There is no oil level light on this car. At this point I suspect the rod bearing clearances could be measured in sixteenths of an inch!
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I do not add a quart every 200 miles. I pour the full 5 qt when the oil light comes up.Then drive for another 1000 miles and the oil light again comes up and I pour another 5 qt.
Ok, I am out of here but not before I call ( Troll ) !
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Geez!
The Exxon Valdez of automobiles!
Tester
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First of all, thanks to all of you for responding to my queries. I understand I have been putting in more oil than needed (5qt vs 3qt) and will take care of it going forward. But I would still say that my oil is disappearing faster than normal and here is why I say so. On at least 3 occasions in the last 8 months, I went to PepBoys and Jiffy Lube for an oil and filter change. They drained the oil, changed the filter and added the necessary 3 qt till the âfullâ line of dipstick. However, after 1000 miles, my oil indicator came up and dip stick also showed oil level to be below the minimum. So even when these auto stores change the oil and add new oil, it vanishes in 1000 miles. Also it should be noted that just last month I got my vehicle inspection at the Motor vehicle at it passed with zero emission issues. I did take the vehicle to a mechanic and he said it might be the piston rings which might be clogged up or valve stem seals, if I am saying these correctly. He gave that suggestion based on a visual inspection of the engine only, he didnt drive the vehicle.
Pay attention to the NOACK:
10W30 has lesser evaporation rate, thus lesser âburnâ when used in ICE
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@ebc1680_159666 I had a 1947 Pontiac that used oil like your Corolla does. I would add a a quart about every 290-250 miles. Usually I would have to add a quart every time I bought gas.
The 1947 Pontiac had an oil pressure gauge but didnât have a light. I monitored the oil pressure gauge closely, but I always checked the oil at every gas stop. With careful driving, I got yearâs use from the car for which I paid $75. Your light indicates low oil pressure, not low oil level. Of course, if there is no oil in the engine, there wonât be any oil pressure. Check the oil every morning by opening the hood and pulling out the dipstick. Add just enough oil to bring it to the full mark on the dipstick.
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I have the rebuild specs for a 1962 Plymouth 318 in the house somewhere, Iâll compare them to a modern 5.2 v8 and report back
That is the wrong way to maintain an engine, you should add a quart of oil when the level reaches the add mark, not wait until the crank case is empty.
The oil is being consumed faster than normal, much faster, the piston rings are stuck in the piston groves.
As was already stated by others, you have aided in the early death of that engine.
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If it is indeed a diagnosis, the way to deal with it is to try dissolving deposits in an attempt to unstuck the rings.
Iâve seen it done successfully by my âcar guruâ step-brother, on multiple old beaters.
The procedure is quite simple, but the one doing it has to be careful:
- Make sure to have a convenient way to rotate crankshaft, for FWD it will be to remove right front wheel and to get to the harmonic balancer bolt, find a good socket and ratcheting breaker bar which fits the purpose
- Remove spark plugs
- Prepare a mixture of engine oil, kerosene, acetone (30/50/20% or something in a ballpark)
- Add an ounce of âthe mixtureâ into each cylinder
- Slowly rotate crankshaft for a minute or so
- Add 1/2 ounce per cylinder, let it sit for 5-10 minutes
- Add more, rotate
- Repeat 6/7 few times
- Drain the oil from the engine, refill with new cheapest oil you can get
- Put spark plugs back, start it up and run for 5-10 minutes
- Replace the oil and filter, drive car normally, pray for rings to be unstuck
I might assume that getting some cheap âinjector cleanerâ into the mix will add more good solvents, but my relative did not use that, he had a big can of acetone on the shelf 
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your motor holds 4 qts. an oil change results in 4 qts being put in. not 3 qts
if you burn/leak 1 qt/week than why change oil at all? keep adding 1 qt week.
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This wonât work. You can read through the link provided by CorollaGuy1 to see why.
This engine needs mechanical repair, not a chemical cleaning.
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Your getting a lot of advice here from people who do not know your situation, and I do not either. I am going to offer you an alternative here and if it fits, itâs your call to use it or not.
If you need to keep this car as long as possible, then you need to check the oil at every fill up. Add a quart of oil when ever it goes below the add mark on the dipstick. I suspect that you will be adding a quart at every gas up so plan on that being a part of getting gas. Never let that oil light come on again.
Buy the cheapest oil that meets your vehicles situation and use 10w30 if your local temperature does not go below 0 degrees F or -20C. You may find your oil in bulk (case at a time) for less money or even in 5 quart jugs at a discount warehouse or big box store for less than a single quart. That is especially true for oil sold at a gas station. Look for a sale on oil and stock up.
Keeping the oil level topped off will actually help reduce your oil consumption. As the oil level drops in the pan, the remaining oil is cycled through the engine more times and gets less time to cool off in the pan. That makes it hotter than normal and the hotter it runs, the faster it burns. Keeping the oil topped off will also help clean the engine too as you will keep fresh detergents in the engine.
Now, you didnât hear this here, but if you have a friend who uses synthetic oil of the same grade your vehicle uses, and they change their oil more frequently than their owners manual calls for for synthetic, or changes it as often as the owners manual calls for for regular oil, as them to save their used oil for you. Use their used oil as make up oil for your vehicle. The synthetic oils are better at cleaning out an engine (conflicting opinions here on that) and can actually reduce you oil consumption a little.
I had an oid Tercel that was using a quart every 4-500 miles. I did oil changes with conventional oil every 5k miles but used the used synthetic oil that I drained from two other vehicles I owned and two other vehicles from other family members that I maintained. The oil consumption would actually be reduced from the 400 miles right after the oil change to about 500 miles just before the next oil change. Saved me some money and reduced pollution from burning fresh oil and disposing of used oil. The Tercel went over 300k on that engine.
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I think the modern 5.2 was discontinued around 2001 and replaced with the 4.7 
.
I remember seeing side by side specs for bearing clearances between a 2013 5.0 and a 70âs 351 posted on a forum. Basically, the guy who posted it was showing that the use of 5w20 in the modern engine wasnât due to âtighter tolerancesâ in that case because the clearances on the 70âs motor were the same or tighter than the modern engine. I dunno, over my head and off topic. But I found it interesting.
No doubt manufacturing processes are, or certainly should be, more precise. Iâve always been curious about the âtighter tolerancesâ though. Is there actually less âplayâ between parts in a modern engineâŠ?
Another clarifying note to the OP. The oil light on your instrument cluster is not an oil level light in the sense of it being a casual reminder to check the oil level. It is an oil starvation light. If it comes on the level is dangerously low, things are very dire, and the engine should not be run with it illuminated. Have we flogged this expired equine enough?
One more thing-âtop up the oilâ means put in just enough oil to reach the full mark on the dipstick, no more.
Weâre done, here⊠Waiter! Check, please!
Next!
CSA
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Thank you everyone for all the advise and suggestions. This is really helpful. Appreciate everyoneâs time and feedback.
Why all the suggestions aboveâŠthis engine is shot and the only way to deal with the oil consumption issue is to replace the pistons and rings.Any type of snake oil wonât work in this situation.If the rest of the car is in pretty good shape I would give it a try and fix it for good.