91 Previa: Need advice on burning motor oil

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dbmethods - 25 Aug 2005 06:04 GMT

It burns 1 Quart of motor oil for about 750 miles. It has 135,000 miles.
My mechanic told me try 10W40 with motor honey treatment.
Should I use different motor oil grade for winter and summer seasons?
10W40 in summer, 5W30 in Winter?
Any oil additive or use special high milage motor oil?
Thanks for any comments!

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davidj92 - 25 Aug 2005 22:56 GMT

> It burns 1 Quart of motor oil for about 750 miles. It has 135,000
> miles. My mechanic told me try 10W40 with motor honey treatment.
> Should I use different motor oil grade for winter and summer seasons?
> 10W40 in summer, 5W30 in Winter?
> Any oil additive or use special high milage motor oil?
> Thanks for any comments!

I would try one of the oils formulated for high mileage vehicles. I'm using
Valvoline High Mileage 10w40 and am going to switch to 20w50 in my riding
mower. It burns a little oil but engine has good power and no noise so I
switched it from conventional and it made a noticeable difference in oil
consumption. I would not try motor honey for any reason. Unless it gets
really cold where you live, 10w40 should be good for all seasons.
Are you sure you don't have any leaks? Does it smoke blue out the tail pipe
when running, or just on startup?
HTH, davidj92

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dbmethods - 25 Aug 2005 16:06 GMT

Actually I think one of valves/gaskets in somewhere is leaking. I do smell
something when parking it inside the garage. The Sears DIEHARD battery
still very strong for over 6 years, I do not have any problem to start it
up and no blue smoke yet. I am in North East, winter is cold here. Should
I still use 10w40 for winter season?

>> It burns 1 Quart of motor oil for about 750 miles. It has 135,000
>> miles. My mechanic told me try 10W40 with motor honey treatment.
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> when running, or just on startup?
> HTH, davidj92

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davidj92 - 26 Aug 2005 11:01 GMT

> Actually I think one of valves/gaskets in somewhere is leaking. I do
> smell something when parking it inside the garage.

I suggest you see your mechanic on getting any leaks fixed. They are
expensive to maintain (you say 1 qt. @750 miles x $2.?? per qt. =$$$) and
usually inexpensive to get fixed. If your mechanic hasn't addressed this
issue and suggests motor honey and you don't have internal engine noises I
would suggest finding another mechanic.

The Sears DIEHARD

> battery still very strong for over 6 years, I do not have any problem
> to start it up and no blue smoke yet.

This would eliminate the valve guide seals which would be another
easy/inexpensive fix so back to the leaks which I suspect is the major cause
of your oil usage.

I am in North East, winter is

> cold here. Should I still use 10w40 for winter season?

Since you have 135k miles I would probably switch to 10w30, possibly 5w30 in
cold weather as the engine probably has enough clearances on bearings and
etc to stand these viscosities.
HTH, davidj92

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dbmethods - 26 Aug 2005 11:39 GMT

This is getting funny here.
Toyota dealership is charging me for $50 to check for any oil leak.
I dropped by to a local shop, they asked me CLEAN UP/WASH the engine
before they check the leaks. I can not afford any blames from my lovely
wife, she might say what I do to the drive way.

To another shop, the mechanic told me, it could leak inside the engine
combustion, so it probably easier just get a re-build engine, $2000, for
this old $1500 mini-van. He is honest and told me don't do anything just
add in motor oils as frequent as possible, LEAVE it ALONE. It is true that
would cost me about $100 per year and would take 20 years to get even on
re-built engine.

>> Actually I think one of valves/gaskets in somewhere is leaking. I do
>> smell something when parking it inside the garage.
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
> etc to stand these viscosities.
> HTH, davidj92

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