Oil Loss

[fipsy]

Hi guys. I seem to have to top up my engine oil every so often as the oil light comes on. I check the level and its gone down so have to top up. I have no visible leaks as no oil is under the car on the floor and it doesnt seem to smoke from the exhaust, all i get is the steam for a minute on cold startup. I generally have to put in approx half a litre every month. I do a fair bit of motorway driving so i know its not getting sludged up inside and it was flushed and changed a couple of months ago with new filter. This happened before the oil/filter change too as when i bought the car the oil was thick/black and sludgy so i straight away took it for a full service. Like i said though there are no visible leaks and no smoke so i really am out of ideas. Is it normal to use this much oil? Oh also the water cap it clear too so no oil getting in there.

[kam05]

What grade of oil are you using? 5w-30 fully synth?

How many miles has your IS200 done? Over 100k? I reckon the oil you are using is too thin and is being burnt (5w-30 oil may not be good for a high mileage engine?). Might be an idea to switch to 10w-40 semi synth?

[fipsy]

What grade of oil are you using? 5w-30 fully synth?

How many miles has your IS200 done? Over 100k? I reckon the oil you are using is too thin and is being burnt (5w-30 oil may not be good for a high mileage engine?). Might be an idea to switch to 10w-40 semi synth?

Its a 1999 plate and done 88k. Im using 10w-40 already as thats what the book states and also the garages stated it too.

Would an oil catch tank make any difference do you think? Maybe it wouldshow if any is getting through the intake and being burnt like you say.

[dave1]

. I generally have to put in approx half a litre every month.

But how many miles are you driving in a month. Although my GS430 or previously my GS 300 never required oil topping up between services, all cars "use" oil, just in varying quantities. This can be affected by driving style,even more so during the first couple of thousand miles.

[fipsy]

Approx 600-800miles a month and mostly motorway as i work in birmingham but travel up to doncaster and back quite a bit too. I dont drive hard either as its not the most fuel friendly of engines is it :shutit: . I used to drive a vectra gsi (v6) which i never had to top up the oil. As all my previous cars my lexus is and will be regularly serviced so still unsure as to why the frequent topups.

[Tango]

Approx 600-800miles a month and mostly motorway as i work in birmingham but travel up to doncaster and back quite a bit too. I dont drive hard either as its not the most fuel friendly of engines is it :shutit: . I used to drive a vectra gsi (v6) which i never had to top up the oil. As all my previous cars my lexus is and will be regularly serviced so still unsure as to why the frequent topups.

My IS200 Sport has 84,000 miles on it and never needs topping up between annual services. Lexus provide a topping up kit at every service (a litre of Mobil fully synthetic, a plastic glove, a paper wiper,a cardboard funnel and instructions ). Consequently I have quite a few kits on the garage shelves.

I do notice a difference between the IS20 and the 250 when checking the oil. On the 200 the oil on the dipstick always looks completely clear (as it is new) but on the 250 it appears quite dark. I spoke to Lexus service and they say it's expected with the aluminium engine?? Does everyone else with the 250 have the same?

[fipsy]

I have found a site called AMSOIL and one of the articles states as follows........

Dirty Oil

Failure to change the oil at proper intervals or to take proper care of the oil filter may cause the oil to be so dirty that it will promote clogging of the oil passages in the piston rings and pistons. This will increase the oil consumption as described in "Clogged Oil Passages". Dirty oil will also increase the rate of wear on bearings, cylinders, pistons and piston rings. All of these worn parts, as explained in individual items on each part, will contribute to a further waste of oil. Note: as a rule, dirty oil by nature is also consumed at a higher rate than cleaner oil.

When i bought my Is the oil was pretty grim and thick which is one of the reasons i had a full service done straight away. Could this be the cause then? I generally use a higher octane fuel and have used a fuel system cleaner a couple of times so confused as the system theoretically should be clean....

[fipsy]

Anybody able to offer any help? Im all out of ideas now

[clifton 94]

Anybody able to offer any help? Im all out of ideas now

hi are you sure the milage shown on the clock is correct it could be valve seals easy way to check this when your on the motorway get up to 70mph with the car in a low gear engine about 5000rpm check in the mirror make sure the road is clear take your foot of the throttle with the car still in gear this will cause a depression in the manifold and draw the oil down the valve stems as the revs drop to about 3000rpm put the throttle down hard and look in the mirror and see if there is a puff of smoke if there is it will point to the valve stem seals

hope this helps a little tony

[fipsy]

hi are you sure the milage shown on the clock is correct it could be valve seals easy way to check this when your on the motorway get up to 70mph with the car in a low gear engine about 5000rpm check in the mirror make sure the road is clear take your foot of the throttle with the car still in gear this will cause a depression in the manifold and draw the oil down the valve stems as the revs drop to about 3000rpm put the throttle down hard and look in the mirror and see if there is a puff of smoke if there is it will point to the valve stem seals

hope this helps a little tony

hi tony, thanks for the reply. the milage is correct to the MOT certs i have and the HPI report. i have tried this and there is no smoke when i do as you described so still none the wiser. thank you for the advice though and to everybody else. looks like a trip to the garage for me then ha ha

[clifton 94]

hi are you sure the milage shown on the clock is correct it could be valve seals easy way to check this when your on the motorway get up to 70mph with the car in a low gear engine about 5000rpm check in the mirror make sure the road is clear take your foot of the throttle with the car still in gear this will cause a depression in the manifold and draw the oil down the valve stems as the revs drop to about 3000rpm put the throttle down hard and look in the mirror and see if there is a puff of smoke if there is it will point to the valve stem seals

hope this helps a little tony

hi tony, thanks for the reply. the milage is correct to the MOT certs i have and the HPI report. i have tried this and there is no smoke when i do as you described so still none the wiser. thank you for the advice though and to everybody else. looks like a trip to the garage for me then ha ha

hi is the engine running at the right temp

[fipsy]

im guessing so mate. here is a photo of normal running temp on my car.

[clifton 94]

im guessing so mate. here is a photo of normal running temp on my car.

hi thats the right temp if you have no oil leaks theres only 2 ways your engine can burn oil down the valve guides or up past the piston rings both of these jobs will be expensive i think someone had this problem before on this site and i think it was the breather pipe valve but not 2 sure

[sarge]

Hi guys. I seem to have to top up my engine oil every so often as the oil light comes on. I check the level and its gone down so have to top up. I have no visible leaks as no oil is under the car on the floor and it doesnt seem to smoke from the exhaust, all i get is the steam for a minute on cold startup. I generally have to put in approx half a litre every month. I do a fair bit of motorway driving so i know its not getting sludged up inside and it was flushed and changed a couple of months ago with new filter. This happened before the oil/filter change too as when i bought the car the oil was thick/black and sludgy so i straight away took it for a full service. Like i said though there are no visible leaks and no smoke so i really am out of ideas. Is it normal to use this much oil? Oh also the water cap it clear too so no oil getting in there.

Hi fipsy,

I hope you got your problem sorted, re- oil consumtion, i'm a newbee here, but my company have recently brought-out a new product called (clean & protect) an engine flush & oil protectorant, (sold as a twin pack, it's had some great reviews from independant garages ect, (FORT'E) make this, check out there website!

regards sarge.

[true blue]

Hi I do not think the oil usage you have stated is excessive ; any car can use oil it all depends on how it was treated when it was new and how well the maintenance has been carried out.Although in theory cars do not require running in ,if the car is driven for long periods at a set speed

when brand new the cylinder bores can become polished and this can increase oil consumption ,as can driving the engine hard while not warm ;frequent short journeys ,although most modern cars do not use oil I have had cars over the years which burnt similar amounts to yours without any detremental effects and I feel dismantling the engine to rectify this will be very expensive; Just keep your eye on the level as running with low oil level will make things a lot worse

[SteveLS400]

As stated elsewhere in this thread, all engines use oil.

I would not consider half a litre over 800 miles to be excessive. I cannot recall which new car it was but I thought this was excessive and the dealer went to the trouble of measuring the exact usage and concluded that the usage was well within tolerance - it was more that half a litre per 1000 miles.

Ive got a couple of mates with Audis which were supplied new with oil and the instruction that the engines will use oil. Both these cars, an A3 oil burner and a TT use more than this.