Prius 2010 excessive oil consumption

What sorta oil consumption?

 

you can buy a lot of oil for the cost of a new engine block /

BION
StarCaller

 

seem like a more and more common problem think that engine need a better oil than the toyota 0w20

 

"Assuming" everything is as you say...that means 1 liter burned per 600 miles according to Toyota Corporate. For the block and valves to fail said test at that mileage you "almost" certainly had a catastrophic loss of oil quantity/pressure and/or an extreme over-heat event due to lack of fluid/s...which was "likely" caused by poor/no monitoring or mechanical failure. Unless you want to buy a new engine assembly or take a chance with a used one...I would get rid of it. Neither option is cheap when you include installation, so consider "your" big picture.

 

If it's burning that much oil, you probably should get rid of it or get another engine (used)

 

How do you know it was perfectly maintained since you bought it used?

 

welcome to priuschat! details, please!there will have to be massive failures for toyota to do anything. at this point, we don't know if there is a defect, the oil is bad, or how the vehicle has been treated and maintained. you call 51 mpg poor?

 

i'm thinking there will be an avalanche of similar posts coming soon as average 2010 model approaches or exceedes100,000 miles. We should have at least a sticky post with links to useful info. i can work on that if admin promises a sticky, otherwise, that would be a waste of time (because people don't search in this forum).

 

I just changed my oil (DIY) at 91K miles. Didn't notice any loss of oil... Just saying - YMMV

 

Not necessarily. This kind of complaint is becoming alarmingly common, and I see no basis for your assumption that it is not caused by some serious design deficiency in the engine. More data is needed on exactly what the oil-guzzling Prii have in common in their history--- if anything besides design and mileage.

 

Wonder if this is why the previous owner got rid of it

 

While I was very careful with my wording in "all" of post #5, "some serious design deficiency" could be defined as mechanical failure by most lay people and Mechanics. I would leave that Legal Definition to the good graces (sarcasm) of high dollar Corporate and Government Lawyers .

The Prius engine/s are aluminum and thus less little tolerance to oil abuse/neglect and over-heat events. Example: Remember the Vega engine? The Astre was Pontiac's version of the Vega and had essentially the same motor, but with steel cylinder sleeves. The sleeved motors did not have the same mass oil consumption issues the non sleeved version, but were still less tolerant to abuse when they went ≥ 2 qts low.

Time will tell, but my recommendation is what I would do.

 

for the record, prius engine has iron cylinder sleeves/liners. i don't believe there is such a thing as steel cylinder sleeves.

 

What test did they do to come to this diagnoses?
I'm getting near the end of my 120,000 mi warranty and if there is a test, I'd like to have it done before my warranty is over.

New block and valves? Do they actually know what is causing the consumption or just replacing everything that can cause oil loss?

 

we don't even know if there is consumption.

 

I pondered wording when I stated that, so whether the sleeves are straight up iron or another ferrous alloy, the point made is they are not tolerant to abuse or neglect. Case and point: When I had my "Holy Crap" moment at about 100,000 miles, my oil consumption went from not measurable to about 3/4 liter per 5,000 miles. Had I not been anal about religiously monitoring and maintaining my vehicle prior to that, I would likely be be dealing with the same situation many others have reported...as it relates.
Holy Crap | PriusChat

 

it's amazing how those "Holy Crap" moments cluster at about 100,000 miles.
this is what i'm going to do near 100,000 miles (i'm slightly over 70,000 now):
remove/replace spark plugs.
do piston soak over at least a weekend.
drain/replace coolant.
clean the entire EGR system.

 

By "serious design deficiency," I meant any feature or combination of characteristics of the engineering design which causes, directly or indirectly, serious mechanical failure that could not reasonably be expected. For example, high oil consumption by an engine that has never been abused or neglected, especially if it begins abruptly.

The Vega had the ferrous sleeves too, in its final year or two. GM advertised the durability tests prototypes of those sleeved engines supposedly had survived---with very careful attention to maintenance, no doubt.

 

My 2011 with just over 90,000 as i posted is using about 28 ounces , just under a quart at 1,200 miles so it is starting and i check every 2 weeks , prior it did not burn any so as more gen 3's get over 100,000 i think you will start to see oil burn , i'm not saying it will be accessive but as the miles climb it will progress . My 2002 Civic i used synthetic Mobil 1 and let her go at just over 150,000 and it did not burn oil i changed oil and filter every 5,000 .