Losing oil

There seems to be some folks using kreen, sea foam, or marvel mystery oil. Listed in order of strongest first. I'm using mmo right now, on my second oil change. Not sure I've notice much difference yet.

You should also use 5w30 oil.

SM-N900P ?

 

Hmmm.
Utah, huh?

I do not know.
Based on your track record I presume that you've kept up with the oil volume, and since it's a G2 I'm also presuming that you're not into 10K oil change intervals.

Depending on the oil that you're using I'd be tempted to experiment with a reduced amount of Lucas, although I'm not familiar with that flavor. It the oil loss continues or worsens I'd also be tempted to club up on the viscosity if you're currently using one of the designer blends starting with 0.
That's just me, and there are going to be many opinions based on everything from inertia to experience.

You've been around the garage a few times, presumably, and I'm thinking that the NHW11 has loosened up a bit over the last 8 seasons and 200,000 miles....and based on the mileages on the other vehicles in your fleet I'd say that you're on the highway more than you're stuck in B2B traffic.

1500mi/qt is starting to be non-trivial for oil usage.
Presuming again that it's use and not a leak I'd start examining the fuel efficiency as well looking for a drop off, and if you get bored one Saturday afternoon you can yank a plug or two to see if there's any oil fouling.
You can also examine the black art of piston ring soaking and SeaFoaming which are also not usually recommended for this motor, but hey.....you're going to reach a point where it's no great risk to experiment a little......right?
500k is achievable yet.
I've seen people put 100,000 miles on cars that smokes worse than John Wayne used to.
I'd bet on at least getting another 100,000 even if you do nothing more than what you've been doing. Maybe more.

Speaking of which, Utah has a VET as I'm sure that you're aware.
I'm not sure if they exempt Priuses, (some states do....contributing to air pollution and Prius hate! )so you're also going to have to sweat that a little if the oil consumption gets bad enough.
Interestingly enough....Utah also has a "Report a Smoking Vehicle" program (801-851-7608) or Utah County Smoking Vehicle Complaint Form.

Keep an eye on the Rear View Mirror!
You don't want to be that Prius driver!

Good Luck!

 

Same problem, same consumption at your milelage. Have not tried anything other than visiting quality gas stations, and running the hell out of the engine up long mt. grades and 75-80 on the freeway for 2000 miles at at time. the long trips at high rpm has decreased consumtion to 1 qt/3000 miles (500 miles extra per qt. for each trip). And then cosumption increases slowly back to 1 qt/1500miles. I now have 314k miles. Other people show the opposite when driving long trips on the hiway. And I have heard no one getting much improvement with additives, cleaners, or heavier oil. I have used full synthetic 5/30 changed every 10k miles for the whole 10.5 years of use of the car. My daughters courier boyfriend claims 500k miles on 1998 4 cyl. Camray's if he uses dino oil and changes every 5k miles. He claims synthetic oils are no good for seals.

 

SIGH.

"Strongest" in what respect ?
Those all will THIN the oil and make an oil leak worse and not better.

If you think you need thinner oil, the GET thinner oil.

For oil burning/usage in a high mileage engine, you need thicker oil, not thinner.

I suggest that you try a 10W40 "high mileage" oil. It is made for engines with high mileage.
It will help worn seals and pump a little less past worn rings.
If that doesn't work, give up.

P.S. Don't overlook the obvious. Inspect the engine thoroughly for oil leaks too.

Old wives tale/urban legend.

That was true for the first couple of years of initial synthetic oil production.......back about 1970 I think.
It has NOT been true ever since they figured out the problem and fixed it.

 

Is this from all the commercials they run for the high mileage oils?

 

Not necessarily.
If your pistons are wobbling around in the cylinder bore because the rings are excessively worn then you may presume that a slightly thicker oil blend will get by them a little less than oil that's thinner - especially when it's diluted with whatever snake oil that the desperate owner puts into it.
There are rare occasions where you can use something like SeaFoam to do a piston soak---like for a '74 Chevy Suburban with a smoke belching 454. Usually this type of treatment is for bore and ring fouling, but I have heard where Corolla engines have gotten a brief reprieve from the dude with the scythe with this technique.
I would hesitate to add anything to the oil in a Prius, especially one that has already clocked 230 kilomiles....but OTOH there's really nothing to lose.
One thing that I would be tempted to try if you've got a pretty good set of tools and a week or so to deadline the car would be a motorectomy.
Yank an NHW11 of a G2 with fewer miles. They're going for about $500-$700 bucks on eBay.
You only need the bottom end.

 

A motorectomy

I guess that'll be a solution to fix all engine problems........

 

Adding a cleaner such as Seafoam won't hurt the engine, for pete's sake. There is nothing special about the engine that makes it any different from any other combustion engine. If you add it, drive it for a couple of hundred miles, then drain and replace with fresh oil. Seafoam, used in the oil, is great at cleaning out sludge and buildup. It WILL NOT harm the engine. When it is taken in through one of the vacuum lines it is great at cleaning deposits - in the head but also somewhat through the intake/injector. This is typically done in two steps - 1/3 of the can through the vacuum line and the rest in the tank, which cleans the injectors. Anyone who tells your otherwise, well.... Losing a quart in that little mileage isn't going to be helped by a thicker weight oil, treatment, or whatever. As others have said, there are reasons. Is it smoking? If so, when - more at start up or during acceleration? You may need to do a leakdown test.

 

No **I** am not a commercial.
I have no dog in the fight.

Oil useage on high mileage engines usually is about evenly distributed between worn piston rings and worn valve guide seals. The high mileage oil is better at swelling the seals than it is at dealing with the rings.......so it won't be a miracle cure but might cut the consumption about half.......IF part of the problem is the valve guide seals. If ALL the problem is rings shot to hell.......then it won't do much of anything.

It certainly is a better bet than most anything else on the market.
I tried it on two old vehicles.
In one, it made a pronounced difference.
In the other, it did pretty much nothing.

P.S. All of that assumes that the oil is not actually dripping out on the ground because of a bad gasket somewhere.

 

That depends on how much you put in and how long you leave it.......for pete's sake yourself.

Seafoam WILL thin the oil.
That is NOT good for an engine that is already burning oil.
And removing sludge in a high mileage engine might create even more leaks or chunks of it might float around and plug some oil lines.

I'm sorry that I can't share your enthusiasm ........for a product that was originally designed and intended to be a marine fuel stabilizer but then magically somehow gained all these properties that make it good for everything else under the sun.

Most of the "recommended" uses are just simply not necessary.
And done improperly can actually damage an engine that really didn't need anything in the first place.

If you look at the MSD sheets for the Seafoam ingredients they are: naptha (white gas), petroleum distillates (kerosene) and alcohol. Which of those do you REALLY think are good things to be adding to your oil ??

The real answer is: NONE.
Alas you have been taken in by Seafoam's deceptive marketing practices.
Many people have.

 

Apparently you don't read well enough. It's left in for a short period and then drained. And what purpose? You sound like a well-versed individual who has torn many an engine down and should know what it does (or doesn't in your case). So, to sum up for those of us who aren't as well versed in engines as you are, Seafoam is added to oil to clean out sludge, build up, etc. In no way is it to be left in for more than a couple hundred miles. Someone as versed as you should know that. Drain and refill with fresh oil. And those ingredients? Guess what they do to that kind of stuff....that's right, break it down and remove it. Anything could harm the engine, but used correctly (even oil, whatever) it WON"T. My response wasn't to his particular problem but to that of stating that seafoam would harm the engine. I am not taken in by deceptive advertising because I haven't seen any - I get mine from master mechanics, which surely you must be since you are so well versed in engines.

 

Along those lines, reading Popular Mechanics yesterday I see a new additive called XADO Atomic Metal Conditioner with Revitalizant. Of course I am not recommending.

As far as oil loss, I would try the expensive RedLine synthetic if they have 5W-30, also try the Mobil-1 5w_30 High Mileage Formula.


(I agree with Easy Rider, the synthetic lubes long ago solved the seal issue seen back in the early days (1975/76 I'd say).

EDIT: along those "lines"...not along those lies

 

The use of those oils won't help excessive oil comsumption, as the op has. Losing that much oil in such a short time won't be fixed by synthetics or additives.

The op needs to look at the obvious: Piston rings, valves, bad gaskets (has the OP checked the coolant for any signs of an oil leak due to a bad head gasket?), seals, etc. Also, does it smoke any (at start-up or during accleration?). These are things that should be looked at instead of throwing oil with "seal preservers" in it as some on here are so quick to state.

 

Armchair mechanic?

 

Well I just came back from a 500 round trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Having gone a total of 1500 miles since my last oil change (3 quarts 5w30 and 1/2 quart MMO, 2nd time around with the MMO added oil change), I lost a total of slightly less than 1/2 quart. Also during that 1500 I put in new spark plugs and wow did that make a difference. I normally would only average 40mpg on this trip but this time around, my car actually gave me 47 mpg, as indicated on the MFD.

I don't know what's the contributing factors but the spark plugs and MMO sure helped something. Even the oil burning is less and the oil looks really clean after the 1500 miles.

Edit: Oh I also put in new rear shocks during the last 1500 miles.

 

I think those with 20+ years service would qualify. But then again they certainly wouldn't be as versed as some...

 

Great! Now, we have no idea what was that really helped.

 

It would have to be a combination of all the items......but mainly I give credit to the spark plugs. The car is so much more responsive (like a placebo effect with a turbo). The person I purchased it from said they put new plugs in 20,000 miles ago. I have to measure the gaps in those plugs, if they are way off, it's probably the original plugs.