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2008 Prius 125k miles using lots of Oil.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by maggotdrowner, Jun 18, 2024.

  1. maggotdrowner

    maggotdrowner Junior Member

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    Hi everyone,

    my gen 2 has just started using a lot of oil, it goes from max down to minimum in 600 miles.

    There are no leaks and no sign of any smoke and the car runs perfectly.

    I'm using good quality 5w 30 oil.

    I use an independent Prius specialist here in the UK . He's 60 miles away.
    I've only spoken to him on the phone so far, but he thinks it may be a pcv valve ? or it may have been a Taxi and had the miles altered before each MOT (inspection) every year.

    The car is in good condition and doesn't look as if it's done mega miles.

    Can anyone advise please. Thanks
     
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    There's no super amount of advice I can give you It's a very well made internal combustion engine so all of the regular methodology for testing is in play here leaked down tests and all of it these tests cost money to run so many people don't want to run the test because well not costly but it's just time-consuming usually when an engine starts burning oil there are ways to tell it the spark plugs are either seeing it and there's deposits on the spark plugs there should be a black residue in the tailpipe if it's truly burning you run your finger around the tailpipe and pull it out and it is black soot almost oily Do it on the paper towel similar clean that out and drive for 2 days and it's back with a vengeance in the tailpipe to sit things like that that's actual oil burning getting past the rings and what have you and this can happen to any internal combustion engine It doesn't matter who made it or any of that they can happen to one and 5,000 other ones may not be doing it It's just kind of luck of the draw with a piece of machinery or have to look up in your post again how much in 600 km/ miles a quart You should be able to buy some pretty inexpensive oil literally Dino oil etc You're burning it now so there's no reason to keep stuffing in the highest quality synthetic oil it's kind of pointless now that you're setting it on fire and burning it up. Most people can't see rebuilding when the salvage market is so large unless you are looking to do something with this old car that lots of people aren't pouring in a little extra cheap Dino oil is generally not a make or break it type of situation I've got a vehicle here that burns oil similarly so every six to nine days it needs a court of oil to replenish what we've stomped out of it driving the car around this is a work vehicle that run service calls It doesn't leave smoke behind it or anything people can't hear it coming see it going nothing certainly I'm not going to junk or get rid of the vehicle when it does well in my business It's not really costing me any kind of way to keep it on the road If I didn't have it it would be more of a problem Is it worth it for me to spend a few thousand dollars to tear the engine down rering it etc I don't think so they're too many engines out there to buy play around with or whatever they still make the NZ engine today It's in the latest Prius c so I imagine if a creative person wanted to they could use most of the block and head from the newer N Z engine. But most people will just buy a Prius c or a Honda hybrid or something and keep getting it I'm doing all this kind of work is expensive in most people aren't in for it but obviously checking basic things like vacuum items like the PCV valve is a smart idea and not too costly.
     
  3. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    You could try cleaning or replacing the PCV valve.

    I've also had success in pegging back oil burning by doing 3 or 4 short oil changes (one every 2000 miles) adding an engine flush into the oil and running the engine for 15-20 minutes immediately before dumping the oil. I don't use premium full synthetic for this, just some cheap 5W-40 (or 5W-30 if you can get it) dino (conventional) oil. I'm not sure what products you have over there in the UK, but the ones I use are Australian products made by Nulon or Penrite. I'm sure there must be equivalently good products available in the UK.

    Good luck and let us know if you have any success.
     
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    What does the odometer say?
     
  5. maggotdrowner

    maggotdrowner Junior Member

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    Odometer says 125,650 miles.
    Thanks for the replies so far
     
  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Ah, my bad, miles in the title. Consider a new "short block", depending on your budget? In North America they're around $2K USD, new. Or just replace the piston rings?
     
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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