What to Replenish for Prius?

[Greg L]

My stash of Smittys is almost out. (4 quarts left)

With the holiday sales and possible Autozone clearances coming up, what would you folks recommend that I replenish my 'stash' with?

I am looking at both 5w30 and 10w30 for my 2007 Prius. It burns through about 1/2 a quart per week.


GL

 

[OneEyeJack]

You should look for a solution to your oil consumption.

Our company Prius, a 2014 has 322K miles and hardly burns any oil at all, maybe the equivalent of a half quart every 1K miles.

We use Mobil 1 5w30 that we buy from Costco but any 5w30 oil should work just fine.

 

[Bgallagher]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
You should look for a solution to your oil consumption.

Our company Prius, a 2014 has 322K miles and hardly burns any oil at all, maybe the equivalent of a half quart every 1K miles.

We use Mobil 1 5w30 that we buy from Costco but any 5w30 oil should work just fine.




+1 Look to fix the issue. 1/2 a quart a week is rather aggressive. Napa syn is 2.99 a quart through 12/31. That is a good deal.

 

[nthach]

I'm experimenting with Castrol Edge HM 5w30 in my parent's 2nd gen to see if it fixes a 1qt/2000K oil issue.

Stick with the 5w30, it does get cold in El Dorado/Placer counties and around Tahoe as well. Don't want to throw any DTCs related to slow cranking.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: Bgallagher
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
You should look for a solution to your oil consumption.

Our company Prius, a 2014 has 322K miles and hardly burns any oil at all, maybe the equivalent of a half quart every 1K miles.

We use Mobil 1 5w30 that we buy from Costco but any 5w30 oil should work just fine.




+1 Look to fix the issue. 1/2 a quart a week is rather aggressive. Napa syn is 2.99 a quart through 12/31. That is a good deal.


I thought I read on this forum that Prius engines have been turning into oil burners? nature of the beast, it seems. Uber low tension rings not lasting? Dunno.

1/2qt per week is annoying but cheap. I'd buy stuff in single quart containers for ease of pouring, preferably with a wide mouth. Probably a cheap(er) synthetic, just 'cuz. That NAPA oil maybe, that sounds like a good deal.

Although... what is 1/2qt per week in miles? 1,000 miles or 100 miles?

 

[69GTX]

AutoZone sales may not pan out this year. I'd keep the 5w30 Pennzoil/QSUD rebate deals open as your back up through year end ($2.59/qt).

 

[krismoriah72]

This..
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Phillips-66-TropArtic-Synthetic-Blend-Motor-Oil-5W30-12-1/36695130

or wait to see what AZ dusts off for us/

 

[addyguy]

That is a lot of oil burning...maybe see if a HM 10W-30 helps?

Or go even thicker in CA?

 

[Toaster_Jer]

Some of the 1.5L use oil thru the valve guides, but can be those rings too. I'd get it checked out. That is alot of oil being used.

 

[Greg L]

"I thought I read on this forum that Prius engines have been turning into oil burners? nature of the beast, it seems. Uber low tension rings not lasting? Dunno.

1/2qt per week is annoying but cheap. I'd buy stuff in single quart containers for ease of pouring, preferably with a wide mouth. Probably a cheap(er) synthetic, just 'cuz. That NAPA oil maybe, that sounds like a good deal.

Although... what is 1/2qt per week in miles? 1,000 miles or 100 miles?"

This is our dilemma for the past year. We commute 80 miles per day, four days a week with mountain and hill driving. So with this motor, I expect to burn some oil. And I do what you mentioned, by just keeping single quarts handy for ease of pouring.

Been using Smitty's High Mileage and it slows the burn...just wondering if a deal on another brand might be worth trying in a stash for next year.

By the way, I never see Trop Arctic out west here in Northern Calif.

 

[jayg]

320 miles a week isn't extreme in the slightest. For you to be burning that much oil in a short time on the 1.5 indicates it's time for some actual mechanical work if you plan on keeping the car.

 

[addyguy]

Just go thick and cheap.

Best bet is probably a 15w40 on sale in pails...buy a pump and transfer to smaller bottles.

 

[Bgallagher]

Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: Bgallagher
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
You should look for a solution to your oil consumption.

Our company Prius, a 2014 has 322K miles and hardly burns any oil at all, maybe the equivalent of a half quart every 1K miles.

We use Mobil 1 5w30 that we buy from Costco but any 5w30 oil should work just fine.




+1 Look to fix the issue. 1/2 a quart a week is rather aggressive. Napa syn is 2.99 a quart through 12/31. That is a good deal.


I thought I read on this forum that Prius engines have been turning into oil burners? nature of the beast, it seems. Uber low tension rings not lasting? Dunno.

1/2qt per week is annoying but cheap. I'd buy stuff in single quart containers for ease of pouring, preferably with a wide mouth. Probably a cheap(er) synthetic, just 'cuz. That NAPA oil maybe, that sounds like a good deal.

Although... what is 1/2qt per week in miles? 1,000 miles or 100 miles?


+1 That is true. I missed the part about it being a prius. Apologies

 

[nthach]

Out of laughs and giggles if the parents hand their Prius down to me, I do want to tear the engine down and if Toyota used low-friction rings on the hybrid 1NZ, replace those with some standard ones.

 

[supton]

qt per 640 miles, starting to get excessive. Although if it has say 200k on the clock I'd ignore it. Assuming everything else has been check (PVC primarily, leaks also). At this level I'd think plug life may start to be impacted (may need to change sooner than recommended due to deposit buildup).

How many miles? I still think I'd run a cheap synthetic and just add once/week, and change at the usual recommended interval.

 

[Greg L]

159k miles.

Checked the plugs 10 months ago & they were fine.

I do need to check the PCV though...

 

[MoreCowbellAz]

I have an 07 Prius as well, and it loves M1 0w30 AFE. They had it on clearance last year Dec clearance at $2 per qt, I'm hoping they do it again this year. Love it.

Those of you with more expertise than I correct me if I'm wrong, but this talk of low tension rings doesn't seem to make sense as a cause for oil usage. Again correct me, but the ring tension isn't what creates the seal, it's the compression stroke that forces the air/fuel mixture behind the rings and presses them against the cylinder wall that creates the seal. Is this not correct?

Anyhow, my Prius has 125k on it and doesn't burn a drop.

 

[rrounds]

If you had gas ported pistons that would be correct for the top ring. But the second ring is the oil control ring, if that one goes bad you can and will get oil consumption.

ROD

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: rrounds
If you had gas ported pistons that would be correct for the top ring. But the second ring is the oil control ring, if that one goes bad you can and will get oil consumption.

ROD


Yep. If the oil control ring fails to do its job (no tension, breakage, or drain holes plugged up), then the top rings get overwhelmed. They don't have very large holes for draining oil (if any at all, since it'd defeat the purpose--supposed to be sealing gas from the crankcase). Too much oil and the rings just ride over the oil. The engine though can be pretty well sealed up, no major power loss due to blowby (perhaps some due to oil burning, depends upon the engine in question).

I suspect that on the downstroke the top rings just ride over the oil, for the most part, as it cannot push a long column of oil (down the length of the piston skirt, lots of drag too). On the upstroke though, the top ring land is usually very short, for emission purposes, and so I suspect any oil that didn't get burned off during combustion will tend to pool around the piston edges, and thus be trapped and eventually burned off. So there is a bit of a one-way path here.