Excessive oil consumption?

That’s a pretty strong argument, for correlation between clogged Exhaust Gas Recirculation and head gasket failure.

 

And NOT driving it like a Formula 1 car! 65mph 95% of the time highway...
And since using the epr stuff in the engine, twice, I think I've reduced the oil consumption.
I was at about 3000 miles after the oil change and it was only down about 1/4.
Then I "needed" to drive 70mph for a while, a few times, and it went down more.
I've only put 1 quart in, in 7000 miles. "IF" I can keep it under 70, I think I can go without
adding any oil and just do the oil change at 240,000 miles.

 

Sustained hill climbs likely increase oil consumption too.

 

It's darn impressive, that's a lot of miles and sounds like yours may not have had the same care for the early part of its life. I had heard that the earliest of the Gen 3's (2009 overseas and 2010 in USA) had some supplier quality control issue with the piston rings. Not sure how accurate that information was, but if true means the high miler 2010's running like yours are a feat. Mendel posted all those ring and piston part numbers in a different area on PC and seems to indicate they figured out a better design in parts by 2015.

75% of my miles are highway speed up and back from Phoenix to Flagstaff (150 miles each way) I bought at 52k, driven thus far to about 183k and estimate about 90k has been my cabin trips since 2015. I cruise over 75 mph on much of it and it is a bunch of hills and long mountains grades and people seem to fly on that road. I'm amazed at how capable the power is on that little engine. It is possible I have some usage and not observing it as changing every 5000 miles. But I check the oil and tire pressures every couple of weeks.

Your at almost a quarter million miles! Sounds like epr might be good stuff I'll try when mine starts using.

 

That's a pretty brutal climb. If speeds and hills were a large factor in consumption that drive should bring it to light quick. If you have none at that mileage I'd question how much of a factor those really are.

 

I am the 2nd owner. The first owner took very good car of the car and gave me all the paperwork
from all the service he had done. I am very fortunate!
I have 376,000 miles on my 2002 Town & Country.... Plus a few hundred thousand each of several
other vehicles.

The Prius is a great car!

 

I have noticed that my 2010 seems to use more oil if I am driving over mountain passes and the engine is turning more than 4,000 RPM for extended periods of time. Just commuting, where it rarely gets to 3,000 RPM, it still burns some oil but significantly less. I am also not sure if it is my imagination but the dipstick seems to read higher when the engine is warm than when it is cold, more so than conventional Toyotas.

 

It would seem very plausible for the engine to consume more oil, in sustained high-rev, engine-always-on scenario.

I’ve heard similar reports here too, of more oil consumption with flatland high speed.

 

Just to follow up, I got an oil change yesterday and was informed that my engine is actually leaking oil. They've put some dye in it to diagnose, but that might be where my oil is actually going instead of excessively burning. Hopefully they'll know at my next oil change.

 

which color dye?

 

Did they NOT tell you to bring it back for an inspection after 500 miles or so ??
Waiting until the next change might make the actual spot of the leak hard to pinpoint.

 

Dye? In the engine oil? Wouldn't it just be easier to look at where the oil is leaking???
Gunk the engine, rinse it good, then drive it.
He didn't give you a hint of WHERE it's leaking oil?

 

higher rpm usage always uses (burns) more oil.

 

finding leaks is pretty easy. if they put dye in and sent you on your way, instead of cleaning the engine, you probably are using the wrong mechanic.

 

It's the dealership that's in my neighborhood, they're known to be pretty good so I trust them. For now.

He didn't, just said from somewhere in the engine. Also didn't tell me when to bring it back, just whenever I had it in next for service. Also said that the leak wasn't bad so I shouldn't worry about it just yet, but that it's something to be aware of. Maybe that's why he was casual about it.

 

Wellll,,,,, I could be as simple as the oil fill cap seal. Or oil pressure switch.
Or someone spilled oil and didn't clean it up when they were putting oil in.

Anytime there is a question of an oil leak, it is best to clean the engine off.
Then drive the car a few miles and check for a leak. If none is noticed, check daily for leaks.
Sooner or later you'll see it. And it's best to catch it when it's starting so you can see where it
is leaking from instead of waiting for it to spread all over making it harder to locate.

Since you trust him, go back, or phone him and ask him where he suspects it might be. Where did he
see the oil?

 

These engines typically leak at the timing chain cover on the left side. Its a big job to access so might as well wait until its head gasket time.

 

No not always.
Fresh engine oil is usually transparent in small amounts.
The "dye" glows under an ultraviolet light.

 

Often maybe but not "always".
At least not at any normal speed.

 

I always found the leaks by looking for the wet oily spots versus the dry area...