Love this car and has high miles (280K) but never any issues till past few months. It is going through oil like gas. Can not find any leaks. It burns a quart on long drives (2-3 hours) which I do on a regular basis. If I keep my foot out of it and drive between 70-75 it is fine but when I drive over 75 it will burn through oil quickly. Any ideas or thoughts to start with? I have tried adding Lucas Oil stabilizer and it seems to help a little bit but not long term.
have you considered a heavier oil? if it doesn't burn oil at 75, a small change may make a big difference.
I second bisco's suggestion; try a heavier oil - I'd say 5w 30 at least. By the way, I'm curious; where on earth can you cruise along at 80mph legally for a 3 hour stretch? Maximum speed on UK motorways is 70mph, and to be honest, I normally cruise at 70mph indicated max....which equates to a GPS speed of 65mph on my Prius. That way, I save fuel and reduce stresses on the Atkinson cycle power plant. And I'm very rarely on a motorway too. Perhaps once every 6 months. You're also very brave; 80mph in a Prius II with 280k on the clock?!! Mind you, that's a testimony to the inbuilt reliability of that particular model which was truly over engineered by Toyota! My 2008 Prius just crossed the 93,000 mile mark - looks like mine will last forever at this rate! SM-G900F ?
Thank you. I currently use 5w30 but will try a heavier one and see what happens. I drive on a interstate area that there are very little police monitoring. It is busy but as said just very little monitoring if any at all and I am going slow compared to the others so I would be last one to get pulled over I get passed as I am sitting still going 80
It's time for an engine swap or rebuild. I'm getting ready to rebuild the motor I pulled from my wife's 08 with 240k. I dropped a motor and transmission set in hers with 114k and so far so good. The motor in my 05 is out of an 09 with only 113k on it now, and it's been using a little oil for the last 15k miles.
My sister has a 2005 with over 300k on the clock. She runs over a mountain pass and cruises around 80 mph for two hours each way, every week or so. Her car consumes almost as much as yours. She checks the oil at the gasoline station. She lives on top of a steep mountain too! All that to say, her poor little Prius has a rough life and gets in the mid to low 30 mpg range.
I think Toyota should do something to solve that problem. I'm not used to Toyotas using oil, even at 100k. Everything wears with time, but I've come to expect a little more from Toyota. That's why I buy them.
WOW - Now that is OIL CONSUMPTION! There are a number of potential factors, certainly a badly worn engine is one near the top of the list. However, higher than normal engine speeds due to a failure of the hybrid system are also possible as well as a failed PCV valve. Since these cars do not have tachometers, you don't know if the engine is running at 2k rpm at 75 mph or at 4500rpm, obviously 4500 rpm will use more oil. A failed PCV valve will not keep ANY pressure in the crankcase and may place it into a vacuum. This can cause rapid oil consumption even in the absence of meaningful engine wear. Lastly, the engine could be worn out, but if oil use is "normal" at lower vehicle speeds, you can *almost* discount that as the cause.
