2011 Prius - burning oil - comments on my plan

7500-10k on the full syn and checking oil level frequently. I personally do 15k, but I also use a very high quality synthetic and have owned the car for a long time. I know it's in great shape.

In your case, I wouldn't go 15k on anything right now. You should be able to go longer then that 3-5k on a rideshare car though. The car is always warmed up and doesn't suffer from idling fuel dilution in the city like other cars will. I can easily do 1500 miles per week on rideshare in an urban environment. That's what people do in a year in only 10 weeks. Ridesahre is much easier on the oil then someone driving in the same environment but not piling on the miles so fast.

Rideshare is actually easier on the oil then most people seem to think. What does take a bigger beating is the transmission fluid, even in something like a Prius.

 

1 no, switching from conventional to synthetic won't make a difference in oil burning. oil burning is a result of poorly sealing piston rings and/or poorly sealing valve guides/seals. the oil used won't matter if you're burning 1.5-2 quarts of oil, you have issues with the piston ring tension (low tension, worn, broken etc) seal, and or valve guide seals. changing oil will not prevent that.

the bg , atf similar services MAY help to free up seized rings, yes. it won't correct the issues with low tension rings.

2 no, but at this point

3 yes. bg, atf/acetone, etc services MAY help free seized rings. the results people report of "great" vs "no change, snake oil" are explained by what the oil burning issues is the engine are.

if it's seized rings, yes it can help prevent future oil burning and improve ring seal

if it's damaged/worn rings, no there will be no effect

4 keep your current frequency. you don't want to have oil full of carbon (from poor sealing rings) in the engine for 10k miles between changes

5 44mpg is good if you're doing a lot of stop and go city driving with idling.

 

Unfortunately, it's time for a replacement car, unless you want to replace the engine.

Right now, it's worth around $8k on a trade in. With a blown engine, only $3k or so.

 

5000 miles changes are good. Check the oil every 500 miles or so, it only take a moment while
you're filling up fuel tank.

You don't need a new engine, or car. Unless you WANT too....

Depends on your finances. Don't fall for the scare tacktics.

 

You're assuming the cylinders are already scored like in the video. If it's just started, it's entirely possible that stuck rings are the issue and they can be cleaned. Don't be so quick to throw in the towel on the motor yet.

This.

 

With that much oil loss,

If the OP doesn't even have a place to do an oil change himself and pays someone else to do all servicing, any repair or replace will be very expensive.

As the song "The Gambler," states, you got to know when to fold and when to walk away.

The risk to me would be too great.

I would walk away and get rid of it. My choice.

 

One in is still made today and two ZZ is still made today so you have active choices to get low mileage takeouts from Asia or maintenance is probably done a little different than the specs are slightly different than EPA and if you really wanted to yeah I bet you could hone the boards clean up the mess refit some rings and have some spring to them swedish spring steel comes to mind and still have an okay setup but someone has to take it apart and do the work

 

bandaid efforts:
Keep RPMs lower. BSFC peak (g/kWh) is around 2000 rpm if i remember correctly. Try to keep the engine below 3000 rpms if you have some sort of tach device like a scangage. The rings tend to not keep up at the higher rpms.
A quart about every 1200mi isn't that bad. Driven cheaper cars that burned a quart every 200 miles. As long as you check the oil and add to it when you get gas if you keep oil in it and continue to change it every 3-5k so it doesn't get much worse it should still last for quite a while.
Try the Supertech full syn from walmart. 0w-20.
I tried 0w-20 vs 0w-40 and there was no discernable difference in oil burning.
And You can buy a couple denso oil filters at a time from rockauto (so you know you aren't buying knock off products like on eBay).
I've got oil changes myself right now with the Supertech and denso filter for low $20s (covid prices are up! used to be about $17 for this) now and I change every 4000 miles.
The oil changes are pretty easy too it takes me like 15 minutes start to finish.
Start monitoring your oil consumption on a spread sheet or whatever and note oil in vs oil out and see if it gets worse over time. If it isn't and you're not experiencing any detonation or lack of power issues it should last for quite a bit longer.
I would avoid engine replacement. If you're not a DIYer for that it rarely makes sense to pay to do it. Normally they call it a mechanics special and you sell it onto to someone who is willing to do the work. lol

 

Only three oils I recommend: Mobil1 Full Synthetic, Mobil 1 Extended, and Penzoil Ultra Synthetic only 0w-20 not thicker ones.

You should change right away and another change after 2k (with highway driving), then your regular cycle, which is 5k with these full-synthetic oils
This might work things go back to normal in A YEAR before too late

If you DIY, I assume 3 changes per year will cost you about 100-120 bucks. I know OEM filter is 5 bucks and oils are about $30