Sr180 Drinking Oil

[58aurissr180]

Hi, I have noticed that my car Auris SR180 58 plate 2.2 td is drinking alot of oil. The car was serviced 4000 miles ago & has drank at least half more like 3/4. I called 2 Toyota dealerships & they say that it is possible for the car to drink 1 litre per 1000miles if not more!!! I find this ridiculous for a new modern turbo diesel only 2yrs old. If anyone has any experiences or has had any problems please any help will be gratefully welcome... There are no leaks that i can find & the car has been well looked after & runs perfectly well.

[Daveyonthemove]

Post removed.

[T Sport 1978]

Sorry my T180 doesn't drink any until toward the end of a service period.

Would be useful to check with the dealer the exact grade and type of oil that they used to service the car, wrong grade for the weather could cause over consumption.

But obvious things to check:

1. See if there is a pool of oil under your car over night.

2. Any major smoke when driving (your car has DPF and should not be smoking constantly, however expect periodic smoking)

3. To discount possible head gasket failure, check white deposit in your oil (check dip stick)

4. Check if you are losing coolant.

Good luck

[58aurissr180]

As far as i can see everything is good no smoke, or build up around dipstick or filler cap. I havent managed to find any leaks yet but i am still looking. I thing something is going but i wont be 100% sure until the car breaks down... I'll add it to my sqeeky brakes & rattly interior. I did have a plug & play tuning box fitted for a short while but did remove it after a few months & that was months ago & the has ran fine since. I slo have a k&n panel filter too.

[OldSkoO1]

Take it into WRDavies Toyota Stafford, they are very good and will help you sort it.

Typically they will measure the level and ask you to return in 1,000 miles. If its consuming more than expected they will replace whatever they need to. Rarely a new engine these days.

Also, do you know what oil went in? If it was 0-30 it is too thin and will wear past the seals. Normally in older cars you just stick a thicker grade in until you sell. But on a new car, it's either the seals or oil that's too thin or a slight leak somewhere.

[58aurissr180]

It was WR DAVIES that told me the car is ok burning 1 litre of oil every 1000miles. Then called my partner & offered us a top up for free??? I dont understand if it's normal for it to burn this much oil then why offer us a free top up? I dont agree that WR Davies are that helpful but i wont go into it. The oil that went in was Shell Helix 5w-30 which is what WR Davies has recommended. Which is what i will use this time as i can't fault the oil. The car is a 58 plate so im hoping nothing has started to burn out yet. I haven't found any leaks yet but i am still looking. I think there's something wrong but not sure what & WR Davies wasn't that helpful. I might have to push for the consumption test so they can check my oil...

[58aurissr180]

Also my mpg is crap could there be a link. On a 30mile run a day the best was 33.5mpg. From Stafford to Newport which my other half did. Another gripe i've had with the car. I would expect better from a modern diesel engine.

[Rick D4D]

Also my mpg is crap could there be a link. On a 30mile run a day the best was 33.5mpg. From Stafford to Newport which my other half did. Another gripe i've had with the car. I would expect better from a modern diesel engine.

Well with 0c temperatures and less and this modern diesel having a DPF I would say the MPG is normal, I hat to say it but with all new diesels having to meet next years euro emissions regs then the 60MPG days are long gone and that hybrids are the way to go. Your diesel is being burnt in the DPF / exhaust to get rid of all the nasty emissions rather than driving the car and the problem with the T180 / SR180 is that Toyota was 5 years ahead of the competition when it come to DPFs and emissions.

[OldSkoO1]

My MPG was low in the cold winters. At worse mid 30's like 36mpg on shorter runs when it was -7.

EGR is active and takes longer to warm producing very poor consumption. EGR which contains NOX gasses combust at cooler temp's too which means more fuel is needed to produce the same amount of power. This excessive EGR NOX re-circulation that toyota have going on leads to much heavier soot production hence the DPF (common place really) but its not a passive DPF, it has a fifth injector which uses your fuel to clear the soot down to very very fine ash. As the EGR is very active, this process is almost constant. Instead of the mamouth burns you experience in VAG/BMW and Ford.

As for WR Davies. I know they have guidelines from Toyota to follow. If the oil consumption is above a certain level they can replace whatever needs replacing.

I think the offer of a free top was just them trying to be nice and look after you.

The running in process can determine whether the car will drink oil or use no oil. Do you ever red line it? Ideally the car should be run in by gradually increasing revs and you should regularly reach red line once the oil is warm and the car has done at least 600 miles. You should heat cycle the piston rings by taking it up to max revs and coming off the throttle allowing the car to slow down again. Re-do this a few times and revisit once a month. I would also drive at 2.5k RPM for 10 minutes (say on M-WAY). This means the car is producing max cylinder pressure which will further help the bedding in process. Don't hold it on red line though.

I understand you have done x thousands of miles now but doing this is still worth it in my opinion.

When cylinders are newly honed the peaks on the walls are sharp which doesn't provide good surface area to support the piston ring on the oil and therefore oil vapour can leak past the rings with each combustion stroke.

To smooth the peaks you need to create pressure. Rings like pressure, it pushes them outwards against the wall. To create max cylinder pressure as explained above we drive at around 2.2 to 2.5k for short periods of time. I.e. up to 10 mins at 2.5k. The problem some people get into is gearing. Some people drive at 2.5k all the time especially if they are ex petrol users. This will create large amounts of heat inside the cylinder and will glaze the wall when the oil breaks down and lines the walls. Once that happens not much can be done. Heavier oil consumption is inevitable. If it was an autobox you would tick along at around 1.5-1.8k RPM.

The best thing you can do is heat cycling and max cylinder pressure as mentioned in stages. Also i like to load my car. When i had my T180 i used to use full throttle up a steel dual carriageway every day 15 miles into my journey (so nice and warm). I would also regularly apply full throttle uphill from 2K RPM to put max loading on the car.

You wil find that running in does have a positive result with less oil consumption and better fuel consumption as the combustion rarely contains excess oil vapour. Try these things for 6 months after topping up your oil (ideally you have had a recent oil change) and see how you get on.

[58aurissr180]

Also my mpg is crap could there be a link. On a 30mile run a day the best was 33.5mpg. From Stafford to Newport which my other half did. Another gripe i've had with the car. I would expect better from a modern diesel engine.

Well with 0c temperatures and less and this modern diesel having a DPF I would say the MPG is normal, I hat to say it but with all new diesels having to meet next years euro emissions regs then the 60MPG days are long gone and that hybrids are the way to go. Your diesel is being burnt in the DPF / exhaust to get rid of all the nasty emissions rather than driving the car and the problem with the T180 / SR180 is that Toyota was 5 years ahead of the competition when it come to DPFs and emissions.

I've had low mpg for over a year now. I just put it down to having a semi performance diesel.

[58aurissr180]

To be honest thank you all for your help. We bought the car as we thought it would be cheaper compared to a petrol but after all this i think the car could be going & moving back to a petrol which we both would much prefer but not a Toyota. While ive got the car i will try pressurising the cylinders. No the car is never redlined but it does get a good run.