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2009 Toyota Corolla LE Oil Consumption

26967 Views 23 Replies 13 Participants Last post by  SuperchargedMR2
My 2009 Toyota Corolla has an oil consumption problem that Toyota refused to remedy. Last April, I noticed a grinding noise and had gotten the oil changed 4800 miles earlier. I looked at my dip stick and it was totally dry. Since then I have been getting oil consumption tests every 1000 miles which really doesn't prove anything, especially when Toyota over fills! I contacted the Gulf Coast region District Manager and was told they can't do anything unless the car consumes more then 1.1 quarts in 600 miles. That means everytime I fill up with gas, I would need to put in 1/2 quart ...THEY CONSIDER THIS NORMAL!!! I am taking action through the State DMV but don't know if I have any leverage since it states the above consumption in the owner's manual!
The ECM has been reflashed and I have changed to synthetic oil but still no results. Does anyone know what I can do to either fix the problem or how to get any results from Toyota? I can't believe Toyota will not stand behind their product!
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i would remain parked for a while and see if any of it is leaking out.
What weight of oil are you using?....people were saying when they were using 0w-20 that their engine was consuming oil but when they switched to 5w-20, the consumption stopped
My 2009 Toyota Corolla has an oil consumption problem that Toyota refused to remedy. Last April, I noticed a grinding noise and had gotten the oil changed 4800 miles earlier. I looked at my dip stick and it was totally dry. Since then I have been getting oil consumption tests every 1000 miles which really doesn't prove anything, especially when Toyota over fills! I contacted the Gulf Coast region District Manager and was told they can't do anything unless the car consumes more then 1.1 quarts in 600 miles. That means everytime I fill up with gas, I would need to put in 1/2 quart ...THEY CONSIDER THIS NORMAL!!! I am taking action through the State DMV but don't know if I have any leverage since it states the above consumption in the owner's manual!
The ECM has been reflashed and I have changed to synthetic oil but still no results. Does anyone know what I can do to either fix the problem or how to get any results from Toyota? I can't believe Toyota will not stand behind their product!
synthetic would actually consume more if theres a leak because the particles are smaller. try switching to 5w-20.
I actually started out with 5w20 and switched to synthetic...I am going to try 5w30.
Thank you.
What weight of oil are you using?....people were saying when they were using 0w-20 that their engine was consuming oil but when they switched to 5w-20, the consumption stopped
Uhhh... 0w20 and 5w20 are both the same weight...20....the 0w20 has additives that allow it to flow slightly better at a given lower temperature, & I do mean slightly, insomuch that one could barely tell by the specifications on paper....

Synthetic particles are smaller??? That's a new one. Synthetic oil is such that it has better lower and higher temperature flowing/protection capabilities than conventional oil. Other than that the difference is what group it comes from (group I,II and sometimes III are conventional, group III, IV, V are synthetic) and its additive packages which varies in any oil.There are some conventional oils that perform close to a synthetic, The SM class conventional oils of today perform more than adequately for more than 90% of the vehicles out there.

You guys should visit BITOG and get more correct information. If you really wanted a different weight, you would go with a 0w30/5w30
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Tried that...no oil leaks. The dealership also checked for leaks.
Thanks anyways.
I thought it was 1.1qts in 1000mi? Could be different for the corolla I guess. That seems like a lot of oil consumption.
My 2009 Toyota Corolla has an oil consumption problem that Toyota refused to remedy. Last April, I noticed a grinding noise and had gotten the oil changed 4800 miles earlier. I looked at my dip stick and it was totally dry. Since then I have been getting oil consumption tests every 1000 miles which really doesn't prove anything, especially when Toyota over fills! I contacted the Gulf Coast region District Manager and was told they can't do anything unless the car consumes more then 1.1 quarts in 600 miles. That means everytime I fill up with gas, I would need to put in 1/2 quart ...THEY CONSIDER THIS NORMAL!!! I am taking action through the State DMV but don't know if I have any leverage since it states the above consumption in the owner's manual!
The ECM has been reflashed and I have changed to synthetic oil but still no results. Does anyone know what I can do to either fix the problem or how to get any results from Toyota? I can't believe Toyota will not stand behind their product!
First of all let me :welcome: you to TN. I haven't heard of any issues once people had the reflash done. I would try 0W-30 or 5W-30 just to check the result. Have you looked at your plugs to see if they look normal? Keep pushing your dealer too, my 09 Corolla S has never used any oil & never had the reflash done either. :D
Trading in the Corolla!

Thanks everyone for your input and I have taken a lot of the advice but the car still burns oil. I can honestly say that Toyota doesn't stand by their products. I have done everything, even taking Toyota to small claims court about the oil consumption problem and no positive results. Right after 36K miles, my auto door locks broke, and the A/C fan broke. I got the A/C fixed and less than a year later it is broken again which makes me believe there is a larger issue. Just problem after problem. My friend just traded in his Scion because the dealership wanted to charge him 3500.00 for an electrical issue that wasn't covered under warrenty. He traded it in for a Kia, and I plan to do the same. GOOD BYE TO TOYOTA FOREVER!
Thanks everyone for your input and I have taken a lot of the advice but the car still burns oil. I can honestly say that Toyota doesn't stand by their products. I have done everything, even taking Toyota to small claims court about the oil consumption problem and no positive results. Right after 36K miles, my auto door locks broke, and the A/C fan broke. I got the A/C fixed and less than a year later it is broken again which makes me believe there is a larger issue. Just problem after problem. My friend just traded in his Scion because the dealership wanted to charge him 3500.00 for an electrical issue that wasn't covered under warrenty. He traded it in for a Kia, and I plan to do the same. GOOD BYE TO TOYOTA FOREVER!
Sorry to hear about all the issues, my 09 S has been great. Most of use have had very good results with our Corollas but there will always be the exception to the rule with every manufacturer. Just remember that if you have a bad experience with any other brand down the line. You can see people saying the same thing as you on any forum when jumping ship. ;)
I don't know about this guy. There have been issues of consumption, but no problems like that. You should be covered under the lemon law, right?
So according to Toyota you would need 4.5 quarts for an oil change then add 7.7 additional quarts of oil for 5000 mile oil change interval.

12.2 quarts an oil change.
Sounds like there is an issue with the engine design.

All engines consume oil every time the cylinder fires,
But that is just a bit excessive.
I run 5W30 and do not have any oil issues.

Try a heavier oil and see what happens.
Good luck with your Kia, my friend traded in his Lexus gs for a forte and I really like the car. These newer toyotas need the 90s quality again. Burning oil is never normal.
I wasn't covered by the lemon law because Toyota has the clause in their owners manual that stipulates 1.1 quarts every 600 miles and I when I bought the car, I signed a paper stating that I accept the terms in the owners manual.
I have tried changing oil weights, believe me I have tried everything.
I am sure that most Toyotas are great cars...I have actually owned two other corollas that were trouble free...just have a major problem with this vehicle and the corporate office, Gulf States Toyota Corporate located in Houston, standing by their product. I didn't ask for replacement of the car, just asked them to fix it. Their lack of professionalism and lack of communication has turned me against Toyota and they have lost a great customer. I am sure some other manufacturers are the same or worse but I do know my parents recently bought a new Honda CRV that had an engine issue...Honda replaced the engine and now the car runs perfect...Honda was there to stand by their product.
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My parents also had problems with their Odyssey. The best way I can figure it is there is 3 things to be done:
1 do nothing- try and live with the problem
2 sell/trade the car
3 get the repair done by Toyota.
Now with the 3rd choice, the thing is Toyota says there's technically wrong with your car. So if you pay them to fix it they'll tear it down, poke around, and maybe replace some parts. If you have an honest dealer they may comp some stuff, but probably that'll be like pulling teeth. Maybe they'd find something or maybe not.
I would go the easiest route and sell/trade the car. At least Toyota's maintain their resale value.
My 94 Corolla uses some oil but it still falls in the "normal range" too but it has more than 215k miles on it. It needs to have the valve seals replaced so I just keep an eye on the oil level. It still passes DEQ so I'm okay with it for now. I would be upset if I had your same situation though, no new engine in correct working order should be using that much oil. :headbang:
i just did an oil change on my rolla (using 0w-20) after 3k miles, i burned between 1/4 to 1/2 quart of oil (i was about 1/2 quart short when refilling the bottles but i did spill some oil during the change)
I agree with ZO6_Vette, try running a 5w30 weight oil and try a couple of different brands as some brands simply work better with some engines than other do.

Remember that world wide, this same engine is spec'd to run a wide range of oil weights, its only in North America that the 0w20/5w20 weight is solely shown.
synthetic would actually consume more if theres a leak because the particles are smaller. QUOTE]

:wtf:

wow...just wow!
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