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3.6r using oil

50K views 89 replies 54 participants last post by  skeetjunkie 
#1 ·
I have a 2011 3.6R Limited with 30K miles. I bought it used with 23K. I have done 2 oil changes. Between both it was low on oil. For the second the dealer did a "oil consumption analysis." I had to go there every 1,200 miles and have them check and add oil. It was a pain. At the end of the analysis, they said that it used 28oz in about 3700 miles and that his is "normal." Basically I wasted my time going to the dealer and waiting for them to check the oil...

They said that the engine can use up to a quart every 1,200 miles and that is normal.

I am not excited about having a car that uses 1 quart between oil changes (at 30K), and I let the service manager know this. I am very qualified to check my oil, add oil, change oil, etc. However I don't think I should routinely have to add oil between oil changes on a relatively new car.

Do other folks out there with a 3.6r have similar experiences? I am thinking about trading the car in.
 
#69 ·
You can put 0w40 oil in that engine... Syntheic of course.

The manual speficies that you can use 10w30 or 10w40.

Most 0w40 synthetic oils are formulated for the european market, and are somewhat lower burning.

Oddly. It actually seems to matter what oil you use in the H6.

My EZ36 is an odd bird... The dipstick goes down from the high to low mark, but ive only used .3QTs in 6000 miles. Super odd....
 
#71 ·
Go pull up the 100Cst information on Castrol HM and compare it to the others.

The specification / data sheets show it being thicker than everything in the same winter weight specification with the exception of Red Line.

Red Line always seems to be at the top end of the specification for a given winter weight oil. Mobil 1, on the flip side, is exactly the opposite, it's almost always on the light end of the specification.

Aside from formulation, overall viscosity appears to matter with the 3.6.

Now, if you want to compare 5W20 oils to 0W20 oils, you'll find something interesting... 0W20 oils seem to be more robust, according to the manufacturers data sheets, again, then 5W20. At least in the realm of viscosity at temperature... Seems they don't want 0w20 to thin out, so many of them seem to start rather high.

Though, it is interesting how Subaru likes to only run new 0W20 oil for 2400 miles only during an oil consumption test. Which tells me that they are concerned about it burning more after it starts to wear... So the manufacturer appears to be concerned about molecule shear, or so the dealer's service manager tells me.
 
#72 ·
Regarding Outback 3.6R engine oil usage: Some say the 3.6R engine has no problems with oil consumption. However, Consumer Reports says the opposite - the well known by now article of 30 top oil consuming cars, with the Outback 3.6R engine being about No. 12ish, and the older they are (2011 - 2014) the more oil they consume. Additionally, and it was on some Outback Forum conducting a poll of oil usage on the 3.6R, up to 1/3 of the participants reported they used 1 qt. and/or 1qt or more per 3,000 miles. This makes me afraid of buying the 3.6R engine. Has there been any improvements to this engine in recent years to correct oil usage?
 
#73 ·
Maybe I just got a freak, and I'm going to look back over this thread as well to make sure I didn't miss anything, but using just a cheap conventional oil (just buy the cheapest 5w30 I can find at walmart with a subaru filter), my 3.6 doesn't burn a drop. Our 2.5 burns a little, but only about 1/2 quart per 5000 miles. At 20,000 miles on the 3.6. The 2.5 has burned oil since day 1
 
#77 ·
2013 3.6R purchased in November 2015 at 25,500 miles. Now approaching 30,000 miles and I've never had to add a drop of oil. When I do the 30,000-mile service myself in a few weeks I will use Castrol GTX 5W30 conventional oil. That oil has easily carried both Jaguars we own to nearly 100,000 miles with zero engine issues.
 
#78 ·
What brand oil do you use?

I've got a 2012 3.6R Limited, I've had a couple times using Valvoline conventional oil it seems to vanish without any explanation. The worst was around my 2nd oil change got a low-oil warning (low level, low pressure) after about 2,000 miles. Checked and the dipstick wasn't reading anything, couldn't find any sign of leaks though. I topped it off with Penzoil (also conventional) brand and monitored it very closely thru that oil change it seemed to use less and less but I probably put 2.5-3 quarts in over 5,000 miles. I have no idea what's different with the brands of oil (I thought oil was oil...as long as the weight was correct) but apparently there's something different about it.

Now I do my best to buy or go to shops that use Penzoil brand only. I have been going 5,000 between changes comfortably. It will use a small amount over my 5K change interval (maybe 1/2 quart but still within "full" on dipstick) if I really lay into it hard acceleration a lot but if I go a little easier on the throttle I don't use a single drop. If I do discover it getting in the bottom 1/4 of "full" I will add oil in about 1/4 quart increments until it's 2/3 up the "full" and keep monitoring for a couple days to see that it's staying. I go thru maybe 1 quart per 20K miles at this rate. Also, I may be a bit OCD but I've started doing a pre and post-inspection when I take my car into any shop - because I want to know if it was low on any fluids before the shop touches it and make sure it's still correct after (or at least get a baseline so I can tell if it drops). I also started removing/inspecting each lug-nut after having work done because I've lost 2 from under-tightening and had a shop over-torque 3 wheel bolts to the point they were destroyed.

I just had my 90K mile service on my 2012 3.6R last weekend and it didn't need any topping up since the 85K oil change. Before I went into the shop I checked the dipstick and it was 1/2 way up the "full" area which I think is quite reasonable. When it came out the level was exactly at the "full" dot after sitting overnight or about 3/4 up the "full" a few minutes after shutting the car off.

My parents have a 2013 and 2014 model years both 3.6R Limited and as far as I know they haven't been low on oil though they drive a lot less and don't push them as hard as I do (I think they are each around 10-15K miles currently)
 
#79 ·
To add an older-vehicle perspective, my 2010 3.6R has a bit over 150k miles on it, and I have to add a quart after about 3500 to 4000 miles. Since I change my oil every 5k, I am basically topping it off once between oil changes.

I started having to do this at around the 125k to 130k point, IIRC. Up until then I was never adding oil between changes.

I assume it is being burnt, rather than leaked, as I have no drips under my car. (No oil smoke, either.) I DO see some signs of minor seeping (weeping?) of oil around the timing chain cover on the driver side, basically a bit of oily film, but this is also close to where the oil filler cap is, so who knows if it's actually seeping past the timing cover gasket...

For a vehicle with 150k+ miles, I'm not complaining....
 
#80 ·
I have a 2010 3.6R also, I change the oil every 5,000 miles as well and have to add a quart at around 3,500 miles as well. This has been true since around 80,000 and has not changed any. I don't consider it a problem. My experience is basically the same as yours.
 
#82 ·
Bought my 2014 3.6R brand new. Up to 25k km I didn't notice any usage (also hadn't been checking oil level, I know I know). I got a quick change at Mr. Lube (I can't remember the brand) and it was low at my next change. Decided to try another quick lube as my dealer is typically booked 2-3 weeks ahead, and this time it was Valvoline brand. This time the low oil light came on half way into my OCI. At this point I have about 33k km on the ODO. I put in oil from Petro Canada and was able to make it until the end of the interval, checking oil level frequently. I then had the oil changed at the dealer and Castrol is listed on my work order. Im 2000 km into my OCI and I haven't noticed any usage. I'm checking daily.

I have consistently used synthetic following the break in period. 65% stop and go city driving (rolls eyes).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#83 ·
So I'll give you an odd one...

Had the dealer change the oil last time, and the car hasn't used an appreciable amount of oil in the 7200 miles since it was changed.

They use whatever they get from their distributor, and I'm trying to find out what it is!

I think this time I'll pull the oil, send it to blackstone, and put in 10w30 Redline for giggles.
 
#84 ·
engine burning oil

My 2011 3.6R with 63K miles on it. Since about 30K miles I have been having to top off engine oil between the recommended 7.5K intervals. The issue has progressively gotten worse to a point that now the car needs a quart after 2.5K miles of driving. We did a oil burn test at the dealer and promptly took my car back at about 1250K miles the dip stick showed no hint of
oil burn. Another 1300 miles since and it seems to have gone through a quart of oil and it's right at the lower hole on the dipstick. I park at the same spot everyday and have never noticed any leaks. My dealer says I am out of warranty and if the engine needs fixing I would have to shell it out of my pocket. However after reading numerous articles about this oil burn problem I am sure this is the same issue affecting several other cars. I am not sure what I can do at this point.
 
#85 ·
My 2011 3.6R with 63K miles on it. Since about 30K miles I have been having to top off engine oil between the recommended 7.5K intervals. The issue has progressively gotten worse to a point that now the car needs a quart after 2.5K miles of driving. We did a oil burn test at the dealer and promptly took my car back at about 1250K miles the dip stick showed no hint of
oil burn. Another 1300 miles since and it seems to have gone through a quart of oil and it's right at the lower hole on the dipstick. I park at the same spot everyday and have never noticed any leaks. My dealer says I am out of warranty and if the engine needs fixing I would have to shell it out of my pocket. However after reading numerous articles about this oil burn problem I am sure this is the same issue affecting several other cars. I am not sure what I can do at this point.
Curious what brand of oil you use?

I had something like this with Valvoline oil where I got a low-oil warning around 1K miles after an oil change. No signs of where it went, no drips, no visible smoke. I used Pennzoil to refill it and for subsequent changes and had zero problems. Since then I've been very particular about oil brand.

Also some shops you may want to verify what weight oil is being used, I think the newer 2.5i uses really light oil vs the 3.6R and I had one time a "helpful" person at the auto parts store was trying to tell me the wrong weight to use.
 
#88 ·
I sent a sample from my new 3.6R as a baseline when it was new, long before the oil consumption issues were discussed. I need to send another.

The reason for me sending an oil sample years ago was because I discovered that the air cleaner element was defective, not being attached on one side of the filter. That sample had high silicates in the oil. Later samples did not. I'm sure there were other abnormalities, but they escape me now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#87 ·
My 2013 3.6R owners manual recommends conventional 5W30 oil. We purchased our Outback in November 2015 at 25,500 miles and I have been running Castrol GTX 5W30 conventional oil in it since then. No oil consumption issues here. The odometer currently shows 37,400 miles. My next oil and filter change is due in the next 200 miles or so. Our Outback does about 6,000 miles per year. We have three other vehicles so our mileage is fairly evenly spread amongst all four of them.
 
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