u/JosephMMadre

Someone deliberately sabotaged my 2012 Corolla at 187,000 miles.

I have had this car since brand new and have preformed all its oil changes religiously every 5000 miles.

It began to burn oil, approximately .7 quarts per 1000 miles about 5 or 6 years ago. This amount has remained constant all this time and I’ve kept close watch on it and kept it topped off.

The circumstances don’t really matter, but someone drained out my oil and then double filled it with over 8 quarts of filthy black used oil.

I discovered this after having driven it approximately 200 miles. I immediately drained it and refilled with the correct amount and changed the filter.

It initially appeared to have survived somehow. It drives fine and there are no visible leaks. The cat did end up failing, which was no surprise after years of burning oil and then with however much was pushed through there with the extra oil. It was replaced.

However, it soon began to make a rattling noise upon cold start, which is suspected to be the vvt gear.

I have also noticed that it is now burning double the oil it has for all these years. About .5-.7 quarts per 500 miles.

In trying to get an accurate gauge of the current oil consumption amount by letting it go 500 miles before refilling, I noticed that the cold start rattle seems to only occur as the oil level drops a bit. (While still being above the half way between the dots.)

My main questions are :

What would you suspect has caused the increase in oil consumption?

Would you expect the vvt gear rattle to respond to the oil level? Or does that suggest perhaps a different cause than the vvt?

Thanks for any insight.

Someone deliberately sabotaged my 2012 Corolla at 187,000 miles.

I have had this car since brand new and have preformed all its oil changes religiously every 5000 miles. It began to burn oil, approximately .7 quarts per 1000 miles about 5 or 6 years ago. This amount has remained constant all this time and I’ve kept close watch on it and kept it topped off.

The circumstances don’t really matter, but someone drained out my oil and then double filled it with over 8 quarts of filthy black used oil.

I discovered this after having driven it approximately 200 miles. I immediately drained it and refilled with the correct amount and changed the filter.

It initially appeared to have survived somehow. It drives fine and there are no visible leaks. The cat did end up failing, which was no surprise after years of burning oil and then with however much was pushed through there with the extra oil. It was replaced.

However, it soon began to make a rattling noise upon cold start, which is suspected to be the vvt gear.

I have also noticed that it is now burning double the oil it has for all these years. About .5-.7 quarts per 500 miles.

In trying to get an accurate gauge of the current oil consumption amount by letting it go 500 miles before refilling, I noticed that the cold start rattle seems to only occur as the oil level drops a bit. (While still being above the half way between the dots.)

My main questions are :

What would you suspect has caused the increase in oil consumption?

Would you expect the vvt gear rattle to respond to the oil level? Or does that suggest perhaps a different cause than the vvt?

Thanks for any insight.

So my car, 2012 Corolla, 187k, finally had need of a repair.

Since my local dealer actually has decent pricing and I needed immediate attention, I went there last Wednesday. About 200 miles ago. They fixed the problem and I left.

My car burns oil, so I keep a really close eye on it. Went out to check it today and was shocked to see the was way over filled.

Immediately drained it. There were 8 quarts in there! It takes 4.5!

Apparently they drained it, because the crush washer I installed less than 2000 miles ago was gone. The filter was not replaced. I’ve personally done every oil change on that car since I bought it new, so I’m sure of this. Same WIX filter I put in there.

So, not only did I NOT request, want, discuss or authorize, nor was I charged for an oil change, they did it anyway. But didn’t change the filter, replace the crush washer or put in the appropriate amount.

Now I think I hear a new ticking sound seemingly from the valve train(?). (Immediately under the valve cover, not positive that’s the right name for it.)

So, what damage could have occurred driving 200 relatively easy, low speed miles with wildly over filled oil? No visible leaks in the driveway.