Hi l have a 20 year old Camry done 350,000km.
It's doing 1 litre of 5w 30 oil per 3000 km, l don't think there's a leak, apart from the high oil use its still running great, is that fairly normal for such as old car or should l be worried, should l change to a different oil.
It’s normal but a thicker oil will slow down oil consumption. Not to worry
My first Corolla eventually used 1l every 80km when the conrod broke blowing a hole into the crankcase.
It's pretty high but at 350kk not abnormal. I would be moving to 10w-30/40 even from factory I would've thought a 20 year old Toyota 4banger woulda been 10w. I wouldn't go higher though as you start risking restricting oil flow where it's needed like timing tensioners or valve lifters (depending on the engine)
But yeah 10w-30/40 for sure. In saying that, oil consumption doesn't do any harm other then cost and pollution
10w won’t make any difference. Need to change to minimum 20.,But 30 or 40!would be better
No way you should be using a 5w-30 oil on a 350,000 camery
Try a 15w-40
Minimum 20-50
15 is only marginally thicker than 5.
OP needs "Penrite Stops Oil Burning 30W-70 Engine Oil 5L" or similar
https://www.repco.com.au/oils-fluids/engine-oils-fluids/engi…
It’s barely broken in
Alright , Scrooge!
Thanks Rawn.
Two schools of thought… One says all good, only 5w difference from the recommended oil. and toyota would recommend 5w 30 in cold temperatures for example. In my experience, I would go with what is recommended eg Oil for my last car was 10w 40 (98 camry w/ 1mzfe v6). Going to 5w 30 full synth left drops of oil when there were none before. need exact car + engine to know for sure. would also go twice yearly or shorter between oil changes. has helped some people online with oil burning issues with older toyotas.
It’s barely broken in
Fixed it for you.
It’s barely broken in
Uh oh. I suspect someone's being controlled remotely by Grammerly.
Yes, certain Toyota engines of that era have this known issue if you look at forums.
If its not dripping oil and not making smoke there not a lot wrong with it
Not much harm in puting a slightly thicker oil in to see if it improves. Do you want it to last forever, or just a few more years?
thanks yes no smoke or dripping oil
Camry Is Using 1 Litre Oil Per 3000km - Normal?
Generally no but
20 year old Camry done 350,000km.
for a car this age/kms then yeah its most likely burning oil, so would be considered normal and not economical to fix.
Would changing to a thicker oil just help reduce oil consumption or would it also help protect the engine and be good for the engine
It depends where the oil leak is, in general simply running thicker oil won't decrease the amount it burns by a significant amount but it is likely a good idea anyway just due to wear on the engine, which by now will have resulted in larger tolerances/gaps between components like bearings. I did check and that car was factory with 5w-x so at 300km you should certainly go up a grade, also if you haven't already get the PCV valve replaced just incase. I blocked/stuck PCV will cause more blow-by and oil burning, it's like a $20 part
Nah, should be 2L per 3000km by now …
Check with Uncle Ian.
was looking for the old threads about this… then found the op's previous posts…. found this:
my oil goes from Full top notch on the dipstick to the bottom notch every 5,000 kms, would that be normal for such an old high mileage car. IS that 1 liter from top notch to bottom*
abc on 11/03/2024 - 19:43
Seems like you have a major oil-leak: likely to have oil-leak around your engine & oil-drip on your drive-way. Pls visit a mechanic to diagnose. Good luck.Jackdawson79 on 12/03/2024 - 17:35
Its gone from Full to half way on the dipstick after 3,000 kms so does that mean theres a leak and not just high oil burn on a 20 year old camry*
No… it's not 1 liter lol, it's something like 2.4 liters/half your oil plus minus half a liter (guessing). Readings should also be done after the engine has been run, then stopped or they will be off. You have to top up between oil changes or risk too getting low on oil and overheating or breaking something. I would at minimum do an oil flush and change with a toyota filter. A "gentle" oil flush is using a cheap oil like kmart oil for a week, then drain and fill with regular oil. If you have leaks they need to be fixed.
Every dipstick is different. It can be anywhere from 0.5l to 1l between the marks. I've never known any light vehicle dipstick to be "half your oil plus minus half a liter ".
bit of a freakout, but yeah think the capacity is 4.7litres and oil might not fully drain hence plus minus 500ml. Also depends if it's a cold or hot reading. best case is that this is where the op is confused.
The camry, get a cylinder pressure test.
The key thing is, - what are you worried about?
That it wont last another 20 years - yes be very worried.
That it wont last another year or two. - Dont worry too much, just make sure you top it up every 500kms to be sure.
Then there are other worries like
Will it affect resale 🤣
Cost of Lubricating Oil going up 🤣
How often you need to drive it…
and so on.
To really help, defining what your motoring needs are, would be better.
My old Mk3 Golf VR6 listed up to 1L/1000km of oil consumption as normal, in my case 1L was from the top of the notch to the bottom which made it easy to check (and fill) while at the servo. It was so consistent I could just about tip 1L of oil in every second fuelup without even checking levels :P
As long as it's not on the floor under the car or coming out the exhaust pipe it's probably OK.
As a long term VW owner, I'll say that what VW thinks is acceptable is just VWs way of avoiding warranty claims.
My 2.0 litre Mk3 didn't use oil.
My Gen1 1.8tsi EA888 used 0.5 litres / 10,000km.
My Gen3 1.8tsi EA888, which I was expecting to use oil because of the low tension rings, uses 0.5l / 10,000km
The Gen2 engines are the 1L/1000km normal for Audi.
Audi, VW, SEAT & Skoda engines all come from the same factories. They don't have an "AUDI engine factory producing the same engine as a separate Skoda engine factory.
The owners manual uses words to the effect of "Your engine MAY use UP TO 0.5l of oil per 1000km". It was "1l per 1000km" up until circa 2012 and then changed to "UP TO 0.5l per 1000km".
It's a statement that suits VWs use of low tension rings and poor oil control design combined with extended service regimes. From an independent engineers perspective it is excessive.
That's not normal for that engine. (but would be for a VW).
4cylinder? IIRC the PVC labrynth is bonded into the rocker cover. If the bonding fails increased oil consumption is the result.
It could also be gummed up rings if the service intervals are too long.
Maybe worn valve stem seals.
Or simply just worn out. You need a compression & leak down test to help diagnose.
With that mileage I'd switch to 10w-40 or even 10w-50
What can be done if it's worn out? Engine replacement?
diagnose, find the issue, make a plan. Speculation based on almost no information from you is a waste of time
Agreed. What does a Toyota mechanic say?
l don't think there's a leak,
Meaning it is burning that litre of oil and spewing toxic fumes all around for 3,000Km a pop.
you should use one of stop-leak products and observe
get someone to drive it past you, once with full acceleration to high rpm, if it has white/blue smoke its rings
Then get them to rev it fairly high in a lower gear and let off, if it smokes on deceleration its most likely valve seals, but could also be pcv valve related
Husband's Camry made it well over 600,000 - dealer said it was gently run in.
Leaked oil for a few years. Oh just carried bottle of oil in boot for top ups when he thought of it. Went for a few years like that if I remember correctly
yes