Using Oil

[Maydup]

My 2011 Toyota Yaris has always had an annual service which includes an oil change. 6 months after its latest service it ran out of oil completely and I filled it up. 3 months later its ran out of oil again so I topped up and booked it into the garage. They cant find a leak nor any problem with, and just tell me to check the oil more regularly.

Surely thats not right is it? How often is normal for topping up oil in a car of it age? Average 10k miles pa.

[Ryzen]

Has yours done 95k dave

[davebro]

86K

[Ryzen]

9k to go then ;-)

[bhg481]

It all depends on the year as well as mileage - improvements in valve seals etc as time goes by.

[davebro]

Seems to vary a lot between cars of the same model / same engine. I remember reading VW saying that using 1 litre per 1000 miles was not exceptional - but I wouldn't like it!

[davebro]

PS. OP - if you've let it run out of oil twice then that won't have done the engine much good. If you're convinced it's not leaking then an engine overall seems necessary (or sell it!).

[davebro]

oops! OVERHAUL

[Rockrose]

My RAV4 has done 254k and I only top up with oil every 6 month.

[TonyV]

Dave what I do not understand is that if statement at 22.55 "They said they checked the rings", they must have done a compression test, I suspect they did not, but oil must be going somewhere either burning or leaking which again has been checked apparently & a negative. A Kate Bush (its a mystery)

[davebro]

Toyah ?

[TonyV]

Correct we will call it a Toyah then lol

[bhg481]

One of the classic cases where an engine seems to suddenly burn a lot of oil is the one where a car is usually used on short trips and then does a long trip. When fuel is burned it produces roughly 1 gallon of oil for every gallon of fuel burned; on a cold engine this water can mix with the engine oil and mask the fact that oil is being burned. When the oil reaches full running temperature the water will evaporate off. It takes many more miles for the oil to get hot than it does the engine, so an engine doing lots of cold miles can accumulate water in the oil. When you give the car a good run the oil gets hot and the water evaporates from the oil so the oil level drops suddenly.
This doesn't appear to be the case here as the annual mileage is reasonably high (implying long trips) but it is the case for many people.

[tonyav]

Have a look at this, Maydup.

BEATING FRICTION
Internal friction in your engine is one of those big-ticket ‘losses’ items. So, in an effort to reduce fuel consumption, manufacturers have for several years now waged war on internal friction in engines, and they’ve wound back the tension in the piston rings and valve guides, in particular.

This saves fuel (and it saves you money - let’s not forget that while you’re bitching about oil consumption - you’re saving money on fuel here) but it also opens the door to oil consumption. And this understandably sets off warning bells in some owners’ minds at least.

This oil consumption is a feedback effect - looser piston rings and valve guides slide easier but allow some oil to be burnt. Classic example of an overall positive change also generating negative feedback.

https://autoexpert.com.au/posts/the-truth-about-oil-consumption-in-modern-cars