My 2010 Prius is officially an oil-burner

Unfortunately the 2010 is notorious for burning oil for many owners. I'm sorry for your (oil) loss.

 

read up in the oil burning threads, there might be some things you can do to alleviate the problem.

 

Knowledge is power.

With your new understanding of your Prius, keep an eye on the dipstick and top up as needed.

Our 2010 Prius II with 163 k miles is still going strong and I found it burning a quart of oil every 4500 miles at 120 k miles. Have done some things to get the oil burn down to less than a quart between 10 k mile oil change intervals .

Some things to consider to help your situation out:

• Use 5w-30 full synthetic oil
• If you travel highways much, keep you speed 0-5 mph above the posted limit

There are more things that you could do, but I would start there.

Keep us posted .

 

Never slower? I know, just had to ask, lol.

Regarding the assertion that it's just 2010: yeah I don't see that, but not sure.

Could be the PCV dumping oil into the intake, which combusts and returns once again, a little more toasted, via the EGR, coking up piston rings, clogging EGR, raising temps, and so on

 

I have a feeling if the OP were to go slightly under the posted highway speed limits that he would feel the "brotherly love" of the surrounding metropolitan area .

I agree that the 2010 is painted in this light, but we have other model years suffering the same fate within the Gen3s. One factor might be the shear number of them, given the long production run. Also they are the oldest, so the components are the oldest. As things age, they don't always perform the same.

But oil burn can start a viscous cycle, so best to beware .

 

Your Prius was given 0w-20 full synthetic oil from the start, I'm suggesting going up in weight, which is something commonly done when oil burn is seen and not a puddle underneath where you park.

While it is fair to expect that at 90k miles you shouldn't see oil burn, the unfortunate truth now in your situation is you are. But frequent monitoring will help ensure the problem doesn't get worse. If you keep an eye on the dipstick and add oil as needed, you'll still get plenty of life out of your Prius.

Hope that helps .

 

We've had a slew of Hondas over the years, and as best as I can recall all of them burned a little oil. I never thought it abnormal.

But it was relatively minor, maybe a cup top-up between oil changes when new, 2~3 cups as they accumulated miles. Never heavy, quart after quart consumption.

 

I have 179,655 miles on my 2009 that's runs like a top. I burn about 1 quarter roughly ever 1,500 to 1,600 miles. Every time I change my oil, I usually buy the 5 quart jug and save the remaining left over to top off in between oil changes.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

yeah, gen 2 wasn't nearly as bad.

 

a quarter of a quart?

 

Typo 1 quart. Blame the stupid auto correction.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

The distance between the two marks on the dipstick is around 1.6 quarts (1.5 liters). It's also about 1.5 inches. So you can do the math from there. A lot of oil bottles have a clear strip down the side with measurement markings too. And if you're really nuts (I am), you can get a graduated pitcher. Don't use one from the kitchen, lol.

Simplest too: just pour a shot, give it a moment, then check the dipstick, repeat as needed.

 

If you do pull one from the kitchen, don't take it back in.

I pulled and replaced .

Sometimes good to know how much you are adding .

 

I'll be curious to see as years pass if this oil burning issue starts to manifest in later model years, 2011, 2012, 2013....

Did Toyota ever admit to an engine design change between 2010 and any later Gen 3 model years? As far as I know, they are the same engines.

 

eleven's for sure.