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17 2.5 oil consumption at 24k?

9K views 17 replies 11 participants last post by  FloridaAussie 
#1 ·
I’m on my phone, and the search function hasn’t been much help, so I’m sorry if this has been asked a million times. Anyone with the 2.5 have any issues with burning/loosing oil? I’m just shy of my 6k oil change, 23,250 and got a warning light for low oil, looks like I may be a little more than a quart low(just below the bottom hole on the dipstick).
I did my last oil change, but the dealership has done the previous/first 2 oil changes, but I guess I’m going back to letting them do the service, so if this continues to be a problem, I can take the next step without the dealership blaming it on me not doing it correctly.
If this is an issue, I would have liked to at least have been given a heads up to check my oil every 3k, just to avoid the “I think I’m going to be sick” feeling when your low oil light comes on. Most other vehicles I’ve had, if the oil light comes on, it’s usually too late, you’ve lost oil pressure, not “your just a quart low”.
 
#3 ·
there are a couple possibilities that it isn't your engine:
1) they never put in the proper amount of oil to begin with
2) they never tightened the drain plug properly, or tightened the oil filter, both of these you can easily check and verify, you'll see the evidence


could also be a gasket, again you'll see the evidence, if it is actually burning oil you'll see the evidence on the spark plugs and probably be able to identify the cylinder
 
#4 ·
Working at a parts store for 6 years, I’ve heard of several DI motors to have oil consumption issues, but hadn’t heard of issues with the 2.5L.
I’m hoping that Subaru will take what they learned having Toyota’s D4S dual injection on the FA20 in the BRZ and will have their own version on the new 2.4T going in the Ascent, but I don’t think it’s going to happen just yet.
 
#6 ·
I think about every owners manual says to check your oil every so often, it’s a C.Y.A. kinda thing for the manufacturer, not “this car has been known to burn a little oil, even though it’s a brand new engine, so you should check it often”
I mean I’ve got a 20 year old Jeep with 250k on it and it doesn’t burn any oil, maybe I’m an idiot for expecting the same out of a car that’s barely a year old.
 
#8 ·
Any history of burning oil or not, I check oil level in all my vehicles at least every other fillup. You are being naive to think it is not necessary.

I take it you don't even open the hood on your Outback for 6K miles? Doing a quick visual check under the hood could spot problems before they become show-stoppers.
 
#11 ·
Maybe I’ve been spoiled by Jeeps with an engine that has architecturally been the same since the early 60s, even my Blazer with the 4.3(an engine design traced back to the 50s). I haven’t needed to check my fluids in between oil changes unless I see drops of a given fluid under it.

I guess it unreasonable to expect that manufacturers all of a sudden can’t build an engine that doesn’t burn oil, even though several of them have been building them for the better part of a century.
 
#9 ·
I have a '17 Outback 2.5. I read about oil seeping by the piston rings as the pistons lay horizontal. Start the car, the oil burns off out the exhaust. I have been watching my oil every few days - waiting for this to happen, and I have taken extra care not to push the engine for the first 10K miles - no magic number, just what i have done. I am knocking on wood, but I just changed the oil for the 3rd time - and I have not seen any issues of oil consumption. I don't think I have any special Subaru, but hoping the fact that I did not push the car at all for the first 10K, perhaps helped. I drive around town, rarely on the freeway. I'm hoping for the best, but not planning on it!
 
#14 ·
Thank you. This actually gives me a reasonable answer to why my engine is burning oil, rather than just giving me a hard time for not looking under my hood on a regular basis. This is the first vehicle I’ve owned that had a boxer motor in it(I had a 70 WV Ghia for a short time in the Navy, but it didn’t have an engine in it).
I have had quite a bit of schooling in engine theory, design, and high performance applications, boxer motors were only brushed on, noting that they are well balanced and have a low COG and moving on to focus on in-line and V engines.
 
#18 ·
Same on a 2018 Outback 2.5 I used to own. Welcome to the forum mate.
 
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