[POLL] Excessive Oil Usage

My 2010 didn't use oil till around 150k so at the 160k oil change, After I saw you recommended the EPR and MOA, I used the EPR and added the MOA to the new Mobil1 0W20. I had to add a quart at 5500miles, so it has improved. At the 170k change I will try 10,000 interval with just Mobil1 0W20 and treat again with EPR before the 180K change if oil consumption is up again. You're right, it comes out BLACK and thin, splashed all over the garage floor.

 

Good to hear this is working for you. I have been working with the local rep for BG Products, but they are not very responsive .

The recommendation from BG is to use EPR every oil change and add the MOA for each drain and fill. I have asked the question as to Why EPR each time and still waiting on a response.

The 44k they recommend using every 15 k or once a year. It cleans the entire fuel system. I began using this based on the EGR circuit cleaning that revealed large deposits. I will hopefully not be cleaning this system again until 200 k miles, so I wanted to see if this potent additive will perform better than the Techron I had been using. Also buying Top Tier gas to help.

Keep us posted on your progress and anything else you try. I am always looking for other things to try.

 

Will do, let us know what the BG response is. Thanks

 

I have 235,000 on a 2010. Mostly highway miles on the car.

I recently started noticing some oil consumption. I normally did 5k oil change intervals and the consumption was very minimal by the time I got to 4-5k miles, I started adding half a quart at 4k and will change oil at 7.5k now.

Still using 0W-20

 

Wow! That's a lot of miles!

 

Not very encouraging since Im considering buying a used 3rd gen. Seems like the cost savings in gas is negated by what it costs in oil and repairs

 

Sent my 2010 prius last oct 2016 for warning light on "oil pressure low" on sharp turns. Dealer said the timing cover leak so they replaced under warrnty. Two months later that same light showed up, sent to dealer then they found leak this time its the intake manifold assemlby- replace under warranty. Went home with new parts but curiously, i verified dip stick and registered full and 900 miles later dip stick regustered zero. Dealer said i need to perform consumption test. Scheduled next week jan 17.
Any thoughts about this? Should i start towirry?

 

That's not good. How many miles on it?

 

Welcome to Prius Chat!

When the dash light tells you of the issue, this is not a good way to find out. This means the engine lost lubrication for a period of time. Any reason you did not check the dipstick regularly?

The consumption test they run will not reveal anything if it is a quart every 900 miles. They will be looking for a quart every 600 miles or fewer as it states in the Owners Manual. Anything else will be "within spec".

Best thing to do is keep an eye on the dipstick.

All the best.

 

Thanks for the response.

I never check oil levels ever since because i havent ebcountered any problem since i bought it preowned at 62k. Its just when that light showed up at 82k. Now im at 97k and started worrying.

 

I drive my 2010 pretty hard and it has 72k on it. I change the oil every 5k and it burns less then 1/2 qt.

 

Highway miles 40miles daily going work

 

Now at97k

 

Consumer Reports list the "Thirsty Thirty" here. No Toyota listed.

 

I would be very worried. In most cases when that light comes on you have run out of oil and it's too late. Very likely chance you will develop a rod knock very soon. That means the motor is toast. Hopefully that's not the case

 

Good time to start monitoring your oil. Visit your dipstick in your desired interval

 

This promted me to regularly check oil levels that is too much hassles

 

Too much hassle to open the hood and remove the dipstick? While Toyota makes a reliable car, even basic checks of system health need to be performed.

 

No.

Sorry, but I'm a little burned out on the effectiveness of polls.
I have a 2010 with 120,000 HARD miles, since it's a work car and nobody ever takes care of a car that they do not own.
I use no measurable oil between oil changes, and my OCI is 5,000 miles.
My other OCI (oil CHECK interval) is about 1,000 miles or every other fill-up.

So.........
Figures NEVER lie, but liars ALWAYS figure, and so "statistically" either Priuses smoke like John Wayne, or you can drive one for 300,000 miles between a major engine overhaul......or(?????)......both.
I live in a place where people think that a VET is only an expensive place to take your pet, not your car....and I've seen people drive Toyota s that drink oil like a late eastern Senator goes through single malt scotch for 100,000 miles....more on that in a bit.

Sometimes big is little and little is big, so numbers ARE useful now and then to assign a definitive value to things like "big" and "excessive" otherwise we're just dealing with feelings, which is kinda getting to the real point of the thread anyway since many people use numbers to either hide or validate........feelings or motives.

Example: "Excessive."

What's excessive oil use?

Toyota says (IIRC) something like 1 quart (they probably say "liter" behind our backs) every 600-1,000 miles depending on what nations consumer laws that they're trying to live under.
Since we have different values in different places for the SAME engine, then either environmental factors play a role, or the number that Toyota says is "excessive" isn't necessarily designed to accurately express motor health, but maybe warranty liability.

My thinking on the BIG in BIG problem is that it's not.
Many people who buy Priuses live in places where a VET is painful, expensive and time consuming for cars and pets.
They are exempt from.......vets, so "BIG problem" is not an emissions thing.....which can be $2,000 or so if your catalytic converter ingests enough oil to throw a code, and the owner is gullible enough to buy a new cat.
It's an expense......just not a BIG one.

It's not an engine thing either mostly....because in my 6 years in a forum with 100,000 members I've probably only read 5-6 threads where an enginectomy or valve work was performed on a Prius that was REALLY necessitated by a lubrication problem....even in a community where virtually EVERYBODY who reads this hasn't checked their engine oil more than 2-3 times....................ever.
Even if the engine needs to be replaced, I can get a decent used mill for under a thou (unintended) and have it installed for a few hundred more.............or?........about what some people pay to have HVAC or major brake work done if they're not an informed consumer.

So.....what I'm saying in my own rambling way is that oil use is a problem that's not really a problem.
We have a fleet of Priuses in my beloved company that we've seen NO engine replacements for since sometimes around 2008, and unlike some rental companies Big Bell used to not sell cars until they were old enough to drink and/or had been driven enough miles to go to the moon and back.
Big Bell makes Clark Howard seem like a flagrant money waster, and they change all of the oil in all of their vehicles every 3 months or 5,000 miles.
My 2010 is the second youngest of probably 14 vehicles in my work group and it just turned 6.

Takeaway:

I'm thinking that many of the cars in our fleet, and out in the wild do sip a little oil every now and again, and since the Prius has an itty-bitty oil sump 10,000 miles may be too long to go between oil changes.
This combined with a demographic that checks oil much less often, probably "statistically" and "actually" leads to cars with early onset smoking disease a little more often.
Many of those cars get traded in, and are made into daily drivers in places where a dab of black electrical tape, or a used catalytic converter will buy somebody another 50,000-100,000 miles of daily use.......according to my nostrils.

Sorry but all of this didn't fit into the survey parameters.
Sometimes?
Truth doesn't.

Good Luck!

 

Stuff like that should be mandated to be shown, prominently, in the Sales Brochures.