I bought my 2011 Sonata Brand new. I've meticulously maintained it. Oil changes every month right at 3K miles. I drive a lot and the car just turned 145K just in the last 10K miles it has started using about a quart every 2K miles. I went to the Mobil 1 High Mileage full synthetic and started on 5K mile intervals. What's weird is it didn't use a drop...then all of a sudden it's using the quart every 2K. That's when I switched to the high mileage Mobil. Anyone else have any feedback for me...experiences...ideas? I want to see 300K. The car still runs and drives perfect and I stay all over making sure it's topped off and never low. Thanks!
PCV or valve seals? Toyotas are notorious for leaking through the valve seals and using oil. The only indication is a puff of smoke on start after sitting. If it's slight you might not even notice it.
Could be a lot of things, sticking valve, perhaps head gasket. What you need to have to is a compression and leak down test to see where the consumption is coming from. Some people would not consider a quart in 2000 as an issue if it runs fine. Assume no oil in the coolant etc. Blue smoke at all? Since it happened suddenly (not a gradual increase in consumption) I would focus more on a part issue then normal wear and tear. Valve seals, sticking valve, or a head gasket with the oil being sucked in while cooling off and being burned when engine started. Minor cracks in the head gasket can do that, engine cools off , cracks open up and let oil into cylinders, engine started burns off oil, heats up and gasket expands seals the tiny cracks till the next cycle. I have had that happen.
Or it could just be that simple. I had a Ford Explorer that burned a quart every thousand miles. I just kept a quart in the back and when the light popped on I pulled over on the side of the road and topped her off.
Thanks for the responses. I may give it to my mechanic and let him do a few tests. I honestly probably shouldn't worry too much. I'll definitely keep it topped off and it will never get real low by any means. Just OCD about my vehicles....
Going to move to 5w-30 next oil change and see if that slows it down any. On 5w-20 now...owners manual says I can even go up to 10w-30...but may not get the fuel economy.
I've owned my car since May 2015, I bought it with 24k. Now it has 110K, had no problems. I use Amsoil Oil in it, I change the oil once a year, Use 5w20 synthetic oil and their 25k mile filter. It does maybe once or twice a year needs a little oil to refill to max level. but I only go through maybe half a quart a year.
Time to pull those plugs and do a wet and dry compression test. They you will see just where it's leaking down. FWIW a leaking head gasket (leaking the right way) can suck oil into one of the cyls where it is burned along with the gas and you will never see or notice it. The car will run normally. More likely it is valve guides or even rings but whatever it is find out the cause.
Burning oil isn't the crime it's made out to be. It sucks when it happens to you but remember that it often can go on forever until the car rusts out as long as you KEEP AN EYE ON IT. That means checking it every week or so or on every fill up whatever suits your situation. Like a lot of human conditions it's manageable. Besides, look at the specs of many cars . They manufacturer considers oil consumption like yours normal.
The chief reason oil burning cars die is running low on or out of oil. That's the real killer . Ramp up checking that oil and you will be fine .
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