Help! My 2013 Trail might be burning oil..

[Muzuki]

Hey guys, new 4runner owner and new to the forum but have been a long time lurker on here. I purchased a 2013 t4r recently from a Toyota dealership and when I bought the truck the dealership told me that an oil change was done a few months before I purchased the truck.
The truck is in mint condition and by the looks of it seems like the previous owner took care of the truck.

Now to the concern Im having..
The other day I brought my truck in to my friends shop and since it wasn't busy we put it up on a hoist as he wanted to see the under body, he said everything looked good except that there was a bit more play on the driver side deferential barring than the passenger (right) side.
On a bigger note once we brought the truck down he asked when was the last time I did an oil change and I told him what the dealer told me when I bought the truck.. he then checked the oil dip stick and we noticed that the oil looked low(the oil mark was right at the bottom of the dip stick, under the first dimple.. He then told me there's a possibility my truck could be burning oil - because it shouldn't be that low, and then he advised me to take the truck to the dealer as everything is still under warranty.
The truck has 52,500KM (32,600miles) on it..
I booked an appointment with Toyota the same day and brought the truck in.. they did an oil change and told me they couldn't find any leaks anywhere and that everything looked good. As far as the play in the left side deferential barring they told me that's a normal amount of play and that if it was going on me I would hear a loud howling noise - which there isn't any noise.

I tried searching on the forum before writing up this long post but couldn't find anything about a 5th gen burning oil..

This issue has me worried that my truck might be burning oil and I wanted to get your opinions as to what my current situation might be and what I should do next..
I will be checking the oil stick after 1000-2000km and see if it looks lower than where it is now.. Any other suggestions or anything else I could check for or do??
There's no heavy white smoke coming from my exhaust nor is there any unusual smell.
To me the truck is next to new and now my mechanic has me worried that it might be burning oil..

Thanks for your time in advance!

 

[Engineer]

Bottom dollar is it is not burning or leaking oil. You have no sighs other then a single level check to know it was below the mark which in my book is more likely to be from a shop under filling then an oil burn issue........come back with more data after you do your follow up check.

Rest easy

 

[blakjack23]

More than likely it was the dealership you purchased from just lying about the previous oil change. Keep an eye on it and you'll probably be fine.

 

[DEERUNNER]

I doubt you are burning oil. You should have checked the oil level when you purchased the vehicle, since you did not, you have no reference. Keep checking it and be assured that all is probably OK.

Also more information would be helpful, what do you mean by "deferential barring?" Not sure what that means. Please further describe the parts you are trying to find out about and we may be able to assist.

 

[philsey]

Your friend sure jumped to a hasty conclusion.

 

[stir_fry_boy]

I agree with all others, rest easy. Doubt it is burning oil. Just keep an eye on the level.

Keep in mind that there is an acceptable quantity of oil burned in x miles. Not sure what that is for this engine.

 

[JB.]

Muzuki,

My son's 2008 XB has been a flawless performer since he got it 3 years ago, but it was going through a ton of oil and none of it apparently leaking.

I was stunned to learn what the industry acceptable standard is for oil usage. I've forgotten exactly but it was something on the order of 1 quart per thousand miles and I believe for some cars even less mileage.

All I can tell you is, if usage is confirmed, to prepare to wrap your mind around the thought of going through a ton of oil without any other symptoms (tail smoke, bad mileage, etc).

Look at the bright side. Your oil will always be clean!

 

[TrkyMfns]

If you log in on the Toyota Owners website, you can put in your VIN and it will tell you the last time the oil was changed etc, assuming it was done at a Toyota dealership. Toyota Owners Official Web Site

Also, i think it is much more likely that the oil was underfilled. But check and see if the dealer is being truthful about the oil change and go from there.

 

[Racehoss]

Keep in mind when you are doing your checks to check them at running temperature. Cold and hot engine temps can adjust the levels slightly. Might as well have an accurate and comparable series of tests.

 

[trulli3300]

Consider this...

Consider this scenario... (I sold cars for a long time). Clean oil is always a positive selling factor. Your not going to consider a car with black motor oil. So when you pull up that dipstick and its golden brown, you have all of your fears dismissed. You may not even look at the level as long as the color is good. The dealership will usually change the oil. Its built in to their cost factors when they take in a used car. Also now, most cars even SUV's use on average 5 quarts. The 4Runner (my 3rd gen) took about six. Sometimes when I checked and it looked low, it would take a whole quart to get to full. Its possible that when you bought it that they could have only put in the usual 5 qts. They don't care, it cost them less. At 32k, it should not be burning oil. My 16 year old 3rd gen with 240k+ miles still drained more than 5 quarts after every 10k miles....I sometimes wonder what she is doing now.

 

[Ducmonsta]

The Toyota "engineers" think it's ok to burn 1qt of oil for every 600 miles. It's in the owners manual.

I don't subscribe to those beliefs and if in fact you are consuming oil that quickly, there's a problem.

In your case, I highly doubt there's a need for concern as others have already stated. You need more than 1 test to come to anything conclusive.

 

[rdswriter]

Like others have said... the oil was most likely under-filled when it was changed.

As an FYI, the 5th gen 4Runners take 6.6 qts. with filter and 6.0 qts. without

 

[blakjack23]

The Toyota "engineers" think it's ok to burn 1qt of oil for every 600 miles. It's in the owners manual.

I don't subscribe to those beliefs and if in fact you are consuming oil that quickly, there's a problem.

In your case, I highly doubt there's a need for concern as others have already stated. You need more than 1 test to come to anything conclusive.

1qt every 600 miles? Do you mean every 6000?

 

[Lester Lugnut]

I've noticed that after an oil change it's sometimes hard to see exactly where the oil level is. New oil can create this issue. Some oils are harder to see on the dipstick than others.

 

[Ducmonsta]

1qt every 600 miles? Do you mean every 6000?

Nope. It's 600.

 

[1engineer]

1qt every 600 miles? Do you mean every 6000?

The Toyota "engineers" think it's ok to burn 1qt of oil for every 600 miles. It's in the owners manual.

I don't subscribe to those beliefs and if in fact you are consuming oil that quickly, there's a problem.

In your case, I highly doubt there's a need for concern as others have already stated. You need more than 1 test to come to anything conclusive.

Nope. It's 600.

That's just what we do. There has to be a limit somewhere and engineers set it. Otherwise people would want new engines if they burned an ounce every 10K. I have had a vehicle that burned a quart every 400 miles and it was on its last legs lol.

Sure it's severe but what should it be? That's just a maximum limit.

 

[philsey]

I've got 62,000 on mine. Dealer OC every 10,000. My oil level never moves an RCH from OC to OC.

One thing I've learned on here tho; After a dealer OC, I drive no further than the parking lot before checking the level.

 

[blakjack23]

That's just what we do. There has to be a limit somewhere and engineers set it. Otherwise people would want new engines if they burned an ounce every 10K. I have had a vehicle that burned a quart every 400 miles and it was on its last legs lol.

Sure it's severe but what should it be? That's just a maximum limit.

That just seems like a crazy limit to me. I mean, you could run out of oil completely after 3700 miles and Toyota could just say "we told you to check it before then" :jaw:

 

[Antman]

I bet if your Mechanic found a half-eaten hamburger he could deduce that it must have been because it was full of E-Coli...

Just sayin.

 

[Saker]

That just seems like a crazy limit to me. I mean, you could run out of oil completely after 3700 miles and Toyota could just say "we told you to check it before then" :jaw:

If you were burning 1 Qt / 600mi, one would think you would be seeing a cloud of smoke coming from the rear.... so if you fried it within the 3700 mi, I think they would also ask the question...."did you see smoke coming from your tailpipe (insert here) mam/sir ?"