How often do U check your engine oil??

heathstimpson · November 24, 2005, 16:30

Quote from: "weaselchops"Once a week, along with tyre pressures when the 2 is cleaned.

Quote from: "heathstimpson"You have time to wash every week; I wish I did s:? :? s:?

s:shock: :shock: s:shock: Bugger living with you, stinky boy.... s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

s:lol: :lol: s:lol: s:lol: :lol: s:lol: s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Anonymous · November 24, 2005, 17:09

My black mr2 suffered precat failure- it constantly puked out blue smoke, particuarly when you put the engine under load. the car used 5 litres of oil in 3 days (engine only holds 4.5litres!!) and the car had no power whatsoever (i couldn't keep up with my girlfriends 1.1 106 at 70mph on the bypass!!) the engine also made a tappy / rattly noise as if the top end had been starved of oil a few times in the past.

when the dealership i bought it from took it into the toyota garage, they commented it was the worst wear they had seen to date.

subsequently, the dealership realised it would cost too much for them to fix the car, gave me my money back and put the car through a market.

I then decided to buy my silver one privately so therefore got more for my money and I've bought the toyota extended warranty at £580 for two years including RAC cover (coz of club toyota)

Anonymous · November 24, 2005, 17:28

I have a bit of a scraping noise coming from the engine (no one else can hear it though) and it's just white condensation type smoke in the mornings, but it's quite a lot, and it doesn't disappear until the car is up to operational temperature, and even then I see a bit coming out of the exhaust no an again

Really need to sort my warranty out when I get home.

kanujunkie · November 24, 2005, 18:31

Quote from: "extremeMR2"I have a bit of a scraping noise coming from the engine (no one else can hear it though) and it's just white condensation type smoke in the mornings, but it's quite a lot, and it doesn't disappear until the car is up to operational temperature, and even then I see a bit coming out of the exhaust no an again

Really need to sort my warranty out when I get home.

our engines can sound a little scrapey as you put it when they start and even from new mine has produced a lot of smoke on colder mornings, dont fret, this is just condensation forming and is quite normal.

if the smoke were slightly bluish in colour or even black then that would be a matter

Anonymous · November 24, 2005, 23:37

QuoteextremeMR2 wrote:
I have a bit of a scraping noise coming from the engine (no one else can hear it though) and it's just white condensation type smoke in the mornings, but it's quite a lot, and it doesn't disappear until the car is up to operational temperature, and even then I see a bit coming out of the exhaust no an again

Really need to sort my warranty out when I get home.

Like Stuart says AKA kanujunkie

it is normal to have white smoke as you put it. However if you do hear a knocking noise of like metal hitting metal when you REV the engine this ain't normal. Cos this is what my car was doing and hence the reason why I put the question of "how often do you check your engine oil"

Anonymous · November 25, 2005, 17:18

I need to check my oil level about once a month, i asked toyota why the car was using so much oil and they recon that its normal and the car is designed to use alot of oil to save the engine.

kanujunkie · November 25, 2005, 17:25

Quote from: "mrS dan"I need to check my oil level about once a month, i asked toyota why the car was using so much oil and they recon that its normal and the car is designed to use alot of oil to save the engine.

that wrong, a good engine will use a certain amount of oil but not much at all , i take it you have been reading the threads on pre-cats and have checked them out to be sure?

proeliator2001 · November 25, 2005, 19:57

Like Aaron said, the dealerships go by what Toyota tell them and, with everything on the wrong tollerance (giving worst gaps etc) then yeah, maybe a litre per 1000 miles is about right. Doubt many engines get made like that but higher oil use than the rest of us shouldn't olny mean it is only a pre-cat problem. I've had cars that drunk oil for the first 4-5k and ones like this that haven't even needed a top up in over 7k.

Anonymous · November 25, 2005, 20:49

So if you, say you go through a tank of fuel a week (+-300miles) that's 900 -1000 miles in a month. Correct???

The difference between full and empty on the dipstick is that of about 1L of oil. so in one month you can go from full to empty (According to Mr T's 1000 to 1L oil consumption)?? Surely that's not right

proeliator2001 · November 25, 2005, 22:58

The 1L/1000 miles is a max limit. You see it on all sorts of hardware. It is a limit that the designers say a worst case bit of kit will reach. On most things, it's done to prevent warranty claims or replacing bits when they aren't needed. I've seen jet turbines use only a tenth of what their alleged normal operating limit implies. You'd be very unlucky to ever get an engine that would use that much and as tolerances improve along with better engine management and material use, modern engines use a fraction of the oil compared to their antecedants. That's not to say someone won't get one though!

kanujunkie · November 26, 2005, 02:28

Quote from: "proeliator2001"I've seen jet turbines use only a tenth of what their alleged normal operating limit implies.

unless its a JT-9D which generally uses about 1.5 gallons of oil per 2000 miles. God you have to love old technology s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

proeliator2001 · November 26, 2005, 09:55

Still, 3.5 litres per 1000 miles isn't bad for something that can each shift around 70 tons at up to 560 mph s8)

s8)

aaronjb · November 26, 2005, 14:06

Speaking of checking oil - I just finished changing mine. Halfords have a dire selection of oil now s:(

s:( I ended up having to go for Castrol 0W-40 as that was the closest to what I really wanted (5 or 10W-40). There was really only a choice of Castrol Edge Sport 0W-40 (replacement for the old Castrol RS), Castrol Edge 5W-30, Mobil1 15W-50 or Halfords own. Grr.

Still, it'll have no problems circulating the engine in the cold weather, that's for sure.

Also checked my preCATs while I was at it - they look pristine.. I'm actually starting to think my car had a new engine before I got it..

Anonymous · November 26, 2005, 17:29

Please could someone tell me what is a Precat. I have no real understanding on what this really is. Also what does the have to do with the engine oil? (I'm asking in a polite manner) s:)

s:)

Anonymous · November 26, 2005, 17:34

In addition to my question above. How do you check your Precat and what should I be looking out for? i.e. faults

markiii · November 26, 2005, 17:35

do a search on precats, there are volumes already written that should answer your question fully.

Chris · November 30, 2005, 19:01

Quote from: "extremeMR2"I hate checking the oil, cause every time you take the dipstick out, you get a different reading, they are so Difficult to read. probably the worst design ever ! ! ! ! s:evil: :evil: s:evil:

I do mine when something like this thread reminds me too... s:wink: :wink: s:wink: but probably no more than 1 every few months. Never had to add any, unless it got done at service time.

I too can get different readings on both sides of the stick, so i guess i'll only start to worry when i dip and see there is none!! s:roll: :roll: s:roll: