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My 2010 Prius, It's official, 1qt oil every 4,000 miles

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Mola, Apr 6, 2018.

  1. tvpierce

    tvpierce Senior Member

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    I'm also running Mobil 1 0W-40 in my 2013 -- in Maine, in the winter -- and it's fine.

    My car's consumption is severe: 1 quart/1100 miles. I didn't notice 0W-40 decreasing consumption, but I'm still on that oil now. As an experiment, my next change will be with 5W-30... I want to see if the change in weight affects consumption.

    I'll post back with results.
     
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  2. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    Is that a question or a statement ?

    Yes. Before the days of "fancy" oil chemistry, 20W was about the thinnest thing in common use........and most cars just used 30W year around.

    This recent trend to 0 and 5W oils is mostly driven by a need to eek out a few extra tenths of gas mileage.
     
  3. BZzap!

    BZzap! Senior Member

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    The Skinny on OW-16 Oil - National Oil & Lube News
    Here is a very interesting article about 0W-16 oils. It seems that these oils have been in use in Japan since the 1990’s and are now just being seen here in the USA. It seems that the obsession with fuel economy and carbon footprint are the driving factors in the introduction of these ultra thin oils. It’s not even too far fetched to expect the use of 0W-8 oils are in our futures. So, what does this say about engine life expectancies? It’s probably the beginning of the end for the 200k engines. In this article, not much is said about the life expectancy of engine that will be subjected to the 0W-16 and 0W-8 oils. Unfortunately, new cars are going to be disposable commodities after a few short years and fewer miles. It’s worth the read.
     
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  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    The oil of choice for second gen, my seat-of-pants logic says that's a plus.
     
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  5. audiodave

    audiodave Active Member

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  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Look up "ubiquitous" in the dictionary, there'll be a picture of a bottle of 5W30. (y)
     
  7. douglasjre

    douglasjre Senior Member

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    That's more than anybody else that I know of. What do you attribute that to?
     
  8. douglasjre

    douglasjre Senior Member

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    Can you create a thread after trying it and keep us posted on how it goes
     
  9. orenji

    orenji Senior Member

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    Been running Mobil 1 0w-40 for 10,000 miles. Engine at start up sounds quite and it seems to not have any affect on MPG. I am seeing my MPGs in the 50's. Ow-20 oil is destroying our motors. In Europe where they run thicker weight oil they don't have the same oil burning issues we are seeing.
     
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  10. tvpierce

    tvpierce Senior Member

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    Not sure. I bought the car with 93K miles -- it now has 113K miles. It's been an oil burner since I've had it. The vehicle was serviced by the POs at the dealer at proper intervals -- synthetic oil changes mostly at 5K, a couple at 10K, one stretched to 16K (unless there was a non-dealer oil change in between).

    Keep in mind, this figure of 1 quart/1100 miles is high speed 75-80mph highway traveling. My wife travels 40K+ miles/year for work, and logs about 90% highway miles. When driven around town, the oil consumption seems to practically be eliminated. I don't have an accurate figure for around-town oil consumption because we've never had a significant run of consecutive low-speed miles.

    If it ever warms up here in the Northeast, I'll perform my 120K service which among other things will include changing spark plugs. I bought a borescope/endoscope that connects via wifi to my phone. This will allow me to look inside each cylinder to inspect for wear, and/or coking/buildup. If I find cylinder wear, I know the only remedy is a top end rebuild. If I find coking/buildup, I have a radical strategy for addressing it which includes topical application of solvents -- piston soaking. If it comes to this, I'll do a write-up.
     
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  11. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    When doing the 120 k service with the plugs, you planning on the egr cooler cleaning as well?

    I’d think about that as you approach the service interval ;).

    I’ve noted similar observations about our 2010 with 176 k miles that as the mph increases, so does the oil consumption :(.

    Keep us posted (y).
     
  12. tvpierce

    tvpierce Senior Member

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    Yes, cleaning of the EGR circuit, changing coolant in both ICE & Inverter circuits, brake fluid flush, brake caliper slide pin lube, (transmission fluid was just changed). I think that's it.
     
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  13. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    I did a piston soak on my old 2005 with 310k miles. Pretty fun! Let us know!
     
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  14. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Just curious: you take out all the plugs, funnel in maybe a quarter cup in each cylinder? Do you also crank it over by hand? Say with a socket on an extension through the passenger wheel well? Something I was thinking you could do.
     
  15. mjoo

    mjoo Senior Member

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    Which chemical did you use? I've read different methods of doing piston soaks. Did you siphon it out?

    Pixel XL ?
     
  16. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    I let it sit a few hours, it all drained through into the crack case. I put rags over the top of the engine and put it into ready mode and let it turn over the engine for about 2 seconds. Put everything back together and sent it on its way! Very easy and fun job actually!
     
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  17. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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  18. GFO

    GFO Member

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    Been reading more and more on this, in older threads here and other forums. Seems the 2nd Gens with their 5w-30 spec'd for N. America do not really have oil consumption issues when the mileage goes over 100k, at least not on par with the 3rd Gens. So that does raise an eyebrow towards the oil used. Wondering if the Prius C which uses the same (or similar?) engine as the 2nd Gen but is specc'd for 0w-20 also has the oil consumption of our 3rd gens? Anyone know?

    Though oil consumption seems to vary in our GenIIIs. eg The thread starter here has 140K and is only burning through a quart every 4k; that's not terrible, while another burns through a quart every 1k, which is beyond excessive. IMO, the culprit likely has more to do with frequency of maintenance and driving styles, more-so than 0w-20 being an 'engine killer' oil weight.

    I went to 5w-20 about 700miles ago on my last change just because I had a jug of it on my shelf. I might just try 0w-30 or 0w-40 next change to see how the car sounds, feels and performs on it, as an experiment. I know no damage will be had to the engine, the worst being a slight drop in mpg and theoretically power/performance of the ICE.

    edit: Is there a thread so people with oil consumption can post their mileage, rate of consumption and if possible oil weight used and frequency of oil changes? Might be good to track, to see if we can see a pattern.
     
    #58 GFO, Apr 10, 2018
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2018
  19. tvpierce

    tvpierce Senior Member

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    Were you looking to address oil consumption or something else? Did it work?
     
  20. tvpierce

    tvpierce Senior Member

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    My plan is to use Mopar Combustion Chamber Cleaner. I already bought the aerosol spray extension straws so I can reach down into the spark plug holes. My plan is to spray it in each cylinder, let it soak a bit, then rock the drive shaft back and forth via the crank pulley nut. Will repeat several times, then let it sit overnight. (all the while taking periodic looks in the cylinders with my borescope) Maybe a couple more treatments in the morning, then a spritz of fogging oil to give the rings some lube to work with, then put things back together, start the engine and let it run for a minute or two, then change the oil.