hey are any of you 09 owners burning oil?

[vibedrivermatt]

I just wanna ask because I'm wondering if there's a problem with my 09. I checked the oil today and the dipstick read a little less than a half a quart low. The oil has 3000 miles on it and Im sure it was perfectly full at the time of the last oil change. I was gonna put another 2000 miles on the oil and change it at 5000 miles but, now I wondering whats going on with this. I did climb underneath and everything looked perfectly clean. so I doubt its a leak. Is it burning the oil already? This car has 12000 miles on it. Has anyone else experienced this? It still runs really great so Im not thinking this is a huge deal anyways.. Thanks, Matt

[Caretaker]

I thought it was all my travels back and forth to the Alpha Quadrant, but yes, my '09 is losing oil just like my '03. With the '03, I have to add a quart in between 5.000 mile oil changes. I would estimate I have to add 1/2 quart to the '09 between oil changes. I'm at 14,000 miles right now. Thanks for posting. Now I know I'm not nuts!!

[ou.grizzly]

1.8L or 2.4L? Guess it is both engines... Are you running synthetic or regular oil?A member over at Toyota Nation with a 2009 Matrix with 1.8L reports oil consumption also: http://www.toyotanation.com/fo...830161.8L recommend using 5W-20 (synthetic blend) where I thought the 2.4L recommends 5W-30?Here is some reading over at Tundra Solutions for a fix... Toyota has a TSB out for the 1.8 and etc.... Seems like staying at a 30W oil may fix the issue....???http://www.tundrasolutions.com...r-oil/http://www.tundrasolutions.com...09230

[vibedrivermatt]

ohh wow its not just me. I have the 2.4 and Im using synthetic. Its Q horsepower basically the same stuff as Pennzoil Platinum. I ran conventional and than switched to that stuff at around 9000 miles. I think what they talk about on those links is interesting.. But my situation involves the 2.4 not the 1.8 and it appears to be having the same problem. I may just switch over to a 5w 30 and see if that helps the issue. Many of us know thats what the dealer puts in there so its not like it going to hurt anything. Thinkin about going for the 5w 30 for sure.. Thanks for your suggestion..

[TONY TAT2]

I did notice if ya pulled the dip stick out slow the tube wipes some of the oil off given a low reading.I tried removen it faster after awhile & the level was ok. I usually check the oil when the car sits a day or so. The vibe was parked since fri,so Sun mornings I check the oil on that & the g6.

[j42.snyder]

The oil fill cap on my 2.4 states either 5W20 or 0W20. I don't know for sure - but I believe when this engine first came out (2002?) it was spec'd for 5W30. If the 5W20 seems to be causing consumption issues - then it may be worth switching. The 1.8 is a new design though - and has probably been engineered for close clearances with 5W20 in mind - although I really doubt that the 30 would hurt anything.So far I've been using 5W20 with no consumption evident. I've used Motomaster Synthetic (made by SOPUS) since about 9,500km - and I'm almost at 19,000 now. I changed it last at about 17,000, and it was still right at the full mark. That was through the hottest part of the year around here - and included towing my boat for a few hundred km, so if it was going to burn any - I'm sure that's when it would have happened. My brother's got about 35,000 on his 2.4 - using whatever the Toyota dealer has for their bulk 5W20 with no issues either.We're both fairly laid-back drivers though - rarely exceeding 4,000RPM - so maybe that has something to do with it. Consumption can increase exponentially at higher RPM - so I'm sure that driving style can have something to do with it too. 1 quart in 5,000 miles isn't worth losing sleep over - but not what I'd want to consider "normal" for a new car.My previous car (2002 Sunfire 2.2 8 valve) once was run for about 23,000km on one oil change (Amsoil 0W30) - and didn't require even 1/2 quart top-up until I changed the filter at 18,000km (about 12,000 miles). That engine's now at over 250,000km still with no consumption issues - although it's had more "normal" change intervals over the past few years.Of course, now I'll be paranoid checking mine weekly for losses...John

[vibedrivermatt]

I do run the engine pretty hard sometimes. and at times I will go over the 4000 rpm mark frequently. Actually come to think of it, I noticed that when I speed up to merge onto interstates, Id get a sulfur smell. Maybe that hard acceleration is making some of the oil go past the valves and into the exhaust manifold making a smell? That would also explain the oil consumption.Thanks very much for your input..

[safooma]

Just went out and checked my 09 1.83500 miles since my last oil change and it is still full.I am also getting 34+mpg average.19000 miles on the car.5w30 conventional oil

[vibedrivermatt]

ok filled it with 5w 30 today, see how this lasts.. I wanna put 5000 miles on it and hopefully see less oil consumption..

[cq358]

I actually used CT's formula 1 synthetic too . No oil consumption for my 2.4L. My oil is around 6000km old. The good thing about synthetic is , they won't get dark until 3000km..where conventional oil get dark 1500km.

[star_deceiver]

I have the 1.8. It's not uncommon for me to exceed 5000 rpm at least once per day. I'm using 5w-20 mobil 1 full synthetic. I've changed the oil twice, once at 500kms and then at 8000kms and have about 11500kms on the car now with no oil consumption that I can see. My car was made in August (I believe) 2008 and I bought it new off the lot with 100kms in June 2009.Maybe it's all in how the engines were broken in!

[vibedrivermatt]

yeah going to the 5w-30 may not be the best since the 5w-20 is the recommended oil. It just seemed like a logical option because the dealer is doing it. I'm really no oil expert but oil expert people say just put what cap says in there.. ehhhh what a head ache..maybe I'll go back to 5 20 and stay with that for the next oil change and let the engine drink the oil. I don't think your supposed to keep switching back and forth so I will have to decide.

[star_deceiver]

Current mlileage: 13820km, oil level hasn't changed from 3000kms ago. Mobil 1 5w-20 full synthetic.

[SinisterMind]

8k miles on our 2.4L and no signs of oil loss. The level stays even.

[03vibedriver]

I'm using Q Horse Power 5w 20 in my 09 2.4L Vibe with 31,000 miles and just changed the oil at 30k at the 5k interval with very minimal oil loss. I drive fairly aggressively.

[bdozer65]

According to Pat Goss of Motorweek, manufacturers won't conisder anything less than a quart per 800 miles as NOT excessive consumption.

[vibedrivermatt]

Quote, originally posted by bdozer65 »According to Pat Goss of Motorweek, manufacturers won't conisder anything less than a quart per 800 miles as NOT excessive consumption.Ha Ha sure "manufactures" wont. but what about us car owners.. I guess like j42.snyder mentioned before a half quart in 3000 miles is nothing to lose sleep over. I can always top it off. but do you guys think I should stress out over having the 30 weight in there as we approach winter? I live in NY. I might go the the 20 weight again but I'd rather leave in there for its full 5000 miles and than go back to the 20. hey Sinister Mind I was using that exact same oil Q horse power 5W-20 when I noticed the oil consumption.. now I've got Mobile1 5w-30 in there. Think I may just go to the mobile1 5w-20 and leave it at that.. people on bobistheoilguy forums say that toyota engines seem to love the mobile1.. thanks

[j42.snyder]

That Mobile 1 5W30 is supposedly on the very "light" end of the range - so if it's working for you - you may as well stick to it. I'm sure the minimum flow temperature for that oil is well below what you'll encounter in New York. Many an engine survived winters around here before 5W20!Here in Canada, I find that most of the "big name" synthetics are simply too pricey to use for short OCI's under warranty. I'm only using a "synthetic" store brand oil (made by SOPUS) because I got it on sale for about the same price as a brand name conventional.I'm sure your Vibe will live a long and happy life on a diet of the Mobil 1. If it makes you feel better to use it - then stick to it. Either grade will likely do just fine.John

[star_deceiver]

How short of an OCI??? 8000kms is what it says in the manual (and for a highway car, that's pretty short).

[j42.snyder]

Yes, I'm referring to the 8,000km OCI. I agree that it's annoyingly short for my type of driving (at least 80% highway). I have friends with Hondas that have their "maintenance minder" system - and they're going from 11,000 to 14,000km! Too bad Toyota didn't incorporate that system. GM seemed to figure it out for most of their "own" models now - but not ours.On my old Sunfire, I'd use synthetic for the winter, and easily make it through the nasty weather without having to crawl under there. With the Vibe, I'm going to have to either hope for some mild weather later on in the winter, or take it in to my friend's shop. I get just a little over 2 months out of the 8,000km interval on average.BTW star_deceiver - I'm still envious of your gas mileage! I managed to beat that slightly with my Sunfire (that was equipped just like your Vibe) - but my Vibe can't touch it - even though it's "rated" slightly better (than the Sunfire). Mid 6's were about the best I could achieve this year. Of course I've got the "fat" model with all of the power accessories, A/C, and 2.4/auto. Not really fair I suppose...

[star_deceiver]

That mileage was an all hwy run with speeds of 100km/h tops driving nicely (and I pushed that tank almost dry). My usual drive to work is 10km, 1/3 city 2/3 hwy, driving not so nice... Usual mileage is about 7-7.5L/100km.I see no reason why you couldn't push the OCI further. If there's ever a problem, just get some receipts for motor oil from some friends to show "adequate" oil changes.

[bdozer65]

"Ha Ha sure "manufactures" wont. but what about us car owners.."I would no doubt be p/o'd if my car was consuming a quart per 1,000 miles and GM or another MFG said, "sorry, that's in acceptable limits-come back and see us if it starts to burn a quart every 750 miles". But mine does in fact burn off about a half quart or a little less every 2,500 miles. I do run Mobil 1 5W-20 and change it about every 5,000 miles. I consider that amount of consumption extremely minor and look at it this way-the engine is defineately getting lubrication.Before I took it off the dealer lot, with about 5 miles on the car, I wound it out on a test drive as tight as I could several times to attempt to properly seat the rings. I've read in several places that you have a small window of opportunity to seat the rings when an engine is new and there is the cross-hatching on the cylinder walls. I also used to be one of these "gotta run it for 5K at least before I run synthetic" kind of guys but not with this one. I did the first oil change at 3,500 and went right to Mobil 1 on the first change. The last new one I had was a GM 3800 series II and I changed it at 1,000 with Mobil 1. The only reason I didn't change the Vibe sooner than 3,500 is that I've rarely seen engine trouble outside of intake gaskets(which I believe was due to the Dex-Crud). Automatic transmission troubles, on the other hand, is something I'm well versed in, but that's the subject of another post. Hopefully this Toyota tranny will prove to be tougher than those of Government Motors.

[kowell]

I've had 4 oil change so far on my 2009 2.4L and I didn't notice any problem. The car currently has around 22,000km and I use 5W20 oil. I get oil change at every 6,000km (stupid GM warranty requirements) and I get it done at the local Toyota dealer.The car was manufactured somewhere in early february 2008.

[star_deceiver]

My first oil change was at 500kms, after driving the s___ out of it for those kms. Mobil 1 5w-20 went in. Drive it like you stole it!!!!!