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jrmurray

Oil seems to disappear .no drips,or obvious leaks to be seen.oil light flashes on momentarily.dip stick shows no oil. Googled problem.seems to be many many similar questions,no obvious answers. Is there a computer type check that can be run, what is best oil,and how much to put in when empty.have you heard of this problem. I have had Toyota cars for 30 years and never come across anything like this.please help.

Anon

Hi there,
If the car is using a lot of oil and there are no external leaks, it must be burning it.
There are a few possibilities for this ranging from a blocked breather, through to worn engine internals that are in need of a rebuild.
Fill with oil until the level is on the maximum, it may need 1-1.5 litres of oil to take to the maximum, depending on how low it is.
How fast is it using the oil?. It is common for the need of a top-up between services (10,000km). But shouldn't be draining the sump after a few 100kms.
There is no computer check that would monitor oil usage, it would be more of an engine operation/ condition check.