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Oil burning numbers needed from you all

5K views 27 replies 8 participants last post by  blue 
#1 ·
So at 199k miles I burn exactly half a quart for every 1500 miles (This is with the assumption that the dipstick lowest and highest marks are one quart).
... so ONE quart every 3000 miles. ...

Most of the first gens I have seen are around 200k or close by.

What is your oil consumption like?

I would be really interested to find somebody whose first gen is not burning any oil and it is at 200k.

also..
I use 10W30 Pennzoil high miles... what do you all use and why?
Also what is the oil change interval. I change every 5000. Of course I have to add oil once in the middle.

Do some of you keep on just adding oil and never change oil? LOL
 
#8 ·
IMHO, unless you've thrown a rod or worse, it's always better to rebuild than replace. If you have a good machine shop nearby and can do all the mechanic's work yourself (including disassembly, parts cleaning, and reassembly), it's generally not that expensive a project (buy quality parts on-line, e.g., a Fel-Pro gasket kit, etc. from RockAuto.com). Having a good, experienced mechanic-friend to teach/help you, and a factory service manual, are very valuable in the process if you never rebuilt engines before. Patience, space, and good tools too.

But if your compression numbers come back great, I'd just do the valve stem seals and any needed externals, e.g., timing belt, water pump, plugs, ... You can reuse most everything except the gaskets if you eventually decide to do a full rebuild.
 
#9 ·
I have the following I picked out from the forum. Anybody has had this done at a shop? How much should it cost? After compression testing I might go for it but I don't think I am loosing my oil because of this. I think it is 200k miles. LOL... So there is nobody with around 200k miles with this issue of loosing half a quart every 1500 miles?


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Its valve guide seals, a known issue.
Its expensive to replace them as the cams have to come out, so just ignore it, it does not cause problems.

After you shut the motor off, the oil works its way down the valve guides over time, the longer the time, the more smoke you get.
Its not a lot of oil.

Its part of the design, buckets and shims above the valves, and most engines of the same design do it when the seals wear out.
 
#10 ·
Happy to say, my RAV4.1 doesn't burn ANY oil. It goes from oil change to oil change without burning ANY oil at all. Oh, BTW, it has an oil and trans-axle coolers. It's very simple to install. The trans-axle was the easiest. My RAV4.1 is 2WD. The AWD came with a small cooler for the AWD system. Mine came with just an invested "U". I just cut the "U" and left about three inches of aluminum pipe. Sending the Derale Hoses to the radiator. The rest was just adding the supplied sandwich aluminum block and sending the hose as you can see. Metal Hoses would be a nice upgrade.
 

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#11 ·
I'm unhappy to say mine uses loads of oil at 230000 miles. It's been overheated around 50 times since I've owned it and about 18 months. I top it up so often that it really doesn't need oil changes. Be happy about the amount you are using. It's under what toyota worry about for a new car. That is a fairly light oil you are running. Is it particularly cold where you are?
 
#13 ·
I just wanted to get an idea of my engine condition at 200k miles and other RAV4s at around 200k with original engines.
It is not cold. 60 to 80 degrees these days.
 
#17 ·
Same here, I see many chugging along after all these years. Same as in this forum. I've seen people come and go since 1996 that I logged on. :D Yes I have other cars. But I still use my RAV4.1 religiously, and it's still running like a jewel.

This morning I got up at 4AM. Tomorrow is students day and we are having some activities with the students. I went to my local SAMS to get some junk food. It was a cool morning and not a soul in sight. I had a blast driving in the cool dark morning. It was great. All the time thinking; "Damn, after all these years, she still runs great".
 

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#18 ·
Exact same feeling when I drive it.
When we go out as family I force everybody in my 18 year old RAV4. I don't want to drive the Sequoia or the Lexus.
According to my friends I am putting my family at risk for taking them out on a "not so safe" car as compared to others in my garage.
I just love driving it. :D
 
#19 ·
At 155k mine was using similar to yours. 10-40 wt and a qt of Lucas helped. Changed oil every 3k and still do. I would've lived with it except that puff of smoke was driving me crazy. Did a wet/dry compression test, determined it needed a valve job (well, valve seals to be exact, but I opted for a complete valve job). Now at 162k eating no oil and no more puff of smoke in the morning. Better, smoother performance especially on long trips. It was worth the money.
 
#20 ·
Oil level stays same now after the valve job?
How much did it cost if you don't mind me asking?
 
#21 ·
2006 with the 2.4L.

282,000 kms. Repair at 275,000 kms.

Prior to the repair I was burning 1L every 700 km.

After repair I am still burning about 0.5L every 3000 kms.

I also noticed a tiny bit of oil in my coolant reservoir after the repair, never noticed it before.
 
#22 ·
I also noticed a tiny bit of oil in my coolant reservoir after the repair, never noticed it before.
Ouch -- bad head gasket, or worse. AutoZone has a neat "block tester" kit that can be borrowed, but you may have to buy a bottle of the test fluid.
 
#23 ·
@RAV4EVR "Oil level stays same now after the valve job? How much did it cost if you don't mind me asking?"

I don't really recall, but I think the complete job was around US$1200.00. The important thing is to have the wet/dry test done (or maybe it's called a leak down test). That gives you a good idea of the condition of your rings. It'll be a waste of money to just do the valves if the bottom end is significantly worn.
 
#24 ·
@RAV4EVR "Oil level stays same now after the valve job? How much did it cost if you don't mind me asking?"

I don't really recall, but I think the complete job was around US$1200.00. The important thing is to have the wet/dry test done (or maybe it's called a leak down test). That gives you a good idea of the condition of your rings. It'll be a waste of money to just do the valves if the bottom end is significantly worn.
A new/little used engine with installation will cost me about $2000.00
May be that is a better idea if I ever decide to fix the oil issue.
 
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