oil consumption vs length of oil change interval

I'm at 22,000 km (or rather, Pearl S is). Probably not applicable for this yet. Only two changes so far. Yup, I ignore the "6 month" requirement. My engine will explode!

 

Just did 80k OCI. No consumption. This is my third time changing oil in the Prius and finally did it in under 30 minutes like a regular a regular oil change should.

First time, it took hours because I was thwarted by the oil flap cover requiring a ramp which I did not have and failed removing oil filter that was stuck destroying my filter wrench. 2nd time took a day. I purchased a new filter wrench and ramps. Broke filter wrench again and the oil filter container and had to buy a new one at Toyota dealer which is why it took a day. Third time is the charm. Since the grease monkey that installed the oil filter was me, I was able to release no problem. Next oil change I will have to purchase 3 new plastic clips for the oil flap because they look perished and could strand me again if they broke.

Prius oil change: still difficult but getting better. Also time to change out the front pair of EP20. Inside of the tires are bald. Car seems to have negative camber. I got lazy and didn't rotate. Rears look good. Could've made 100k if I had rotated, oh well.

 

Funny, I find the rears have more camber, ie: splay outward at the bottom.

 

Yes, negative camber in rear because Toyota's paranoid that someone might experience oversteer and sue.

 

Maybe adjustable with 4th gen. With the new suspension.

I guess you need some splay out for cornering. I can see it. I watched one of my grandkids learning to walk; he employed a fair amount of camber. Smart!

 

funny, with all the oil consumption complaints we've seen here, only 6 bothered to vote.

 

Despite what OP said, the poll has a wide gap between 5000 and 10000 miles that none of the choices is correct.

 

i think he's trying to determine if there's a downside to 10k oil changes.

 

I understand what you are saying. But if you don't think the poll wording leaves out anyone with an OCI between 10,000 and 5,000 miles, then we'll just have to disagree.

 

That would've been more clear if the choices had been "more than 7500" and "less than 7500." Several other questions might be just as important, such as brand and viscosity oil(s) used, and "What is the highest speed at which you habitually have driven the car for long distances?"

 

I have a 2010 with 170,000 miles that uses about a quart of oil every 3000 miles. I have had it about 6 months, so don't know a lot of the previous history. The last oil change about 5000 miles ago, I started using Mobil 1 5w 20 high mileage oil to see if I can slow down the oil consumption some. It's not leaking oil and I am not getting smoke out of the tail pipe.

 

I recovered approximately 3.5 liters at last oil change (I put in 4 quarts from a 1 gallon jug).

I won't know until next oil change (10,000 miles) if the "loss" is consistent. I didn't compress the oil filter element to recapture every last drop, so I don't know how much loss there is in the oil filter.

ALL motors have some measure of consumption, so I guess I'll vote accordingly. I suppose there should be options for "excessive" consumption...like 1 quart or more missing at recovery of the old oil.

 

^ I'd think the simplest way to measure consumption is ti just check the level on the dipstick. Quite accurate too.

 

I wonder if the oil consumption is caused by the thin oil (0W20). When new, the thin oil might not all be cleared by the rings, and gets into the rings where it can be burned in. Once that deposit builds up the rings don't clear much at all, and a lot is burned?

So caused by attempting to increase mileage the wrong way? Maybe I'll switch to 5W30 before it's too late.

 

Dipsticks give you a general "snapshot" of what's in the pan. Measuring what drains out (presuming you let it drain for at least 10 minutes), gives you an accurate picture of what ISN'T there. Presuming the same quantity of oil is retained in "nooks and crannies" within the motor no matter what, if I put 4 quarts in but consistently recover 3.5 liters, the difference is being consumed in the combustion process over the life of the oil change.

I don't think you'd get anything that accurate off of a dipstick reading.

It's sort of like dieting. Weigh yourself in a consistent fashion once a week at the same time of day. It's a better impression of your progress. Your weight can go up and down throughout the week (even if you measure at the same time of day), and trying to track your weight throughout the day if folly because it's constantly changing based on what you're doing, what you've consumed, etc.

 

I would agree with you if not for the oil filter. There's no way for me to measure how much the filter absorbed and I am not going to squeeze it all out.. Plus that's where changing oil gets really messy and I have no way to measure the amount that falls on mat or gets up wiped up on my gloves. If I put in 4 quarts, I expect to be missing some amount when I change. What amount, I don't know.

 

Well, that's the trick. I'm tracking it now that I've done my first 10,000 mile change. If the recovered oil stays about 3.5 liters out of 4 quarts, I know I have no increasing consumption issue to worry about. This oil change established a baseline for future oil changes.

It's like having a bathroom scale that reads 3 pounds higher than your true weight. If you consistently measure your weight on that scale, you can track weight loss and gain. Only people in competitive sports that have weight classes need to worry about the bathroom scale being absolutely accurate.

 

There's nothing wrong with the dipstick method, as long as the car is oriented the same every time, and you don't expect a high degree of resolution. The dipstick is a lot easier than measuring how much you drain out. Dilution of oil by condensed water or fuel during short trips can confuse the issue.

 

Not so. Weigh it new, weigh it again upon removal, and divide the difference by the density of oil. That should tell you the volume of oil in the filter.