1997 Lexus LX450 (Land Cruiser) and oil consumption

[Andrewsreef]

This is the inline 6 motor. I have owed this truck since it had 60k on it. Some signs the prior owner did not take good care of it. I had the head gasket replaced at 69k. It now has 96k on it and it uses a lot of oil (has since I got it). It seems to use about 1 quart every 1000 miles perhaps a litte more. If I take it on a long trip (2000 miles or so) it will use no noticable oil. It burns the oil with around town driving only. It does not smoke or leak at all (no smoke even on start up)

I beleive the problem would have to be the valve guide seals (which must not have been replaced when the head was off as the machine shop said the valves were fine so they must have assumed the valve guide seals were ok to).

What do you think about this and should I be concerned? I bothers me bad enough I have considered selling/trading it in but I do like the truck. I have a perfectionist personality so stuff like this bugs me.

I use Rotella Synthetic 5W-40 in it now and have run many different weights and brands and they all do about the same.

Thanks

Andrew

 

[IslaVistaMan]

Auto-RX it, Andrew. Double-dose it (clean-rinse, clean-rinse), in fact.

 

[Andrewsreef]

Why do you think that Auto-RX would help here? I have seen the inside of the engine and there is no sludge problem. The top of the motor was apart when they did the head gasket repair.

Where is the oil going? Seems like it would show up as smoke if it was being burned.

Thanks

Andrew

 

[HEV]

It will clean your ring packs out and may give you better sealing and less oil consumption.

 

[Matt_S]

If the problem was valve guide seals, you would probably see a puff of smoke on startup. Blowby in the piston rings makes some sense, since with city driving, you do much more acceleration, calling for more power, resulting in more blowby. If the piston rings are actually carboned up, AutoRX could help. It's a cheap fix if it works and you're not out much money if it doesn't. I'd try it.

 

[Islandvic]

andrew, 1qt per 1000 miles can be considered "normal" and by manufacturers when the engine nears 100k miles.

My '96 Vic 4.6 started to consume oil around 70-80k miles. The previous owner had all maintenance done at regular intervals.

I have noticed my 4.6 consumes more/less oil depending on brand. SuperTech was the worst.

It neither leaks or smokes, similar to your situation. At the last oil change, it consumed about 1qt every 1000 miles also.

My I suggest to decarbonize combustion chambers with SeaFoam, change the PCV valve, then switch to Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic 10-30 or 10-40.

My Vic consumes less oil with the MaxLife Syn, even less compared to Mobil 1.

It bugs me too that it consumes oil, but it gives me an excuse to look under the hood when I fill up at gas stations.