xdejablu3x

Those of you who have passed the oil consumption tests, do you still burn oil? I know our 2AZ-FE motors burn oil regardless but I was wondering if you guys burn a decent amount? I took my car in twice for the oil consumption TSB but passed them but when I change my oil roughly around 4,500 miles I usually release about 1.5 to 2 qts of the old oil. So, I practically burned 2 qts in 4,500 miles based on 70/30 (cty/hwy) driving using either Mobil 1 full synthetic 5W-20 or Pennzoil Platinum 5W-20 or 0W-20. I know these oils are not 100% synthetic and mostly come from a group III base but that's a lot of oil to burn when I'm just driving back and forth to work. My motor is not leaking either and I drive a '07 tC.

samatman

Our '09 tC "passed" the oil consumption test with a quart burned in 1200 miles. I didn't consider that a pass but we were finished with dealing with that dealer. The car was at 192K miles and was being driven 2k a month at the time (daily driver, long commute, including stop and go traffic). So... new car to the high mileage wife and I got the tC 3 months ago. I did a lot of research on these forums and replaced the PCV. I found a split in the emissions tube that goes from the rocker cover to the intake and replaced that. I removed the VVT rocker cover in case it was inhibiting engine cooling (it sure looks like an insulator from the underside). I switched to Penzoil Ultra Platinum full synth 5w30. I did this because I didn't care if I took a fuel economy hit with heavier oil, and I wanted a lower volatility and NOAK% than the Castrol Edge 5w20 Synth blend I had been using.

I'm a low mileage driver and it is usually highway or rural road, so switching drivers, changing commute, oil, etc is a lot of factors to point to one, so I won't.

Watching the oil consumption carefully over the last 1600 miles (3 months) I can conclude that it is now burning oil at a rate of 8oz per 1000 miles, so something that changed helped a lot. I am absolutely certain that if we had changed nothing, it wouldn't have lasted the year.

xdejablu3x

I want to say from what you did was either the replacement rubber tube that goes to the intake, replacement PCV valve or 5W-30 oil is what changed it. I'm leaning towards the 5W-30 oil as 0W-20 and 5W-20 does seem thin to begin with. The dealer told me I barely burned a 1/4 of a qt. when I did the test which seems odd to me based on what old oil comes out when I do an oil change. I'm having difficulty finding oils with lower NOAK % because everyone has seemed to have changed their formula so the MSDS sheets are utterly useless. I'm debating on switching to Amsoil but then again I'd hate to spend a lot of money on oil like that to watch it still burn.

I switched out my PCV valve a week ago and was disappointed that the old one was still working good and not clogged up. Since I had to have the new one shipped to me I went ahead and replaced the old one for good measure.

samatman

I've noticed no issues with drivability with the switch to heavier oil. This is in NJ, it is very hot here the last few months, so I am driving on the 30 side not the 5W. There is a niggling thought after all this that 10W40 was just fine and it was federal CAFE standards that pushed the manufacturers towards 0W-20 in the first place.

edit : I can't find the chart I made for oil comparisons. It might have been a link off here or Bob the Oil guy's site. Amsoil's site has a lot of good comparisons as well. For me it was a toss up between Penzoil Ultra Plat and Amsoil and I went with the one walmart sold via free shipping.

myr6goesfast

iTrader: (2)

After the repairs my tc burns zero oil... Toyota says it's normal to burn a quart in 1,000 miles but we all know it's not.

xdejablu3x

Did yours fail the oil consumption test too? That's good to know you no longer have oil burning issues. I thought that wasn't normal either even though it stated in the user manual about certain amount of oil can be burned off, driving certain distances. I have an '07 and I mght switch to 5W-30 to see if that helps. I know for a fact the reason why our years and up were changed to 5W-20 was due to CAFE reasons. Plus I can't find any concrete evidence of this sludge issue Toyota had years ago when using 5W-30.

myr6goesfast

iTrader: (2)

On the first test they said it was fine and within the normal consumption. A different service writer on my next oil change suggested another test. It failed that time. Burned 1.4 quarts I think.

What bothers me is, toyota thinks it's within spec to burn a quart of oil per one thousand miles. So when it's time for an oil change there's nothing to drain... They say that so we have to keep an eye on the level and fill ourselves. That's how some people have spun bearings. Toyota should've recalled all of our tcs no matter how little oil consumption. They're the ones who used wrong parts.

bbsciontc

You can certainly try 5w30, which was specified for the 2AZFE prior to 2007, as you said. My 06 says 5W30 on the oil cap. I wouldn't worry about anything related to sludge when going to 5w30 provided you are using synthetic. I've been running PP or Mobile 1 since new, and when I took off the valve cover and dropped my oil pan at over 110k miles to change the valve cover gasket and install my turbo oil return, there was not even the slightest trace of sludge, just normal looking oil. Honestly, the engine looked brand new inside, including the PCV which was working just fine. I actually attribute that to Penzoil Platnium, which is said to have good anti-sludge additives.

xdejablu3x

Well not only did they change due to CAFE but depending which 2AZ-FE motor was installed after '06 models you also might of have upped compression from what I've been reading which is a decent enough reason to not go to 5W-30. I currently used PP as I used to use Mobil 1.

1lowufo

I'm somewhat new to my 08 tC, and new also to imports. I was also taught to look for a 'tight' engine. I can't believe I have to add all this oil.
I believe this will be a short live in my garage. My ride has 93K miles and I use 5w30 conventional. I put in a quart every 1600 miles.

xdejablu3x

Well this recent oil change I put in Seafoam in the crank case for about 120 miles before being changed out. Hopefully that cleaned up any possible deposits lodged in the oil return holes in the pistons. I saw a video on youtube with someone changing their oil in their xB and experienced the same oil consumption and that putting Seafoam in the crank case helped him stop burning oil. Only time will tell I will try to report on it when I get ready to change out my oil but it will be awhile since I'm about to deploy again.

CoachShane

Will you update us on if the seafoam helped? My 2008 tc burns about a quart in 300 miles.

CoachShane

My 2008 Tc uses a quart of 5w20 every 300 miles. Did the change to 5w30 help?

62Fender

Thicker oil might make your VVT rattle louder. If you're interested in changing oil, try one with a low volatility rating/ NOACK number. A lower number might burn less oil but it isn't a fix.

Seafoam is good for gunk but the carbon on your piston rings is burnt hard. There's another option where you remove the spark plugs and spray a measured amount cleaning chemical onto the piston crowns. This is supposed to seep into the oil rings and clean them. Haven't seen any positive reviews.

If you burn a tank of gas every week, your added oil costs approach or exceed $500 every year. That's not as bad as an engine replacement, particularly if you're not going to keep the car a long time.

If you want to keep the car, a new engine could cost $5 to $6 thousand. A rebuilt engine and a good, shade tree mechanic would be a fraction of that. Either way, avoid the original AZFE. Look for one that has been repaired according to Toyota's oil consumption recall.