Old Camry Oil Burn

cranswick on 13/03/2023 - 09:35
Last edited 13/03/2023 - 10:24 by 1 other user

l have a 15 year old Camry that's done 330,000 kms. l think the mechanic said its burning 1 litre of oil per 10,000 kms ,and they said high oil burn is normal for an old car.

How bad is that burn rate, when should l start to worry that's its burning too much oil and l need a new engine or new car? How much oil burn rate is too much. l think l read the oil level on the dipstick between the low and full notches is 1 litre so to measure the burn rate do l just look at how many KMs l did in the period of time it went from full to low?

Automotive Car Toyota

Comments

  • brendanm on 13/03/2023 - 09:36
    +10

    That's fine.

    • cranswick on 13/03/2023 - 09:38

      thanks , if it gets worse at what burn rate should l start to worry

      • brendanm on 13/03/2023 - 09:40
        +3

        There are modern cars where the manufacturer specs half a litre per thousand kms as acceptable, so you've got a very long way to go until you are to that point.

        • Keplaffintech on 13/03/2023 - 10:49
          +1

          manufacturer specs half a litre per thousand kms as acceptable, so you've got a very long way to go until you are to that point.

          at that rate you'll run out of oil by the time you get to your next service. Do you mean 10,000?

          • bhubb18 on 13/03/2023 - 11:13
            +2

            @Keplaffintech: No, they generally require top ups between servicing

          • brendanm on 13/03/2023 - 17:34

            @Keplaffintech:

            at that rate you'll run out of oil by the time you get to your next service

            Correct.

            Do you mean 10,000?

            Sadly not.

          • Mungulz on 17/03/2023 - 13:04
            +1

            @Keplaffintech: I bought a new 2019 Golf R in Jan 2020 and had the oil low light come on at about 6,000KM into ownership. The local dealer I stopped at topped it off for free.

            No such issues with my current i30N, even up to the 10,000KM interval it's still full.

        • kekw on 13/03/2023 - 11:24
          +3

          Just a normal day in VW lmao

      • Jaduqimon on 13/03/2023 - 09:41
        +2

        when your oil depletes or gets really low before your oil change. 1L every 10k is fine. you usually oil change 5-10k kms. should have about 4-5L of oil in the engine so should be ok.

        just check ur dipstick constantly every 1k KMs

      • Jimothy Wongingtons on 13/03/2023 - 09:45
        +4

        worry

        at this rate 15 years/ 330,000, just run it into the ground :)

    • Gunnar on 13/03/2023 - 09:55

      This - keep oil with you and check it regularly but you're currently burning 1L of oil between services. Your car it's fine but if it was a new car I'd be concerned….

      …. except if it was an VW group 2.0L engine, 1 litre of oil per 10k kms would be extremely low because 0.5L per 1000 km is 'normal'

  • kerfuffle on 13/03/2023 - 09:45
    +4

    Another post from the OP about cars …

    • Gunnar on 13/03/2023 - 09:50
      +3

      … and it's only Monday

    • freefall101 on 13/03/2023 - 11:11
      +1

      I guess OP bought a camry over the weekend.

      15 years old and 330,000km probably wasn't the best choice, but hopefully they got a bargain.

    • kekw on 13/03/2023 - 11:26
      +1

      oh man… hopefully op didn't pay 13k for this…

  • mapax on 13/03/2023 - 09:46
    +3

    If it’s not blowing a heap of smoke it’s fine.

  • payless69 on 13/03/2023 - 09:50
    +1

    Buy it when half price!
    I once had a Corolla that burned 1.5l every 100km.
    At 120 on freeway a conrod eventually gave way!

  • cranswick on 13/03/2023 - 09:51
    -1

    If the dipstick goes from full notch to low notch level does that mean l have burnt 1 litre? What if the burn rate goes to 5,000 km per liter would that be bad

    • Murkymerv on 13/03/2023 - 10:14

      Engines can hold 5 litres of oil , so calculate of of specifications for your engine . Once again , ring your local dealership service department

  • Murkymerv on 13/03/2023 - 10:11

    Have you ever had a valve grind ? Compression test ? Found out wether your engine is designed to burn oil ? Easy to check out with a local Toyota dealership.

  • Ocker on 13/03/2023 - 10:25
    +8

    Start to worry when you pull into a full service petrol station and you need to say "fill up the oil and check the petrol"

  • Nugs on 13/03/2023 - 10:36
    +5

    had a Datsun 1200 wagon with a weepy crack in the sump. I used oil that had been changed out of other cars
    .

    • Muzeeb on 13/03/2023 - 11:16

      That 1200 is now worth about 12000

      • Nugs on 13/03/2023 - 11:28
        +4

        if it survived. fun times. bought it as a temp car for MIL who was coming back from QLD for 3-6 months.
        we bought it for $150 unreg but walk in rereg, and another parts wagon unreg for $50 and hired a car trailer for $35 or so to get them both. during that same 24 hour period we saw a smashed sedan on the side of the road, so we visited the nearby cop shop to see if we could track down the owner who just happened to be sitting in the foyer claiming it had been stolen from the pub (yeah right). anyway he said we could have it and he just wanted the rego sticker back to claim his refund.
        sedan and parts wagon were stripped and the shells taken to the scrap yard
        .

        • Gunnar on 14/03/2023 - 13:06
          +1

          If only you had an SR20 that met the same fate to give the Datto a new heart 😉

          • Nugs on 14/03/2023 - 13:09
            +1

            @Gunnar: would have slotted that into my LPG powered 180B SSS if so
            .

    • kekw on 13/03/2023 - 11:28
      +1

      Nugs here living the bargain life to the max

  • JDMcarfan on 13/03/2023 - 10:38
    +4

    based on your other comments ill infer your car knowledge is minimal so ill keep it as simple as possible.

    I think you misheard your mechanic

    They would've said 1L/1000km, which is high oil consumption but normal for a car of that age and kms (my daily - a 2006 2.0 4cyl with 305k, drinks approx. 750ml-1L per 1000km).
    A litre every 10k kms is better than what a lot of new cars will consume for reference.

    Its not a valuable car so likely the mechanic is running thicker oil (and has hopefully advised you of such), which should reduce consumption (mines down at about 300-500ml on thicker oil - 60w vs 40w factory), but the reason they're telling you is so that you'll keep an eye out between services and not let the engine starve.
    A dipstick measurement between full and low can be between 0.5L and 1L depending on car (determined by the size of your oil sump mainly) and isn't really the main point for your consideration. Ideally you should really never allow it to go below halfway down the dipstick.

    What you should do:
    - Buy a bottle(s) of engine oil - one 5L would be enough but for convenience i'd get a 1L and a 5L so the 1L can be topped up. Given its an older camry it not going to be picky, chat to mechanic if you want but any run of the mill 10w-50 (can go +/- 5 on first number and +/- 10 on latter number) semi-synthetic oil will be more than sufficient.
    - Keep the 1L in the car at all times for any emergency top ups
    - Check oil level once a month or 500-1000km - check on level surface when car is cold and wipe dipstick clean before inserting to get accurate read.
    - When oil level is approaching halfway of dipstick, open engine oil cap and pour some (like 200ml) of the engine oil into the engine. Wait a min and check dipstick (clean before inserting). Repeat process with smaller increments until dipstick is at Full line (can be just above, and it will not be an issue)
    - Drive and enjoy

    This is more preventative maintenance then anything and should limit the chances of any major engine issues. It's not a new car and like humans it needs extra attention and sympathy with age

    • cranswick on 13/03/2023 - 10:58

      thnaks very useful advice,yes it might have been 1 litre per 1000 km not 10,000,km l am not sure , my mechanic said 5w 30w oil which would burn less

      • JDMcarfan on 13/03/2023 - 11:19
        +3

        5w30 would likely be the factory oil spec, and its fine to run it even now (just with a higher leak rate). Suggesting a thicker oil to a mechanic whilst great in theory won't work out as their ego's are very tightly linked to their way of thought.

        There's 2 schools of thought and I go with the older way of thinking that its more appropriate to thicken with age and visible leaks, as owners are never scrupulous enough.
        Running a thinner oil as per your mechanic's advise, increases chances of starving the engine if oil isn't checked frequently and topped up but may technically make the engine last longer/run more efficiently if everything is kept up to scratch. Running thicker oil are marginally worse for the car but allows for less invasive attention to the oil levels and reduces chances of catastrophic engine failure as its less likely to be starved.

        I'd still do the same advise as mentioned above with 5w-30, but would increase the frequency to a strict 500km/tank of petrol to check and top up where needed.

        • cranswick on 13/03/2023 - 11:31

          thanks, yes l will check it every 500 km and top it up if it gets below half way between the notches

    • JDMcarfan on 13/03/2023 - 11:41

      Correction: I take back saying its normal to be at 1L per 1000km. That's definitely high, and is a sign of poor maintenance over its life (for a Japanese car).
      I was however aware of it when buying the car so have treated accordingly.
      As per Drakesy's comment, mines also due to valve stem seals failing and not the more usual rear main seal leak (although it does leak a very tiny amount)

  • Drakesy on 13/03/2023 - 11:31
    +1

    1L per 100,000k's is perfectly fine. It's when its burning it every 1000k's that you get worried.

    Especially for 330,000k's the piston seals will have worn down a bit which allows small amounts of oil to escape through. VW's/Audis are very prone to this, Japanese and Korean cars not so much.

    • cranswick on 13/03/2023 - 11:33

      thanks , l think l may have made a mistake , l am not sure if the mechanic said it burns 1L per 10,000km or 1000KM , so it may be burning 1K per 1000KM, next time l get it serviced l will ask

      • Drakesy on 13/03/2023 - 11:47

        In that case yeah i'd be looking at a new car unless you want to redo the piston seals (which for a 15 year old car is not worth it) or just dump a L every 1000k's which i CBF

        • kerfuffle on 13/03/2023 - 11:51
          +4

          In that case yeah i'd be looking at a new car

          Oh they have. We know all about it

  • pao2x on 13/03/2023 - 12:36

    Time for higher operating temperature viscosity oil?

  • Euphemistic on 13/03/2023 - 12:41

    Check the oil more regularly, top up as necessary
    Save for replacement engine or car.
    Keep driving until either lots of smoke, it stops working, starts leaving lots of oil on the driveway, or you have sufficient funds to replace it.

    • cranswick on 13/03/2023 - 13:02

      l just checked my service papers, it says 1L per 10,000 km. so l guess l was worried about nothing

      • Euphemistic on 13/03/2023 - 13:05

        That’s an estimate. Assuming you want the engine to last a while yet, you’ll likely need to check and top up the oil between services.

        If you don’t care if it blows up, don’t bother servicing it. Just drive it til it dies.

      • Muzeeb on 13/03/2023 - 17:46
        +1

        Should have checked this before you posted. FFS.

  • Seraphin7 on 13/03/2023 - 13:12

    I know nothing about cars, but if the fact it is burning excess oil is the only problem, a litre of oil will cost you ~$25. Over the same 10,000km journey, I'll take a wild swing and say that your fuel costs are ~$2,000. The incremental costs are b*gger all and it's highly unlikely that doing anything other than keeping the oil topped up is going to be economic.

    • skillet on 14/03/2023 - 11:20

      Burning oil could bugger up the spark plugs, which is fairly cheap to replace. It could also bugger up the catalytic converter so your car will be farting high nitrogen oxides and black smoke. The bumper surrounding the exhaust will be covered with soot and standing behind the exhaust outlet will be spewed with carbon infused oil droplets.

  • USER DC on 13/03/2023 - 13:44

    just change your servicing interval to 5000-6000 Km easy job done.
    Max oil burn 500mL.

    You usually have at least 500 mL gap between oil dipstick's maximum and minimum point of oil measurement (some have >500mL).

    • Euphemistic on 13/03/2023 - 14:23

      Or top it up every 5000km and you’ll have changed the oil after about 50,000km?

      • Malik Nasser on 13/03/2023 - 19:21

        You still want to keep up regular oil service, or even do oil service more often. If your rings are worn, you will get more blow-by, which will contaminate your engine oil more quickly, which in turn will result in exponentially more wear.
        For an oil service you want to ensure the engine oil is drained out of the sump plug to also remove contaminants that settle in the sump (engine oil service which pump the oil out through the dip-stick do not remove all contaminants still sitting in the sump).
        More regular oil service will be the best option (for all cars, not just old cars). Oil is cheap, new engines not so much.

        • Euphemistic on 13/03/2023 - 20:35

          While I said what I did tongue in cheek, it depends on the rest of the car. If you can’t DIY and oil change and the rest of the car is on a downward spiral (other things failing) then it’s hardly worth changing the oil.

          Change the oil regularly if you want to keep it running for as long as possible, keep it full of oil if you just want it to go for a bit longer until xxxxx happens.

  • JIMB0 on 13/03/2023 - 19:36

    Look forward to when it starts burning a litre of oil every 1000km. Then you just top it and never have to change it. Just do the filter.

  • 2esc on 14/03/2023 - 10:31

    Cut from Penrite website.

    "Higher oil consumption could have a number of causes. Some of the most common can be:

    1) Using oil with a viscosity that is too low for the application

    2) Viscosity breakdown

    3) Using a low quality oil

    4) Damaged or worn compression or oil rings

    5) Damaged or worn valve stems and seals

    6) Oil dilution

    7) Gasket and seal leaks"

    They suggest using 10W-50 grade oil checking manufacturers specs as well.

  • Chewy2221 on 14/03/2023 - 17:10

    If you are sure that the engine is burning the oil, then it is just a minor inconvenience. If the oil is disappearing into the radiator water or leaking onto the garage floor, then I would be more concerned. Your mechanic has probably checked these anyway. Sounds like you have a good car, still going strong after lots of ks.

  • Doctorbevan on 17/03/2023 - 12:51

    Dump some Lucas oil stabiliser in it next service
    The stuff is absolute liquid gold

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