I called Toyota dealer again. He repeated "It's going to cost a bundle."
This time, however, I asked point blank:
"You keep saying that. But 'Bundle' is a nebulous term. HOW MUCH IS A 'BUNDLE'?"
"Oh, I can't really say....."
"Then give me a ballpark figure!"
"Probably about $3,000. Might be cheaper to get a used low-mileage engine."
"Well, then, I guess I'm not going to get it done, nor am I buying another Toyota. Good bye!"
Don't blame Toyota Corporation for Toyota Dealer incompetence/dishonesty. Call Toyota itself and ask for help.
When you say, Call Toyota itself, where can I find the number? I've e-mailed through the Toyota website, but they just refer me back to the dealer customer service rep at Legacy (Tamara is her name, and she just refers me back to Rob in the Service Center, see above conversation!)
Don't blame Toyota Corporation for Toyota Dealer incompetence/dishonesty. Call Toyota itself and ask for help.
1-800-GO-TOYOTA is the corporate number - they should be able to direct your call to someone at Toyota (non-dealer).
Couple of other posters here have used that number sucessfully wtih handling dealerships that do not honor certain parts under warranty (ex. catalytic converter, vapor canister, EVAP, etc.)
So far I've spoken with four or five people who have had the same problem, and no one was able to have it resolved by Toyota. Even Toyota referred me back to the dealership service dept.
However, I got the problem resolved:
I traded it in on a 2006 Dodge Caravan.
No more Toyota's for me!
Jim
So far I've spoken with four or five people who have had the same problem, and no one was able to have it resolved by Toyota. Even Toyota referred me back to the dealership service dept.However, I got the problem resolved:
I traded it in on a 2006 Dodge Caravan.
No more Toyota's for me!
Jim
IIRC, and I do since I had a Lebaron GTC Convertible, any Chrysler product with a Mitsubishi derived V6 burns oil like it was its only mission in life.
If you're lucky enough to not have that problem you can always look forward to a host of recalls for electrical problems such as the latest recall for faulty airbag sensor wiring harnesses, which involved more than 250,000 Chrysler vans.
I wish you the best with your Chrysler Van, and I sincerely hope that yours is one of the problem free ones.
That V6 problem was solved about a decade ago, for what it's worth, and they don't use Mitsu V6 engines any more. My neighbor had a Caravan for 100,000 miles and replaced - the battery. So I'm not going to start throwing rocks.
I have the same problem as LibraryJim - I have just had the back and forth between the dealer and Toyota customer service line on my 2002 Toyota Corolla CE - I have reported the burning oil problem to my oil change places and my dealer when i took it in for the 60,000 mile check up. They didn't believe me and blamed what they thought was poor maintenance on me. I insisted that I still had an ExtraCare warranty so was wondering why they wouldn't examine this. They put dye in the oil to see about a leak. there was no leak. They found a transmission leak and fixed that - then my car proceeded to burn 3 quarts of oil after a 700 mile drive immediately following the oil change/transmission leak fix.
Turns out I do have sludge in my engine. I was able to give documentation for 7 oil changes since it was new until 64,000 miles (where it is currently) but Toyota Extra Care does not cover engine sludge, evidentally. They denied me before waiting for the receipts that i did have, which appears disingenuous to me.
So, first I wanted to add my experience but second I had a few questions:
1) Are others having similar experiences with this generation corolla? Unsolicited, one of my oil change places mentioned that toyota would settle if i hired a lawyer because they were having these problems with corollas
2) If folks have been able to get ExtraCare to cover this, how many oil change receipts were they able to find?
3) If there are some gaps in my record of oil changes during which time i can prove that i was buying and putting new quarts of oil in my car between changes because oil was burning so quickly, does this new oil act as a sort of oil change? I wondered if i could use this as an argument.
But sadly, I am like LibraryJim in that I won't be getting this fixed on my dime. I bought this car prior to entering a PhD program so that i wouldn't have to worry about car costs while earning only student stipend. Well, this new car didn't last me through graduate school. So, no cash to fix it and no coverage extended to me on my young, lower mileage, extended warranty vehicle. Toyota is doing something wrong. Thanks for any insight that folks could offer!
Oil consumption on the 8th gens - seems to vary wildly. No clear indications if the problem is related to a particular trim, model year, anything. I've heard of some people going through quarts of oil in a matter of hundreds of miles - on others, not a drop of oil consumed.
With my own Toyotas over the past 20 years or so - not a single one had any oil related issues. My current DD, a 2002 Corolla S bought new and with almost 150K miles on the clock - doesn't burn a drop. Cousin has a 1998 Camry that was one of the "sludge" prone ones - no oil consumptions at all and he does conventional oil changes every 7500 miles - 100K on the odo. I used to have the previous generation of Camry to that one - same deal - no problems at all and still running strong with about 180K miles. The latest two vehicles, a 2003 Matrix XRS with 60K and 2001 Corolla LE with 85K - same, no oil consumption at all. Doesn't mean that all Toyotas are flawless - even my 2002 Corolla has EVAP related CELs that pop up every other year or so, just in time for e-check. Just followed normal break-in procedures, ran with conventional dino for first couple of changes and switched to synthetics after that (for improved fuel economy and cold weather startability).
So like they say - your mileage may vary. Some people might have gotten a lemon, some just got unlucky. Hard to say for sure. Might be a function of how the engine was broken in - Mitsubishi EVOs have a reputation for being thirsty for oil unless they were broken in properly. Harder to say for sure on the Corollas - as many of the problem ones were purchased used, and nothing the new owner can do.
Sorry to hear about your oil consumption issue - I feel your pain with dealing with the dealership, had a similar experience with a FoMoCo product (Lincoln) - haven't even set foot on any FoMoCo dealership since.
I had an oil buring issue with my 98 Prizm (Corolla clone). It was the first year for the 1zzfe 1.8L engine and same generation up to and including the 02 models. From what I read online and personal experience, the oil rings on the piston get "stuck" in the piston and allow oil to pass by and burn. See the picture below from my rebuild. I did the repair work myself except for the valve job on the cylinder head and spent about $750. It would be substantially more if you had to pay someone to do it, so I can see how frustrating it is.
https://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h209/rmy...m/engine017.jpg
Saturns are very prone to this too because of stuck oil control rings.
Many owners had luck using Marvel Mystery Oil according to label directions to unstick the rings. Some didn't see a benefit, but worth a shot.
I have posted in the past regarding my ongoing attempts to stop oil from disappearing from my car.
Most recently I tried autorx. In my case it didn't seem to help.
My next thought is to have the "valve stem seals" replaced. I have read somewhere that this is supposed to cost ~ $200 - $300 depending on where you go.
Its a tough issue to diagnose. This is a summary of what I have been told:
1) Some people will tell you to get wet + dry compression tests, others will say this is a waste of money because the problem lies in the oil control rings and not in the piston rings.
2) If you are capable of doing an engine rebuild yourself then that will probably fix the problem and save you money. However, having the rebuild done will not be a good investment since dumping a quart of oil in every couple of hundred miles is cheaper.
3) Getting an engine from a junkyard might be a good option if you can get it installed for cheap. But there's no guarantee it won't have the same set of problems.
4) Leaking valve stem seals can allow oil to be consumed. Replacing them is relatively cheap. might work - might be tossing money away.
5) The CE engine only has 3 speeds. The faster you drive the more oil you will burn. I haven't verified this because I drive in rush hour in light traffic (~60 mph). So I don't know if slowing down will help at all.
I currently lose ~1.33 qt/ 1000 miles. No smoke from the tailpipe. So I could live with it. But it bothers me and I worry that one day the oil consumption will jump and I'll damage the engine. Everything above has been told to me by others online. I'm not an expert on the matter I just ask a lot of questions.
Unless something disasterous occurs suddenly, checking oil at each gas fill should prevent engine damage and keep you well aware of oil consumption trends.
Thanks for all the suggestions - i'll try them and if i find success (or extreme failure) I'll report back
Another thing to try is 15W40 (summer) or 5W40 (winter) universal (gas/diesel; API:SL/CI-4) oil. It will slow the oil loss and potentially clean the engine.
The oil consumption in 1998-2002 Corolla is an example how even the best car maker can screw things up. Too bad it took 4 years to fix the problem (bad rings). The problem was in the entire ZZ-FE family. Lots of cars worldwide. Toyota knew of the problem but refused to help the owners (high cost of recall).
