2010 Prius Oil Burn

[KrisZ]

I think Toyota rushed a bit into high VI oils and their 10k mile OCI especially since their engines seem to be the only ones that burn more oil at highways speeds. I've owned several car brands and none of them burned oil at a greater rate on long highway trips and none of them mentioned that in the owners manual. As far as I know, Toyota is the only one that mentions an increase in oil consumption during long highway trip in the owners manual, so they are obviously aware that their engines have this problem.

Oil burning, thin oil and long OCI spells nothing but potential trouble down the road.

 

[05LGTLtd]

My thoughts:

1. PCV
2. 5w30 HM
3. Negotiate good trade with dealer at end of year

Thinking about it, if dealer is willing to to comp parts, maybe they think it's just the valve seals or they are going to do a ring job and not a full rebuild? Offering you the parts for free may really be just a way to make you think they are meeting you half way, when they are really going only 10-20%. Have an indy shop run a leak down and go from there?

 

[Sunnyinhollister]

I can't help you much on the oil burning, but our 2008 Prius would develop a miss and slightly rough idle that would go away by putting a bottle of Techron fuel injection cleaner in the tank every 5,000 miles. It was very predictable in this aspect.

Hope it helps.

 

[blue_goose]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
I think Toyota rushed a bit into high VI oils and their 10k mile OCI especially since their engines seem to be the only ones that burn more oil at highways speeds. I've owned several car brands and none of them burned oil at a greater rate on long highway trips and none of them mentioned that in the owners manual. As far as I know, Toyota is the only one that mentions an increase in oil consumption during long highway trip in the owners manual, so they are obviously aware that their engines have this problem.

Oil burning, thin oil and long OCI spells nothing but potential trouble down the road.



Subaru also mentions in the owners manual of my 2014 XV Crosstrek that burning of some oil is normal and acceptable.


Should be interesting to see as next week I'll be doing a change with 0W20 TGMO in the Subie 2.0

 

[G.Frost]

Run some Red Line 0W20 through it to see if cleaning the ring pack might help oil consumption.

 

[khoober2]

Thanks much to all. Info in response to questions: We've used Toyota, Valvoline or Pennzoil 0W20 Synthetics w OC @ 10K. We live in the country and spend a lot of time on interstates, and getting to the dealer for an OC wasn't always possible, so we'd do the quickie OC shops when needed. The service @ 110K doesn't seem to have been too comprehensive, though Toyota is offering the parts (but not labor) because the problem surfaced right after that service when the engine started missing/hesitating and my wife took it into the local OC shop. They said there was almost no oil, and she threw a fit with the dealer--hence the offer. She says it's burning oil even faster than what I note above; I'll check on that. A majority of miles are at highway speed, which is all engine; the electric is only used up to about 15 mph. No engine codes except for the Check Oil Pressure light on occasion, which pops up so quickly it's easy to miss.

What should I ask Toyota to look at? How much should a valve seal/ring job cost? Thanks again--great stuff.

 

[Raybo]

Own a Prius too. Lots of reports of Prius burning oil over at Priuschat.

The one's with the worst oil loss seem to be getting there oil changed at the dealer which usually means dino [censored] vat oil and the other factor is many report oil running low once sometimes enough to turn on cel light.That event seems to damage the oil control ring on the piston. These 2 issues almost guarantee a Prius 1.5 to burn oil.

Mine uses a little oil. Found running Redline 5-30 almost eliminated this. They tout better ring sealing with this oil on their website too.Its really fantastic oil. 100% synthetic with high quality ZDP package additive.Noticeable improvement in the top end clatter too. Noisey little sold lifter engine.

Try it.You will be impressed. Buy it at Jeg's as they offer free ship and take Paypal.

 

[tiger862]

If you ran it low on oil chances are you need a head and possible lower engine overhaul. Low oil pressure on Toyota's generally come from the cam tower being out of spec cause larger gaps between cam and tower which is cause by low oil. Trade it in or spend the money on labor and if they don't check towers you will be back in and then have to argue with them that they missed something. They will most likely insist on you paying for new head and they will replace gaskets and labor. If it were mine and I liked it then get an engine from Toyota and get great warranty or get a used low mileage engine. Talk to dealership about labor to replace. Have someone check oil pressure first then go from there.

 

[Raybo]

What is a cam tower?

 

[steve20]

Originally Posted By: cancov
Use the circumstance to bargain a great trade in, if you're in a position to do so. Like Critic said, if the dealership/Toyota is willing to give the parts for the rebuild, there has to be an alternative motive behind it. Spin the situation in your favor and bargain a great trade.


Strongly agree with both of the opinions above^^^
Toyota knows something we don't and they are willing to pay at over twice the warrranty miles. Take them up on this, or trade it in

 

[blackman777]

Originally Posted By: GutsyGecko
1 quarts every 3-4k? Are you crazy? Forget about it.

My thought exactly.
Also: You can buy a used Prius G2 (your model) for about $6000. I don't see any reason to invest $2000 in a car that has such little resale value. I'd just drive the car til it dies at around 200,000 miles & then junk it. (Note: If you live in California or the northeast, Toyota HAS to keep the engine operational/running clean for 150,000 miles.)

Oh, and I'd try a good synthetic oil like Toyota 0w-20, Mobil 1 0w-20 or 5w-20 (extra performance). I might even try Mobil 1 5w30 (extra performance). Those oils will clean-out any gunk left behind by conventional oil.

Hesitation may be caused by bad gasoline.
Step-up to one of these brands:
http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html

 

[blackman777]

Correction: You have the G3 model, which goes for ~10,000 used. I still wouldn't invest $2000 though, because that would buy a lot of oil (~400 quarts), and I'm sure the car will easily survive to 200,000 miles despite some small consumption.

I would switch to Toyota's recommended Top Tier gas though.
And full synthetic (I prefer M1).
+ shorter 5000 mile intervals (I prefer to be conservative).
Originally Posted By: Smokescreen
On a stop/start engine like the Prius I would never use a 10K interval. By the definition in any other gas engine (non-hybrid) frequent engine stop starts = severe service IMO.

I don't buy that. There's no fundamental difference running an engine from 0-to-1000 rpm versus 1000-to-2000 rpm or 2000-to-3000 rpm. As long as the engine is hot when shutoff, it doesn't care if it's spinning 2000 or 1000 or 0.