95 camry burning oil

My 95 toyota camry burns about 1 quart of oil every 1,000 miles. It is not leaking oil and doesn't smoke but smells of burning oil and stops signs. Any ideas on what the problem could be?

It sounds like it is leaking oil, just check the bottom of the engine, it should be "wet". The oil may drop to the pipe lead to muffler and then you got smoke, nomally it will blow away when drive, but you can only smell it when it stop. It could be from oil pan, distributor, engine cover and so on.

Take a look at the oil pressure sensor located near the top right of the block near the valve cover. Any leak from this sensor tends to drip back of the block and down onto the exhaust pipes. It is difficult to see the leak, as it only leaks when the engine is running. Run your finger under the sensor and if you find any fresh oil... you got the problem solved. Jen

If it was burning oil through the cylinders you would see blueish smoke out the tailpipe. To confirm all is well there you could do a compression check. If valve guide seals were shot you'd see smoke during warm up out the tailpipe. Since you have no smoke and to puddles, as was stated, it's got to be dripping on the exhaust and vaporising. Valve cover seals are another common leak point. Use a mirrior and look on the backside below the cover for anything wet or shinny.

What he said, compression check or just pull some of the plugs. And look at them, if you see oil, burnt on or wet, yep she's a burnin oil. If the plugs look tan or light grey then its just an oil leak.

you have to make sure if it is leaking or burning. I have a 95 camry which has the same problem since 3years ago (it's a gradual process), in my case it is slowly leaking trhough the aging oil pan seal,
consider the cost of replacing that pan, what I do is just add a quart for every 1kmiles, and it's just fine.

My 95 toyota camry burns about 1 quart of oil every 1,000 miles. It is not leaking oil and doesn't smoke but smells of burning oil and stops signs. Any ideas on what the problem could be?

My 95 toyota camry burns about 1 quart of oil every 1,000 miles. It is not leaking oil and doesn't smoke but smells of burning oil and stops signs. Any ideas on what the problem could be?

How many miles do you have on your 95 camry?

maybe oil filter is not tight?

maybe oil sensor unit is leaking?

A compression check is not an indicator of burning oil. It only tests the sealing of the compression rings and the valves. Bad oil control rings will not change compression. An engine with bad compression can be oil-tight and not burn any oil. An engine with great compression may burn alot of oil through the rings.

If you have bad compression and it is due to cylinder wall scoring, then the scoring will also cause oil burning, but not like bad oil rings.

Tough to argue with Brian because he is usually spot on. All I know is I've delt with three or four cars that were burning oil and all had compression problems. May be it was just coincidense? I guess even experience can lead you astray at times.

All I know is I've delt with three or four cars that were burning oil and all had compression problems.

No argument there. That is common when there has been low oil and the cylinder walls have been really damaged. That and really high-mileage engines - and maybe some other problem I am not familiar with. It is common enough so your experience is valid.

Well in a nutshell, go ahead & check the compression after making sure the PCV valve is OK.
Once an oil ring is leaking excess oil onto a cylinder wall, your No2 & No1 compression rings are not far behind. The ceveat is that the excess oil on the cylinder wall will mask this on a compression check as the compression rings are wearing.

But yes. Eventually the ring is blown by & the compression begins to tank.




Personally. I would be all over the external seals first.