Help with this Oil sucking engine rebuild

I had a rebuild on my trusty 1989 Toyota 4x4, they werent called Tacomas back then, just cheap truck. But the adventures Ive had, hard to put a price. After 150 the plastic timing chain guides broke and cooked the oil pump. Engine was rebuilt 2 years ago, It thas been using alot of oil since then, runs strong, does not leak oil and passes smog here in California last 2years, It uses a quart every 1,100 miles or so. Where is this oil going? Is my truck going to get me stranded again? Its been 15,000 miles, rings should be seated. 22RE engine Any help Amigos? Thanks Tom

This is no big deal.

Did you know that most auto manufacturers consider a quart/1,000 on their BRAND NEW vehicles as normal consumption?

Tester

If that’s all you have to worry about, you have NOTHING to worry about…

Yeah, manufactures say a quart every 1000 is OK with them but my experience with the 22RE is that they all sure dont use a quart every 1000.

What was the consumption rate for the first 150K? bet it wasn’t a quart every 1000, its a shame you could not duplicate earlier oil consumption rate.

I used to own one of these. Bullet-proof engine except for those plastic guides. I found a place that sold metal chain guides. They were a bit noisy, tho.

For the oil consumption, check the PCV valve and the hose that runs to the plenum. This hose and PVC can get clogged up and lead to elevated crankcase pressures that force oil past the rings to be burned. I had a clog all the way to the port at the throttle. Cleaned it out, and the oil loss dropped dramatically.

The word “rebuild” has to be one of the most abused words on Earth.
An engine can be “rebuilt” a dozen different ways but there is only one correct method.

If it’s not leaking oil, it’s burning it. A compression and/or leakdown test may reveal the problem, and that’s a definite may.

Some oils will evaporate that much in different conditions-not to worry-Kevin

I concur. Oil is very cheap. Just get into a habit of topping this vehicle engine oil off every other fuel fillup.

Elaboration please.

Did the rebuild come with any sort of warranty?

The others are right that it’s probably nothing to worry about, and certainly not worth paying for another rebuild, but I certainly do not think this is “normal” and is probably grounds for a warranty claim for most rebuilders (well, can you say it’s burning a quart every 999 miles?).

I had this exact same truck ('89 4x4 with a 22RE) and I sold it at about 200,000 miles and it never burnt a drop of oil.

I had a 1989 Toyota pickup with the 22R engine…same engine but carbed. And it was before the term Tacoma was added. I got 338,000 out of that truck with no major work before it got totalled in an accident. It did burn about a quart every 1200 miles at that point.

Honestly, without knowing more about the extent of the rebuild I’d suggest that your usage is perfectly acceptable. Many new car manufacturers consider a quart every 1000 miles to be acceptable even on their brand new engines. It’s at the high end of the data distribution curve, but within the acceptable upper limit. And even a good and total rebuild is working to tolerances larger than modern manufacturers do with their Statistical Process Control. SPC works to (for lack of a better description) “tolerances within the tolerance window”. Its lower and upper “control limits” are based not on limits that create acceptable dimensional interfaces even when tolerances are considered, but rather based on the capabilities of the process when honed to it’s absolute maximum possible consistancy. Even a good and total rebuild is not as perfect as an engine exiting the factory door.

Enjoy your truck. I miss mine.

Thanks for your reply, I think you helped me to figure out this puzzle at last. Tom

If you have a particular oil formulation,with more volatile factions,under conditions of higher heat,they will evaporate quicker.On the companies Mack Trucks,with a certain brand of oil ,you would go a gallon low very quickly,from there on out you were in pretty good shape till the next oil change.When the oil brand from the supplier switched-I could go sometimes till the next oil change(250-300 hrs) before adding oil-Kevin

Old School, This truck never used oil since new, and I bought it new. Changed oil myself every 3000 miles. Castrol GTX, thats the pisser. Thought I would get 250,000 out of it! Still a great vehicle, more than a few people tried to buy it from me. No rust, great paint,no dings. Got a new clutch and new radiator in the rebuild, may be good to go for another 100,000, who knows. On the other hand, after driving this truck for 20 years it would be nice to have one with air-conditioning and air bags! Tom

The problem is more than likely due to one of the not quite correct methods of rebuilding.
In a nutshell, somebody erred.