oil problems

I have a 1989 Toyota Camry with 203,700 miles on it. It has been burning oil for a long time and now it has got to stop. I want to know if a restoration additive would be worth trying to cure some of the scratches and worn rings. I was also reccomended to use 20W-50 oil. That would be too hard on the old engine though, right? What weight do you reccomend? What should I do?

A thicker oil is good for raising your oil pressure, but that is not your problem. A thinner oil would be easier for your rings to wipe off the cylinder walls.

You can try some solvent in your oil just before you change it to see if will will free up your rings some. There is a possibility that it will cause you leaks in other areas that are kept from leaking by deposits.

If you have changed you oil often and your engine is clean, I would try the solvent approach. It is not likely that there are significant deposits in your engine keeping your seals from leaking.

Well, my local dealer told me to use 20-50 in it. He says it might have a ring problem. He says that the problem would be that too much oil is getting through. Therefor, he told me to use 20-50. About the oil changes...... my father owned it last and he says that for it's first 25,000, he used Castrol 10W-30. After that, he switched it to Mobil1 10W-30. The oil was changed every 9,000 miles because he used to travel about 15 miles to work and the engine warmed up. There was a point when he changed it at 164,000 and didn't get changed until 203,000. He didn't change it because it burned off a quart every week and the oil on the dipstick was always crystal clear. Now I have switched it to Castrol Syntec Blend 10-30. I was told to use Valvoline MaxLife after this. Apparently it is very good for old engines. So, if that makes any difference in what you think, just let me know!


Thanks!

No doubt about it, it has a ring problem. I think you either have to clean the rings and lands or forget it. IMO your only hope is that the oil burning is due to deposits on the oil ring lands and rings that froze the rings. Maybe you can reduce these deposits. If the oil burning is caused by bad cylinder walls or worn rings, then nothing you can do will fix it except new parts.

Flush the engine with solvent before your next oil change. I would try using synthetic 5W30 (Mobil 1 or equivalent) and see what difference, if any, that makes and instead of 1 of the quarts of 5W30 motor oil, I would add one quart of synthetic ATF to the crankcase. High detergent content and thin.

That is my recommendation. This treatment may help clean the ring lands and rings and easier to wipe off the cylinder walls. If you develop any leaks you don't have now, go back to the 10W30. As I said previously, the higher weight oils will be harder to wipe off the cylinder walls and cause you to burn more, not less oil.

If you are having trouble with oil pressure as well as burning oil - it is time for a rebuild. They have two opposite solutions and is insolvable. The low oil pressure is either due to bearing wear or worn oil pump and needs the higher viscosity oil to bring it back up.

OK. What you are telling me is that the thinner the weight, the less burning? I was told the other way around. Right now I am only about 300 miles into my current oil change and I bought a can of Restore. So, I will try that first and if it doesn't do anything withing 500 miles, would it be safe for me to put in the ATF? What kind of ATF would be best? I would have thought that if the oil were thinner, it would burn easier. Also, what do you mean by "solvent?" If I were to flush it, how much solvent would I use, how long to use it, and what kind? Would any of this ruin my engine if I tried it?

All the oil that gets by the oil scraper ring gets burned. Thinner oil is easier to scrape off the cylinder walls and less gets left on the walls, gets into the combustion chamber and gets burned. All oil is easy to burn.

Use standard ATF if you will use dino oil and synthetic ATF if you will use synthetic oil. I doubt any brand is better than any other.

Solvent is just a generic word for the cans of flush they sell for adding to your oil just before an oil change. You just add it to your oil and idle the engine for 5 min. Then you drain the oil and replace the oil filter. The solvent gets rid of some deposits that oil by itself won't remove.

Like I said previously, if you have a relatively clean engine, the solvent won't hurt it. If it is full of junk, then you may develop some leaks. It won't hurt your engine except if you are dirty and the dirt is preventing leaks. This is sort of radical, but it is your only chance at not rebuilding the engine or living with the oil burning.

IMO, thicker oil won't do anything except burn more. Of course your engine will sound better with it in. Thicker oil always makes engines sound quieter. If you want, use it for a while and satisfy yourself. If it helps, then I'm wrong. Just giving you the best opinion I can. This is the only way I can thing of to clean the rings and ring lands. May not work, but I have given you the information you need to try it.

If you decide to try the ATF/5W30 mix. Don't expect miracles. Give it a while. It may take 2 or 3 oil changes to make a difference. Synthetic oil is definitely better for this use. It won't tend to do anything bad, like make new deposits.

Thank you for your advice! I am going to try it soon and hopefully it will work.


Thanks!

one more question.... would 5W-20 be thinner and better for it? I have some Castrol 5-20 around.

Yes, it would be thinner, but more is not better. You can try it, but I have never used that thin of a motor oil. If 5W30 works and cuts down your oil burning, then after a while, I would try the 5W20. Don't forget that the ATF will thin it out also and the ATF is necessary in this application for the high detergent content. If you can afford it, go with the synthetic oil.

One more question: can I combine 5-20 and 5-30? Or would that not be good?

Also, I don't think that I would ever put ATF in there. Not to say that your idea isn't good but I'm afraid that my seals would go and stuff like that. I will just try the flush and whatever you say about my previous post.

Yes, you can combine them as long as they are the same brand.

I know people who regularly run 1 qt of ATF in their engine on a regular basis. It is the reason I suggested the mixture in the first place. The oils are not going to help your oil burning significantly. Only the detergent in the ATF has a chance of reversing that situation.

OK thnx. So I will try it and let u know if it works.

Good. Hope it works for you.

Thx

Let us know the results no matter if it helps or not.

Zeek,
If you're going the full synthetic route then you might want to consider Valvoline's Synthetic Maxlife oil. It's a synthetic oil formulated for high mileage cars, such as yours, and it contains gasket conditioners, etc. You can read the label the next time you're in an auto parts store and see what you think about it. :2cents: Best of luck.