Excessive Oil: *PLEASE* do report! Instructions from Toyota here

I had a Toyota tech come to my house last year. He was working a second job swapping out HV batteries. After he was done swapping out my gf's hv battery I asked him about my gen 3's oil consumption. Without hesitation he said it was the Piston rings causing the consumption. He said that it was a known issue among the gen 3's. Toyota knows about this problem. They, along with most corporations, are only concerned with their bottom line.

Pink Floyd said it best:
'Money! It's a gas! Grab that cash with both hands. And make a stash. New car, caviar...'

 

Wow.
I never saw that T-SB before.

Toyota is clearly saying : "Some 2010 – 2014 model year Prius, Prius V, and Prius PHV vehicles equipped with 2ZR-FXE engines may exhibit engine oil consumption. The piston and ring assembly has been redesigned to minimize oil consumption."

But then what is frustrating is limiting warranty coverage 5 years and 60,000 miles or less. Especially since it seems the problem usually doesn't manifest until way past that mark. They even provide a VIN # range, so clearly they know what vehicles have been built with this flaw.
IMO...if you're admitting the piston and ring assembly has been redesigned, then you should allow for a bigger window of warranty replacement. Faulty design is faulty design.

IMO this should be a recall, and everyone that falls within that VIN range, should have the opportunity to get the updated and redesigned piston and ring assembly.
They aren't magically bad...below 60,000 miles then magically OK once past.

 

Hey, Catch 22.

To be fair, if they fail the oil consumption test. Or is it "pass it"?

 

@MrPete

Thanks for starting this thread. I've been beating this drum for over a year. I had the oil consumption test done at my dealer in August -- 2 quarts in 1300 miles. (I already knew that since I had been tracking it since about 90K miles) At the time I took it in for the test, the car had about 120K miles, so I knew I was way outside the 60K mile powertrain warranty. I just wanted it documented for future claims. The dealer gave me a copy of the TSB and the contact info for Toyota -- both of which I already had -- but it was a nice gesture from a dealer with whom I had no previous relationship.

I've mentioned this in other threads, and I'll bring it up again here. There is a precedent with Toyota for this. They had this exact same problem in the mid-2000s with their 4 cylinder engines in Camrys, Corolla, Rav4s & Matrix. They issued a TSB that addressed the oil consuption test and the remedy. It was fully covered under the 60K mile powertrain warranty. But when the out-of-warranty claims kept adding up, someone intiated a class actions law suit. I don't know if the suit went to trial or was settled out of court, but the result was that the warranty (or service program) was extended to 150K miles or 10 years from the date the car was put in service.

Fast forward to the oil consumption problem with the Prius. The problem is identified. A TSB is issued to cover the problem within the 60K mile powertrain warranty. The test is the same. The remedy is the same.

To all who are reading this, PLEASE:

If you have one of the following vehicles, and you are experiencing oil consumption. Contact Toyota using the info in the original post of this thread and get it on the record.

2010, 2012-2014 Prius PHV (Plug-In)
2012-2014 Prius V
2010-2014 Prius

 

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Explain please.

 

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I think so.
If there is LESS friction, why do things wear out FASTER ??

 

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The problem with these engine is well documented by Toyota, and it's not that the cylinder walls or rings are worn out. The problem is that oil ring and the valley it sits in are designed so that they don't drain properly, then coke up and stick. The remedy outlined in the TSB doesn't call for resurfacing the cylinder walls, just replacing the pistons and rings.
The shade tree fix doesn't even involve that. It's just cleaning the existing rings and pistons, then drilling more drain holes in the oil ring valley.

 

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I called in today. Toyota said they were not aware of the problem. When I asked about why they issued the TSB, I was told my call would be elevated to the next level. 143K miles 2014 Prius V. Dealer knew of the problem and said about $6K to rebuild engine to fix. Losing 5 quarts at least between changes. My oil light came on last oil change, when I changed the oil there was no oil (really just a few drops in the pan). Then I realized something is wrong. No I am having to add a quart often. about 1 quart every 1000 miles.

Also, I am curious why my light low oil light didnt come on sooner. There was no oil b4 my light came on.

This is my 4th Toyota. With all the quality issues of recent and now this, I can buy a kia and save a few bucks since Toyota premium quality does not exist anymore.

 

Say what you want about Hyundai/Kia but we have two ( 2012 Sonata and 2013 Elantra GT ) and they have been wonderful vehicles. Hyundai also handled their Sonata engine fiasco favorably. They have replaced many, many engines. Of course, Hyundai's problem is far different than an oil consumption issue because of the fear of engine seize while driving. However, at least they owned up to it without too much of an issue.

Come to think of it...Toyota's oil consumption issue can certainly cause an engine to seize too....if the engine runs out of oil! Kind of odd this isn't taken more seriously by the feds, etc...

 

It's not oil level, just oil pressure, and from all reports comes on too late.

 

Low oil light doesn’t exist in these vehicles. Like Mendel said it’s low oil pressure indicator. When you see that light on the dash, save up for engine replacement or car soon.

 

Think I will trade it in for a different brand used car at a toyota dealer.

 

I have to keep buying 5L oil jugs from amazon and adding every 1K mile or so because of this nightmare. And i brought this up to the dealer and they have no knowledge of this being a problem. This is bad.

 

They probably are lying.
BUT......even if you assume that Toyota HAS figured out what causes the problem WITH ONLY SOME VINTAGES OF ENGINES......as would be evidenced by the "service bulletin".....AND....you realize that the problem only occurs a LONG time after the warranty on the engine has expired.......what do you expect ANYBODY to do for you.

The "fix" in the service bulletin amounts to a complete engine rebuild....almost.
The only practical solution is finding a used engine that is still in good shape.......or trading it in for a different car.

After a warranty expires, there IS NO WARRANTY.

 

If they don't know about it, shame on them... they should.
Look at post #4 in this thread by @Mendel Leisk. He included pdf files of the Technical Service Bulletin issued by Toyota that covers the following models & years:
2010, 2012 - 2014 Prius PHV
2012 - 2014 Prius V
2010 - 2014 Prius
That's all Prius vehicles sold for a 5 year period from 2010 through 2014 -- with the odd exception of 2011 Plug-In. (was the PruisPlug-In not sold in 2011?) You shouldn't even have to print out the TSB. Just copy down the number and give it to them. They'll look it up in their computer.
The TSB points out the problem and the solution. The repair is covered under Toyota's 60K mile warranty. I presume your 2010 has more than 60K miles as most now do. The point of this thread is to get people to contact Toyota and make the complaint. Toyota can't possbily know how wide spread the problem is if no one tells them about it. Is Toyota going to do anything about it? I don't know... and neither does anyone else. But the hope is that they will take similar action as they did when they had the same problem with their 4 cylinder engines in Camrys, RAV4s, and Corollas. (See my post above - #24)

 

I just had a dealer oil change on valentines day and i just checked my fluids (Monday 2.18) and i'm already down 1/4 of oil on the dipstick from driving 600 miles...this is crazy.