground
first thing in the morning before the vehicle was started.)

So the oil consumption rate is 2,000 miles per quart of oil, not 5,000 miles
per quart as I thought previously.

Bud H

"Bud H" <budh@REMOVETHISwmis.net> wrote in message news:124n04v1d6brnec@corp.supernews.com...[color=blue]
>
> "Bud H" <budh@REMOVETHISwmis.net> wrote in message news:...[color=green]
>>I have a 2002 Toyota Highlander V6 with 130,000 miles which had exhibited negligible oil consumption between oil changes -- that
>>is, until about a month ago.
>>
>> Just as I was arriving home from work, I saw the low oil pressure light blip on for a moment. When I checked the oil level, I
>> found almost nothing was showing on the dipstick!
>>
>> I refilled it to the full line and have been monitoring it every few days, checking it first thing in the morning before starting
>> to make it easy to see the oil on the dipstick.
>>
>> It is using about 1 quart of oil (Mobil 1 synthetic - I've used synthetic oil since the 10,000 mile mark) every 5,000 miles now
>> after using nothing during the first 120,000 miles. There are no visible leaks, and I don't see anything unusual with the
>> exhaust to show oil consumption.
>>
>> Any idea where the 1 quart of oil every 5,000 miles is going?
>>
>>
>> Bud H
>>
>>[/color]
>
> It took 4,000 miles for level to go from the high to low mark on the dipstick.
>
> A surprise, however. It took TWO quarts of oil to fill from the low to high mark. Something I was not expecting. (All levels
> taken on level ground first thing in the morning before the vehicle was started.)
>
> So the oil consumption rate is 2,000 miles per quart of oil, not 5,000 miles per quart as I thought previously.
>
> Bud H[/color]




Whoop's, better be cautious about over-full. Econo lube filled my cousin's engine twice with oil one time. She only made it to there
driveway before it blew a big hole in the block when it threw a rod.

On Sun, 23 Apr 2006 19:51:36 GMT, "Danny G." <dandog@pacbell.net>
wrote:[color=blue]
>"Bud H" <budh@REMOVETHISwmis.net> wrote in message news:124n04v1d6brnec@corp.supernews.com...[/color]
[color=blue][color=green]
>> It took 4,000 miles for level to go from the high to low mark on
>> the dipstick.
>>
>> A surprise, however. It took TWO quarts of oil to fill from the
>> low to high mark. Something I was not expecting. (All levels
>> taken on level ground first thing in the morning before the
>> vehicle was started.)
>>
>> So the oil consumption rate is 2,000 miles per quart of oil,
>> not 5,000 miles per quart as I thought previously.[/color]
>
>Whoop's, better be cautious about over-full. Econo lube filled my
>cousin's engine twice with oil one time. She only made it to there
>driveway before it blew a big hole in the block when it threw a rod.[/color]

There's a huge difference between being one-half or one quart over
(because they added a full quart 'for the filter' that holds a pint or
less) and being 4 or 5 quarts over from double-filling it...

When the engine is a quart overfilled, the oil level might be high
enough to hit the crankshaft throws at the bottom of the stroke, and
froth it up a bit.

Two quarts over, and you might froth the oil enough to get air in
the oil passages, and you'll have lubrication related problems. It can
also toss the excess oil up into the cylinders and overload the oil
rings. The oil rings get a workout until the excess is used up.

But 5 quarts over is likely to hydrolock the engine - the crankshaft
is submerged in oil, and it isn't meant to run totally submerged, it
puts a lot of stress on the pistons and rods. If the oil all surges
up under one piston, it can effectively lock it in place and snap the
connecting rod off

And of course, the Econo-Lube folks were doing their level best to
explain it away and not buy him a new engine, weren't they?
--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.

"Bruce L. Bergman" <blPYTHONbergman@earthlink.invalid> wrote in message news:1hvn42hb9rv131kqfrb5534m12qtb6djpb@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> On Sun, 23 Apr 2006 19:51:36 GMT, "Danny G." <dandog@pacbell.net>
> wrote:[color=green]
>>"Bud H" <budh@REMOVETHISwmis.net> wrote in message news:124n04v1d6brnec@corp.supernews.com...[/color]
>[color=green][color=darkred]
>>> It took 4,000 miles for level to go from the high to low mark on
>>> the dipstick.
>>>
>>> A surprise, however. It took TWO quarts of oil to fill from the
>>> low to high mark. Something I was not expecting. (All levels
>>> taken on level ground first thing in the morning before the
>>> vehicle was started.)
>>>
>>> So the oil consumption rate is 2,000 miles per quart of oil,
>>> not 5,000 miles per quart as I thought previously.[/color]
>>
>>Whoop's, better be cautious about over-full. Econo lube filled my
>>cousin's engine twice with oil one time. She only made it to there
>>driveway before it blew a big hole in the block when it threw a rod.[/color]
>
> There's a huge difference between being one-half or one quart over
> (because they added a full quart 'for the filter' that holds a pint or
> less) and being 4 or 5 quarts over from double-filling it...
>
> When the engine is a quart overfilled, the oil level might be high
> enough to hit the crankshaft throws at the bottom of the stroke, and
> froth it up a bit.
>
> Two quarts over, and you might froth the oil enough to get air in
> the oil passages, and you'll have lubrication related problems. It can
> also toss the excess oil up into the cylinders and overload the oil
> rings. The oil rings get a workout until the excess is used up.
>
> But 5 quarts over is likely to hydrolock the engine - the crankshaft
> is submerged in oil, and it isn't meant to run totally submerged, it
> puts a lot of stress on the pistons and rods. If the oil all surges
> up under one piston, it can effectively lock it in place and snap the
> connecting rod off
>
> And of course, the Econo-Lube folks were doing their level best to
> explain it away and not buy him a new engine, weren't they?
> --
> Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
> Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
> 5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
> Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.[/color]



Actually they owned right up to it and replaced the engine. But I
bet if she had made it down the road any distance it would have been a different story.

--end