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High Oil Usage

by alvin, June 25, 2005

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Hi folks,

I have a 2001 Corolla (bought in San Jose, California) with 100K now.

The car runs fine, except that when I took my last road trip (900 Miles, roundtrip)

the engine oil which I got changed just before the trip was all gone when I came back from the trip. The check oil light came on, on my way back.

Not sure, if this is expected from a car with 100K milage on it.

I did drive at 85-90 mph for extended periods during the trip, do you think, that could be the reason ?

There is absolutely no leak, and no other issue with the car.

Anybody noticed this kind of problem with their Corolla ?

Thanks and appreciate the help.

Did you change the oil yourself, dealership/mechanic do the job, or quick lube place. Could it be possible that the oil level was low to start with?

The car will burn oil when driven at high speeds - but not enough to burn off enugh oil to cause a check oil lamp to come on for your given trip.

If the car has not burned any oil before - I would lean to a loose oil drin plug, filter, or cap. High speed - could drip oil out of those area - when cooled, there will be no apparent leak. 8th generation Corollas also had a reputation for leaky valve seals and stuck piston rings - some cases leading to excessive oil consumption.

Kind of hit or miss - seems to plague the earlier models. My car is driven almost all high speed highway miles - but doesn't burn a drop of oil (~110K miles). I run an OEM oil filter, Mobil 1 5w30 synthetic oil, change intervals around 7500 miles - all done by myself. I've seen others run conventional motoer oil with aftermarket filters and 3K oil changes with as many miles as my Corolla - no oil issues with their ride.

Does the car smoke at all? Did you change the oil? Noticed any lagging or reduction in HP? No leaks at all around the engine? If their are no leaks then their should be a butt load of smoke. Depending how many miles you drove. And going 85-90 mph will not hurt the car unless you were in 3rd gear the whole time, LOL. A good way to check if it is burning oil is too take a out one spark plug at a time and look at it to see if there is any oil on it. If there is oil on the end, then the car is burning oil. Now do not be fooled, If there is oil on the threads it could have come from some leak some where else on the engine, but I'm pretty sure you would see it.

Ross_t

Unfortunately this seems to be a common problem on the 1zzfe engine. stuck or sticky rings... Seems to hit around 90k miles. I'm trying a few things in order to reduce oil consumption on my 1998. I plan on trying a flush next oil change. A Bardol additive seems to slow consupmtion for the time being.

Hi Ross,

Can you try the Valvoline max life oil additive? I am not sure we have found something that works, although one post seemed to indicate it helps.

sv11

alvin,

I had a mild oil comsumption problem on my 01. It happened around 50,000 miles. I had the same symtoms: no leaks, no obvious performance problems, no noticeable smoke from the exhaust.

The problem was an o-ring type gasket that seals the valves. For around $100 at the stearlership, the problem was solved.

I have a 2001 Corolla CE, 3-speed, and the oil comsumption for every 3,000 miles is about 1 1/2 quart....it is a bit on the high side, but then, I read that this type of engine typically runs "hotter" than "normal"...thus, the oil comsumption will be high.

- uchok00 default_ph34r

Ross_t

alvin,

I had a mild oil comsumption problem on my 01. It happened around 50,000 miles. I had the same symtoms: no leaks, no obvious performance problems, no noticeable smoke from the exhaust.

The problem was an o-ring type gasket that seals the valves. For around $100 at the stearlership, the problem was solved.

The valve seal oil loss has also been reported as a source of lost oil. I suppose that would be a good starting place.

 

I may try the maxlife stuff next oil change. I'll post my findings.

00, I have no oil consumption with mine in hot texas so you should see if your motor needs repair. my temp guage stays centered in the middle so it doesnt run hot.

Damn....maybe I do have leaks underneath the engine....but I haven't notice any leaks....I'll start paying attention!

- uchok00 default_ph34r

loaded,

This type of engine does run hotter than the typical 4. This is not abnormal just fact, regardless of the temp gauge.

uchok,

I just had to put in a qt after a little over 2,000 miles from the last oil change. If you are doing high speed/hard acceleration and constantly got the tack up you are going to consume oil especially if you got an auto 3 gearbox. I spoke to my mechanic and a qt short is normal for this type of engine. I would check your levels for every 1,000 miles and you should be fine.

kor I never said is doesnt run higher[which doesnt mean hot], I said Ive never had a hot motor or any consumption in my experience. I did with my mr2, it ran higher...and it would get hot when driven hard and the temp guage would climb, unlike my corolla which constantly stays centered. that was a mid engine design though which always runs higher.

with the drive belt wearing out so fast I know engine heat is higher with these. I never had that problem with other make 4's.

korman,

How many miles do you have on your 2000? When did it start consuming oil?

sv11

Around 51,000 or so. I only observe oil consumption when I am driving long distance at high speed. Sometimes I am low, sometimes not. I replace my pcv valve every 3 changes.

Guest scorpionzx1

Hi, I have a 2000 Corolla LE that has very bad piston rings and burns quite a bit of oil, in fact, I am getting an engine swap done very soon to get rid of that problem. It could be piston rings on yours, but also valve seels too. you'll have to perform a compression test to find out exactly which one, cause theres really no other way to be sure. if the car has over 100000 on it, th engine should be broken in already and you shouldn't have to worry much about how hard you drove in on the trip, but I would be concerned about how hard it was driven before you went on the trip, if it was driven hard, you just might have some bad piston rings too. lol.

Since my last post, I've been paying attention to the bottom of my car, and have NOT notice ANY oil leak. There were water, but that was from the air-condition....

Any suggestions?

To recap, my car is a 2001 Corolla CE, 3-speed auto...currently 110,000 miles, I used about 1 1/2 quart of oil every 3,000 miles.

Also, I read it in some repair manual that 2001 Corolla CE, 3-speed auto does NOT have a PCV valve.....I don't know if that's true or not.

- uchok00 default_ph34r

uchok00,

Have you tried the valvoline max life engine protector?

sv11

No, unfortunately, to this date, I'm still using 10W-30 Regular Dino oil........Chevron, Pennzoil, Castro GTX, etc, etc.......

- uchok00 default_ph34r

Also, I read it in some repair manual that 2001 Corolla CE, 3-speed auto does NOT have a PCV valve.....I don't know if that's true or not.

Pretty hard to believe if it true - PCV should be on there regardless of transmission type.

 

Did you ever get a chance to get your oil tested for fuel dilution, water contamination, etc?

1.5qts per 3K miles is bit high for my tastes. sv11 has a good point of trying out a semisynthetic or synthetic motor oil to see what happens. I would suggest some heavier oil - but 10w30 is plenty thick enough.

I think the valvoline stuff is an add-on to the oil.

sv11

I've been wanting to do an UOA on my car. But I don't know where I can do it. Also, I've been hearing about this Auto-RX from Bobtheoilguy......

I've been wanting to try it...but I'm afraid that it might make my car leak "more" oil, since it is designed to clean up the engine, and because of that, those "contaminates" which plugged up the holes, leaks, will be gone, and thus, the car will leak more....Of course, I'm assuming that I do have holes and leaks in my engine parts.

- uchok00 default_ph34r

I use Blackstone Labs to do my UOA - http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

You can request mailers to be sent to you - they give you two plastic containers for used oil - you just pay for the service (~$20) and shipping. They usually send results in a few days - email you a copy of the results in a PDF file if you request that.

Auto-Rx ,may or may not cause you car to leak - some have used it to fix leaks. I would rather use a semi synthetic motor oil first - before I'd pour any additive into the engine.

Hi folks,

I have a 2001 Corolla (bought in San Jose, California) with 100K now.

The car runs fine, except that when I took my last road trip (900 Miles, roundtrip)

the engine oil which I got changed just before the trip was all gone when I came back from the trip. The check oil light came on, on my way back.

Not sure, if this is expected from a car with 100K milage on it.

I did drive at 85-90 mph for extended periods during the trip, do you think, that could be the reason ?

There is absolutely no leak, and no other issue with the car.

Anybody noticed this kind of problem with their Corolla ?

Thanks and appreciate the help.

Thanks to all for replying to my message and sharing such wonderful info, you guys are amazing!!

 

Now, regarding my car:

I got another oil change, (4 qt. of regular oil). The oil level on the dip-stick was slightly above the Max mark right after the oil chance.

Drove for 2,200 miles, mostly highway miles with speed below 65-70 MPH and no A/C.

Checked the oil regularly, today i.e. after driving 2,200 Miles, the oil level is still above the Min. mark on the dip-stick. I think my car already burned about 2 Qt. of oil (I am getting another oil change tomorrow and may be add some oil-additive like Lucas??)

Again: there is no leak, no smoke, nothing.

What do you guys think, is it normal for a Corolla with 100K miles on it to burn this amount of Oil and I need not worry about it or I need to do something.

I think the rate of oil burn in my car is directly proportional to the speed at which it is driven, the higher the speed the faster it burns the oil.

It is possible that, It might not burn any oil at all, if I drive at let’s say 35 MPH.

What do you guys think, suggest?

Thanks again for the help.

According to Toyota, you can burn upto 1 quart every 1200 miles and that would be ok. But I am not sure what effect it will have on the emissions system, like the catalytic converter. Some of the 98-02 corollas developed stuck piston rings. I believe it happens more often if driven at highway speeds. You could try the valvoline maxlife engine protector http://www.valvoline.com/pages/products/pr....asp?product=93

Also the difference between the max and min lines on the dipstick is 1.4 quarts. Also measure the oil level after the engine has cooled down.

sv11



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