Burning 3.9qts every 1000 miles

Your running the car until the light comes on for low oil? Start looking for a new engine if you are. The one you have won’t last much longer.

 

Any visible smoke?

Is the engine cleaned regularly so you can identify the location of leaks?

 

Yeah, I'd say that engine is pretty shot. The catalytic converter will soon be shot, too having to deal with that much oil. When the oil light comes on, that because it lost pressure. It lost pressure because it was sucking air. Air is not a good lubricant. Hence the engine damage.

But hey! 242,000 miles is a good, long run. I think you got your money's worth out of that buggy.

 

Or maybe it's just an oil pan gasket or something? Of course, you'd think OP would notice that much oil on the ground in the car's primary parking spot?

 

If you are looking for an excuse to buy another car...you got it.

 

That would be nice, but I'd think he would not have said there was no oil on his parking place. He'd have an awful mess if it was leaking that much. And, if it was leaking higher up, the engine bay would be a mess, too.

 

THIS.

And did you REALLY think that any of those parts you changed would have ANY impact on high oil usage ???
If so, you got some really BAD advice.

At this point, you don't need synthetic oil; just a waste of money.
A complete change to a high mileage 10W40 or 20W50 and then checking it EVERY DAY might get you a couple more thousand miles.
But you need to face the reality that this engine is just about gone.

 

After running the car out of oil 19 times I’m impressed the engine still runs. Nothing is going to save that motor at this point. Drive over to the the engine exchange place, or the Junkyard while the engine still runs would be my advice.

 

Agree with others; engine is in really bad shape. When these engines burn oil it's usually worn piston rings. If you run low on oil a few times, it usually gets much worse. I would switch up to 20W-50 and run a couple of tanks of fuel cleaner while you look for a new car, both of which will help a bit with the oil use (fuel cleaner can remove a bit of gunk from piston walls/rings and often helps). Otherwise, you're likely to have a total engine failure shortly, and for sure the catalytic converter will go soon with how much burnt oil is going through it. Sorry for the bad news. 241K is still a really good run for a car.

 

I'll bet that people behind you just LOVE the smell.

+1 with the new engine.
I'd start buying Wallmart 20w50 by the case (it'll be a third of the price of that Gucci oil that you're putting in there now!) and then I'd shop for a new G2 - keeping your present G2 for spare parts.
Since it's a 12-year-old car with Lunar Mileage, I'd find a low mileage G2 rather than stuff a used engine and new cat into this one.

Good Luck!

 

Try Motul 5-30 and Motokote on your next oil change.

 

call toyota customer service and ask for good will warranty coverage

 

Since it is kind of hard to determine that the engine really is completely "out of oil" (without removing the drain plug to see if anything comes out).......I suspect that his "out of oil" wasn't completely accurate.

In most cases I've seen or heard about, if the engine really does run completely out of oil, it will overheat and melt down.....literally.....pretty quickly. Like in the time it takes to slow down and pull off the road.

 

(1) Are each of these 'out of oil' events verified as no oil visible on the dipstick?

(2) I'm seeing lots of 'out of oil' events followed by adding just a single quart. But if really low enough for such a warning, shouldn't it take a lot more than a single quart? By not fully refilling, it seems that this engine as been run low or out even more than necessary.

But at this point, this may just be questioning a well beaten and long dead horse ...

 

Dip stick shows empty at 3-1/2 liters low...with one liter remaining if you are lucky. I found out first hand when the dealership left my filter bowl loose "once" on my now retired 2010 Prius. 19 times as described...motor's shot Fatmatt86. Sorry.

 

Time for a new car.

 

Run thicker oil and run your car until it spontaneously combusts ending in scorched earth. In the meantime start your search for a new mill or new whip.

 

run some kerosene through her