i have a 2010 Prius. It has 171,596 mile on it and it started burning oil 21,000 miles ago. I think it's because I hit something and I hit a dead javelina. I am burning 1 quart every 1000 miles. Nothing is leaking and my gas mileage is fine. Any thoughts? Toyota said I could rebuild it for 3300 bucks.
i would look into a salvage engine and tranny. hitting something wouldn't cause it to burn oil, 150k would though. if it were leaking, that would be different. maybe try running slightly heavier oil?
What investigative work have you done? Where did the suspected strike hit? Any other issues? I am at 138+ k on the clock on my 2010 II and have a slow oil drink about a quart every 5500 miles. Seems to drink more the higher my speed is (usually drive 70 on the freeway but if I increase, the oil drink is noticeably more). I keep an eye on the dipstick and add as necessary to keep it between the dots. I also run 5w-30 and that has slowed the drink down. In az you could probably run10w-30 without issue. I have thought about it and might in the future
How long have you been using higher viscosity for top offs? Has it helped any? One thing I will be doing at my next oil change is using BG EPR (used to be known as 109). This will be added before removing the oil then follow the instructions on the can. Supposed to help dissolve carbon deposits. Looking forward to seeing if this helps. Ultimately though, if you do a value case, a quart every so often versus the cost of a salvage engine, I would keep running it while checking the dipstick frequently. It takes a lot of oil to cover the cost of a new or nearly new engine.
One thing I forgot to ask, how did you find out 21 k miles ago that it was burning oil? Did you get a dash light or did you find it on the dipstick? How low has it gotten ( anytime below the lower dot)? If it has gotten below the lower dot, it may have starved the system, leading to increased wear.
