2005 Prius Gobbling Up Oil

Start shopping for a replacement car.

 

If you have monitored it for long enough so that you know that it started using oil instantly and you checked that it’s not the PCV or oil leak. Then it’s most likely oil return holes on the pistons getting blocked up.

You can clean them by pouring solvent or diesel into the cylinders through spark plug holes. Then wait for at least 24h (longer the better) get rid of most of what is left in the cylinder (to stop hydro locking and breaking the engine) and change the contaminated oil. I have seen that work on older Toyotas and at least one person here reported it working on Prius.

 

You should have put that smiley face at the end of your ORIGINAL POST.
Really.

 

Bisco, buddy.......
The point that I was trying to make, that seems to be completely LOST on you since it comes up repeatedly IS:
Sometimes you make a statement with BAD advice in it with absolutely no indication that you intend it as a joke.
Some people might take that ridiculous advice seriously with bad results.
This is NOT a good thing to keep doing.
Most of the time it is not even funny.

 

OP, these are good questions. "Gobbling" doesn't really explain it. Is there oil on the ground where you park? Any smoke from the tail pipe?

 

Oil burning produces blue exhaust with a distinctive odor.
In answer to your question, it depends on how it's being introduced.
If (for example) the valve seals are leaking it can be nicely atomized and burn with very little visible smoke.

 

You must be kidding. It was obviously a joke

 

But that is not always true either.
A tiny bit can be burned with no easily visible clue.
A little bit more can produce a smoke that looks white to the naked eye.
Only when the amount burned is relatively heavy will it look blue and have an easily recognized odor.

 

I am not kidding in the least.
Just because you recognized it as being said in jest, not everybody will.
Trust me on that.

 

I don't doubt you, but I do feel a bit sad.
In any case, imagine if the only humor or tongue in cheek in the world that existed was something that everybody got.

 

I understand what you are saying but here's a worst case example......well, almost worst case because some people are so gullible with stuff like this that it actually gets them KILLED:

There is a "thing" in major Engineering schools all over the country, maybe the world, where the best and brightest have a competition where they take some assertion that is obviously and completely false and write a serious (sounding) paper that "proves" that it really is true.
With the advent of the Internet, some of those papers have become famous and have a serious following.......while the engineering students are laughing their collective asses off. I forget the name for the competition; seems like it was FUD or something similar.

Human beings are stupid. By definition, half are below average.

 

Since your driving is so heavily oriented to freeway driving and you are adding one quart/1K miles you could easily move your oil change interval to 7K miles or so without causing harm. Over 7K miles, the oil will have been changed 2.8 times:

1) when the oil was changed at the start of the period, ~3.9 quarts of fresh oil was added.
2) Then, seven quarts will be added during the 7K mile driving period.

Hence, a total of 11 quarts is being used for a car with 3.9 quart capacity, so the oil was essentially changed 2.8x over the 7K mile period.

This would be considered normal behavior considering the car has logged 210K miles. So just look for 5W-30 motor oil on sale, and keep checking oil level/adding oil. You may want to move to 10W40 viscosity oil once winter is over, which may reduce the oil burn rate.

 

Actually, and not completely in jest, if you're adding 1 quart of oil every 1000 miles, you could stop doing oil changes all together.

 

True, and some owners have actually been known to do that. I would say it is necessary to do periodic oil changes regardless so that the oil filter will be replaced and residual debris in the crankcase will be removed.

 

Old timer prius owner eh! Next time you add oil, try adding half a qt of 10w40 and the other half Marvel mystery oil. The reson for the thicker oil because MMO is a very thin oil. Almost water like. It's safe though, don't worry! You can buy it at dollar general. you've got nothing to lose! Keep us updated about your story, Cathy

 

I would highly consider switching to 5w-30 or 10w-30 Valvoline Maxlife High Mileage oil.

It will help reduce consumption after a few OCI's (oil change intervals)

MMO is a great product, but at this point I would shy away from anything to upset the way of life so quickly. A go oil high mileage oil with a proper additive pack and a little seal swelling agents will go a long way and work slower

ALSO, consider checking PCV valve!