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Low oil horror story

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by jqmello, Jun 24, 2014.

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  1. jqmello

    jqmello Junior Member

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    It has been a while, and while this is a mostly dead thread, I have a new chapter for it.

    The setup:
    We recently sold our 2005 Prius (still my avatar) at 193,000 miles. We traded "up" to my parents' 2007 Prius (top package) with 170,000 miles. It had just had an oil change service at the same place my dad has been taking it since he bought it in 2008 with 28,000 on the clock. This weekend I changed the oil in it, at 176,000 miles and what did I find?

    The result:
    1) cross-threaded drain bolt
    2) 1.5 qts of oil in the pan
    3) aluminum flakes

    Gaaaahhhh! This means that the drive-up oil change place never measured or looked at the oil coming out of the car, and on top of that screwed up the drain hole. I was unable to tell whether only the bolt threads were messed up or whether I will need to size up and have the oil pan re-tapped.

    It is still a much nicer car, and we are appreciating things like SKS, backup camera, and the "leather" seats, but although this is not statistically significant, I'm convinced that Prius engines all start going south at 150K and the tales of taxis making it to 4-500K are fabrications of the all-powerful Toyota lobby.
     
    #61 jqmello, Jun 23, 2015
  2. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Re-tap the pan and change your own oil.

    I'm not aware of anybody that looks at the dipstick before changing the oil ('cept me!) and to be honest, it's not the mechanic's job to determine how much oil is in the sump prior to the oil change. That's the owner's job.
    They're on the hook to simply drain and fill the oil (correctly) and change the filter (correctly.)
    That's it.....and some places, including some dealers, have a pretty tough time just going that!!!

    Granted...it would be nice if the wrench advised the customer that the car was 2q low when it was brought in, but there is no corrective action for neglect.

    Tap the pan (or change it out) and begin monitoring for oil use. Check and see what other maintenance items may have been neglected and consider changing the transaxle fluid now and then every 30-60k. If your oil use approaches a level that you think is excessive - and opinions vary wildly about what that value might be - consider next steps. Until you start fodding out your cat or the county wants to borrow your car for mosquito control, I'd say drive the car!
    If a car runs good, and get's 50MPG, then it IS good.

    You're probably looking at a nicely optioned car that's 8 years old that has 100,000 miles left in it.
    Enjoy those miles.

    Good Luck!
     
    #62 ETC(SS), Jun 23, 2015
  3. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    How did you reach that conclusion ?
    Based on ... ?

    How long had it been since the oil was changed before you looked ?
    What maintenance routine did your Dad follow ?

    I know all of us appreciate a car that does not consume any oil, but most cars do, regardless of the make or model. And low to moderate oil consumption does not mean the car is on its last legs.
     
    #63 SageBrush, Jun 23, 2015
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Horror story and a cautionary tale. ;)
     
    #64 Mendel Leisk, Jun 23, 2015
  5. jqmello

    jqmello Junior Member

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    Conversations with my father in the extended period in which I was describing the quantity of oil coming out of our 2005 and the amount of "glitter" in it. He'd been getting it changed on the interval regularly and told me they'd never reported anything. Like someone else said in this thread... it's only their job to drain and fill and replace the sticker, not diagnose or keep an eye on possible problems.

    Based on pouring the used oil into two empty 1Q containers. My process is this: drain oil into pan, replace filter, replace plug, pour new oil in, pour used oil into newly emptied bottles. The second container was only about half full, thus, a quart and a half of oil in the pan (and filter!)

    ~6k

    Take it to the Jiffy Lube when the light pops up and pay them to perform whatever their computer said to do / technician recommended.

    I know that cars use oil, especially high mileage Prii, as evidenced by the last year or so of this thread and the numerous others on this forum. I was hoping it was more the car we were driving than any high -mileage Prius. Both cars still ran fine despite the oil consuming tendencies, and I expect they will continue to soldier on until some Roadkill Ep.17 scenario happens.
     
    #65 jqmello, Jun 23, 2015
  6. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    That makes sense and I have done the same, although once in a while with inconsistent results compared to a dipstick check or the amount of oil I replace.

    One problem with your Dad's approach of relying on the service interval is that he may not have caught a single low oil episode in time to avoid engine damage. It really is a good idea to check the dipstick before long trips and once monthly if you hope to have a very long lived Prius. And incidentally, while taxi drivers may be hard on their cars, I gather they tend to be pretty OCD when it comes to maintenance. I'll bet the extra long lived Prius never runs on low oil.
     
    #66 SageBrush, Jun 23, 2015
  7. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Jiffy Lube really is not the place to take your car if you actually care about it's longevity. There is no excuse for damaging the drain plug or its mating hole.

    I agree that you can retap the drain pan yourself if you choose.

    Did you return the car to service now or is the drain hole still open while you are deciding what action to take?

    Seeing aluminum bits in the oil is a bad sign.

    My 2004 has logged 198K miles and it uses some oil, perhaps 1 quart every 3-4K miles, but it really is not a big deal to add oil as needed.
     
    #67 Patrick Wong, Jun 24, 2015
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