2006 Scion XB using one liter of oil every 500 miles

Question

My 2006 Scion XB is very old with 222000 miles on it. It is going through oil very quickly. It uses an entire liter of oil every 500 miles. What is the problem here. Is this too expensive to fix, or is it too big of a problem?

Any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

There are a number of places oil can leak. Losing that much oil sounds like like it is certainly an oil leak and unlikely due to blow-by.

If you are not confident in diagnosing and replacing seals yourself you will need a mechanic to do this. Look under and around the engine for places that look gunked up/really dirty, this will be the area the oil is leaking.

Leaks can typically come from the following places but is not limited to them.

1. Rear Main Seal (Big seal on engine crankshaft on the side facing the transmission).
2. Front Main Seal (Opposite side of engine)
3. Camshaft seals (Smaller seals that seal against the camshafts at the front of the engine)
4. Valve Cover Gasket (Large sealing gasket used to seal the valve cover to the cylinder head)
5. Oil pan gasket (Large seal that seals the Oil pan to the Engine Block)

There could also be a leaking oil line or etc if it has any external oil feeds (for turbos, or for Variable Valve systems). There could also be a crack in an oil galley.