What to do to slow down oil burn? 2010 Prius

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: Trav
It may well have sticky rings, this amount of oil use is not normal at this young age.
Next OC use the cheapest 5w30 you can get and put 3oz per qt of Kreen in the oil. Run it for a 3K OCI in this hybrid.

Because the Prius engine is only in use part time something like ARX will take forever and a few days to work if it ever works at all.
My own experience with this product have been less than positive.

If the rings are sticky Kreen will free them very quickly, guaranteed.

After this run consider PU.



This is the advice I would go with.

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I'm guessing that 0W-20 is as thin as water or maybe even thinner...


20w-50 is thinner than water at operating temp.

 

[jdawg89]

3 quarts dino 20w50 1qt motor honey 1qt stp. LOL just kiddin

 

[KrisZ]

Wait! Am I reading this right? Toyota 0w20, "the nectar of gods", is used exclusiveley in a Prius at a recommended interval and the engine consumes oil? Has BITOG been taken for a ride with all the praise about this oil?

 

[DrDusty86]

guys don't forget the prius motor only runs part time... 1qt/4k on a prius is like 1qt/1500miles on a Honda, Chevy or normal running motor.. IMHO you have a MAJOR problem. On a 5k run my dad's Prius Showed a TBN of 10.2 on M1 EP SM. the motor has only run just a few miles vs my ZX2 that the motor runs full time.

 

[friendly_jacek]

0W20 is supposed to safe fuel and it certainly works as advertised.

Toyota also states that for high speed driving heavier oils provide more protection, this could be one of those cases.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: DrDusty86
guys don't forget the prius motor only runs part time... 1qt/4k on a prius is like 1qt/1500miles on a Honda, Chevy or normal running motor..


Not so if OP is driving mostly Hwy. Part time engine only applies to slow city driving.

 

[Clevy]

Wait! Am I reading this right? Toyota 0w20, "the nectar of gods", is used exclusiveley in a Prius at a recommended interval and the engine consumes oil? Has BITOG been taken for a ride with all the praise about this

Please

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Wait! Am I reading this right? Toyota 0w20, "the nectar of gods", is used exclusiveley in a Prius at a recommended interval and the engine consumes oil? Has BITOG been taken for a ride with all the praise about this oil?


LMAO! Say it ain't so Kris! Et tu, TNoTG?

 

[ottotheclown]

Like everyone says this is not a common trait for this car so gotta find trouble source before you go crazy with a very limited choice of oil. If your car was a 91 Saturn it would be easy to figure out.

 

[tig1]

In 10K OCIs, neither one of my engines use any oil with M1 0-20.

 

[skyship]

Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
0W20 is supposed to safe fuel and it certainly works as advertised.

Toyota also states that for high speed driving heavier oils provide more protection, this could be one of those cases.


Where did Toyota say that, because they are not supposed to make such statements inside US borders as they contradict their recommended oil list?

 

[uart]

Originally Posted By: gregoron

7. Stick to the same grade as per manual and go HM if these do not work.


I should point out that outside North America there generally isn't just the one grade as per the manual. As you can see from the attached scan of my Prius manual, all of those Valvoline recommendations I posted are in fact perfectly aligned with the owners manual recommendations here.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: skyship
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
0W20 is supposed to safe fuel and it certainly works as advertised.

Toyota also states that for high speed driving heavier oils provide more protection, this could be one of those cases.


Where did Toyota say that, because they are not supposed to make such statements inside US borders as they contradict their recommended oil list?


I every recent US toyota car manual.

 

[skyship]

Originally Posted By: uart
Originally Posted By: gregoron

7. Stick to the same grade as per manual and go HM if these do not work.


I should point out that outside North America there generally isn't just the one grade as per the manual. As you can see from the attached scan of my Prius manual, all of those Valvoline recommendations I posted are in fact perfectly aligned with the owners manual recommendations here.

This is the type of graph that should be in every car manual, they used to be included in US owners manuals before the CAFE regs game started, but most of those pages have gone missing from Ford car manuals in particular and been replaced by a single 0 or 5/20 grade recommendation.

 

[buster]

Agree. Reality is, engines can run on multiple viscosities. Always have.

 

[oggb]

Just wanted to add to this - be sure you're not adding *too much* oil.

The older Priuses would apparently gobble up the oil when you over-filled them - many folks over on Prius Chat started under-filling their cars by 0.5qt because of this.

I just did close to 19k on my Prius and I added half a quart at the ~15k mark (I think...) because I forgot that I usually only put 3 quarts in the sump, leaving me below the half-way mark on the dipstick anyhow. I burned almost no oil in 15k miles and your dad's Prius is burning 1 quart every 4500 miles? I'd definitely switch to something heavier. Give 0w-30 or 5w-30 a shot.

 

[xBa380]

As an update... Been running Pennzoil High Mileage 5W30 and the oil burn is the exact same.

PCV valve was replaced, no change.


Dad is really concerned and brings up this issue all the time to me about if he should unload the car. His concern it gets worse and worse over time and needs a new engine and the costs associated with that.

The oil burn tends to be fairly consistent as far as the rate goes.

I may try putting in kreen for a short, 3,000 mile OCI... I have only heard of stuff, not really put much research in it though. Worth a try I suppose. What do you guys think? Where do I purchase it and how much?

 

[xBa380]

I think this will be my plan...

There is about 1,000-1,500 miles left on the current OCI with the Pennzoil 5w30 HM... Only doing a 5,000 OCI.

I am going to stop and get some MMO and top off the current oil level, which is probably 1/2qt low or more. Let it work for the next 1,000-1,500 miles before it is drained.

See if any change happens... If not, I may buy the Kreen and try that at the end of the next oil change (only takes a few months). Go from there I suppose!

 

[The Critic]

It sounds like there isn't a whole lot you can do at this point - the oil selection isn't going to make a big difference.

I would either keep adding oil or trade the car in.

 

[circuitsmith]

Is it still 1qt per 4000 miles?
That's normal, let it go.