This is Why Stop Leak Should be Banned

I'd got a bit further and say that, besides Stop Leak, MOST additives should be banned. But, of course, it's not against the law to be stupid so they have to sell it.

Snake oil....as long as you don't say anything that's can be proven a lie....some gullible and ignorant folks will fall for it. I remember "Slick 50" additive in the 80's....said it coated your engine and you could, magically, even run it without motor oil! (I guess you COULD run the engine until you couldn't....because you killed it!)

 

Maybe "high-mileage" oil too? I remember looking at a bottle, decades back, wondering if I should be using it, since our car was getting up there. Not sure what all is disclosed on the bottles these days, but I've read the difference in this type of oil is additives designed to swell gaskets, which "may" be the cause of oil consumption. It's best reserved for engines with bad oil consumsption, a last ditch effort, and once you start using it, you better stick with it, because switching back to regular oil the swollen gaskets, more worn than ever, will shrink, and oil consumption increases with a vengeance.

 

Yep, the marketing folks are busy! When people ask me what's the best motor oil, I just say, "Whatever you change out every 6-months" I'd rather be using recycled motor oil every 6-months in my vehicles over the best (Mobil One/Amsoil) every 12-months....no question about it.

 

Using stop-leak, high mileage or any other bandaid is just a way of trying to avoid doing needed repairs.

 

yep... I bought a Seek Thermal camera that plugs into a phone years ago. It's terrible super low resolution because its so cheap but you can diagnose insulation and water leaks in a house in a matter of minutes. It also made rebuilding OEM battery packs way easier because a hot cell that's soon to fail usually gives no other symptom than heat and with 168 cells to examine a thermal camera can find the ones running hot in seconds.

 

Oil compainies (SOPUS specifically, and probably others) have denied that myth, and claim their "high mileage" stuff will not harm new engines.. All legitimate engine oil contains seal conditioners.

 

Additives to swell gaskets won't work on the common leaks caused by form a gasket sealants and may swell variable valve timing seals causing more problems.

 

The Prius has oil burning issues because the low tension rings get gunked up with carbon despite using high quality oil at 5k intervals. Keep in mind other cars have a similar issue.

I switched to Valvoline Restore & Protect and 7k later no more oil burning. I'm not a snake oil guy but that new oil from Valvoline is remarkable. Truly a fantastic product and for $30/5 qts, a steal.

I'm such a believer that I now use it for both my Prius and new 2023 Maverick hybrid.

 

That stuff doesn't work, snake oil.
I figured I'd give it a try, it couldn't really hurt.
I even used sea foam each oil change. More snake oil.
I started at 330,000 miles, changed at 5000 miles, give or take a few hundred.
I'm at 381,000 miles.
"IF" it was doing what it claims it does, it should have cleaned up
the rings after 3 or 4 changed, as they claimed.

I can't tell ANY improvement at all. I believe people WANT it to work so they "believe" it does.
But it doesn't.

Perhaps if you start using it when the engine is fairly new, it "could", "might", prevent it from happening.
But most synthetic oil does a good job of keeping the engine clean.

Good luck with contacting valvoline to inform them. I've tried, zero response. I guess short of a
law suit, you won't hear from them.

 

At 400k miles your issue is wear not ring clogging and that is something no oil can fix except a heavier grade. And then it just hides it.

I used Mobile 1 0w20 for the life of the Prius and even then got ring clogging. Started R&P at 140k and by 147k zero loss of oil vs 1 qt per 5000 I was burning previously.

 

No, not "just" wear. It's been burning oil for a while. But I rarely go over 65, and only to pass someone.
So the loss is lower.

 

Yes, rings get gunked up, oil burn starts. After some time the rings get frozen in place and grooves start to wear on the cylinder walls. There's no coming back from that.

It sucks but your scenario doesn't mean R&P is ineffective. You just caught it too late - not your fault as many other vehicles have succumbed to a similar fate. Like I said mine burned 1 qt/5,000, only reason it was able to be fixed was my wife stopped driving to work around 2016 so cylinders were still in good shape.

 

Not always true.
When I did the head gasket at 301,000, cylinder walls where not scored.

You can continue to use the snake oil if you wish. You're money

 

The low tension rings are the heart of the problem and many other Toyota and Subaru vehicles from 2006- 2017 (Prius through 2014) get weak/wear and allow excessive oil consumption. The rings and piston oil return passages can and have been cleaned up and oil consumption has continued. B12 is one of the effective cleaners. Valvoline R and P may also be effective as a cleaner.

However replacing the pistons and rings in a Prius 1.8L will fix it. Toyota did so for free to thousands of Prii that burned high amounts of oil before 5 years 60k miles. In reality most start sometime after 150k and a few last much longer.

 

Partway through model year 2014 Toyota finally revised 3rd gen piston rings, in this failed experiment to eke improvement in mpg. You can see the result on Fuelly, a drop in average mpg, for model year 2015. Toyota got mpg accolades; owners get oil burners.

 

Many former sceptics evidently have become believers. However, I don't recall any of those success stories involving a Prius. No competitor has yet contradicted Valvoline's claims of clearing existing stuck rings, or claimed equivalent performance. You can bet they're trying.
Meanwhile, my low-tension rings are behaving well, so far. I've never known of any other car engine that consumed so little oil.

 

Same here with our 2010, but only about 65k miles (US freedom units ). Usually starts around 150k?

 

Still very little oil use here, 212k freedom units.

I've been changing at ~ 5k as long as I've owned it (about the last 100k).

Just noticeably down on dipstick in time for next change.

Cross-country travel at sustained high RPM can use more.

I suppose that level on the stick is really a bit less oil and made up by some condensed fuel vapor and such, but still....