Oil Burning Problems On Vvti?

[catherine L]

I've been looking at the Honest John website advice on buying a Corolla VVTI, and he says that one thing to watch out for is that the engines can suddenly start using loads of oil. It doesnt say whether this affected performance (I assume it would knacker the cat eventually?) or what the cause/cure is. Has anyone experienced this, and is there any way to tell whether a used car is affected?

Also there was mention of reliability issues in some Corollas that were made in UK rather than Japan. Is there any way of telling which ones to watch out for?

Thanks

[Norfolk n Chance]

I thought (could be wrong) that the oil burning issue affected the first batch of 1.8 VVTi engines found in the Avensis & Celica... never heard of an issue with the Corolla's

As for reliability... you'd be unlucky to get a complete lemon but generally speaking the Corolla seems pretty reliable

[KPARRIS-JONES]

I think it is the 1.4 and some 1.6's that it affects. It hasn't been found to reduce performance, only to raise your oil bill a little.

It is a problem with the Piston Rings, they are ever so slightly too small and allow too much oil into the combustion chamber and it is burnt. It isn't something that affects the car or performance, and there is no fix for it because it isn't a problem as such. Nothing bad happens, other than more oil being used. ;)

[SimonPG]

As the previous guys said I think this is a problem that affects the 1.4, 1.6 and those 1.8's, however I'm pretty sure it's also a problem they fixed with the facelift verions of all of the cars. (>04 for the Corolla, >02 for Celica)

Hope this helps.

[bigshark]

got this problem wiht my levin, altough the problem is due to worn piston rings, with it being a 14 year old car (and still going and pulling strong may i add :D ). unlike the corolla there is a cure for this, by changing the piston rings! which is a bit of a ball-ache so for the moment i just have to live wiht it, not a big problem.

you just have to remember to check the oil more often and TOP UP!! otherwise the big end could go and then its bye bye engine...

[KPARRIS-JONES]

As the previous guys said I think this is a problem that affects the 1.4, 1.6 and those 1.8's, however I'm pretty sure it's also a problem they fixed with the facelift verions of all of the cars. (>04 for the Corolla, >02 for Celica)

Hope this helps.

And SimonPG is right about the introduction of facelifts solving the problem.

[CorollaD4D]

I think ''Honest John'' has been a little too honest. This is a normal thing for VVTI engines to burn a bit of oil, it's old news and everyone knows about it so nothing to worry about. As has been stated only thing it means for you is check your oil level regularly and keep a 1L bottle in your car if you ever need to top up.

If you end up with the diesel variant then diesels naturally burn oil and it is important to keep oil levels on maximum as the turbo shares the engine oil so make sure there's plenty to go round by keeping it on max. Other than a few annoying little niggles (nothing major at all) they're very sound cars, nice drive and smooth & quiet on motorway too.

Happy car hunting :)

[Old Red Celica]

The Short block of my March 2000 1.6 vvti was replaced because of this, but well before I purchased the car. There is a sticker on the front slam panel advising of the higher amount of Oil required now.