2010 - Ready to scrap it

I'm a rare lurker on this group, but did post a couple of years ago about my 2010's (purchased new) excessive oil consumption. This has been happening since around 90k miles and it now has 172k miles. My wife and kids drive the car. I rarely use it. Once in a while I check it out and add oil as needed. When I last checked, it was around 1 qt/900 miles which I didn't worry about. We're just back from a 2400 mile road trip which I used to monitor oil usage. It consistently requires 1 qt every 400 miles. I added 6 quarts on that trip! It doesn't ever have noticeable smoke and has never leaked a drop. Twice I've added some miracle fluid to the oil. No changes noticed.

The first couple of tanks on the first day of the trip were generally uphill against the wind at 84 mph. The mileage was in the 20's that day. The next day(s) it was fairly normal mileage (38-45). The low mileage could indicate fouled O2 sensors, but it didn't set an error code. BTW: I develop emissions controls for large natural gas engines and regularly carry an OBD2 code reader in the car.

With 172k miles, I wouldn't be too surprised if it is going to need a battery soon. Other than that, the car has been trouble free. It still has the original brakes! The pads still look good. After owning a 2010 Prius for 7 years, I think the hybrid system works like a champ. It is too bad about the engine using so much oil. Instead of doing a rebuild or putting a used engine in it, we'll relegate it to around town driving only. It isn't going to last 400k miles as I had hoped when I bought it. I don't expect to buy another new Prius.

 

Tried it 2 oil changes ago. I thought it helped at first, until I put some miles on it. Same oil usage. I could try it again.

 

Thanks - I'll look for it. Sounds like something I could send my favorite independent mechanic searching for.

 

Now that I've thought about what you're saying - I went down that type of logic a couple of years ago. I concluded that the EGR was a symptom of the oil usage problem, not the cause. The same logic could be applied to the clogged intake manifold. High oil usage pumped back into manifold clogs it up. What do you think about that theory?

I actually blocked off the EGR pipe where it dumps into the manifold for quite a while. It solved the stumbling problem (also set an error code). I unblocked it at least a year ago and everything was looking OK. No error codes. Still uses lots of oil, though.

I'd appreciate second opinions.

 

No, never cleaned EGR. It is definitely full of crud. It sure seems like a symptom, not a cause. I've moved from 0-20W to 5-20W. I'll try your snake oil suggestions and use 5-30W next time.

 

I agree. I used to have an emissions tester available but no longer. That would be interesting to see how well it is controlling emissions. It was very clean a few years ago.

 

I'll drive it to you! Maybe... That's a heck of a long way.

 

I've used that name a long time! 5 kids, most grown and out of the house.