1999 Toyota Camry oil usage

deacon62

I have a 1999 Toyota Camry It runs perfect. It has app. 141,000 miles . It uses about 1 quart of oil every 800 to 1000 miles. I wondered if you might know why it sees to use more oil if i drive in the mountains and use the transmission as a brake by downshifting to help preserve brakes.. There is no smoke I can see and the oil usage seems to go up to about 1 quart of oil every 600 to 800 miles if i drive in the mountains this way just a couple of times. Everything else about this car is great.

isellhondas

Well, 141,000 miles are a lot of miles and your oil usage isn't all that severe. Unless it's leaking oil you are just seeing the signs of an aging engine. With catalytic convertors they tend to burn the oil up so that's why you aren't seeing much smoke.

Be careful not to be downshifting too much. I would rather replace brake pads than a transmission. If you use more oil when you drive in the mountains like that I would suspect worn valve guides.

I would just feed it's habit and keep a close eye on your dipstick in case the problem worsens.