2011 Auris burning oil

Igotadose

I think my 2011 Auris's engine is burning oil. 2011 1.33 engine, 79k miles. Regular maintenance with Toyota oil , last oil+filter in summer.
We've only owned the car since 2015. Bought it used from a dealer in Tralee.

Low oil light blinked in December. It was indeed low. Per local mechanic, topped it up.

Light came on again today, around 6 weeks later. Not much mileage in that period, no big travel, just local.

Never see drips anywhere when parked, no oil over the engine. So, I think it's burning oil.

To me, my only experience with cars burning oil was my 67 Buick LeSabre back in the late 1970's in the US. But, that thing was an old battle tank and yeah, it burned oil, no idea how much mileage it had. Thie car has otherwise been reliable, had some brake work done early last year was it, and we don't put a lot of mileage on it, nor any heavy use like towing, etc.

So, couple of questions:
Any way to determine manually whether it's burning oil? Hold a piece of paper against the exhaust?

Is there a test to be done by a garage to verify the burning of oil?

FWIW the car was NCT'd last February, dunno if their testing would've caught oil burning, car passed NCT with flying colors.

What kind of repairs might be necessary to resolve this?
I think the engine needs stripped down and possibly the rings replaced?
The car runs o.k., no knocking. The acceleration has never been great on the car but it hasn't worsened.

My local guy said to top it up again and check it daily, which I'll be doing now.

Thanks for any tips.

Bigus

Maybe try and engine oil flush and pour some of the flush into the bores to wash out the rings and re fill with heavier oil if below video doesn’t apply.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z4yek9oTfE

Leonard Hofstadter

The first thing you need to do is try and measure the oil consumption.

Follow the manufacturer's instructions for when to check the oil (some makes recommend you do it when cold, others say five minutes after a fully warmed up engine has been turned off, for example), and make sure it's on the maximum. If it's not on the maximum then top it up. Use a good brand of oil, not the cheapest thing you can find in Tesco or Halfords, and make sure it meets Toyota's specifications (the owner's manual will tell you what those are). Then just drive it, and after say 500 km, repeat the procedure and see how much you needed to put in to bring it back to the maximum. That way you can see how much oil it's used. 500 km is a decent distance to have travelled so it should be reflective of how much oil the car is using in general (short distance driving, especially around town, should use a lot more oil than a round trip from say Tralee to Cork or Limerick).

As long as you're getting at least 1000 km on a litre of oil, the issue is unlikely to affect the way the car drives in any way, or more importantly, passing the NCT. You will probably find that in the owner's manual it says words to the effect of the engine can burn as much oil as this anyway.

I would just accept it's going to burn some and keep topping it up as appropriate. Oil burning will not have any negative side effects until much later in the car's life (eventually the oil burning will cause the catalytic converter to cease functioning - but it will still be able to pass an NCT even with this problem).

Regardless of whether the oil consumption is within acceptable limits, you should still check the engine for oil leaks, the 1.33 engine is not noted for burning oil to the best of my knowledge, so it's quite possible you have a leak somewhere (the older 1.4 VVTi would have been well known for this problem but only really on the versions made before about 2005).

Toyotas rarely suffer from this problem, but it is common on some makes of petrol engine to leak through the rocker cover gasket or oil filter housing gasket. The oil breathers / PCV can get clogged up if the car is mostly driven around town and if that gets blocked oil has no choice but to go into the engine and get burned off. These factors will all adversely affect the oil consumption.

You should also look at using a more viscous oil. You're probably using 5W30 oil at present (or maybe even 0W20), check the owner's manual to see what types of oil are approved for your car. If something like 10W40 is approved by Toyota (it certainly was in their older models), then you could switch to that, it will mean the car will use a small bit more fuel (thicker oil means the oil pump has more work to do) but the oil consumption should be much better.

Try those things and see.

Igotadose

Thanks for the great replies, will try Leonard Hofstadters suggestions. Have printed them off and saving them, excellent post.

greasepalm

If you can remove spark plugs and look at them an oil burner engine leaves a heavy build up on plugs as it cant burn off.I have seen plenty of toyota models that burn oil more as regular oil check was not done and rings and bore got glazed and more oil will be used from then on.
We use a product called Lucas oil stabilizer for engines that burn oil.Change oil and filter and use 1 ltr of product and top up will oil.

tomo92

Hi all, not trying to hijack thread but I a have a question regarding spark plugs, was trying to change on a 07 mini a week ago I was using a 16mm 6 point socket instead off using a 14mm 12 point socket I know never bothered to check what socket to be used very foolish, anyway the socket obviously didn't fit I was turning and was it didn't come out but I did notice a sort of metal shaving at the end of the socket, I got the correct socket the other day and plan on changing plugs during the week would anyone know if I am likely to run into bother getting the bloody things out, any help would be greatly appreciated.

greasepalm

Maybe spread a little grease around base of plug socket to pick up any swarf that might be there.I have 2 things to get plugs up one is a pencil magnet and the other is this which fits around the top of plug.Dropping plug down hole may adjust spark plug gap.

https://www.amazon.com/Rubber-Spark-Remover-Install-JTC/dp/B076Y3WTKK

tomo92

greasepalm wrote: »

Maybe spread a little grease around base of plug socket to pick up any swarf that might be there.I have 2 things to get plugs up one is a pencil magnet and the other is this which fits around the top of plug.Dropping plug down hole may adjust spark plug gap.

https://www.amazon.com/Rubber-Spark-Remover-Install-JTC/dp/B076Y3WTKK

I bought this, I was wondering though will this still take out the one I could possibly have damaged using the wrong spanner

greasepalm

Been new it might have a magnet or rubber insert to grip the plug.Britool not seen that name around for 30 years.

Bigus

Toyotas can burn oil specifically caused by gummed up oil rings and not not wear

Long winded video below on 1.33 and shorter video lower on Toyota rings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ef2hYmcZzA

Slightly different engine but Toyota below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgdZSXOslDM

muckwarrior

Leonard Hofstadter wrote: »

As long as you're getting at least 1000 km on a litre of oil, the issue is unlikely to affect the way the car drives in any way, or more importantly, passing the NCT. You will probably find that in the owner's manual it says words to the effect of the engine can burn as much oil as this anyway.

WTF? My RX8 uses less than this and it's supposed to burn oil!

Toyotafanboi

That's the reality of it. Up to 1 litre per 1k kms is the tolerated maximum by most manufacturers.

Leonard Hofstadter

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

That's the reality of it. Up to 1 litre per 1k kms is the tolerated maximum by most manufacturers.

That's exactly it. It's considered 'normal' by many manufacturers for cars to use as much as 1 litre every 1000 km. The owner's manual of our 2005 Avensis states that the engines can use as much as a litre every 1000 km depending on driving style. My E46 owner's manual also states that oil usage depends on driving style and vehicle use.

Igotadose

Leonard Hofstadter wrote: »

That's exactly it. It's considered 'normal' by many manufacturers for cars to use as much as 1 litre every 1000 km. The owner's manual of our 2005 Avensis states that the engines can use as much as a litre every 1000 km depending on driving style. My E46 owner's manual also states that oil usage depends on driving style and vehicle use.

Back again. It seems like oil usage is up a lot, perhaps 600 km per liter. Is it time to have the engine rebuilt? And, any ideas how much such a job should cost? In West Kerry likely to take car to Tralee or Killarney for work.

greasepalm

Might be expensive if it needs a rebore new pistons rings etc.Did you try that Lucas oil stabilizer as it slows down oil burning.

Igotadose

greasepalm wrote: »

Might be expensive if it needs a rebore new pistons rings etc.Did you try that Lucas oil stabilizer as it slows down oil burning.

Not yet. Been tracking usage better and this uptick is more recent. May go with a stabilizer. I intend to look at the plugs next. What is expensive? 1000€ is cheaper than another car but not sure if it'll mean this car lasts just another year vs another 5 years

greasepalm

Not done an engine rebuild in years as lost contact with current pricing .Plugs are good as the more crap on the plug indicates how bad that cylinder is.

mk7r

For removal rebuild and refit would be far more than 1000, more like double.

bobbyy gee

Seems to be a known problem by toyota

https://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/182845-auris-high-oil-consumtion/#elComment_1468906

greasepalm

Once you forget to regularly check your oil level and it goes low the damage is done,cylinders will glaze and oil burning begins and when oil light is on engine might only have a cup full of oil in it.

Tea drinker

Try petrol with extra cleaning function, and put in dipetaine in the recommended amount, it may help clean up rings if the is your issue.
I don't know what sort of PCV system is has but I strongly recommend that it be exhaustively checked for blockages and cleaned, PCV valve replaced if applicable / affordable.

Cee-Jay-Cee

My wife has the same car and her is using quite a bit of oil too. Her car has 150k kms on it and is primarily used on a short 8km journey to and from work.

I just keep an eye on it and top it up as necessary. Shes had the car 4 years and I always used the recommended 5w/30 synthetic oil but changed to 10W40 GTX on the last service to see if a thicker oil would help...it hasn't.

As for rebuilding the engine, I doubt its worth it, even at a conservative estimate of €1000 rebuild cost, that would buy a serious amount of oil. Just reconcile yourself to the fact it uses oil and always have a 5L can of it in the garage to top it up when needed.

greasepalm

A lot of cars have a sensor in the sump to read oil level and yours might have one ,1.2 3 cylinder engines are known for oil usage.The Italian tune up is more for lowering emissions for nct.No harm in a good blast on motorway to keep it running smooth.

Igotadose

We're looking to replace the car in question now. Just topping up the oil regularly at this point. Hugely disappointed but this car's been disappointing almost from day 1, we've never owned a car we hate as much as this one, and I owned a 1973 Ford Pinto at one point.

Now looking into an EV, woo.