i use castrol 10w30 in my 95 4runner and a bosch oil filter. I have around 152k miles on it and i recently had a problem. I pulled out of my driveway and i heard a noise like a rattling noise or something under my hood. So i got out and checked my oil and noticed i had no oil. The last oil change i had was 3600 miles ago and about 3 months ago. I have never seen the oil leaking anywhere and i have never noticed smoke coming out of the exaust like it was burning oil. I know, i was stupid for not checking the oil BUT i was wondering, how and where in the hell did all of this oil go? I do not have a manual so i dont know what it says in the manual about how far to go till you change your oil and oil filter and someone else has told me that it holds 4.8 quarts (if this is wrong please tell me). I took it to the shop where they put in the oil and all they could tell me was toyotas use oil quick and its normal for it to have no oil after 3600 miles. They went on to tell me that i would have to get a new engine because (i think) it was the bearings that have burnt up. If any of this information is wrong or you think it sounds strange then please help me understand to where all this oil went and is it normal. Thanks


Brent

 

I'm going through the same thing. I've had 2 probs since I've gotten it. (94 V6 4x4). On the drive down from where I bought it (NJ) to TX I stopped at a quickie mart. Checked the oil, and I was dry. Dry as in I put 4.5 quarts in. When I got to TX I changed the oil anyway, just for regular maintenance and safe practice. A month later, ney, 2000 miles later I had a problem with two park plugs and I lost 2 cylinders. I felt the car extremely wierd (felt like a 4 cylinder piece of crap) and so I checked the oil, not knowing it was the plugs. I put in 4 quarts of oil that day as well. Lately I've tried to watch it much more and I'm taking it to the mechanics. I ran diagnostics and such to see if it was coming out when it was lubricating but the diagnostics said no leaks, so I'm starting to think it just wears through oil quickly. I never leak oil when parked though, nor smoke from the exhaust. I'm baffled.

 

I would never call mass oil consumption "normal", an engine should never run out of oil. Granted, engines do use a small amount of oil. Look at the guys going 15k+ on synthetics, they'd surely run out before needing to change it. I had an 87 Pathfinder that "consumed" 1qt of oil daily. No drips, no smoke, just a charred looking tailpipe. I'm not an engine mechanic, so I can't tell you how or why, but I can tell you it isn't entirely "normal" to run out of oil. If it were, Toyota would warn you "Drive no further than 3000 miles, or your engine may run out of oil", blah.
How long have you had your truck?

 

i have had it for 3 months i just bought it, put oil in it and 3 months later, the motor died

 

i have had it for 3 months i just bought it, put oil in it and 3 months later, the motor died...that is why i dont know much about the 4runner and i thought someone else would be able to help me

 

If I ever sounded rude, you can me, no biggie! : In my humble opinion, I don't think your engine is dead..it still runs, right? Try running some more oil throught it again, and keep an eye on it.

 

get under it and make sure you dont see any wet spots anywhere....if not then its burning it....oil just doesnt dissapear....its normal for an engine to burn a little....toyota manual states its normal to burn a quart every 1000 miles (which I would be highly upset with myself, never the less) keep an eye on it, maybe a compression/leakdown test will tell you how the rings are doing....hope your luck goes better....

 

when i heard the noise i went to wal mart and put 3.5 quarts of castrol 10w30 in it and ran it, not drive it, but ran it for about 3 min. and it didnt do anything, when i still pushed on the gas it still made the same banging noise. I think they said the bearings were burnt or something. And i did check under the car and there are spots of something everywhere and the guy said it was normal for a toyota to leak alittle or something? i dont know but they said i didnt have a leak

 

first off....take your vehicle somewhere else....no vehicle should leak a little anything, i mean seriously, I dont know how this guy and sleep with himself at night. I mean it might be normal for an older vehicle to eventually develope a leak but it should be fixed as soon as you can. Secondly if its making bad noises the damage is done and it will need to be torn down and $ wise a new engine maybe nessacary, unfortunately for you. Toyota makes a good motor but gaskets are gaskets and seals are seals and if they leak oil no engine will survive for long. No offence but your obvisiously not an mechanic nor should you need to be, my advice to you would be to have a friend that is more mechanically inclined goto a new repair place (maybe even a Toyota dealer) and have them diagnose it, your mechanic friend can make sure they dont give you a run around. Good luck.

 

I'm just a moron in some ways.

My oil gauge is off, it has been since I got the runner. Still, I check the oil every time I fill up for gas, almost every 300 miles basically. Anyways, I hadn't checked it like that for about 3k and when I went to check it, it was low on oil. I put in 4 quarts. Turns out that the oil wasn't showing well because it wasn't flowing naturally, and when the mechanic fixed the problem I was three quarts over. I'm actually just running through about a quart every 3k I think. I'm still gonna watch it every time I put in gas but I guess I'm better off then I thought. I should have noticed that it wasn't flowing well though.

My tip would be to have a mechanic check if the seals are leaking oil and if not, try and watch your exhaust more as you drive. Put a piece of cardboard under your car and seek advice.

 

Oil pressure guage? Wasn't flowing naturally? I dont get it. Pull the dipstick and look at the oil level is what I always have done on all my cars. If its low, I add 1/2 quart at a time, let it sit for a min and recheck the stick. The levels have always been showing up without a problem. I lose 1 quart in my runner every 2k miles. My 22RE truck I had never lost a drop between oil changes. My runner does have a small leak at the valve cover. I believe some gets past the rings also.

 

The dashboard guage wasn't, well isn't working. And when I pulled the dipstick it was off by about 3 quarts. Now its magically showing the correct amount again. (I know this because it showed me 1 quart, I put in 3 quarts, it showed me 4 quarts. A week later it showed me 6 quarts. ?)

 

Well maintained toyota engines are NOT known for leaking or using oil.

I don't know man, something doesn's sound right. Keep an eye on it.

 

Ive yet had to add a drop of oil to mine after oil changes. Granted ive only done 2 with the 3rd one going to be done in a couple weeks, but to burn a quart of oil every 1000 seems crazy to me. Mines a 2003 Toyota Tacoma D.C. PreRunner V-6 with 9100 miles