Why 2010 only Gen3 w/oil burning complaint?

What is this warranty extension you are referring to? What qualifies a vehicle under this warranty extension?

 

Mine is from Toyota Canada, not sure about States.

 

Sorry, the words I used weren't clear. What vehicle failures would be covered under that warranty?

 

The American doc is in the intial post here:

warranty enhancement; P0401 EGR Valve | PriusChat

(and Canadian doc on page 3)

 

I'm convinced it is a bad batch of piston rings...but of course nobody has any definitive proof. Or any non-definitive proof for that matter!

It is very curious that a large majority of consumption complaints come from us 2010 owners though. However, at this point I'm tired of looking for answers and have resigned myself to top up the oil every now and then.

 

Ours is build-date Aug 09 (it sat around in a covered shed getting dusty, till Nov 10). Only 72K kms now, but no oil consumption.

 

Of course people like you have to chime in and ruin our conspiracy theories...

Who knows, maybe it was just a bad run of vehicles, etc...Mendel, do you have a liftback or a five?

Edit...looks like you have the liftback.

 

Some gen2 suffer this also

 

Well I'm chiming in with one build-month. Maybe the possible bad rings (or whatever) where some other time period.

I have a Canadian Prius Touring model, somewhat similar to the US 2010 Prius V, but without the radar cruise and other high end stuff. Engine's the same across the board I think.

 

Ours is July 2009 and is only burning 20 ounces between 10 k mile oil changes.

Currently 167 k miles on the clock.

 

My 2010 burns more oil when I drive fast (over 70mph). Local driving I burn about a quart in 5000 miles.

I'm doing 5000 oci now so I don't really need to add oil between changes

 

I noticed that too...whenever the engine is under extreme stress it buns more oil. For instance, going up a mountain pass, etc... And we have done many. Seems perfectly logical too if it truly is a piston ring issue.

 

Was just about to fill it up with 0W40, then read this post 0w-40 oil in a 140K miler? | PriusChat

Ugh... now we have no idea what to do.

 

Oh I don't know about that, the premise that if you go to a thicker oil there's no going back. That just doesn't sound plausible. The one concept along those lines that does sounds plausible: if you go to a "high mileage" oil, any grade. The latter swells seals, and going back to regular the seals may shrink back, more.

But I can't see going thicker by an oil weight or two being a one-way journey.

 

Warning - this post contains various ramblings concerning oil consumption in a 2010 Prius.

I purchased my 2010 Prius in Nov 2013 & it is now 4 years later.
Prius had 100K when purchased. Today it has 226K.
I have always used the same oil, Mobil 1 0W20 & for now continue to do so..
I change the oil & filter myself.
For ~70K I had an oil analysis done by Blackstone Labs every oil change.

For the first couple years I was topping off the oil every few months. I would add 10-12oz at a time, always keeping it full.
The Prius slowly started using more & more oil. Its maximum consumption was 1 quart every 4500-5000 miles.
I check my oil at least once a week, if not more often.
It started to appear to me that the more I kept the oil topped up, the more oil the engine would consume.
Then I noticed a few other PC members saying (in random posts) that they appear to see the same issue (keeping the oil level at the full mark causes more oil consumption).
For the last year I have been trying to keep the oil level lower than the full mark. Now I say the oil level is "full" when the dipstick indicates the oil level to be 25-33% low. This is not dangerous to me (or the Prius) as I check the oil level often! This has resulted in a lower oil consumption. I'm not exactly sure by how much. I do know that my last oil change had 11269 miles on the oil & I had added 1.2 qt. during that time.
Now, knowing that the PCV valve is located very low on the engine I can see how a higher oil level could result in a somewhat higher oil consumption through oil mist entering the intake manifold via the PCV system.

I've only had my Oil Catch Can installed for 3 weeks or so but have done some quick calculations. Based on my limited use I figure the OCC will catch between 7-10 oz of oil in 10K of driving. That is 1/4 to 1/3 of a quart in 10K (& I am being generous in the amount of oil the OCC will trap). The engine is still burning oil but at least some of the oil is trapped before entering the engine.

 

Yeah, I avoid filling more than the specified amount, so not all the way to the full mark. Minimal consumption so far, at 83K.

 

@jayman is the voice of reason in that thread, Preeeus, shame he is no longer around here. Any of the big-3, a3/b4 0w-40's - M1, Castrol black bottle or Pennzoil Platinum Euro are some of the best oils you can put in any gasoline engine, new or old, so long as we're talking modern era new/old... And they are light 40's, in the 12-13 viscosity @ 100c range. Our family '07 is finishing it's first run on the Pennzoil after several runs of Castrol 0w-30 and 40. It's runs very smoothly at ~175k miles with minimal "sewing machine tick" the Gen 2's tend to exhibit after a life of run-low-on-conventional 5w-30. I'll run one of these oils for the rest of it's days under my care, or until something better comes along in the $22-25 dollar range for the 5 qt. jug at Wally.

 

Sewing machine.....my last 2006 had this problem. I also believe the previous owner ran it low on oil. Tell tale sign

 

FWIW, on my latest DIY oil and filter change, I very carefully measured and put in the specified 4.2 liters (4.5 US quarts) and the level is a bit below the top mark, almost 1/4". I've left it there. Our garage is very close to level, I suppose there's a miniscule slope down, front to rear. I did let it drain very thoroughly, as always, ie: leave everything draining, and go in for dinner.

 

I think in this discussion it's important to realize Mendel's car is just getting broken in. Very low mileage. Pearl S is even lower. Which is why I don't post "statistics" in these discussions.