Priuv V using oil, advice needed

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This is a real disappointment as the 2000 Honda Civic we replaced with the prius V had 325000 miles on it and used 0 oil between 10K changes.
 
Originally Posted by zstand
... Unless of course they have fixed the ring problem by 2017.
They claim it was fixed in 2015. See the relevant TSB.
 
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It is entirely possible the problem is unrelated to previous Prius problems with rings.

We just changed the LH engine on our G550 Gulfstream jet. Before we changed the engine, we made darn sure there was not something simple causing the problem. The $30,000 worth of troubleshooting was able to ensure we were not making a $4,000,000 mistake.

The bottom line is to do the research, troubleshoot the best you can, including compression and leakdown compression checks, Prius chat forums and try a few fixes. That will give you a more clear picture as to the problem while only spending a little. With some luck the problem will be unrelated to rings.

I was simply making a guess based on past history.

Even so, "I feel" a more viscous oil would be part of the troubleshooting and would provide data. It's cheap harmless and easy.
 
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Sound advice Cujet. I have 2 jugs of mobil 0W40 in the garage. Would this provide a good test regarding higher viscosity oil?

I plan on changing the oil and filter tomorrow and I have the following supplied to choose from:

- Toyota 0w20
- PP 0w20
- PP HM 0w20
- M1 EP 5w30
-M1 0w40
-LE monolec 10w30 (semi-syn hdeo type oil)

I also have a Toyota OEM filter or a Fram Ultra in case I want yo go 20k oci. I will use whichever one I don't use on my next '17 Prius change.

I will admit to being a little overwhelmed with what to go with.
 
Check the PCV and it's connection pipe for carbon build up. If that's not the problem (which I believe it is) change the oil to synthetic 5-30 and change the oil filter every 10k and just keep adding oil. Your doing a full oil change every 8k.
 
Originally Posted by zstand
Sound advice Cujet. I have 2 jugs of mobil 0W40 in the garage. Would this provide a good test regarding higher viscosity oil?

I will admit to being a little overwhelmed with what to go with.


Sure, why not? The PCV advice is also good. Cheap and easy. I'm not at all sure there is any "right" way to go about experimenting with this, or any "right" oil to try first.

Any sort of proper testing is often done in a very methodical fashion. Unfortunately, one could rack up an additional 100K miles before stumbling on a solution. In this case, I'm not afraid to say it's OK to try multiple things at the same time. If you make 3 changes and nothing helps, you've learned something.

What you learn may be that it's a good time to sell. Or that the problem is not all that severe and is easily managed.
 
Well, just changed the oil & filter tonight. Went with PP HM 0w20 and Fram Ultra. My plan is to do the PCV valve this week and see what happens. If the pcv change doesn't slow down oil consumption, I am going to go 20k oci, then change the filter only. Plan on sticking with 0w20 for now, but may start adding some 0w40 as the weather warms up this spring.

I thought I'd throw a pic of the car up. It is a pretty good car other than this frustrating oil useage. I appreciate all the BITOG advice!

20181202_173457.jpg


20181202_173625.jpg
 
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Originally Posted by zstand
I am going to go 20k oci, then change the filter only.

Unless you run the PAO-based Mobil 1 EP, Amsoil Signature Series, etc., that OCI is way too long for a GTL or Group III. Don't do it.
 
Changing the PCV is always a popular suggestion, and relatively easy, but has never cured coked rings---or worn rings either.
 
Originally Posted by zstand
Even adding a quart every 2k?

That's about average consumption for high-mileage cars. The cooked oil and acids produced aren't going anywhere when you add the makeup oil.
 
Originally Posted by zstand
So what cures coked rings?
Tough question! I don't know of an easy, cheap, reliable cure. The cure described in Toyota's relevant TSB (i.e., replacing the rings with updated ones) is a very expensive one, if they don't cover it. Perhaps one of the solvent treatments a few people recommended in this thread will work, if you're lucky.
 
Originally Posted by zstand
So what cures coked rings?

You don't know if you have coked rings but there is a special PAO/POE/AN oil called Valvoline Restore that cleans them in one OCI, available only at Cummins dealers and truck stops.
 
Originally Posted by Gokhan
... The cooked oil and acids produced aren't going anywhere when you add the makeup oil.
Your logic is defective.
Contaminants that are well-mixed in the oil go away along with the oil that goes away. In an oil-burner getting regular make-up oil when needed, eventually the level of contamination therefore reaches an equilibrium. If you make a few reasonable assumptions and do the math, you can calculate that level, as compared to the peak level of contamination in a non-burner getting regular changes.
 
Originally Posted by zstand
Man this is more serious than I thought. I was hoping I could just keeping adding cheap oil and still get 300,000 miles out of it. Sounds like I may need to rethink this. Another weird thing is that my wife reports her mpg's have gone down significantly (5-8 mpg or so).


A MPG drop can be battery related or you are nearing the end of your current head gasket.

Better clean and get a catch can ready

Hundreds of threads on this subject
https://priuschat.com/threads/is-head-gasket-failure-common-in-gen-3.201596/


And Your stock of 0w20 is fine, just top off with something heavier (preferably of the same brand/type) and your consumption will drop when you top off 10/15w30/40 works well as a top off oil.
 
Originally Posted by CR94
Originally Posted by Gokhan
... The cooked oil and acids produced aren't going anywhere when you add the makeup oil.

Your logic is defective.
Contaminants that are well-mixed in the oil go away along with the oil that goes away. In an oil-burner getting regular make-up oil when needed, eventually the level of contamination therefore reaches an equilibrium. If you make a few reasonable assumptions and do the math, you can calculate that level, as compared to the peak level of contamination in a non-burner getting regular changes.

I see your point. If you do the math (geometric series), the cutoff for never requiring an oil change comes to about 8.5% of the sump per 10% of OCI. So, that's about 0.85 quarts per 2,000 miles in your case and you're slightly over that.

However, this is all idealized and I doubt you can rely on it in practice.
 
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