my 94 st is using about a quart of oil every 3,000 miles or so. i have noticed my engine does seem to be leaking oil from under the valve cover, but no puddles under the car or anything. the exhaust does not smoke.

where is my oil going? does anybody have any advice on how to fix this? or should i just live with it because it's an older engine?

i'm currently using Shell 5w-30. think i should switch to a heavier weight oil? i'm hesitant about switching to synthetic because i was told it would only leak more because it is thinnner.

i saw a thread earlier about puting automatic transmission fluid through the oil for a short period of time, and that's supposed to stop leaking. can somebody explain what that is supposed to do or how it works?

thanks,

dan

please don't put tranny fluid into your motor....

and synthetic is fine to run its not actually thinner...its an overall better material then old rex oil. but it cleans which could potentially remove carbon thats pluggin up a hole...
toyota motors typically do eat some oil its not a rare situation...attributed to valve seals, maybe piston rings...and if your leaking at the vavle cover just change that gasket its like 30$ from Advanced Auto and takes 10 min to change

Yes, ATF. 1/2 quart of 50-100 miles. ATF has ALOT of seal conditioning additives which keep all the seals in an auto trans supple and sealing for hundreds of thousands of miles. ATF will soften the valve seals and can buy you more time until you absolutely have to change them. ATF is also very high detergent and will gently break down small amounts of sludge and deposits in the crankcase. ATF does this more gently than engine rinses which can be good, i've heard of engine rinses dislodging large clumps of gunk which then block an oil passage and starve a bearing of oil pressure.

can i get anybody to second this?

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lucky. I'm going through about 3 qts every 2,000 miles

http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=44346&st=0

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haha me 2... good thing i get oil for free tho . i jus wanna fix the leak or whatever it is so i dont have to top it off every couple weeks. i just gotta figure out how.

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You must be able to tell where its going whether its leaking or burning it, 3 qts is ALOT!

My son's 7afe is using about that much with no drips or puddles, and with new valve stem seals. Smokes though!
Motor swap coming this weekend, bought a low miles 7afe.

It is normal for your engine to burn some oil. 1qt per 3000 miles doesn't sound unreasonable. Switching to heavier weight oil should help some, but it usually won't be a huge difference. You probably should be using 10w30 anyway unless it is very cold outside. It shouldn't matter much whether it is synthetic or not, as long as the weight is the same.

Man I sure wish someone had the exact answer for this since, I was bone dry by the time I needed an oil change. The oil light flickers on hard turns when it's low. Crazy stuff. No smoke and engine runs beautifully, even when it was almost dry. Throw in a quart and it purs.

The 7AFE is notorious for valve seal leaks. Check the tail pipe for oil residue - you can still be leaking without seeing any smoke.