2005 Prius and oil issues as of late

Ok, make sure you top it up back to the second mark (the full mark) as soon as possible. I'm really surprised that they didn't do that for you already.

Since you're past your warranty period you might like to take over the oil changes your self and keep some money in your pocket instead of the dealers. Also it will probably encourage you to keep your eye on it a bit more.

If you search this site you'll find heaps of information on DIY for simple maintenance on your Prius. People sometimes think that because the prius is really hi-tech that only the dealer should touch it, but the reality is that simple things like changing the oil or checking the coolant levels are dead easy. The prius is one of the easiest cars I've ever owned to change the oil on.

 

Don't worry too much about synthetic or extended oil change intervals until you get a handle on the oil usage (find how often you need to top off using various weight oils).

I already made some oil recommendations for a high mileage engine in reply #15 above. You might like to try one of the high mileage or heavy duty engine oils I listed. It definitely could help reduce the oil consumption. Also if you buy a 5 or 5.5 quart container it hardly costs any more and you'll have some left for top offs.

 

Don't quite understand why your so upset at the dealership? If I'm reading this thread right...you discovered shortly BEFORE the next Oil change that you were running with almost no Oil, or very low. You added 3 quarts....THEN you took it to the dealership.

You admit there is no obvious smoke...or no obvious leaks..The Dealership changed the Oil and told you to come back in a 1000 miles?

Outside of an inability to produce any record of codes...which is questionable...it's pretty much your responsibility to monitor oil level and consumption when the vehicle is in your possesion. The dealership really cannot do that for you.

All they can really do is look at the oil level you have when you bring it in...and/or change the oil and look for anything really obvious.

If it was me? I'd be checking my Oil level daily for a while..and have a supply of Oil on hand. If massive losses continue to rapidly happen there simply has to be a tangible reason. Your engine is NOT a porthole to another oil sucking dimension.

Good Luck.

 

I'd use the Toyota filter,i believe the Part No is 90915 YZZF2

 

Your assumption has no basis. Unless you checked the oil level immediately after the oil change and found no oil registering on the dipstick, it is not reasonable for you to assume that the mechanic made a mistake.

I guarantee you that if no oil was in the crankcase, the engine would be destroyed in very short order.

It is more likely that your engine is burning oil at the rate of ~ 1 quart per 1,000 miles, perhaps more by now.

Absolutely.

What research allowed you to form this conclusion? One possible way is if the Prius engine has severe wear due to lack of timely oil changes or insufficient lubrication.

My 2004 with 119K miles consumes 5W-30 synthetic oil at the rate of 1/3 quart per 1,000 miles. This oil consumption started after I tried using 0W-20 synthetic when the car had ~75K miles.

The only human error obvious in this story is that you failed to check the engine oil dipstick periodically. Errors that may have been committed by other parties are only hypothetical, given the facts presented so far.

 

You might think about ordering the oil plug gaskets also,be worth it!!

 

I hope my 2005 Prius with 145,200 miles doesn't develop an oil consumption problem of 1 qt per 1000 miles until it hits 299,999 miles at the earliest! I've never in 40 years and 20 different vehicles had a car that consumed that much oil without an obvious external leak. My 92 Camry had an external leak due to the sludging issue that Toyota had for a while. At least I knew where that oil was going. It didn't leak too much on the ground but it coated the undercarriage of it pretty well as that tends to happen with any type of leak. The Camry met an untimely death in an accident (It was sandwiched between two other vehicles). Took care of that oil leak - LOL! I never did find exactly where it was leaking from either. Oh well.

I have done two oil changes so far with the Prius after about 4000 miles for each change. After draining the crankcase the last time, there were 3 qts in the drain pan and whatever was left in the filter - not bad. I recall only adding 3.7 qts when I refilled it prior to the last oil change. As most shadetree mechanics know, overfilling is just as bad as underfilling.

My guess is the stealership only put 3 qts in the OP's car at most. Stealerships try to cheat you any way they can these days.

They charge you a fortune for repairs and charge you for the total cost of fluids like oil but don't actually add what you paid for, like the shop supplies charge (HATE THAT ONE!!!!!). By doing this to enough unsuspecting customers they can pocket the savings.

The OP still has a valid complaint. But, he should have been checking the oil level, yes. I have NEVER had a stealership or a quick lube place change the oil on one of my cars.

Like Tony Montana says in Scarface: Who do I trust - ME!

 

If I may suggest the longer F1 filter, it is exactly the same except more filter area. That is better for longer drains. It hangs lower too so is slightly easier to get at. This is my opinion only. I change oil without raising the car. The owners manual describes how to reset the maint. light.

The engine should be checked for leaks, mainly at the valve cover, but could be other places, a compression check done, etc. The standard diagnostics to evaluate engine mechanical condition with some plan.

 

I revised my prior post because I overestimated the oil consumption on the 2004.

Regarding your ownership of 20 different vehicles, if they were owned long enough so that the odometers read into six digits then that would be very good history to consider. However if you trade vehicles every two years, and each vehicle had logged 30K-40K miles when you got rid of it, then their engines really didn't have sufficient opportunity to wear to the point where oil consumption would become an issue.

I also have owned many vehicles over the past. One in particular comes to mind as achieving the 1 quart / 1K mile oil consumption: my 1976 VW Dasher, after it had logged around 70K miles or so. The engine was getting noisy, apparently due to excess bearing wear - I could see metal specks in the drained engine oil. I got rid of the car soon after.

 

I've never had anything with usage quite as high 1 qt per 1000 miles, but I have had high mileage engines that consume oil (without external leaks). It's not really that uncommon to consume a quart or so over 5000 miles in an older car. Often an engine like this will still run perfectly fine and have decent compression etc, but even this amount of oil consumption is still enough to possibly cause you grief if you never check it.

Like I said before there are a number of factors that come into play. A different oil might burn a bit faster than what you've previously used. Oil usage gradually increasing over time. Dealer/mechanic makes a slight underfill etc. Get a few of these things come together at the same time and next thing you know is you've run out of oil in under 5000 miles.

Yeah in my experience both VW and Audi often seem to higher than average oil consumption. My Brother just bought a brand new Audi about a year ago and he had to top off the oil twice before the first scheduled oil change! Luckily the Audi has an actual oil level monitor that alerts you to add oil before it actually runs out (that is, before gets too low to pick up). I'm not sure exactly what technology they use to do that, but it certainly is a really good idea in my opinion.

 

I feel lucky. My 2005 with 124K miles does not consume any oil and after 4K on the oil, the oil is not black.

 

As far as I know, there is no DTC (stored trouble code) for low engine oil/oil pressure.

Oil changers at a dealership tend not to be mechanics, as well.

Please do monitor your engine for a consumption problem. Unfortunately, it is impossible to prove that there even was an underfill, let alone whether or not any actions taken at the dealership caused permanent damage.