Excessive oil consumption?

[JudgeM]

Hi All,

I have a '06 Toyota Blade with 2AZ-FE engine.
Its been less than year since owning it and I've noticed it likes to drink oil.
I see about 2 liters go every 5000km. I spoke to my mechanic and he says its a common problem with this car.

I know North America had some issues with 2AZ-FE however I believe that other regions weren't affected.

My mileage is about 95000km so its not heavily used car, my Vitz was 120000km and didn't burn any oil. Condition of the engine and car upon buying it was excellent, it went for an appraisal and inspection. Compression test all good.

From what I understand, if compression is good, piston rings shouldn't be the issue. I suspect valve stem seals. I changed my spark plugs recently, they were dirty I would say oily and sooty.

Anyway I can test/confirm its valve stem seals, if so whats involved in repairing it ?

[tmontague]

first thing to check is your PCV valve to see if its clogged. If it is this will cause excessive oil consumption and it the easiest/cheapest thing to check so that that first.

If that isn't the problem then yes it could be the valve seals and they can be replaced by leaving the head on the engine if you purchase the proper tool. This will save you a lot of time since you won't have to remove the head.

You can test if it's the rings vs the valve seal by doing a compression test and then adding oil into the spark plug holes and re testing. If the compression increases then your rings are worn. If not then it's likely the valve seals

[JudgeM]

first thing to check is your PCV valve to see if its clogged. If it is this will cause excessive oil consumption and it the easiest/cheapest thing to check so that that first.


I checked the PCV valve last time and here's what I found:

PCV was quite oily but it passed blow and suck test.

To check vacuum pressure was ok, I disconnected the vacuum hose from the PCV while engine running. Engine immediately started to shudder and nearly stalled. Is that normal ?


Thanks for the info. If its not PCV then I will ask my mechanic to do test to check valve stem seals.

[ncp13]

Sticking oil control rings from soot and lack of vent holes on piston .
It wont cause lack of compression because the compression rings are fine.
Try a flush with better quality oil and see it it helps.

[Exiwolfman]

2AZ-FE....oil burners period , a recall is in effect in Canada , new piston rings ..but from what i hear it dont help...just a bad engine .

[JudgeM]

Sticking oil control rings from soot and lack of vent holes on piston .
It wont cause lack of compression because the compression rings are fine.
Try a flush with better quality oil and see it it helps.

Oh I forgot to mention, that's what my Mechanic said that next oil change I should use 10w30. It had 10w40 before. I just did a oil change recently, will monitor the consumption.

[ncp13]

Thin good quality synthetic will help flush out gunk .

[Lux]

2AZ-FE engines are affected by Toyota's oil consumption mitigation campaign ZE7. Repairs under warranty would include new pistons of an updated design, piston rings of an updated design, wrist pins, and rod bearings if needed. The whole engine is then reassembled with new gaskets included in the overhaul kit.

The root cause of the campaign is not so much the engine design as it is the combination of excessively prolonged oil change intervals and poor oil quality. Non-synthetic oil will break down and deposit itself in the ring land vents, inhibiting the piston's oil control ring from correctly scavenging oil from the cylinder walls on the down stroke. The oil remnants are then combusted with the air-fuel mixture.

The superceded piston ring lands and oil control rings are a newer design to resist future occurrences. Serious crankshaft damage from wiped rod bearings has never happened because the AZ crankshaft is forged steel. Cylinders are a robust ductile iron, but inspection of the cylinder walls is done to ensure oil starvation has not scored the walls.

Valve seal replacement is an involved process and is an additional customer-pay option, not covered under the campaign.

http://i63.tinypic.com/34z0jf9.jpg

[zoidberg444]

I'm sure i remember seeing something that some of these engines had issues with the threads stripping in the block and suffering head gasket failure as a result and requiring thread inserts to fix it. Sounds like it was just a bad engine.

[JudgeM]

As far as I can gather from my research, North American 2AZs are affected. Rest of world fine, I haven't heard anything here about other 2AZs having issues.

I wonder whether it is an issue with Blade 2AZs because my mechanic said all Blades have this issue.

I came across some more information saying how valve stems are also a known issue in this engine.

Its been about 3000km since I switched to synthetic 10w30 , and more than half the oil is gone :mad:

I might go down to Toyota and ask them their advice on this.

I really like the car and don't mind spending a bit to fix this , but if I need an engine rebuild then screw that I will just pretend its a 2 stroke.