ScionRomance, not knowing where you live, but I don't think that my xb engine would turn over and start here with our winter temps using 15/40 oil. From your post it looks like you just purchased this xB, if so, did the previous owner mention the car uses oil or the TSB from Scion? 1 qt -1 1/2 qts. of oil per oil change is a pretty high percentage of the total oil in the engine.

My xB has a for sale sign and the TSB about oil consumption on the window so people know what they are buying. People have thanked me for being honest and said that they were unaware that this problem was in so many other Toyota products and Toyota hasn't issued a recall to fix this.

Let us know how the thicker weight oil works.

 

15 weights are good to about single digits. If you're that worried, get a 0 weight like a mobil 1 0w-40.

 

Understand, I added 1/2 Quart, as in 16 ounces, to my crankcase. What does this engine hold? I didn't check but I'd guess about 4-4.5 quarts with a filter change. A pint of heavier weight oil isn't going to keep me from spinning. I have very little concern about not being able to turn over the engine on even the absolute coldest of days here in Milwaukee. The purpose of the exercise is to see if the gains some have reported, reduced consumption based on the additive makeup of the Rotelle, will be had. Some say yes, some say no, so you jump in and see what happens.

When you buy a used car from a dealer the luxury of interviewing the previous owner is unavailable to you. Facts of life don't always play in our favor.

 

ScionRomance. I thought that you were going to use 15/40 oil only. The engine holds around 4.3 qt with filter so you shouldn't have any problems. I was unaware that Rotelle had a special additive that could help oil consumption, I thought it was more of a truck oil.

As for buying from a dealer, I wanted to see how much my Toyota dealer would give me for my xB and they ask me lots of questions. Air bags every been replaced, speedo been replaced, accidents and the over mechanical condition of the vehicle. i.e uses oil or engine problems. then sign the paper with your statements. I think they know that some of these engines are having problems and want to protect themselves from the next buyer.

You might want to check with the dealer and see if your xB vin falls under the "recall" for the ignition coils and the power window switch problem. Just had my xb back for the window switch (gots hot and catches fire/smoke) last month. Recalls are "Free" FYI

 

i have 06 tc with 185000 miles on it and it burns a qt every 600-700 miles..i've change weights and brands with no luck,,,change the pcv too...thinking about changing the valve guide seals.. was a little disappointed when it started using oil..no leaks or smoke...i use shell rotella 15/40 in my motorcycle, might use that next to see what happens..can't hurt..

 

Can't believe I'm just seeing this now. My car's oil consumption didn't become noticeable until around 60K for me (07 scion tC). I know somebody with an 06 who has more miles but doesn't have this problem, though. Anyway, thinking about just cleaning up my engine with some MCCC, replace the PCV and oil when it's due for change.

Also, I'm getting contradicting information with some of the post. Some people have been switching from 5w20 to 0w20 and seeing less consumption but others are preaching that you're supposed to higher in weight as in 5w30 or 10w30 to lessen the oil consumption? Clarification on this please? I'm currently running Mobil 1 5w20 synthetic...would my next step be to try 5w30?

 

c1cknh4n, you should put in a heavier weight oil not thinner. I was using Mobile 1 5/20 as per Scion and stopped because it's a waste of money because the engine is just using the oil and not getting much benefit from that oil. I went to a 5/30 oil and can't say it made much of a difference. In the summer I drove a lot of freeway miles and the engine used less oil between changes, then went back to driving in the city and the oil consumption went back up.

Some here have said that they are going to try 15/40 to see if it makes a difference. If the oil is getting past the rings then a thicker oil should help slow the consumption down some, but it's only going to get worse as the miles rack up.

Let us know what you do and if it helps any.

 

I'm saying ____ it, I don't wanna dump anymore cost into this engine as I already have. I think I'm just gonna clean it up, replace PCV and put back in regular 5w20 dino oil. I figure most of you guys have done most of the experimenting for me and the switching back and forth between brands/weights seems to be of little help to most. Guess I'm just gonna keep buying oil by the 5 qt jugs so that I have some extra to add in between oil changes.

 

c1cknh4n, your plan is a wise one! That's what I did, just buy the cheaper oil and be done with it. I changed my PCV and it didn't make a difference. I buy two 5 qt. jugs of oil when I change my oil since the oil change with filter takes 4.3 qts, not enough oil left in the jug to make 5k miles since the engine will need another 2 qts. That works out to around 7ish qts to drive 5k miles. Saves me a trip!

 

i did all that bs with the weights syn and reg.. with no luck...i been adding shell rottella 15/40...still burns..i drive 700 miles a week...i added restore also...didn't do anything...oil is cheap at wal-mart...good luck...

 

Bruno769 - Your post says that you burn 1 qt of oil every 600/700 miles, does your TC give off any blue smoke in the exhaust? I had my wife start my xB today and I watched for any signs of blue smoke and I had nothing. I burn 2+ qts per 5k miles.



Thanks

 

no smoke... gonna change valve guide seals to see if that helps..changed them on my 92 vw gti and it uses less than a 1/2 qt between oil changes and its got 317,000 miles on it..

 

Bruno769- If you find any thing interesting inside the engine while you are replacing the valve guides please take a few pictures and post.

Good luck and thanks!

 

I will start out by saying that my 07 tc 2.4 w/ manual trans uses oil.
Purchased car used from a buddy with about 93k on the odo.
I noticed consumption reduced when I switched to synthetic and reduced further when I went with 0w20 mobil 1.
My consumption has increased recently as I have to drive I95 to work now. Keeping up with traffic has meant consistant steady RPMs over 3,000. Before this my engine would only ever briefly see RPMs over that just to accelerate into the next gear for passing someone. I average a 1 qt. loss every 1k miles. Oil has no leaks to the ground and I have replaced the valve cover gasket & tube seals along with new spark plugs because the engine had slight hessitation under load but now it has tons of power when taking off and no stumble under cruise or load at all.
When I was taking the old plugs out I didn't notice any burned oil on the plug but did notice a nice wetness on the top of EACH piston.
Have not taken the new plugs out to see if the pistons still look like this.
Has anyone noticed this wetness?

 

haven't checked for the wetness, but i'll check when i do the valve seals..i'll take some pics when i do it..undivided..you should switch to a heavier weight and dump the synthetic..it's a waste of money...i did...

 

I've been running the 0w20 because of the cold winter we've had here in PA. If running thicker oil and additives didn't work for you why would I try them? I work at an auto parts store and all those additives are mostly gimmicks to take your money... yes even lucas and restore.
My oil loss is directly proportionate to the RPMs of my engine and NOT the weight of my oil.
I'd be willing to bet you will still have loss of oil after replacing the stem seals. They shouldn't be subject to much stress with an OHC setup.

If anything I will probably run a 5w30 m1 HM blend my next change.
That has helped slow "leaks" in old Jeeps of mine.

 

i live in so cal.where it don't get below 20 degrees..i drive a 126 miles a day usually around 75 mph...stems seal might help some but i know the piston and rings are the main problem.. hopefully i can get rid of it before it gets to bad...gonna go back to vw.

 

This seems wrong. if youve maintained your vehicle, and it has begun consuming oil. it should be covered by your extended warranty. Thats why people purchase 100k mile warranties. When your in there with the finance guy, he sure makes it seem as though you will have no worries or repair cost's until you pass that 100k mark. with the exception of normal wear and tear items like brakes/ tires/ oil changes

 

Just got back from my oil consumption test at the dealership... Burning oil at a rate of 1qt every 1,200 miles... I have on 08 xB with only 85k miles... I am so disappointed in Toyota right now... This will be my last one... They refuse to do anything about it... Looks like they lost a customer/family for life...

 

They could have save you a lot of time by just telling you that you have too many miles on the vehicle before thay did the oil test!

60k is the limit I believe.

Toyota is becoming the new General Motors in quality!