I got my 1998 prizm because I have a 1991corolla yrs ago and ran great, but after a week i checked the oil it needed a quart, so I just figured it was time for a quart. I added a quart and I check my fluids once a week, noticed i needed nearly another quart, i had drove 473 miles that week. First thing was I thought was I have a leak! Well I had it checked and no leaks, the mechanic said that the 1.8 corolla's engine was bad for that, he recommended engine restore and 10w30, well I decided to not use anything and waited and it didn't get better, so I put the restore in and now its every 1200 or so miles, the restore helped alot. Try it with your next oil change and see for yourself.

The Prizm burns oil like crazy. I have to add oil almost as often as I fill up the gas tank!

There are no leaks, so it must be burning. Cylinder compression is good.

I bought the car new and the problem started suddenly around 60,000 miles. Oil used to be absolutely steady and then one day I checked and found it was several quarts low. The problem has continued for several years and the cost of oil definitely adds up in the same way gas costs do. Worse still, I think it is throwing off my emissions testing, which I barely passed (I was at the limit).

This is apparently also a major problem with the 2001 Prizm.

Similar the the other post about this problem, my Prism uses a fair amount of oil between oil changes. We bought the car used with less than 10,000 miles, and have changed the oil every 3-5000 miles since then. A couple years ago we were warned during an oil change that the oil was very low, but the oil light had not turned on. I know the oil light works because I did run it low enough once that the light would turn on with the engine at low RPM.

If the problem is rings then I won't waste my money, but a friend fix his high miles Escort by replacing the valve stem seals. I have no idea how difficult this is to fix but I do know that he was able to buy the parts and BORROW the tools at Autozone to do the job. It did not involve pulling the head. His advise to me if I decide to attempt the repair was to make sure the piston in the cylinder I'm working on is at TDC, otherwise the valve could fall into the cylinder, which would require the head to be pulled.