Try a different brand of oil. PUP or Mobile 1 extended performance and monitor the levels more often.

 

Thanks, I used Mobile 1 when I topped it up three times. Not sure what Subaru dealer is using but I plan to find out when I take it in shortly. My point is that a new car should not need to have oil added between oil changes. Subaru is apparently saying this is "normal." Others disagree - including many owners who are having this problem with later model cars as well as Consumer Reports (Excessive Oil Consumption Isn't Normal - Consumer Reports) and ConsumerAffairs (https://www.consumeraffairs.com/new.../news/subaru-owners-complain-of-engine-failure-high-oil-consumption-092315.html and class action lawsuit on older recent models mentioned here: https://www.consumeraffairs.com/new.../news/lawsuit-charges-subaru-engines-may-have-defective-piston-ring-071714.html). I want this taken care of before I go out of warranty. Any advice from others have who experienced similar oil consumption on a 2015 Outback and have resolved it will be much appreciated.

 

OEM oil is cheap and not well regarded. The reason I suggest you try another brand as it has helped others reduce or eliminate usage. Personally, my 3.6 does not use oil I also don't use OEM.

 

OEM oil is cheap and not well regarded.

Source?

 

Source, NASIOC and the many test done with WRX owners. Particularly, the DIT 2.0 engine. PUP and M1 EP are the favorite brands for performance enthusiasts. I have been using for M1 EP for many vehicle with great success. Just like the OEM battery, if you think the OEM oil is high quality like the aforementioned brands your kidding yourself.

 

Keep in mind that for most users, OEM oil is perfectly fine because they're not stressing the cars like performance enthusiasts. And it still has to meet the quality standards set by the industry. But the whole point of WHY you buy a WRX or STI, you're GOING to go play with it, drift around curves, hit the track, and in general do stuff that regular people in their wagon aren't going to do while on the highway. (Google Game Over STI if you want to see a street legal car that is a bit more. Here's a picture of under the hood.)

That's also why we have people who mod the Outback and take it back into the boonies with better suspension gear, winches, and other stuff. For those people, I wouldn't recomment OEM oil, either.

 

There is a longer older thread on this here: http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums...n-5-2015-present/184530-any-excessive-oil-consumption-your-2015-2-5-engine.html. You might want to have the mods combine the two. It makes for a much easier search in the future.

 

OP,

Contact you local Subaru dealer, tell them you think your car is using oil excessively, and have them do an oil consumption test. Make sure they do the test correctly. This should be your first step in finding if you have a problem.

 

Thanks BadTrainDriver. When you say "make sure they do the test correctly" what do you mean exactly? Car's going into the dealer on July 13th, will ask them to do the oil consumption test. Will report results for interested parties. I've also written Subaru of America to report the problem so it's on record (for whatever that's worth).

 

There was another member that claimed the dealer was overfilling his oil during the test. I believe you can find the instructions for the test online. Just make sure it's done as per the instructions and filled properly. Good luck!

 

Direct injection engines suffer from more fuel dilution vs port injection among some other carbon related issues. Fuel in the oil breaks it down more quickly. Anyway, the main reason I recommend another brand as it has helped many WRX owners curb consumption. Worth a try. I don't abuse my Outback nor did I abuse my WRX. Although, I did drive the WRX more spirited. I switched both vehicles to M1 EP at the first oil change around 2500 miles. The minor (1/2 qt) oil consumed in my tuned WRX did not come back after switching. My Lexus LS430 ran 10k OCI's on Mobile 1 EP without any consumption or signs of engine wear. The trick is to find what works best for a specific engine.

 

This is my third Outback (2.5 Limited, auto trans), having owned a used '96 and a new '03. I've never had to add oil between oil changes until now. I'm currently at about 22,500 miles and have had three oil changes on the recommended 6K interval. Between oil change #2 and #3, I had an issue with the low oil sensor coming on around 4,500 miles beyond the oil change and was told by my local Subaru dealer to add some synthetic oil (recommended weight) - said it was not uncommon for new engines to burn a bit of oil. Didn't think too much of it. I took a recent road trip, oil sensor on again at about 4K on a flat stretch of road, checked dipstick and found level about 1/4" above lowest hole, added about 1/4 to 1/3 qt. of synthetic oil and drove another 200-300 miles and oil sensor came on again. Added another 1/4 to 1/3 qt. oil. There are no oil spots visible on the ground in our garage so I'm left to conclude it's burning oil. Still under warranty for another 14K and wonder how to get this rectified. Any suggestions?

Isn't the powertrain warranty 5/60K?

 

I had an issue with the low oil sensor coming on around 4,500 miles beyond the oil change and was told by my local Subaru dealer to add some synthetic oil (recommended weight) ... Didn't think too much of it. I took a recent road trip, oil sensor on again at about 4K on a flat stretch of road, checked dipstick and found level about 1/4" above lowest hole, added about 1/4 to 1/3 qt. of synthetic oil and drove another 200-300 miles and oil sensor came on again. Added another 1/4 to 1/3 qt. oil.

What interests me about your post is that you drove the first two oil change intervals (0 -6000 miles, and 6000-12000 miles) without incident, then about 4 K after oil change #2 (somewhere around 16K or so if I'm reading you right) the oil light came on. You added oil and the light went off.

Now, after oil change #3 , the light came on again at about 4K into that cycle (around 22K?) and you added oil and the light went out.
You then drove 200 or 300 miles (which?) and the light came back on again and after adding more oil, it went out once more.

You don't mention, not once, checking the oil level on the dipstick at any other time except for when a warning light comes on.

So, I think some questions arise;

When the service department changes your oil, they should refill with at least 5 quarts of fresh oil. The "proper" fill amount, per the manual, is a little bit more than that, but 5 quarts will certainly suffice.
That will put the level within 1/8" or so of the upper dipstick mark. Or at least it does on our 2.5 OB.
Is that what happens with your vehicle after the oil change?
Where, exactly, is the oil level on the dipstick when the car has just had an oil change?

If your oil level warning light is coming on when the level is about 1/4" above the lower dipstick mark (anyone know if that sounds typical?), and you add 1/4-1/3 Quart of oil, where is the level on the dipstick at that point?

So far, if I'm reading you right and my math is correct, it looks like you've added, what, maybe 1 or 1 1/2 quarts of oil in 22.5K miles of driving?
That's not really outside of normal oil consumption range.

I'm not arguing for not having your vehicle checked out, but if your car is starting to burn oil you will need to document the consumption meticulously, checking the dipstick level frequently (at least with every tank of gas, I'd say) and measuring how much oil you need to add to keep the level close to the upper mark.

 

I am having similar problems with mine. I had around 17k miles on mine the first time that my low oil light came on between oil changes. I had just under 30k miles on mine the second time that the low oil light came on between oil changes. It was very low on the dipstick. I took it in for an oil consumption test, which it apparently passed. So, tough luck for me. Bring it back in if it happens again they said and then they can do another oil consumption test. Powertrain warranty is 60,000. I plan to trade mine in before then given the problems.

This is my third Outback (2.5 Limited, auto trans), having owned a used '96 and a new '03. I've never had to add oil between oil changes until now. I'm currently at about 22,500 miles and have had three oil changes on the recommended 6K interval. Between oil change #2 and #3, I had an issue with the low oil sensor coming on around 4,500 miles beyond the oil change and was told by my local Subaru dealer to add some synthetic oil (recommended weight) - said it was not uncommon for new engines to burn a bit of oil. Didn't think too much of it. I took a recent road trip, oil sensor on again at about 4K on a flat stretch of road, checked dipstick and found level about 1/4" above lowest hole, added about 1/4 to 1/3 qt. of synthetic oil and drove another 200-300 miles and oil sensor came on again. Added another 1/4 to 1/3 qt. oil. There are no oil spots visible on the ground in our garage so I'm left to conclude it's burning oil. Still under warranty for another 14K and wonder how to get this rectified. Any suggestions?

 

My wife is considering getting a 2017 Legacy with 2.5 (Same engine as outback) and just recently heard about the oil consumption issues with some 2015s. Should we be worried?

 

I would be more worried of all the time she may spend on the Subaru Forum than about an oil consumption issue.:grin2:

 

On both of our Subarus I religiously followed the break-in recommendation and so far no oil consumption. The tech might be right about the importance of following Subaru 1000 mile break-in.

 

Ditto here as I approach 10k miles.........I tend to drive very sanely (as opposed to my style a decade ago or so) and was very careful to break in using Forum members suggestions as well as the other specified suggestions by Subaru...and experience based on many years of driving new and used cars.

So far, so good..........

I have no idea what the actual percentage of oil using 2.5s might be but, whatever it is, if it's your car, it's 2 cars too many! That being said, SOA's replacing of the engine is the least that owners can expect.....as long as they've followed the recommended maintenance schedules.

Very sorry for those who have been afflicted, however......

Steve

 

Update on the original post...still having trouble

First oil consumption test back in July resulted in Service Manager reading the oil consumed was right at the acceptable cut-off (1/3 qt. in 1,200 miles). Said he'd recommend that SOA consider a short block replacement if that was what I wanted. I was hesitant, not knowing what all that entailed. He then offered we could do another oil consumption test when I brought the car in for its 30K service, which is what I agreed to do. The 30K service happened last Dec. and, long story short, the oil test wasn't properly documented (and it was overfilled) so I asked for another one. The results from that test came back recently and it showed my car used 20 oz. of oil over 1,544 miles -- well over SOA's tolerance level for what they consider "normal" consumption. The Service Manager contacted me and said he'd been in touch with SOA's district guy and they want to do further diagnostics on the car ("your car doesn't fall within the model years ('11 to '14) for short block replacement," yodda yodda). So, back I went today for a compression test and a leak down test under warranty. Service Manager just called me and reported they found all four spark plugs show oil fouling. Said SOA district guy now wants the cylinder head inspected so my car is likely in the shop for much longer than I expected while they get this done. In our discussion of why there would be oil fouling in the spark plugs, the Service Mgr. asked if I use cheap gas and I said, "No, I don't buy no name gas." He then said "do you ever put Costco gas in?" I said, "yes, I do." He seems to think it's of lower quality and lacks the engine cleaning additives of his preferred gas (Chevron). Thoughts on this people? Back to the problem, he said it's likely the "oil control rings" are stuck or gummed up. When I pressed why this would be happening on a car with 32.2K miles, he said he didn't know but surmised it might be an issue with the pistons and said we'll know more once they pull the cylinder head off and look inside. Looks like we're heading toward short block replacement under warranty, after all. I'm really disappointed I've had this problem with a brand new car. I wish I could get a straight answer as to whether SOA made any technical changes to the short block's parts AFTER I purchased this car in Aug. of 2014 (it's an early model 2015). I've been told two conflicting stories about this by the dealer's employees. Once all is said and done, I'll post a followup to let you know what transpired. In the meantime, if anyone has any helpful thoughts, I'd appreciate hearing them.

 

He then said "do you ever put Costco gas in?" I said, "yes, I do." He seems to think it's of lower quality and lacks the engine cleaning additives of his preferred gas (Chevron).

Costco isn't convenient for me.. so I don't use their gas.. BUT.. I thought I'd seen multiple people saying it was actually rather decent.

Either way, to me that sounds like a BS attempt to try to blame you, which isn't right (IMO).

 

That is the point of having a warranty. I would request a further compensation for the misleading information and inconvenience for the aggravation that is has cause. They will give you a loaner until the repair are completed.

Laughter is the key to happiness

 

It is BS.

I don't use Costco gas for the same reason... I am not going to drive 50 miles to the nearest Costco to get it. But, I have read many articles and heard from others that Costco is dosing their gas with twice or more of the additives required for top tier rated gasoline. So, I would not consider their gas as sub standard. The base gasoline they get is the same stuff any other station, including the name brand ones, get. It all comes from the same local terminals, and those terminals will get their gas from several different refineries. I have tanked gas in the past and every station in the area gets its gas from the very same terminals in that area. A name brand station does not get only that name brand gasoline. Only difference is that when I would load a tanker, I would swipe the card for the station that was getting the gas, and as the fuel was loaded, additives would be injected automatically in the fuel flow per the customer demand. But it was all the same gas.

 

I have a 2015 OB Premium with about 25K miles. Always use Costco Gas and changed the oil every 5K using Penzoil Platinum Synthetic. I have never had to add any oil between changes. This is a new experience because by old 98 leaked a fair amount of oil..

 

Final Resolution...(I hope)

Second oil consumption test (= the third one, actually, because the second test had to be redone due to dealership error) resulted in my 2015 Outback consuming 20 oz. of oil over about 1500 miles. This level of consumption is not in compliance with tolerance specified by SOA. This forced the local dealer to take action. First dealer wanted to do more tests including a compression test (came out fine) and a cylinder leak down test (also ok). Then did tear down inspection and found oil passing through piston rings into combustion chamber and oil-fouled spark plugs. I was without my car for 3.5 weeks (given a dealer loaner car during this period) while they replaced the engine's short block and sent the cylinder heads out to be machined given carbon buildup. As for the cause of excess oil consumption, the Service Mgr. explained to me that the one piston they pulled for close inspection showed the gap between the compression and oil control rings being nearly aligned (meaning their gaps were within 3-4˚ of one another or about 3/8" apart) when these gaps should be offset 180˚ from one another as installed at the factory. I asked why this gap line-up would happen and he had no real explanation, offering that he's not an engineer but, again, he pointed back to the amount of carbon buildup present on the top of the piston could be due to use of inferior fuel quality. Again said he thinks Chevron fuel is the way to go given its additives, thinks Costco is inferior fuel (despite what many others have said here). I'm certainly no expert but I seriously question the quality of the fuel being the issue here. I pointed out that if fuel quality was the culprit, surely a lot more vehicles like mine would be having problems, no? (Previously, he'd told me my 2015 Outback is the only one they've had to replace a short block on.) I asked if excess carbon buildup on top of the piston couldn't be caused by the oil (= carbon!) bypassing the gaps found in the rings, then burning and leaving a residue there? He dismissed this idea. I have now driven a few hundred miles on the new short block and the engine is running well so far. Time will tell if this matter is fully resolved.

 

I just had the oil light come on. About 4500 miles after oil change the light came on.
Car not has 20,500 miles.
Did not burn a drop for the first 16000 miles.
I have had a few new cars and I have NEVER seen a car with 20000 miles burn oil.
Also was losing a bit of coolant in the first year or so.
Car is a 2019 outback premium with 2.5 engine.
I find all this more than a bit strange.
Bringing car into dealer this week and was told by a friend to insist on a oil consumption test.

 

I just had the oil light come on. About 4500 miles after oil change the light came on.
Car not has 20,500 miles.
Did not burn a drop for the first 16000 miles.
I have had a few new cars and I have NEVER seen a car with 20000 miles burn oil.
Also was losing a bit of coolant in the first year or so.
Car is a 2019 outback premium with 2.5 engine.
I find all this more than a bit strange.
Bringing car into dealer this week and was told by a friend to insist on a oil consumption test.

Are you talking about the low oil pressure light? If yes and this was because the oil level was too low, you have a serious problem that you contributed to by not checking the oil level yourself often enough. I agree a new car shouldn't use oil, and the one car I had that started using oil around 70K miles I replaced right away, but there is still a minimum level of owner responsibility that should be adhered to. I admit that with my Hondas I checked the oil less frequently because they never burned oil, but I'm still new to Subaru so I check every 1K miles. My worst Subaru experience was a dealer who didn't know the oil capacity and overfilled it by half a quart. Perhaps your dealer underfilled yours, which led to your current problem? How often do you check your oil level? Anyway, sorry if I'm ragging on you too much, but the more involved you are with maintaining your car, the better your chance of having it properly diagnosed and repaired. Hopefully they'll take care of you as you're still clearly in the warranty period.

 

@Newblu Using one quart of oil (the low oil level light typically comes on when you need to add a quart of oil) is “normal use” and nothing at all to worry about. As suggested above if at the last oil change the level was low, then you may not have used a quart.

If you have been doing lots of short trips oil use can increase in any engine, especially a boxer engine.

To fail an oil consumption test I believe a vehicle needs to use a quart of oil in 1,500 miles which does not appear to be the case with this vehicle.

Seagrass

 

Perhaps it would be advisable for any future person who encouters excessive oil consumption in thier car's engine (regardless of make/model, etc) to go online and order a Oil Analysis sampling kit. Then when you prepare to change the oil, take a sample, label it as instructed, and send it to the sampling labs. The best possible way to do this is to obtain samples at every oil change, from the start of your car ownership time. This can happen for new or used cars. If you consisitently use the same oil supplier, type & weight and grade classification, then provide the oil sample lab a sample of the actual new oil you put into the engine as well, as this gives them a baseline of the oil used in the engine.

This provides detailed analysis on wear metals, oil viscosity at change, coolant and fuel dilution, etc. It provides good solid data, which is very hard to refute. So if you find your coolant dilution % increasing, this is a sure sign it's getting into your oil system somewhere and that will need to be tracked down.

It also appears the OP has not posted here since 2017 - so his base engine issue appears to have been resolved.

 

Perhaps it would be advisable for any future person who encouters excessive oil consumption in thier car's engine (regardless of make/model, etc) to go online and order a Oil Analysis sampling kit. Then when you prepare to change the oil, take a sample, label it as instructed, and send it to the sampling labs. The best possible way to do this is to obtain samples at every oil change, from the start of your car ownership time. This can happen for new or used cars. If you consisitently use the same oil supplier, type & weight and grade classification, then provide the oil sample lab a sample of the actual new oil you put into the engine as well, as this gives them a baseline of the oil used in the engine.

This provides detailed analysis on wear metals, oil viscosity at change, coolant and fuel dilution, etc. It provides good solid data, which is very hard to refute. So if you find your coolant dilution % increasing, this is a sure sign it's getting into your oil system somewhere and that will need to be tracked down.

It also appears the OP has not posted here since 2017 - so his base engine issue appears to have been resolved.

Good info on the oil analysis. I will be doing my own oil changes after this last free one.
That will be a good time to start doing UOA.

 

service advisor on sat told me 1/3 quart could be possible in 1200 miles on some subies.
i thought that was excessive and a little hard to believe .
just got the OB so i will monitor it.
i recorded the level before and after the oil change on the stick too, cool and hot.

 

I appreciate the input above. I am considering not even taking the car in till January when the last free oil change will happen.
I do monitor my cars and take care of things like oil level. I have had Hondas,fords, Nissans, a couple of dodges and a chevy or two and a Mazda Miata that has hardly burned a drop in 35000 miles. Most were new cars as I had a new company car every 2.5 years or so. I have NEVER SEEN a 2 year old car burn oil ! In my mind I either have a bad engine/head gasket or this oil consumption is a Subaru thing.
I think The oil was full after the oil change, I did notice it down a bit once and wondered about that.
The reason I don't check my oil fanatically is because I have never seen a new car use oil like this.
If you read my post carefully you would have noticed that the car used a little coolant a couple times in the first year or so. For that reason I am concerned that there is something wrong with this engine. Also, why did it not use any for 16000 miles then suddenly use a quart in 4500 miles. Something stinks if you ask me.
Any other comments will be read and taken into consideration.

 

I appreciate the input above. I am considering not even taking the car in till January when the last free oil change will happen.
I do monitor my cars and take care of things like oil level. I have had Hondas,fords, Nissans, a couple of dodges and a chevy or two and a Mazda Miata that has hardly burned a drop in 35000 miles. Most were new cars as I had a new company car every 2.5 years or so. I have NEVER SEEN a 2 year old car burn oil ! In my mind I either have a bad engine/head gasket or this oil consumption is a Subaru thing.
I think The oil was full after the oil change, I did notice it down a bit once and wondered about that.
The reason I don't check my oil fanatically is because I have never seen a new car use oil like this.
If you read my post carefully you would have noticed that the car used a little coolant a couple times in the first year or so. For that reason I am concerned that there is something wrong with this engine. Also, why did it not use any for 16000 miles then suddenly use a quart in 4500 miles. Something stinks if you ask me.
Any other comments will be read and taken into consideration.

Is this your first flat 4?

There is a reason the engineers included a low oil light....some oil consumption is expected. People get way tpo worked up over a quart between changes.