80,000 miles and using a little oil

[bankrobber]

I have been running full synthetic Mobil 1 and I just checked my oil and it is 1/2 quart down. I have never noticed it down before. I am at 5,600 miles on oil. I changed filter probably 1,500 miles ago and topped it off with oil. I have been changing around 7,500 miles. Is that too many miles for Mobil 1?
I am thinking of going back to convential oil and changing every 3K What do you think?
Anybody else use any oil between changes

[RedRide]

Oh boy, an open can of worms! :biggrin:

[SilverBack]

7500 miles?! I can see why you're burning so much oil. 5K is when you need to change conventional (or at least check if running synthetic)

[bankrobber]

7500 miles?! I can see why you're burning so much oil. 5K is when you need to change conventional (or at least check if running synthetic)

I am running full synthetic Mobil 1

[127.0.0.1]

don't worry about it.

[yaris-me]

Why aren't you doing what Toyota recommends? Someone tried to convince me to change oil filter every 2000 miles and oil when it gets black. This sound about the same as you're doing. Now you're wondering if some thing is wrong. Yes, something is wrong. Go to Toyota and explain what you're doing.

[POORSHA]

here we go again

[bankrobber]

Why aren't you doing what Toyota recommends? Someone tried to convince me to change oil filter every 2000 miles and oil when it gets black. This sound about the same as you're doing. Now you're wondering if some thing is wrong. Yes, something is wrong. Go to Toyota and explain what you're doing.

Great answer, thanks moron

[JBIZZ]

Its normal for these motors to burn a little oil according to the driver's manual.

[Hershey]

you could gradually go back to a conventional oil . Use a synthetic blend for next oil change ( ex. : MOTORCRAFT 5w-30 syn-blend , 40% syn , $2.75 a qt. at WAL-MART ) for 5,000 miles . Then go to a all conventional oil . After using a conventional oil for the 70,000 miles I decided to put synthetic in a 2000 COROLLA for few oil changes and it started to consume oil . So I went to syn-blend and finally to regular oil where it stopped burning oil after a few conventional O.C.s . Crazy but true . It's no :bs: . Results may vary :wink: .

[jambo101]

Traded a Toyota Echo last year with close to 200k,changed oil at 7500 mile intervals and always used mobil1,,when i sold it the car was losing insignificant amounts of oil between oil changes(half quart).Synthetic oil can easily accommodate the 7500 mile interval, I wouldnt worry about half a quart between oil changes when it gets to a quart or more try a heavier weight oil like 30 or 40w,
What oil weight are you using at the moment?

[Reddog99]

It's possible that you just didn't get the level perfectly full the last time you worked on it, so maybe it hasn't actually used any oil. In any case, I wouldn't get too concerned until you have noticed a definite pattern of usage. Unless something has broken, engines won't just suddenly start using oil and 80,000 isn't many miles. Just keep an eye on it to establish a pattern and maybe check for a leak.

As far as your change intervals go, I'd keep doing what you are doing. I've been using Mobil 1 since the seventies in cars & motorcycles and regularly go 10,000 mi. between changes. I've had the oil analyzed afterwards to be sure I wasn't doing harm to the engine, and the results always came back that the oil & engine were in very good condition.

[UTVitz]

I wouldn't go back to conventional at this point unless it starts using a lot of oil and even then switch to a semi-synthetic, not conventional. I'm at 35K miles running Red Line and I'm usually down a maybe 1/3 a quart after 5000 miles. Just keep an eye on it from time to time between changes.

[Happy Little Pony]

Are you absolutely sure you aren't leaking a little somewhere? You might not notice a few drops a day, but that could easily amount to 16 ounces over the course of several weeks.

In any case, it probably isn't the brand or type of oil that's the problem.

[R2D2]

Bankrobber,

If this is a "sudden" development I would do as advised and check for leaks. I too am curious since the filter was changed 1500 mi ago did you check the oil after running the engine ? Sometimes people forget the newly installed filter is empty until the engine is run for a few seconds..

I wouldn't worry about consumption until it establishes itself as a pattern and wouldn't use that alone as a reason to switch to conventional.

R2

[SilverGlow]

1. It is not normal for an engine to burn so much oil under 100,000 miles.

2. Car makers tell you it's normal so that this advise hides the manufacturing flaws of their engine.

3. I have 81,000 miles on my Yaris and it don't burn. There are other that have close to double the milage your car has and they don't burn oil.

4. Your oil burn issue has nothing to do with running Mobile1 nor running it 7,500 miles.

5. The cause is either that you drive the sheet out of your car on a normal/daily basis, or your engine has manufacturing flaws.

I've put 150,000 miles on many Honda's and Toyota's and none of them ever burned oil.

In Europe most new cars (Toyotas too) have 10,000 mile oil change recommendations, so your issue is not that you ran the excellent Mobil1 too long.

Lastly, stop with this early oil change BS....it's stupid...nothing personal, but it is.

Your car has a faulty engine, or you're thrasing the hell out of it too much...it should not burn oil so early in it's life. To slow down the oil burn run HM oil and perhaps a 0w-40 might help too.

[SilverGlow]

you could gradually go back to a conventional oil . Use a synthetic blend for next oil change ( ex. : MOTORCRAFT 5w-30 syn-blend , 40% syn , $2.75 a qt. at WAL-MART ) for 5,000 miles . Then go to a all conventional oil . After using a conventional oil for the 70,000 miles I decided to put synthetic in a 2000 COROLLA for few oil changes and it started to consume oil . So I went to syn-blend and finally to regular oil where it stopped burning oil after a few conventional O.C.s . Crazy but true . It's no :bs: . Results may vary :wink: .

This is complete mythology...no basis for this old wive's tail....he can go to synth or to dino immediately with no issues....

[Hershey]

agree instead of weaning it back just go straight to dino. No harm done.

[127.0.0.1]

agree instead of weaning it back just go straight to dino. No harm done.

this ^^ makes no sense also. just use whatever oil meets the specification
on the owners manual. sheesh. swap back and forth... it doesn't matter.
stick with synthetic who cares ? --that is not your oil loss--. the fix doesn't come
in a can no matter what the root cause will turn out to be.

just keep an eye on the level. that is all.


---->if it really loses oil



climb under, check for obvious leaks
park it on newspaper, look for drips in the morning

go get it to a shop and:
compression tested (head gasket-rings check)
have oil analyzed for metals, coolant (head gasket check)
have coolant analyzed for oil or exhaust (head gasket check)



if you rev it a lot, drive hard...these 4 bangers lose oil via pcv misting
and this will continue to increase as the engine gets older, but not by much
if it is maintained well. high rpm's will eat oil this way


there is a lot of bad advice in this thread btw...but not in my post

[Hershey]

results may vary . :wink:

[127.0.0.1]

results may vary . :wink:

well , absolutely, yes

modern engines and seals... they use do not react to conventional
oil any different than synthetics. it is designed with the expectation
that conventional or synthetics or a combination will be used.

it isn't using 1960's rubber seals any more. as long as the lube meets
the viscosity, pressure, detergent and shear requirement... it is good.

[robkay]

Sometimes people forget the newly installed filter is empty until the engine is run for a few seconds..R2

This could very well be the issue. You remove a filter and you are also removing a filter's worth of oil.

Don't forget to "read the driveway." Do you ever find oil spots underneath your car? If in your own garage/driveway that is a sign of a leak. Are you sure you are torquing the filter and drain plug properly so that they are not dripping?

Also--I was personally told by Toyota (factory tech support, not a dealer) that after switching to synthetic they do not want you to go back to dino. I don't know what the reason is, but this is what I was told.

[bankrobber]

This could very well be the issue. You remove a filter and you are also removing a filter's worth of oil.

Don't forget to "read the driveway." Do you ever find oil spots underneath your car? If in your own garage/driveway that is a sign of a leak. Are you sure you are torquing the filter and drain plug properly so that they are not dripping?

Also--I was personally told by Toyota (factory tech support, not a dealer) that after switching to synthetic they do not want you to go back to dino. I don't know what the reason is, but this is what I was told.

I filled the filter before installing it. I always take 10 minutes to pour the oil in till it has completly soaked up all the oil. No oil spots in garage either:iono:

[R2D2]

If this is the first time you noticed the consumption and there are no leaks just keep an eye on it and see if it continues to use oil. I wouldn't change anything just yet.

R2