@Nevada_545 Somehow they didn’t bill us for the oil they added, just the new hose and labor (it was ridiculously cheap). We put 3 quarts in when we initially stopped and it brought it up to the bottom of the dipstick. We then drove 6 miles to the shop where they said it was “really low” but not empty.
what would you rather have?
An all-metal line which the factory “coincidentally” decided to use in 2009 and newer 2GR-FE engines
Or the leaking hose replaced with ANOTHER hose
I think this is a CLEAR case of Toyota motor corporation not wanting to spend the money for a proper and permanent repair
Shame on them
They know they messed up . . . that’s why they started using all-metal lines
They don’t have to say anything . . . their actions say plenty
Do you know the capacity rating of the crankcase? That’s usually in the owner’s manual. And how many quarts below full corresponds to the bottom of the dipstick? You can usually estimate that just by a visual inspection, knowing the lo and hi lines are about 1 quart apart. From that you can get a pretty good guess how much oil was left.
What kind of driving did you do during this time? Freeway or city stop and go? Did the engine overheat?
@GeorgeSanJose It takes 6.6 quarts according to my owner’s manual. Using that rough estimation (I didn’t know the high and low were 1qt apart!), it had ~1.6 quarts of oil in it when we stopped. How the heck did the oil light not come on with it that low?!
As long as the oil pump’s pick up point is still under the remaining oil in the crankcase, it will pump oil throughout the engine at close to normal oil pressure even with only 1.6 quarts remaining. It’s like sucking on a straw in a coca cola. As long as the straw is under the cola level, you’ll get as big a gulp as if the glass was full.
It’s loss of oil pressure that quickly damages the engine, not low oil level in the crankcase. Low oil levels in the crankcase will also damage the engine, but slowly, over the course of hundreds or thousands of miles. My guess, you probably got off with just a warning ticket on this one.
@GeorgeSanJose That makes a lot of sense, thanks for explaining it in terms that I can understand! Thanks for your help, I’ll take my warning ticket and learn from it.
Just remember that that 1.6 qts was circulating at about 4 times the normal rate, absorbing 4 times as much heat with only 1/4th the time to slough any of it off, and heat destroys oil. Low oil does not directly damage the engine, but overheated oil is degraded very quickly and that in turn increases the wear rate of the engine.
Please change it soon.
@keith As soon as the shop opens on Tuesday morning! I also want them to check the filter and oil for metal bits, just to ease my mind.
The engine likely has some damage. The only unknown is the degree of the damage.
The problem with relying on the red oil pressure (or lack of …) lamp is that the sender which turns the lamp on and off is designed to close the electrical circuit with roughly 3 to 5 pounds of oil pressure.
Three to five may be enough to turn off the lamp; not enough to really protect the engine.
Good idea like you say OP to sieve the old oil, to inspect for metalic shavings.
It was Not a voluntary campaign. It was a recall. Wife has same engine in her 07 Es-350. I have same engine in my 14 Highlander but it’s not a problem now.