Heres A Question For All You Suby Specialists ... I Checked My Oil About A 3weeks Ago And It Was Low About A Quart So I Put Some Back In. I Checked It Today And Its A Little Under The Full Line...the Car Is Sitting On A Street That Has A Litle Bit Of A Cant To The Passanger Side...theyre Are No Leaks Or Oil Spots Anywhere ..i Just Started To Get Worried Cus I Dont Know About Their Oil Patters As Much. Anybody Got Any Ideas On Why It Would Be Low

It would be better if you checked your oil on a leval surface. Everybody's situation of parking is different. So after you get an oil/filter change with the correct amount of oil added, check your oil in the same spot you park and remember where it's at on the dipstick for future reference. How much oil does your car use in xxxx amount of miles?

Check your oil at the gas station... if your on the cement pad, you should be as level as your going to get.... and you should get the most repeatable results... Besides that it's really a crap shoot as to why it would be low.... i mean WHY would it be a QUART low...

On another note, how much time does it add to a post when you capitalize every word?? I'm curious..

our subies burn oil.
no smoke or anything, but consistantly burn oil
~
after spinning some of the crank bearings in 2000 with 2.5 RS engine
(bc i did not check oil lvl)
now, i always check regularly.
~
in fact, was just on a road trip with a 2006 outback with about 4K miles on it
after driving 1500 miles from houston, checked the oil in arizona and was 1 qt low.
steven

On another note, how much time does it add to a post when you capitalize every word?? I'm curious..


ROFL good eye

I find in our TS the oil use is completely inconsistent. Doesn't even seem to vary with use its just sometimes it'll burn a litre every 1500kms and sometimes it won't burn a drop between oil changes. Go figure.

After spinning a bearing on the WRX (With FULL oil) you can damn well bet I'll be checking the oil on both of them twice a week if not more.

I'm on my 3rd Subaru and none of them has used more than .5 qt between oil changes (3000 miles) so I wonder why some of you are getting such high oil consumption. I check my oil and fluids on both cars the first of every month, and usually only have to top off the window washer fluids as there is no loss of any of the others.

It seems to totally depend on the car too. Some never use a drop, others drink it like gas.

The OP seems to have forgotten this post.... lol

I'm on my 3rd Subaru and none of them has used more than .5 qt between oil changes (3000 miles) so I wonder why some of you are getting such high oil consumption.
For starters:
1. method of break-in (IMO)
2. oil grade used
3. driving style
4. ambient air temp.
5. using oil with a low High Temp High Shear
6. slight variations in engine build tolerances (IMO)
7. switching to synthetic too early (IMO)
8. switching different brands frequently

-Dennis

And I'll bet another reason that folks THINK the oil is being used is that they are not consistent in reading the oil level under the same conditions. Unless the car is level and has sat long enough for the oil to fully drain back to the crankcase, and preferably at the same temperature, you're going to see changes.

I do wonder about the "switching brands" as a problem. There were some problems with early synthetic oils and seals (and I experienced them in the early 80's) but in the last decade I've not seen any real compatibility problems documented. At least using better brands. Am I really wrong??

if yo'ure losing more than a qt between oil changes and you have no leaks, i suggest bumping up the viscosity to see if that helps.

For starters:
1. method of break-in (IMO)
2. oil grade used
3. driving style
4. ambient air temp.
5. using oil with a low High Temp High Shear
6. slight variations in engine build tolerances (IMO)
7. switching to synthetic too early (IMO)
8. switching different brands frequently

-Dennis

I too believe that break-in is key, also if the car changed hands the newer driving style might not be a match to the break-in type.

Personally the "synthetic too early" issue has not affected me (yet?). My car was on a car lot for a year, driven somewhere over 300 miles back to my house where I changed the oil with M1 5w30. Changed every 3-4K since with no consumption issues whatsoever. I have 22.5K now, spirited driving (sans wife in the car). I'd want to give the long term report on the early switch but we may not have the WRX past this year. My wife's going back to school and we are in the market for a house. These *@#%ing gas prices are killing me.

edit: the car was purchased new

I do wonder about the "switching brands" as a problem.
Here's a recent post on bitog about it (http://theoildrop.server101.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=865447&an=0&page=11#Post865447).

-Dennis

if yo'ure losing more than a qt between oil changes and you have no leaks, i suggest bumping up the viscosity to see if that helps.


i second that.

I don't think this is nearly as true for newer Subarus, but I know many different models 3-10 years old are known for slow oil leaks. My mechanic of 5 years told me that, so if its not too severe I wouldn't worry too much.

The OP seems to have forgotten this post.... lol

+2.....

Ok i know you guys are gonna jump me for it but.. the sticker after my oil change said to be changed again at 15000 miles and it kinda looked like an 18000 umm anyways my car starts ticking, i check the oil and there is none on the dipstick...so, i put about 3q in it and started it and let it run then fully changed it. Now its still ticking. Its still under warranty but if i take it too them are they going to know that i screwed it up hehe ??? or what do you guys think i should do ??

2005 Sti

Ok i know you guys are gonna jump me for it but.. the sticker after my oil change said to be changed again at 15000 miles and it kinda looked like an 18000 umm anyways my car starts ticking, i check the oil and there is none on the dipstick...so, i put about 3q in it and started it and let it run then fully changed it. Now its still ticking. Its still under warranty but if i take it too them are they going to know that i screwed it up hehe ??? or what do you guys think i should do ??

2005 Sti

Ok,
Why the HEdoublehockysticks would you ADD 3 QUARTS of oil, if you simply wern't reading on the stick??

Did you add a little and check, and then add a little more??? Or did you just dump in 3qt??

If you were in fact 3qt down, you had some serious problems... what have your driving habits been like?? you been flogging the crap out of it??

How would the dealer know you screwed up unless you tell them?? You "can" play stupid you know. Take that bish in...

Read the warranty forum, lots of dealers have been denying rod bearing claims based on 'poor oil maintenance'. A GOOD dealership won't do that but it has been done in the past. You'd have a better case if you kept all your receipts for oil/filters.

On another note, how much time does it add to a post when you capitalize every word?? I'm curious..

I'm guessing the OP posted it in all caps, and a mod (or the board itself) ran it through a program that puts the post into an array and then splits it based upon the spaces. It then takes the first letter in each array element and leaves it capitalized, makes the remaning letters lowercase, and then sticks the two together. This would explain why the I in "..i" is not capitalized.

NERD ALERT!

:banana:

I'm guessing the OP posted it in all caps, and a mod (or the board itself) ran it through a program that puts the post into an array and then splits it based upon the spaces. It then takes the first letter in each array element and leaves it capitalized, makes the remaning letters lowercase, and then sticks the two together. This would explain why the I in "..i" is not capitalized.

NERD ALERT!

:banana:


N.E.R.D.

My oil consumption went up a bit after switching from dino to synthetic. Not a lot but from virtually zero to somewhere between a half quart to a quart between changes. Might that be due to the longer change interval?

My oil consumption went up a bit after switching from dino to synthetic. Not a lot but from virtually zero to somewhere between a half quart to a quart between changes. Might that be due to the longer change interval?
Depends how many miles on the car and the viscosity you're using. I run dino 10W40 year round in my wife's 99 Outback. There are so many generic oil questions and comments here, but there's no generic answer.

-Dennis

I'm on my 3rd Subaru and none of them has used more than .5 qt between oil changes (3000 miles) so I wonder why some of you are getting such high oil consumption. I check my oil and fluids on both cars the first of every month, and usually only have to top off the window washer fluids as there is no loss of any of the others.

Can you provide some data on which Subarus you've owned, what oil you use (brand and viscosity), etc? Just curious...
From my cars and family members' cars, here is the data. All these cars were purchased new:

Car Driving Style Oil Type Consumption
98 Impreza OBS Very conservative Dino (5W30) < 0.5qt/3k miles
99 Impreza OBS Normal/spirited Dino (5W30) 0.5qt/3k miles
03 Subaru Outback Extremely conservative Dino (5W30) 1.0 - 1.5qt/3k
05 STi Aggressive Synthetic (M1 5W30) approx 2.0qt/3k
(same as above) Aggressive Synthetic (Castrol 10W40) approx 0.5qt/3k
06 Forester X Conservative Dino 1.0-1.5qt/3k miles

The general patterns:
Pre-03 engines seemed to consume less oil, at a given mileage.
Mobil 1 seems to suck (too thin) when used in an STi engine.
Conservative driving doesn't solve oil consumption issues.

A couple of observations that I've made over the years:

Different oils seem to have massively different usage rates, in the same engines, in the same conditions. I've seen tests showing that Mobil1 is 4x as likely to boil off other synthetics (search on NoAck volatility).

Ambient temperatures seem to play a large role. With the same oil (Mobil1) I wouldn't have any usage problems until a hot week would go by, or a trip down to death valley for camping. Then it would eat a quart of oil in short order.

5w30 seems more volatile than 10w30, and I'm now using a fairly thick 10w30 and it's much more stable, but I'm going up to a 10w40 to see if I can make it more so.

Can you provide some data on which Subarus you've owned, what oil you use (brand and viscosity), etc? Just curious...


98 Legacy GT - Castrol 5W30 (winter) and 10W30 Summer <.5qt in 3-4K miles.

02 WRX - 10K on Castrol 5W30 (dino) then Havoline syth 5W30 or 10W30 - again <.5 qt per 3K miles

06 WRX first 8K on Castrol 5W30 (dino) again under .5 qt per change. Just changed to Amsoil 10W30, and will probably go to Penzoil synth next fall as I got a lot of it at $1 a quart.

I drive middling sporty. No real reason to hit the redline every day, but it happens every week. And I've not seen any speeds over 137 in the last month.:cool: