97 80 Series using oil

[landcruiserguyaz]

Hello. I am a relatively new owner of a 97 80 Series. I have had this vehicle since February. In general, I love this Cruiser. But, there is one catch. I seem to be using a lot of oil.

Has anybody had any experience with an 80 series using excessive oil? I can't find any visible leaks, including getting under the vehicle and looking at the rear main. It is not burning the oil, either. When I purchase the Cruiser, I had it checked out at the dealer, including a compression test. All checks were fine. There were some repairs needed (knuckles, differential fluids, etc) and all were taken care of. Compression was consistant accross all cylinders (don't have the numbers in front of me now). I can't find any explaination of where the oil is going. It using 3-4 quarts every 5k miles.

Any input would be appreciated. I need to get a good idea of what I'm up against so I can decide whether to keep this vehicle or get another one.

Brian

 

[firetruck41]

Not all that unusual, Toyota considers up to 1 qt per 1000mi "normal" for purposes of warranty problems, etc...
If compression is good, there's no oil in your coolant, and puddles aren't forming in your driveway, I wouldn't worry about it too much, oil is cheap anyway. I found my oil consumption went down when I changed from Mobil 1 to Rotella Synthetic 5/40.

 

[RavenTai]

many 1FZ's use oil, but that seams more than average, about half a quart or so will go through the PCV in 5K, most also have leaks at the back of the engine but you say yours is dry there? many also have seeps/leaks at the front also.

what weight oil are you using? what climate (location)

 

[Beowulf]

It using 3-4 quarts every 5k miles.

As Firetruck mentioned, Toyota would consider this within normal range for consumption.

Try switching weights to a heavier oil. Consider going to a syn from non-syn or the other (dino to syn). Go to a 10w50 or a 15w50. Get a Blackstone to see if there is a high percentage of fuel in your oil causing evaporation.

Keep us posted on the progress.
-B-

 

[trainrech]

Read up on the oil portion of the FAQ. Not sure what we can add without knowing what brand/type/weight of oil you are using.

 

[cruiserman]

Toyota may consider that normal, but that's an insane amount of oil consumption. If there are no leaks, then it's being burned, no matter what the tests say.

 

[MoGas]

As seen in last month's oil consumption question, I was using 1qt/thousand miles running 5-30 Mobil 1. I switched to Rotella synthetic 5-40 and I haven't dropped off the full mark yet 1500 miles into it. (now 2K and about 1/8th inch from the full mark)


Dave

 

[landcruiserguyaz]

Thanks for all the info everybody. Here are answers to most of the questions that were asked in replies.

I'm running 5/30 Conventional oil.
I live in Phoenix, AZ.

I read up on the oil section of the FAQ. Thanks for the tip. It seems like people are all over the board on this one. Zero consumption to 1 quart per 1k mi and a lot of people at both ends of the spectrum. Also seems pretty consistent that Rotella Synthetic seems to get the best results. I've run Mobil 1 synthetic in a couple of diesel Mercedes 300D's that I've had and always had good results. But, that's running 15-50. Based on what I read hear, it's not quite as good at the lower weights.

Thanks again for the replies.

 

[Scamper]

many 1FZ's use oil, but that seams more than average, about half a quart or so will go through the PCV in 5K...

True, but if your PCV valve is gunked up, you can increase your oil consumption significantly. Might want to give it a check, or just replace it.

 

[RavenTai]

Thanks for all the info everybody. Here are answers to most of the questions that were asked in replies.

I'm running 5/30 Conventional oil.
I live in Phoenix, AZ.

I read up on the oil section of the FAQ. Thanks for the tip. It seems like people are all over the board on this one. Zero consumption to 1 quart per 1k mi and a lot of people at both ends of the spectrum. Also seems pretty consistent that Rotella Synthetic seems to get the best results. I've run Mobil 1 synthetic in a couple of diesel Mercedes 300D's that I've had and always had good results. But, that's running 15-50. Based on what I read hear, it's not quite as good at the lower weights.

Thanks again for the replies.

Do not run 5w-30, in other countries that do not have the US CAFE regulations 5w-30 is only recomended for very cold weather for this engine.


if you live in AZ you need to bump at least to a *w-40 oil you could even go with some of the thinner 50wt's like M1 15w-50 if you wanted. (that is what is in mine right now left over from this summer) rotella T syn 5w-40 is a solid choice reletively inexpensive and a good oil,

that will help with consumption.

 

[landcruiserguyaz]

Thanks RaveTai and Scamper. After reading through this, I called the local stealership and also called Slee Offroad this morning. Got the same answers as everybody on here. Sounds like the first thing to do is replace the PCV, then start monitoring the consumption again.

How often should the PCV be replaced under normal driving conditions? I don't see where it is part of the scheduled maintenance in my manual.

 

[Beowulf]

The PCV valve is less than $5 from Toyota and takes about 2 minutes to replace. I think you can remove the hose clamp with a standard pair of pliars. Aftermarket valves are available but in my experience, they don't fit well. Replace the valve cover grommet at the time you pull the valve.

If the hose going to the PCV is hard (probably will be if > 150k) then you may want to replace it at the same time. The hose cracks when it hardens.

-B-

 

[elhombre]

If you are worried about the engine burning the oil, you should pull the spark plugs and see if they have black around the lower part of the electrode. If your engine is burning oil that bad, it will be on the spark plugs. Mine uses 1.5 qts every 3000 miles and this isn't enough to turn my spark plugs black.