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Oil spray and oil consumption

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by satsuke, Aug 13, 2013.

  1. satsuke

    satsuke Junior Member

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    I'm just wondering if two recent events are related ..

    On my 2006 Prius (w/ 198,000 miles), the oil cap worked its way off on a recent road trip. It probably ran like that for 30 minutes or so before I smelt the oil and pulled over.

    When I checked it, the oil cap was on top of the engine and the engine and inside of the engine compartment was covered in oil spray.

    I replaced the oil cap and wiped down the threading on the engine and snugged it down .. the engine itself was about 1/2 quart low (this engine has a preexisting problem where it consumes 1 quart every 800 miles or so. .. I had just added 2 quarts that day for whatever reason).

    My question is .. I'm now seeing spotting on the floor of the garage. The engine itself looks "wet" .. I'd wiped it down as best I could, but am concerned for oil now appearing beneath the car.

    Any suggestions on what to check .. or just wait it out to see if it's just dripage ( the oil appeared directly under where oil is added).
     
    #1 satsuke, Aug 13, 2013
  2. 2009Prius

    2009Prius A Wimpy DIYer

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    I would wipe the underside of the engine clean and observe in the next days and weeks. Good luck!
     
    #2 2009Prius, Aug 13, 2013
  3. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    It could just be the spayed oil slowing seeping down, but I'm a little concerned about this statement.

    There really shouldn't be any need to add 2 quarts make up oil in any one hit. It means that either you were running a full two quarts low (bad) or that you have overfilled (also bad). One of these two MUST apply here. If you've been routinely overfilling, perhaps thinking it would compensate for the oil consumption, then you could potentially have blown an engine seal.
     
    #3 uart, Aug 13, 2013
  4. satsuke

    satsuke Junior Member

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    I don't think it's been overfilled .. at least it might lead to one question .. the dipstick would have oil on one side, but not the other, and would be at or above the full line. On this most recent top-off I added until oil was visible on both sides, and added until it reached the full mark.

    On every car I've had there was a "solid" oil level check.

    As far as the 2 quarts .. I had another drive the car on a recent road trip of ~1500 miles .. put simply this might have been missed for a time.

    I'm guessing replacing an engine oil seal involves taking headers off or otherwise expensive work
     
    #4 satsuke, Aug 13, 2013
  5. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Ok, hopefully it's not a seal. You've got to overfill quite a lot to blow a seal. There's two main ways it can happen (due to oil). One is that you really overfill badly, to the point where vent tubes within the engine get blocked with oil, so crankcase gasses can no longer escape and pressure builds in the sump. The other way is kind of related. If the oil is high enough to get churned by the crank then it really get aerated, with lots of oil mist that can sometimes be enough to block the PCV valve. Again it causes the sump to pressurize.

    With the oil levels, from the low mark to the high mark on the dipstick is about 1.3 quarts. So 2 quarts is definitely too much to add. To get a good reading on the dipstick you have to wait at least 10 minutes after driving, and then you have to wipe the dipstick and re-insert before you really get a good reading. Even then I usually get a few mm higher on one side than the other, but the agreement is close enough.
     
    #5 uart, Aug 13, 2013
  6. satsuke

    satsuke Junior Member

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    What I'm hearing is to clean the engine as best I can from the oil cap coming off and wait and see what happens next .. with topping off every fill up in the meantime (and going forward).
     
    #6 satsuke, Aug 13, 2013
  7. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Yeah that's what I'd do. And also monitor your oil levels to make sure that it's not losing more than normal (which might indicate an external leak).
     
    #7 uart, Aug 13, 2013
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