2001 Toyota Camry using too much oil

brucie261, Jan 28, 2:43am
Purchased a 2001 2.2ltr Toyota camry 3 months ago, all seemed fine, driving the other day and oil light came on, stopped as soon as we could and no oil in car, it was serviced the day we got the car and I checked the oil a month after buying it but didn't again as never had a car use this much oil. car has done 194,000km but to me that's not much at all when it comes to a Camry. No oil leak on the drive way and no smell of burning oil, the odd bit of smoke out the back but only see it twice.
Expensive fix or easy fix!
intrade, Jan 28, 2:49am
check if it is not leaking i fixed one of these where every last seal pissed out oil no kidding flywheel side cam oilpump rockerocer youname it and you cant see it when you open the bonnet engine tilted back all oil runs down its back to the floor and side and out the trans housing-
intrade, Jan 28, 2:50am
if you sure have no leak then it be the valvstem seals as i dont think it would be the rings on one of these.
kazbanz, Jan 28, 2:53am
Define cheap/expensive. I do wonder what oil was put into it though.
jmma, Jan 28, 2:55am
Change oil and filter and try a decent oil. Cheapest option first (o:
brucie261, Jan 28, 3:01am
Thanks, no idea what oil was put in first, we just grabbed what ever oil the little servo had when we ran out.
will have a proper look around every where tomorrow but 99% sure it's not leaking.
Have rung car yard we got car from to let him know what we are doing so if it is anything major then we have made contact within 3 months of buying.
thejazzpianoma, Jan 28, 3:03am
Aside from whether it has any leaks etc I would strongly suggest you get a compression test done on it. Being a Toyota there is a good chance the previous owner/s didn't bother to check the oil often enough so chances are it may have been run low on oil quite often in past.

So before you spend money replacing seals and the like make sure its going to be worth spending the money on. The money may be better spent on another engine or even better another car.
lugee, Jan 28, 3:04am
I'm sure you have some suggestions in that department.
jmma, Jan 28, 3:07am
What are you talking about jazz, its only done 194,000. First oil change on a Toyota isn't till 200,000:oP
thejazzpianoma, Jan 28, 3:07am
Yeah, but judging by what they bought and the wording of the posts they are probably too badly brainwashed to save. I will settle for trying to save them some money so they can put it towards the Camry's incessant thirst.
thejazzpianoma, Jan 28, 3:09am
Yes what was I thinking!
Actually. weren't these engines "sealed for life"!
ralphdog1, Jan 28, 4:32am
Sealed for life!
That's a VW trick isn't it!.
drog, Jan 28, 12:46pm
If the OP reads the owners manual for the vehicle it will state in big letters 'Always check fluid levels before operating vehicle'.
saxman99, Jan 28, 2:36pm
When you say "no oil " in the engine do you mean none showing on the dipstick!

Lets say the engine holds 4 litres of oil to the top mark.There is a litre between the two marks usually, so if its on the bottom mark there are 3 litres left, or 75% of the original amount. Most dipsticks I've seen have a short bit of stick below the bottom mark, maybe .5 to .75 of a litre, so if its just off the bottom of the stick there is still up to 2.5 litres left in the crankcase which is a bit more than half still in there; this is often about when the warning light comes on. If you check the oil level when the car is hot immediately after being run (like most people at the gas station) you will get a false low reading as there will still be a some oil in the head and elsewhere.

So, don't panic yet, maybe it's not quite as bad as you think, maybe the car had used a couple litres in 3 months which perhaps isn't perfect, but not awful.

Good luck.
kazbanz, Jan 28, 4:46pm
Maybee I missed it but in the three months how many Km have you travelled! Yave you been towing heavy loads!
Not looking to shift any responsibility just trying to get a picture of the car
kazbanz, Jan 28, 6:06pm
personally i'd run a flush through the engine and then use a good quality synthetic 20w 50 oil in it
mrfxit, Jan 28, 8:11pm
Agreed on the flush but with the age & km's of that engine, I wouldn't dare use synthetic or semi synthetic oils.

Flush with (4ltrs) half & half new mineral oil & diesel fuel.
let idle for 5 minutes with a few VERY SMALL rev changes from time to time.
Drain/ change filter & refill with a std mineral oil of the likes of 20/50.

The above flush system won't remove varnish's/ carbons etc but will collect a fair bit of sludge.
it's the varnish's etc that often keep an older high km engine going good
mrfxit, Jan 28, 8:12pm
Of course if theres any bad rattles /misfires etc then turn it off . D'OH.
BUT that can happen with any flush system.
angelab, Jan 31, 6:35am
Our 1999 2.2 camry runs magnatec oil and doesnt get a top up between 15000k oil changes. Good economy from the manual. Now at 280,000k. Man I wish I had bought an o for Awesome euro instead. 10 year old toyotas as daily drivers are the reason I can afford to fill my shed with 40 year old toys!