I am new to the forum and have an issue I would like some advice on. I recently (August) purchased a 2013 Subaru outback 2.5i premium with standard 6 speed transmission. After about 3500 miles, the low oil light came on. I immediately added a quart of oil and scheduled a oil change with my mechanic. I chalked it up to perhaps the oil levels being a little low from dealer. My next scheduled oil change is at 9000 miles but yesterday the low engine oil light came on again! I have only put about 2500 miles on the car since the last change. I plan to call the dealer to get it looked at but I was wondering if anyone out that has had a similar issue? My driving is mostly in the city so I was also wondering if that might have something to do with it. Anyway I love the car but this does not sound like normal behavior. Thanks for your help!
1) Sometimes cars burn oil (oil consumption). It is a good habit to check your oil often (like every fuel stop) so you can a) make sure you have enough, b) create a record to know how much oil you are consuming.
2) All manufactures have a magic number for what is acceptable amount of oil a car will burn before they do anything. For some manufactures one quart per 500 miles is acceptable and not a warranty issue (I know, I was floored when I found that out).
3) Most of us see no oil consumption between oil changes (even the 2013 people which all have a new different engine than all other Gen4's).
4) High oil consumption can be due to a few factors:
a) Rings have not yet set
b) Cylinder walls are glazed over
c) Everything is fine and this is something you will have to live with
d) Somethings wrong/broken...
My money would be on "a)" for now. Don't be afraid to push the motor a little bit. If you haven't gotten the RPS past 4000, do some runs over 5000 while getting on the freeway or what not. To set the rings I don't think it's necessary to go higher than that and you should not do any damage to the engine. A friend of mine worked for the railroads and they have an saying about 80/20. 80% of damage is doen at the top 20% of the rpm range. Trains and cars a different (and even car to car is different) but I still try to keep my car out out of red line. For the rest of you make sure you have at least 1k miles on the car before trying to set the rings per the manual.
Also, for your cars sake start checking your oil. The low oil level light is only there to let you know that the car is dangerously low and that your neglecting it. Not a polite "hey, I'm a little thirsty" light.
Get a base line and let us know how many miles it takes you you to use a quart. From what you've told us you are using a quart after close to 1000 miles (the light comes on when you are two quarts low and there is only a little over 4 quarts or so in the whole system).
I'm assuming there isn't a huge oil slick where you park.
Thread title mentions leaking but I did not see anything in the story about leaking.
X2, start checking your oil via the dipstick and not when the light goes on.
You might wnt to post this on the forester forum since they have been using the new for '13 Outback FB engine since '11.
Thanks for the great information. I am at the dealer today where they may start an oil consumption test but either way, I will certainly begin to check the oil during every fill up and also try to set the rings. I don't think I have ever had the RPMs up to 5k! I will continue to post in case some else has this issue in the future. Have a great new year!
Quick update: They said that the place where I got my oil changed may have reused the gasket on the oil filter and that might be the cause. Although this doesn't explain why it happed when I rolled off the lot. We'll see. I hope it's that easy.
There is a small batch of bad Subaru oil filters a few months back. The gaskets weren't completely sealing. There was a thread here about it.
I highly doubt a mechanic is going to dig out the oil filter gasket on the old filter, dig out of the oil filter gasket on the new filter, and swap them around. Subaru oil filters trap the filter gasket pretty well so it is not easy to reuse an old gasket.
Keep use posted for your results with the consumption test. I suspect that 1 quart every 2,500 miles will be deemed to be within tolerance. While that isn't good news, it could be a whole lot worse. On the positive side, your engine is still breaking in so your oil consumption will very likely get better.
I thought all 2013 OBs have an oil filter on top of the engine. There is a spill pane around it and if the oil filter was leaking (due to re-used gasket) wouldn't you see it? Or smell oil burning while overflowing the spill pane?
I know my '11 is a completely different engine but it has not consumed an ounce of oil in 27K miles and being that my wife commutes with this car daily 100 miles a day I don't always get to changing the oil on schedule due to our busy lives. But I also have used fully synthetic, changed out at 1000 miles since new. Right now as I type the car is 2K miles over due for an oil change, but the level hasn't dropped and the oil is still that nice golden color and not black.
I am betting what the guy at the dealer really said was that they may have reused the drain plug gasket. But a leak like this would be obvious, if you park the car in the same spot all the time.
Be careful with the "Oil consumption test". I had an american car dealer do this once on a Plymouth I bought new from them.......The "Test" started with them overfilling the engine by a quart, then bringing it back in 500 miles. I checked the oil before I left, and made them drain the extra quart. (That one turned out to be a bad PCV valve.......Diagnosed by me, not them.)
Hopefully this works itself out. Our 2005 Honda CRV burned oil like crazy and it was only at 100k miles. I cannot imagine something burning oil at under 10K. Keep up on the dealer. Dont be satisfied with what they tell you. I agree to check the oil at each fill up just to be sure
something has to be wrong - there's no reason a new car should eat oil like that. Is there blue smoke coming out the tailpipe, or is the car clearly leaking from somewhere? there would be a big oil spot where you park if it was leaking that badly...
They may feed you a line about how up to 1qt. every 1000 miles is considered "normal" which is the policy most auto manufacturers seem to follow.
Is there blue smoke coming out the tailpipe, or is the car clearly leaking from somewhere? there would be a big oil spot where you park if it was leaking that badly...
Newish cars with catalytic convertors don't put out any smoke, except on startup, when the cat is cold. You have to be in the 300 mile to the quart range before the cat won't be able to deal with the oil.
You won't see any oil smoke with a oil consumption rate of 1 quart every 2,500 miles. My old pickup burned 1 quart of oil per 1,200 miles and it was still invisible.
I had one of the leaky oil filters. It was very obvious, because oil dripped onto the exhaust and made a horrible smell and smoke that came up from the engine bay (visible with hood open). I replaced the filter and cleaned the exhaust and heat shields as well as I could. It still took quite a few miles for the smell to disappear.
Aso, the oil never got down to the point of having the low oil light come on. It might have been down 1/2 quart, but not more than that.
Were you able to resolve your oil consumption problem?
I purchased a 2013 Outback in October 2012 and the low oil level light came on at around 2,200 miles. Dealership told me to come back in another 1,000 miles for first oil change and everything seemed fine. The light came back on at 5,300 miles. Brought it back to the dealership and they put another quart of oil in. The light has now come on again at 6,300 miles.
I spoke to the dealership and they want to perform an oil consumption test.
Were you able to resolve your oil consumption problem?
I purchased a 2013 Outback in October 2012 and the low oil level light came on at around 2,200 miles. Dealership told me to come back in another 1,000 miles for first oil change and everything seemed fine. The light came back on at 5,300 miles. Brought it back to the dealership and they put another quart of oil in. The light has now come on again at 6,300 miles.
I spoke to the dealership and they want to perform an oil consumption test.
I didn't realize I have since traded out of my 2011 2.5 to a 2013 2.5 since this thread was authored. That said we have 2400 miles +/- on our 2013 Outback as it's sits, I have also checked the oil level at every fill/up and it has not dropped an ounce since new.
As a side note, and I am also embarrassed to say this but in 6 years of being married to my wife we have owned 15 vehicles 1/2 are or were for our business. But I have taught her how to properly "break-in" a new car. I don't think our 2013 has seen anything north of 3200 Rpm since new, I know I've never had a reason to go more than 1/2 throttle with it. Not saying that's good or bad advise, but break in and driving habits in the first few hundred to 1K miles are crucial.
I'm having this exact oil consumption problem. One of the things I learned from my dealer's service guy is that the official first service for the 2013 Outback 2.5i Premium is 7500 miles. (I was about 1000 short when the light came on the first time.) Second service is at 15000 miles. (I got the light again at 13500.)
He said that some oil consumption is normal - especially in new cars - as has been noted here. He also thought that the longer interval between services was part of the issue. In my case, if I was getting serviced at 5000 miles, I wouldn't have known about it.
I'm not sure about doing the oil consumption test because I'm not sure what they'd do about it. I'd be very interested to hear someone's experience with that.
I'm having this exact oil consumption problem. One of the things I learned from my dealer's service guy is that the official first service for the 2013 Outback 2.5i Premium is 7500 miles. (I was about 1000 short when the light came on the first time.) Second service is at 15000 miles. (I got the light again at 13500.)
He said that some oil consumption is normal - especially in new cars - as has been noted here. He also thought that the longer interval between services was part of the issue. In my case, if I was getting serviced at 5000 miles, I wouldn't have known about it.
I'm not sure about doing the oil consumption test because I'm not sure what they'd do about it. I'd be very interested to hear someone's experience with that.
Anything up to a quart every 1500 miles or so is considered normal. Not that it should be acceptable, but all manufacturers have a consumption rate that they deem as normal. if I were you, I would start checking the level every other gas fill up. It isn't hard, and adding a quart sometime between changes is not that onerous. Actually, I would plan on adding 1/2 quart, twice as often.......But that is just me.
I've had the same issue with a few cars just about the time I start to think I have a high oil consumption issue closer tracking of the oil status and being very specific to where the car is parked when I check has always resulted in finding that what had me thinking consumption was either not filled all the way, bad read etc. Though I do have one car that sucks oil down at the rate I swear its a two stroke. 1qt for every 1000 miles or even just slightly more on our VW 1.8T with 60K on it. Just need to keep close eye on it and keep it topped up and it runs fine as long as the electrical stuff keeps working.
My 2011 Outback consumed a quart of oil every 1500 - 2000 miles. The dealer said it was normal, (said the same thing about the lane wandering)
I traded it in and the new car hasn't used a bit of oil in the 8,000 miles I have driven it. Doesn't wander either. Perhaps I should mention it's not an Outback.
Subaru doesn't consider it high oil consumption until you are blowing through more than a quart every 1200 miles (other manufacturers are as much as 1qt in 1000 miles...) - they aren't saying it's "normal" to consume a bunch of oil, just that they don't consider it excessive until it's over that. There's a thread over on LegacyGT.com where someone had high oil consumption in a 2013 Legacy and it turned out that the rings on the pistons were incorrectly installed so that the gaps lined up, rather than being offset, resulting in a high amount of oil loss through blowby.
in the 2012 owners manual in section 11:
If the oil consumption rate seems abnormally high after the break-in period, for example more than 1 quart per 1,200 miles or 1 liter per 2,000 kilometers, we recommend that you
I have a 2013 2.5 six speed. Bought new. Added a quart of oil after approximately 2500miles. Just added another quart this morning at 4700 miles. Not impressed nor should this be considered normal. For those of you trying to defend this level of consumption in a car built in today's competitive auto market - don't. This is unacceptable in year 2013.
Shocking to see a few posts from members who rely on the "light" to warn them of low oil.
Might as well throw the dip stick in the garbage.
What's next, a low oil light alert on your Smart Phone?
It offends my hard earned old timer sensibilities as well. But on the other hand, the only way to check the oil level in some newer BMWs is to drain the oil, and measure what came out. So, for people that own those cars, there really is no other option but to rely on the light.
just at the dealer yesterday asking about this issue. my 2013 2.5L uses about a quart of oil in 5000 miles. Subaru's litature states that it is not an issue if the car uses 1 liter of oil in 1,200 miles+. I was floored to hear this as i've had many old cars that don't use any oil at all.
The service manager agreed that Subaru's statement is excessive but he ensured me that this is not of concern and there have been lots of other customers with same concern. He also mentioned the issue may lie in the fact that the oil used in these cars is like water and people are going longer between oil changes due to the synthetic oil used.
A quart in 5k miles would not concern me. I would add 1/2 quart at 2500 miles, and change it at 5k. I prefer no consumption, but that amount would not be something I would consider a problem. For those that stick to the 7500 mile changes, the second 1/2 would go in at 5k.
I know folks with VWs that used a quart every 1000. It did not minimize until they had nearly 30k on the cars. Some never did any better than 2k to the quart.
The last 2 cars I owned, a 2000 passat glx and a 2005 outback llbean both used around 1 quart between 5000 mile oil changes. MY 2012 outback limited with 28000 miles on the clock uses slightly over 1 quart every 5000 miles.
After the last oil change I hadn't checked the oil for a while and the low oil light came on. Scared the crap out of me because I initially thought it was low oil pressure. Took less than a quart to bring the level up to full.
I bought a 2013 Outback, and I just passed 7,000 miles and the oil light came on for the second time, and I put a second quart in. The first time was at 3,500.
I am not pleased with this. But, I am thrilled with finding this forum as a result.
I am taking mine in for service tomorrow, but I am not happy with their take on it. My service manager told me that a quart per 800 to 1200 miles is within spec.
My last car was a honda civic, and it had 10k intervals, and I never had to add oil. I didn't check it religiously, but I checked it when I changed it to see if I should be checking more often. I'm going to take some of the advice here and up the revs a few times. I never take it above 5k. I can count on one hand the number of times I've had it over 4k. So maybe it just needs a little stretch to seat the rings.
Just did my second oil change @ 12,600 oil was down less than a half quart in 6,500 miles. I hope everybody is checking after the car has sat for at least 12 hours? Try that.
First oil change about the same, all highway using Amsoil
I purchased my 2013 Subaru Outback 2.5i Premium 6 speed manual new in October of 2012. I had a supplementary oil and filter change performed at the dealer in December 2012 at 1932 miles. Everything was fine until June of this year when, at 6890 miles my low oil light came on. I was a quart low. I added a quart, and, at about 7200 miles I took it to the dealer from which I purchased the vehicle for the 7500 mile service and to report my oil consumption problem. Three different people at the dealership, including the service manager, privately acknowledged to me that this is a common problem, especially on 2013's with the modified 2.5i engine, and that Subaru really has no idea what is going on. He recommended that they start an oil consumption test and that I start a case with Subaru corporate. They also overfilled my oil by a full quart at the 7500 mile service and forgot to rotate my tires. I had them correct the oil level the next day. I think it is likely that they had overfilled my oil at the oil change at 1932 miles as well. At 9100 miles my low oil level light came on again. I took in into the dealer in the town where my other home is. They topped it off. One adviser there told me that most oil consumption problems on 2013 2.5's go away after about 10,000 miles and that these engines have rings that just take longer to set. At about 10,500 miles my low oil level light came on again. I took it into the dealer and they topped it off. My oil consumption problem actually seems to be getting worse.
I purchased my 2013 Subaru Outback 2.5i Premium 6 speed manual new in October of 2012. ............ My oil consumption problem actually seems to be getting worse.
You have owned this car for over 10 months......AND THIS IS YOUR FIRST POST?????? You have had these problems.......AND THIS IS YOUR FIRST POST?????????????
Am I feeding something here?????
I mean..... I purchased my car on June 30th, 2013..... my forum join date is JULY 2013...... I think I waited one day....
My 2013 seems to burn through 1qt every 6,000. I believe I never noticed this in the past because I always changed my oil 3,000-5,000 miles unlike the recommended 7,500 for the 2013.
Reading through this thread it seems like the majority of people having the oil problem are driving 6speed manuals.... and those without the problem have either a different transmission or have the 3.6R engine? Is this just coincidence? It doesn't seem like it would make sense, but could there be a connection between the manual transmission and oil consumption?
Also has anyone encountered (or heard of others experiencing) this same oil consumption with the 2014's?
I only ask because I'm looking at purchasing a '14 6MT.
This topic is about engines not transmissions meaning regardless of what transmission is attached to the engine if the engine is going to consume oil its going to do it regardless of what transmission is attached to it.
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