recently I drove non-stop with my gf in my Prius from Arizona to Massachusetts. I checked the oil and we were down over 3 quarts. When I got to Massachusetts, I took it to a dealer and they did an oil change, cleaned the engine and replaced the oils pan gasket. I just hit 6100 miles since that service and I am down 3 quarts again. I was told the car is perfect and I should get well over 200k miles. I am getting nervous there might be something wrong. The oil and filter were really dirty. Should I start changing the oil every 5k? Or maybe just start doing the oil changes myself? I would do them more frequently if I wasn't spending 60 bucks each time..
something is wrong, your car is burning oil. that doesn't mean it won't go 200k without a major problem, but no one can promise you it will either. start checking your oil level in between changes. i would look every 500 miles. if it's okay, try 1,000 miles. once you get comfortable with the amount that is being burned over x miles, you'll know how often it needs to be checked and topped up. no need to change it a 5k, but you may want to check some of the oil burning threads for other problems, like pcv, intake manifold and etc. have you done all the required maintenance through 150,000 miles?
Yup, I do the regular maintence. It just started happening. I have never been down even a little since I owned the car and Toyota went completely though it...
I don't know about the pcv.. Someone said my o rings might be going. But also my driving habits have change. Now I drive 110 miles a day with my heat blaring in 27 degrees..
ya, but they can't really tell anything. you'd have to do some sophisticated testing, and that would be expensive. but here's another possibility; they didn't add enough oil at the last change. best to start tracking it, maybe there's no problem at all. i suppose high speed driving could exacerbate the problem.
What weight oil are you using? Try heavier? You can also go to "high mileage" oil, only thing: I've heard it works by having an additive that causes the rubber valve guides to swell. This helps with sealing, but if you go back reg oil they'll shrink back, and then some. So I guess step one is just heavier oil.
Check your oil at least every 1000 miles. You might need to add a quart but it can run a very long time with that consumption. The 3 qts low you mentioned is very concerning - definitely could have done more damage. iPhone ?
At 150K miles my 2007 started consuming over a quart between oil changes, so I started checking every other gas fill up (800 miles) and adding oil when needed. That kind of consumption is well documented here. If your car survived the very low oil episodes, if your crankshaft and piston rod bearings aren't toast, start checking more often and I personally wouldn't change the interval or oil type. When I change oil, the level is usually just above the low mark on the dipstick and I hardly even get three quarts out of it. I can't imagine being three quarts low.... BTW, you don't want to overfill the oil on these engines, either.
Your first problem is you take the car to the dealer for an oil change. They don't check it before they change it. They use the crappiest dino vat oil. Really bad oil. And since its "dealer maintained" its gives you a nice warm feeling and takes all the responsibility away from you to check the oil once a week. Or maybe never. You never check it. Its dealer maintained. You ran the engine really really low on oil and my money is on you found out about it because the check engine light (no oil pressure sucking air at 75 mph's) came on and you checked the oil. Too late. You burnt the oil rings and now it will be a little oil eating monster. Usually it toasts the bottom end bearings too as the main bearing section and more importantly the cylinder walls and connecting rods are oil splash lubricated. Low oil or no oil no splash. We see this story here hundreds of times. Dealer oil changes are a death sentence for a Prius imho.
