2011 Camry Oil Recommendations

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Hi all,

New user here. Seeking advice for oil viscosities; still trying to understand them.

My car was losing a lot of oil this past month. It probably lost a quart in a couple of hundred miles. The PCV valve, intake gasket and valve cover gasket were all replaced and I have not noticed as much consumption.

My car has over 200k miles, so I know the piston rings are probably worn. While I can't afford new ones, I know that thicker oil can help slow the consumption with the cost of MPG and power.

When I first noticed I was losing oil, I had been using the recommended 0W-20 for my engine. I had just kept topping it off to ensure he wasn't bone dry. When I did my oil change a couple of weeks ago, I switched to 5W-30. It wasn't much help considering that there were leaks and faulty parts contributing to the loss of oil.

When the above PCV Valve and Intake gasket were replaced, oil was topped off with Valvoline Synthetic ML 5W30. The valve cover gasket was done another day, so there was still a leak but the consumption/loss significantly changed. It was still occurring but at a much slower rate.

I plan on topping the oil off since everything has been completed and monitoring the oil usage. The oil level has changed since topping it off the first time since the job wasn't all the way done. I'm hoping that I will see better results now that it is.

If I don't see results, what viscosity can I move to? I was thinking 10W-30 or 10W-40 but wasn't sure which would slow the consumption (I'm by no means car savvy). I live in Kentucky where it almost never gets below 0, and the winter is usually a high of mid 40's F. I was considering adding Lucas Synthetic, but after looking around on here, many don't recommend it. Why do that when I can just get thicker oil, I guess?

What are your suggestions? Others told me to replace the rings, but there is no way I can afford that kind of work.

My engine is the 2.5 AR-FE, not the 2.4 AZ-FE which was prone to excessive oil consumption.
 
Do you have the owners manual? Check for the chart with allowable oil viscosities. I tried Google but couldn't find any. 10w30 may be allowed, if so I'd use that in high mileage synthetic. 0w40 may be okay but probably not recommended in the owners manual.

How much is it actually going through now with the repairs you've done?
 
Originally Posted by caprice_2nv
10w30 may be allowed, if so I'd use that in high mileage synthetic.


That would be my choice too.
 
For now I would use the 10W30 but in semi-synthetic variety. Probably Walmart SuperTech.
This is just in case consumption is still going.
Monitor consumption every gas fill-up.

Let us know on the evolution/results.
 
Sorry to hear about the issue. Is this a new-to-you car? Anything can go wrong, but mine used 0W20 for at least 100k before I started using 5W30. No consumption as I get ready to cross 200k; but mine sees mostly highway type of driving.

I have used 10W30 in mine and no issues to report during those runs.
 
No real answer, but curious what the history of the vehicle was for 200k.

My brother in law has an 11 SE that they use for business delivery. Going over 250k last i looked. Very minimal maintenance and doesn't burn a drop of oil. Shocks and struts are dead, but motor and tranny purrs.
 
Originally Posted by caprice_2nv
Do you have the owners manual? Check for the chart with allowable oil viscosities. I tried Google but couldn't find any. 10w30 may be allowed, if so I'd use that in high mileage synthetic. 0w40 may be okay but probably not recommended in the owners manual.

How much is it actually going through now with the repairs you've done?

I do, but didn't think about browsing in. On another forum, they suggest that a lot of different oils are acceptable. In different countries it uses a different oil because in USA it's oil is apex's to achieve the high EPA MPG estimates. I will look online for those viscosities!
Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
caprice_2nv said:
10w30 may be allowed, if so I'd use that in high mileage synthetic.

Thank you! Will try it out.
Originally Posted by supton
Sorry to hear about the issue. Is this a new-to-you car? Anything can go wrong, but mine used 0W20 for at least 100k before I started using 5W30. No consumption as I get ready to cross 200k; but mine sees mostly highway type of driving.

I have used 10W30 in mine and no issues to report during those runs.

This is a new to me car. Purchased it in September.
Originally Posted by ZebRuaj
No real answer, but curious what the history of the vehicle was for 200k.

My brother in law has an 11 SE that they use for business delivery. Going over 250k last i looked. Very minimal maintenance and doesn't burn a drop of oil. Shocks and struts are dead, but motor and tranny purrs.

I'm not exactly sure. The car was originally a rental car, and the second owners have all the documentation for the oil changes and other services performed. I purchased it with about 197k miles.
 
That's a bummer. Might be worth popping the plugs and checking condition, see if they show signs of oil usage.

Otherwise, 10W30 is fine. Just get out a logbook and record when you add oil, and how much. Brand new Toyota wouldn't do anything for a quart per 1,500 miles (or around that figure); a quart per 1,000 miles is not a big deal, really. Annoying but hardly a big problem.

I'd stick with synthetic but I'm not sure it really matters too much, if it's using oil and getting something like 5k OCI's.
 
Id top up the oil and run a full interval tosee howmuch you are losing still. If you are not losing much during an OCI on 5w30, id stick with that. If you are still losing a good amount, the 10w30HM sounds like a good plan.
 
I know you replaced valve covers and such. I had a cam seal leak on 2 of my cars. Is it possible you have other leaks?
 
you may still have 2 problems: leaks, burns (due to clogs).

one of my last cars went past 200K but had emissions very close to the limits.
I used kreen, marvel, techron, sea foam in oil, gas where reasonable.
this allowed me to rule out internal clogs and build-ups. it took months
but it did reduce emissions and passed.

You could go over the car and tighten all the nuts/bolts where there might be leaks.
while you're at it, wipe down the surfaces. check again later to verify.

adding one quart at a time may or may not change measurable overall consumption
and a full set oil changes will take a long time.

My point is that it might take time to find the solution. I'd do a different weight next
oil change, then a different mix (high mileage oil).

good luck, sounds like a good problem to solve.
 
Originally Posted by Danno
I would use conventional PYB 10W-30, available for a good price and a stout oil.

I've heard mixed opinions about switching back and forth from conventional and synthetic. Like I said, I'm not so far savvy, so will it hurt the engine? Synthetic has been used for almost couple of years the other owners had (per service records). Can you give me a bit more information?
Originally Posted by Gebo
I know you replaced valve covers and such. I had a cam seal leak on 2 of my cars. Is it possible you have other leaks?

I didn't even know I had those leaks. I always expect a leak to leave a puddle where I park, but that's not the case. My oil was leaking from the valve cover and immediately drying/burning on the hot part of the engine. It was basically burned before it could reach the ground.
Originally Posted by supton
That's a bummer. Might be worth popping the plugs and checking condition, see if they show signs of oil usage.

Otherwise, 10W30 is fine. Just get out a logbook and record when you add oil, and how much. Brand new Toyota wouldn't do anything for a quart per 1,500 miles (or around that figure); a quart per 1,000 miles is not a big deal, really. Annoying but hardly a big problem.

I'd stick with synthetic but I'm not sure it really matters too much, if it's using oil and getting something like 5k OCI's.

Spark plugs, right? Can that contribute to burning oil as well? I don't know the last time they were replaced but I had planned to do them soon anyways. I know they help with gas mileage (not that much if I'm going to use thicker oil).

I usually keep a log mentally. I reset my trip odometer after each oil change and just monitor. I probably check my oil every other day just because had I not, I probably would have seized my engine. The first time I checked (almost a month of having the car), the dipstick was bone dry.
 
If the Camry didn't get full synthetic most of its life, why start at 200K? Go with a high mileage synthetic blend in a 10w-30 if the manual allows for it. If not, make it 5w-30. Lots of good high mileage blends out there.

You mentioned spark plugs. At 200K you should be going to your third set of iridium plugs.
 
Originally Posted by NormanBuntz
If the Camry didn't get full synthetic most of its life, why start at 200K? Go with a high mileage synthetic blend in a 10w-30 if the manual allows for it. If not, make it 5w-30. Lots of good high mileage blends out there.

You mentioned spark plugs. At 200K you should be going to your third set of iridium plugs.

My mistake, I use HM Synthetic Blend. I use this oil because that is the oil the previous owners had used, well before the car had 200k. I last used high mileage 5W30 synthetic blend. I'm using 5w30 now, if no improvement, should I up it to 10w-30? I guess I'm under the assumption 10W30 is thicker than 5W30?

As stated before, I got the car shy of 200k miles. I haven't inspected them to see if they had been replaced prior to my purchase— regardless, I was going to change them out
 
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2.5L 2AR-FE was meant for full synthetic per manual 10K OCI. Your car was already messed up from the beginning if they used a conventional or a blend in that engine.
Use full synth 5W-30HM or 0W-40 to reduce future consumption.
 
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Originally Posted by camryrolla
2.5L 2AR-FE was meant for full synthetic per manual 10K OCI. Your car was already messed up from the beginning if they used a conventional or a blend in that engine.
Use full synth 5W-30HM or 0W-40 to reduce future consumption.

Can you screenshot it? The only manuals I'm finding are like how to pop the hood and whatnot. Can't find anything on where it specifies the kind of oil. Thank you. So synthetic blend wasn't what I was supposed to be using?
 
Not using the required full synthetic wouldn't likely hurt if they changed it at 5k miles or less. The 10k recommendation is kind of pushing it in my opinion even with full synthetic, maybe part of why they had issues with oil consumption on some of their engines. But we don't know the first owners oil change intervals do we?
 
Originally Posted by OKTHOM01
Originally Posted by camryrolla
2.5L 2AR-FE was meant for full synthetic per manual 10K OCI. Your car was already messed up from the beginning if they used a conventional or a blend in that engine.
Use full synth 5W-30HM or 0W-40 to reduce future consumption.

Can you screenshot it? The only manuals I'm finding are like how to pop the hood and whatnot. Can't find anything on where it specifies the kind of oil. Thank you. So synthetic blend wasn't what I was supposed to be using?


Any Toyota that called for 0w20 as the recommended grade was supposed to have full synthetic. That's why I'd go to full synthetic now, it may clean out the ring packs over time and reduce the consumption.
 
In Australia for a Camry with the 2.5 Litre 2AR-FE VVT-I engine, you can use 0W20, 5W30, 10W30, 5W40, 10W40 or 15W40

A 10Wx oil is good down to 0F for cold starts.
 
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