First car engine concerns. (loud and oil burn)

daniel fischer · Nov 9, 2019

So I purchased my first car a 2006 Toyota Prius with 138,000 miles about a year ago. The dealer who is a friend of ours said that he bought it at auction and had to replace a burned up engine (owner never checked the oil apparently). The engine he put in had 120,000 miles on it. About 3 months ago the hybrid battery failed at 170,000 miles me and my father replaced it with a used battery from a Prius he actually wrecked. The new battery had 180,000 miles on it. During the Install we attached the harness required and did a Prolong system reconditioning on it. So that brings me to today. Since I can remember the engine has always sounded louder than what I thought would be normal. My dad who has owned 2 priuses and my girlfriends brother who is a mechanic both said it sounds normal. So I just ignored it. Also about 2 weeks after buying it I noticed the oil level dropping about 1qt between 3kmile oil changes. After an oil leak check we figured that it must be burning it from what we've read on the forums. This was not a huge issue because my moms car I used needed 1qt every 400 miles so I was used to adding oil. Currently I don't know if the engine is getting louder or if I'm just tired ignoring it. I decided I would ask you guys if I'm crazy and this is just normal Prius noises or if there might be something here that could use addressing. The oil burning is also a pain so any thoughts on that would also rock.

Below are videos of the startup and idling inside and outside the car.

In the video the car says it's low on gas but when I fill it up it only adds like 5 gallons so I don't know what the deal is there either.

I'm sorry if that's a lot of information I thought I would try to do include everything that might be possibly relevant. Thank you so much for your time.

dolj · Nov 9, 2019

Hi and welcome to PriusChat.

The engine sounds normal to my ears. You can probably get it a bit quieter by using something like Redline 5W-30 or equivalent. Whatever you use, though, make sure it is a good quality oil.

As far as oil burning and filling the gas tank, there are plenty of existing threads that cover both these issues. I suggest you use the search function at the top right of every page and use the advanced search (click on the "More ..." button on the search pop-up window) to limit your searches to the Gen 2 forums.

daniel fischer · Nov 9, 2019

I should have mentioned I use 5w-30 per what the cap says. If that changes anything. Also do you have any oil brand/type recommendations? I'll look into those threads thank you!

dolj said: ↑

Hi and welcome to PriusChat.

The engine sounds normal to my ears. You can probably get it a bit quieter by using something like Redline 5W-30 or equivalent. Whatever you use, though, make sure it is a good quality oil.

As far as oil burning and filling the gas tank, there are plenty of existing threads that cover both these issues. I suggest you use the search function at the top right of every page and use the advanced search (click on the "More ..." button on the search pop-up window) to limit your searches to the Gen 2 forums.
Click to expand...

bisco · Nov 9, 2019

welcome!

prius are noisy, and so are the engines. one quart every 3,000 miles is reasonable

dig4dirt · Nov 9, 2019

Does not sound bad,

close the hood and it will be a bit quieter

dolj · Nov 9, 2019

daniel fischer said: ↑

... Also, do you have any oil brand/type recommendations? ...
Click to expand...

The one I have seen anyone recommend here to quieten the engine is the Redline that I already mentioned.

I should also mention, that from cold the first stage (of 5 stages–see my signature below for more details) of the Hybrid Warm-up cycle takes about 50-55 seconds (A/C off and not too cold out) to complete. In this stage, the variable valve timing is set so that the engine runs hot to get the ICE temp up quicker. Also, the engine seemingly runs rougher and makes a decidedly clickty clack noise (which some describe as like a sewing machine.) When this stage completes, the cycle moves to stage 2 and the engine shuts down, assuming the car is stationary the whole time. When the engine has been running for about 45 seconds, you can hear the valve configuration reset back to normal and the engine gets decidedly quieter and smoother. Note, you can drive the car during this stage one, but, because the engine is inefficient and lacks power in this configuration, the large majority of the driving power comes from the electric motors. If you drive reasonably gently, you will notice the engine RPMs do not change substantially with speed. If you kick the accelerator down it will take a moment to reconfigure and skip to stage 2. It is best if you don't get in the habit of doing this if it can be avoided.

daniel fischer · Nov 10, 2019

Wow that makes a lot more sense of what I'm hearing. Thank you so much!

dolj said: ↑

The one I have seen anyone recommend here to quieten the engine is the Redline that I already mentioned.

I should also mention, that from cold the first stage (of 5 stages–see my signature below for more details) of the Hybrid Warm-up cycle takes about 50-55 seconds (A/C off and not too cold out) to complete. In this stage, the variable valve timing is set so that the engine runs hot to get the ICE temp up quicker. Also, the engine seemingly runs rougher and makes a decidedly clickty clack noise (which some describe as like a sewing machine.) When this stage completes, the cycle moves to stage 2 and the engine shuts down, assuming the car is stationary the whole time. When the engine has been running for about 45 seconds, you can hear the valve configuration reset back to normal and the engine gets decidedly quieter and smoother. Note, you can drive the car during this stage one, but, because the engine is inefficient and lacks power in this configuration, the large majority of the driving power comes from the electric motors. If you drive reasonably gently, you will notice the engine RPMs do not change substantially with speed. If you kick the accelerator down it will take a moment to reconfigure and skip to stage 2. It is best if you don't get in the habit of doing this if it can be avoided.
Click to expand...

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First car engine concerns. (loud and oil burn)

daniel fischer New Member

dolj Senior Member

daniel fischer New Member

bisco cookie crumbler

dig4dirt MoonGlow

dolj Senior Member

daniel fischer New Member

I had a cautionary discussion with an electrical engineer friend

Check Engine Light and Engine Misfires / O2 Sensor

How Can I Tell if Check Engine Light Off Long Enough for Emissions

2009 - No Start - Electric Problems?

Coolant Mixing concerns on recent coolant flush