2011 prius burning oil at 82k miles at 1 qt per 3700 miles

Not sure if your "assuming the oil level was at the top dot at the time of last oil change" is a good assumption. If your OCI is 10,000 miles and the oil burning rate is 1 qt/3700 miles, your car would only have 1.7 qt oil left at last oil change. That is too low, and the tech at the dealership should have warned you. If they didn't, I would not trust that dealership for doing the right work.

After you fill up the oil, check its level frequently to get an accurate oil burning rate before taking next step.

 

Generally the oil change guys overfill rather than underfill. Some of these cars burned oil excessively before 60,000 miles. Toyota replaced pistons and rings for those cases. It is not high mileage wear per se that causes the issues. It is the oil ring and piston grove design that allows them to stick. The ring sticking causes unrepairable wear on the cylinders. Flush should be professionally done if that is in the cards. Hydrolock and bearing damage could occur. As suggested, watch the level closely. Even more serious wear occurs throughout the engine if you lose oil pressure from a lack of oil.

 

start by cleaning the egr circuit before you blow the head gasket, and reduce oil changes to 5k.

i hope your changing the air and cabin filters, and consider changing the tranny fluid

 

Yeah top it up to upper mark on dipstick, note the miles, continue to monitor. IIRC the diff between the two marks on dipstick is 1.5 liters, 1.6 US quarts.

 

Occasionally looking at oil level is an essential element of vehicle ownership, of all oil-lubricated vehicles. It is the responsibility of the owner / driver to catch any low oil level before it causes damage.

That is not excessive, at least according to your Toyota's Owners Manual:



All of my previous vehicles, of all brands, have said essentially the same thing.

Not surprisingly, there is a very wide disconnect between what car owners expect, and what car makers will cover on warranty.

 

The 3rd gen excessive oil consumption criteria was a little less nuts than owners manual, a US quart in 1100~1300 miles. The cut-off is 60k miles though. See attached.

 

There are folks who got rid of their oil-consumption by using fuel-treatment products. Search Prius under the question box and you’ll see their reviews.

https://a.co/d/etPJypW

 

Exactly what is being fixed? Bad head gasket? Go rebuilt. The car's value will change. It will go up. Be sure to keep the dicumentation of replaced parts and services performed in the engine. But if it is just oil consumption at one quart every 3700 miles (verified), I would wait for a worse failure.

 

Agreed. I think it would be overkill to pay almost $4,000 on an engine that Toyota would state as “normal oil consumption”. OP I would personally switch to 4-5k mile oil changes and just check the oil every week and top off as needed. Save that money for the HV battery or brake booster replacement.

 

does gasket masters cover the whole country now?

 

I have a 2012 with 162k miles on it. No head gasket issues. I think you can drive this car years w/o head gasket issues if you change all the fluids regularly and clean EGR system in about 10-20k miles. Your car has such low miles on it I wouldn’t even bother. Just increase the oil change intervals to about 4,000 miles and you’ll be golden. Use that money to pay a legit mechanic to replace engine & inverter coolant. If you feel comfortable with DIY, cleaning the intake manifold EGR ports is super easy.

 

Assume nothing

 

1 qt per 3700 miles. Thats nothing. I would say like the Brits say: Keep calm and carry on

just remember to check the dipstick frequently and add oil when needed.

 

I agree with others about monitoring your oil closely to get a better idea of just how much it's burning. After that I'd get the piston rings cleaned with a piston soak or engine flush just before an oil change and then monitor closely again to see if it's burning less.

 

Does any of this apply to 2013 gen 3?

 

Yes. Toyota made some changes in the engine to 2014-2015 years that may have helped mitigate the issue, prior to that it seems to be very common.