Normal oil consumption for Tercel

[Gary Chan]

What would be considered normal oil consumption for a 1988 Toyota Tercel
(1.5L 3E)?

I recently put in a used engine and the engine has burned about 1/2 L after
driving 500 km (1/2 quart per 300 miles. Would you consider this abnormal?
The car has about 70, 000 km (44k miles)

Also, would a bad carburetor have any effect on the oil consumption or is it
mainly due to the engine?

Thanks in advance!

Gary Chan
ch...@smartt.com
Please add 'g' to beginning of email address if replying

[Rick Jones]

You have gummed (stuck) piston rings from stem seals leaking, replace
stem seals and piston rings.

--

***Rick Jones, Toyota Master Tech/ASE Master Tech/L-1***

To reply, change the "O" (oh) to a zero in "4O"

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1989 Toyota PU
1997 Toyota Tercel "Blackhawk"

[Andy Garman]

On Wed, 28 Jan 1998, Rick Jones wrote:

> Gary Chan wrote:
> >
> > What would be considered normal oil consumption for a 1988 Toyota Tercel
> > (1.5L 3E)?
> >
> > I recently put in a used engine and the engine has burned about 1/2 L after
> > driving 500 km (1/2 quart per 300 miles. Would you consider this abnormal?
> > The car has about 70, 000 km (44k miles)
>

> You have gummed (stuck) piston rings from stem seals leaking, replace
> stem seals and piston rings.

Whoa! Remember the first law of engineering; simple things first. An
engine with only 44,000 on the clock shouldn't have badly worn cylinders
or valve guides. I'd check that the engine is actually burning the oil
and not just dropping it before stripping down a newly fitted mill! If
there's blue smoke coming out of the exhaust, especially after a long
idle, then the problem is indeed one or more of worn rings / cylinder
bores / valve stem seals / head gasket. If this is the case, you might
consider taking it back whence you bought it, if that's possible, as very
bad neglect or fraudulent sale seems likely.

If there's no blue smoke, then the problem could be as simple as a
cross-threaded oil filter, or a leak from any of a number of gaskets.
Check the engine block visually immediately after a long run. Also look
for coolant appearing in the oil or vice versa indicating head gasket
trouble. If all that draws a blank, THEN start thinking about piston rings
and all the rest.

It's nothing to do with the carbuerettor.

Andy.

[Jim]

Gary Chan wrote:
>
> What would be considered normal oil consumption for a 1988 Toyota Tercel
> (1.5L 3E)?
>
> I recently put in a used engine and the engine has burned about 1/2 L after
> driving 500 km (1/2 quart per 300 miles. Would you consider this abnormal?
> The car has about 70, 000 km (44k miles)
>

> Also, would a bad carburetor have any effect on the oil consumption or is it
> mainly due to the engine?
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> Gary Chan
> ch...@smartt.com
> Please add 'g' to beginning of email address if replying

---------------------------
Seems a bit high, 1 qt per 600 miles. Two things come to mind. 1) PCV
system, and 2) dirty engine. More frequent oil changes for a while might
help clean the engine if it is dirty. PCV system is fairly easy to
check. How is the oil pressure? Low pressure might indicate serious
internal wear.
Jim in Md.

[george charles neurauter jr]

On Wed, 28 Jan 1998, Gary Chan wrote:

> What would be considered normal oil consumption for a 1988 Toyota Tercel
> (1.5L 3E)?
>
> I recently put in a used engine and the engine has burned about 1/2 L after
> driving 500 km (1/2 quart per 300 miles. Would you consider this abnormal?
> The car has about 70, 000 km (44k miles)
>
> Also, would a bad carburetor have any effect on the oil consumption or is it
> mainly due to the engine?
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> Gary Chan
> ch...@smartt.com
> Please add 'g' to beginning of email address if replying

I used to have an 87 Tercel with the same engine. From what I 've heard,
these engines do have bad carbs, but also have a valve guide problem. Mine
would blow blue smoke for a few seconds when started cold, which was
diagnosed as bad
guides. You might want to check that next time you start the car. Was
still running when I sold it, though.

George
neur...@uiuc.edu

[Ray Crandall]

My '89 Tercel EZ has this problem at 145,000 miles. It uses about 1 qt
per 1000. I basically only need 13 months service out of it until I
replace it, and wonder what I should expect to pay to repair the guide
seals. At about 1000 miles per month this works out to 13000 miles or 43
quarts of oil.
Is it within a 'shadetree' mechanic's province to handle this one? I
can possibly borrow the spring compressor tool and the gizmo to
pressurize the cylinder, but have never done any work of this type
before. I also am due to replace the timing belt very soon.

Ray

[george charles neurauter jr]

Ray,

I can't help you with that. I've heard of people doing that (pressiurizing
cylinders to get guides), but I haven't done it myself. I would venture a
guess to say that probably an experienced DIY'er would be able to do it
(and maybe yourself if you feel confident), but I would leave it to a
professional (but not Toyota - wanted $1100 to do carb and valves!!)

George
neur...@uiuc.edu