[ammcinnis]

... 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.

It's totally normal for the coolant level to require topping up on these cars during the first year of service, as trapped air slowly migrates out of the cooling system.

 

[ammcinnis]

So the low oil light is different than a low oil pressure light?

Yes. There is a Low Oil level Light and a Low Oil Pressure light. Have you read the Owners Manual?

 

[z28dug]

Hey, I forgot about my Volkswagen bus!
And yes, I kept a quart on hand at all times.
Point well taken. Thanks for the input.
I guess I still am concerned somewhat over others reporting no oil use at all....
Will be keeping an eye on it!

Every engine seems to be a bit different. My wife's '14 Forester used a quart between changes, her '17 Forester not so much. Just not a first world issue.

The red light is low oil pressure....that's bad. The yellow light is low oil....that's ok. Add some oil and drive on.

50+ years ago when I was a gas jockey, we were the low oil light. That's why we checked everyone's oil and kept the oil rack next to the gas pumps.

Blows my mind that oil consumption has been so blown out of proportion.

 

[Future_Sub]

While in the process of looking for a car last summer, I rented a 2019 VW Jetta with the 1.4L turbochaged I-4 engine. I only know all that, as 50 miles into the trip I was making the "Low engine oil level" warning came on while driving down the interstate at 70 mph! The car was at 29,995 miles when the light came on. Next exit at a gas station I reviewed the owners manual, bought a $7 quart of synthetic 0w-20 oil, inserted the cheap prop rod into the hood and found that the entire engine cover assembly had long been discarded off that engine. You actally had to remove something to add oil to the engine. I re-chedked it with the old fashioned dipstick and it was a full quart low. Fortuently it never came on again in the ~150 miles of driving I had left.

I called the rental car company before I left and expained what had occured - and they actually knocked 50% of my rental price. It was not a big deal really, but the lady did say - that car may be going to the auction next week. Hum....

 

[Newblu]

Yes. There is a Low Oil level Light and a Low Oil Pressure light. Have you read the Owners Manual?

Yes. There is a Low Oil level Light and a Low Oil Pressure light. Have you read the Owners Manual?

On the Miata forum RTFM would have been replied!

thanks

 

[Newblu]

Every engine seems to be a bit different. My wife's '14 Forester used a quart between changes, her '17 Forester not so much. Just not a first world issue.

The red light is low oil pressure....that's bad. The yellow light is low oil....that's ok. Add some oil and drive on.

50+ years ago when I was a gas jockey, we were the low oil light. That's why we checked everyone's oil and kept the oil rack next to the gas pumps.

Blows my mind that oil consumption has been so blown out of proportion.

my first job also
I do remember the oil out by the island and pulling lots of dipsticks !
frankly the light came on about a week ago on a road trip and I don't remember what color it was
I incorrectly assumed it was the windshield washer level and kept driving
the next morning I got an email from Subaru which alerted me
must have been the yellow light or we would have been on the side of the road!

 

[Newblu]

Because of all the helpful replies I am going to cancel the appt w dealer for tomorrow
I will be watching it and report this to dealer when I go for last free oil change in January.
As has been stated by others I kind of like to keep unknown monkeys hands off my car when it is still factory fresh. That being said I guess I can trust them to do an oil change.
It sounds as thought the oil consumption test would be a waste of time at this point..

 

[d00dy]

Oil Consumption on 2.5 2015 Outback Limited

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?

You may find this interesting.

 

[shimcon73]

Hello everyone. This is my first post, and also my first year with my first Subaru. Waited till I was 40. I own a 2015 Outback 2.5 with the Cameras. I'm still learning the official numbers and model of my car. I do love my Outback, however I am having ONE MAJOR ISSUE. Oil Consumption. My understanding is that oil changes should be every 6k miles.

Shortly after purchasing the car in late July 2021, I went from PA and moved to Colorado. Everything was fine. I got my first oil change in Colorado, and then I began to notice that the oil light would come on around 4k miles. I had it checked out at two different Subaru dealers, one did an official oil consumption test, and the other just did a basic test. Both said there's nothing they could do, and the next step to determine what the issue is, is to do a full engine dismantle. Seems excessive to me, but I've heard from the dealer this is normal...?...? And people have paid money for this?... hmmm... After that the next thing is about $3-6k fix which is some sort of rebuild. That's my understanding. I feel like I'm getting hosed here. I mean, I love this Subaru, but I'm not married to the mystic of the company yet.

When I bought the car it had 109k miles on it in late July 2021. It's now early July 2022 and the total miles are (drum roll......) 145k. I know I know. Long story short. I did uber during the pandemic to stay afloat. sigh

But now, the oil consumption has kicked it up a huge notch! It's gone from every 4k miles needing to top off the oil level, to now, every 500-1000 miles is when the oil light comes on!!!!

When I noticed the oil light come on after about 1000 miles was after I had my last oil change done at Pep boys, and that's when things went from manageable to, "What the hell..?!" And that was in one week (Still driving Uber, I've now stopped because of this issue). So I'm feeling like they have a hand in this somehow, I just can't figure out how.

I called Pep Boys, they topped it off again, claiming they didn't fill it enough. I didn't say anything, because at that point I thought maybe he was right. He also mentioned he checked the oil plug and that was in. They also reset the oil light too. However, it's now 7 days since that top off, and the oil light is back on again. What gives?

I saw some post that mentioned type of oil could matter. Or some sort of build up could be contributing, but those were all on cars with much lower miles. Far less than 100k. Believe it or not, I was considering selling the car before this issue. I was planning to down grade for financial purposes, and be free of a car payment.

Any help / info / jokes / feedback is greatly appreciated.

Glad to be here,
Seth

 

[bigkevin]

I talked to a guy who seemed super knowledgeable about Subarus and he said at 80k switch to 5w20 instead of 0w.

I am tempted to do it myself but no oil consumption issues yet.

Another idea is to use high mileage oil, I know Mobil 1 has one as does Super tech and even the costco Kirkland brand. These oils supposedly have seal conditioners and couldn't hurt to try.

If you're using a qt in 500 miles that doesn't sound good....

 

[shimcon73]

I talked to a guy who seemed super knowledgeable about Subarus and he said at 80k switch to 5w20 instead of 0w.

I am tempted to do it myself but no oil consumption issues yet.

Another idea is to use high mileage oil, I know Mobil 1 has one as does Super tech and even the costco Kirkland brand. These oils supposedly have seal conditioners and couldn't hurt to try.

If you're using a qt in 500 miles that doesn't sound good....

Thanks for the info. I Keep a gallon of the mobile one high mileage in my trunk. I might consider the 5W 20 if that is something other people recommend with experience. The 500 mile issue definitely is something of my concern.

 

[seagrass]

Hello everyone. This is my first post, and also my first year with my first Subaru. Waited till I was 40. I own a 2015 Outback 2.5 with the Cameras. I'm still learning the official numbers and model of my car. I do love my Outback, however I am having ONE MAJOR ISSUE. Oil Consumption. My understanding is that oil changes should be every 6k miles.

Shortly after purchasing the car in late July 2021, I went from PA and moved to Colorado. Everything was fine. I got my first oil change in Colorado, and then I began to notice that the oil light would come on around 4k miles. I had it checked out at two different Subaru dealers, one did an official oil consumption test, and the other just did a basic test. Both said there's nothing they could do, and the next step to determine what the issue is, is to do a full engine dismantle. Seems excessive to me, but I've heard from the dealer this is normal...?...? And people have paid money for this?... hmmm... After that the next thing is about $3-6k fix which is some sort of rebuild. That's my understanding. I feel like I'm getting hosed here. I mean, I love this Subaru, but I'm not married to the mystic of the company yet.

When I bought the car it had 109k miles on it in late July 2021. It's now early July 2022 and the total miles are (drum roll......) 145k. I know I know. Long story short. I did uber during the pandemic to stay afloat. sigh

But now, the oil consumption has kicked it up a huge notch! It's gone from every 4k miles needing to top off the oil level, to now, every 500-1000 miles is when the oil light comes on!!!!

When I noticed the oil light come on after about 1000 miles was after I had my last oil change done at Pep boys, and that's when things went from manageable to, "What the ****..?!" And that was in one week (Still driving Uber, I've now stopped because of this issue). So I'm feeling like they have a hand in this somehow, I just can't figure out how.

I called Pep Boys, they topped it off again, claiming they didn't fill it enough. I didn't say anything, because at that point I thought maybe he was right. He also mentioned he checked the oil plug and that was in. They also reset the oil light too. However, it's now 7 days since that top off, and the oil light is back on again. What gives?

I saw some post that mentioned type of oil could matter. Or some sort of build up could be contributing, but those were all on cars with much lower miles. Far less than 100k. Believe it or not, I was considering selling the car before this issue. I was planning to down grade for financial purposes, and be free of a car payment.

Any help / info / jokes / feedback is greatly appreciated.

Glad to be here,
Seth

Seth sorry to hear you have been having this problem.

There are multiple reasons for high oil consumption so I will go through the popular ones in order of what to do.

1. Change the PCV valve. this valve recirculates oil fumes from the crankcase and if it sticks open it will increase oil usage.
2. Use quality oil (oil changes at Pep boys is probably not the best option). Forum members have reported Castrol Edge uses less oil than Mobile One.
3. Add a can of Seafoam engine treatment to your engine oil and after 500 miles do an oil change. Seafoam will help to remove "gum" from the oil control rings if they are gummed up.
4. You may need a second treatment of Seafoam if the oil control ring gum is severe (Unless you disassemble the engine you cannot tell). Seafoam is cheap and worth trying.

It is "normal" to use a quart of oil (when the orange oil light illuminates in the dash) every 4,000 miles. It is NOT normal to use a quart of oil every 500-1000 miles.

Subaru offered a short engine exchange on vehicles with excessive oil consumption (1 quart every 1,200 miles from memory) if the vehicle had traveled less than 100,000 miles. Unfortunately you purchased the vehicle at 109,000 miles so this was never available to you and I suspect why it was not offered to you by the dealers you visited.

Hope this helps,

Seagrass

 

[shimcon73]

miles.

Subaru offered a short engine exchange on vehicles with excessive oil consumption (1 quart every 1,200 miles from memory) if the vehicle had traveled less than 100,000 miles. Unfortunately you purchased the vehicle at 109,000 miles so this was never available to you and I suspect why it was not offered to you by the dealers you visited.

Seagrass,

Thanks for your response. Those are helpful things to begin trying. I will start with the seafoam. Can I get this at an advanced auto? I have a mechanic that I trust and in the future can take to for oil changes. I’ll also go with the oil you suggest. Thanks for all your help. Also, what is a short engine?
And where do I add the Seafoam product?

-Shimcon

 

[shimcon73]

Add a can of Seafoam engine treatment to your engine oil and after 500 miles do an oil change. Seafoam will help to remove "gum" from the oil control rings if they are gummed up.

I picked up a bottle of the seafoam. It tells me to add it to my gasoline. Is that what I should do? The guy at the counter told me to also add it to the gasoline. Or should I do this as engine oil, sense it’s trying to remove the gum in the engine?

The directions on the back say crank case. 1oz for every 1 qt of oil in the crank case. I’m not sure how many qts are already in there. Would I find out how much my Outback holds in qts, and then subtract how much it’s low on the dipstick?

thanks!

 

[shimcon73]

 

[shimcon73]

Seth

I also picked up some of the Lucas engine oil stop leak. Here’s a photo.

 

[AvidHiker]

I think adding seafoam to gas is generally regarded as pointless. Your engine oil capacity is listed in your owner's manual (be sure to get an oil change within 500 miles). Not sure I'd bother with a "stop leak" product but I guess it can't hurt.

 

[shimcon73]

I think adding seafoam to gas is generally regarded as pointless. Your engine oil capacity is listed in your owner's manual (be sure to get an oil change within 500 miles). And, IMO, there's no point in using a "stop leak" product if you're not seeing any external oil leaks (at your rate it would likely be dripping all over the place).

Do you have any other suggestions besides an oil change?

 

[AvidHiker]

Unless it's obviously leaking oil all over the place, if getting the rings freed up with Seafoam doesn't help, you'll likely need a new short block. But I'd also get the PCV valve changed first.

 

[KSKarl]

I had a 13 Outback for a while, and oil consumption on those FB engines in the early years was a constant topic in the Gen 4 forum. I thought mine was pretty good as it generally lost less than a quart between changes. (But then again my previous experience in flat 4 engines was air-cooled VW. ) My 17, and wife's 18 Forester, uses almost no oil, so it seems like Subaru figured out the FB in time. Of course, there's manufacturing tolerances, YMMV, but we should no longer need to accept excessive oil consumption.