seb Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 Anyone knows what is normal oil consumption for a 2000 Legacy wagon? I change the oil every 6000 Km as recomended, and rarelly make it without having to add oil. Just took a long trip and had to add 1L of oil after driving 5500Km... Dealer says its normal, but I just wanted to check with others. My old car (mazda) would run 15000Km on synthetic and not use a drop, so do Subaru engine burn oil by design? BTW there is no visible leeking. Thanks, Seb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commuter Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 Consumption of oil by an engine can range anywhere from a quart per 1000 miles or so... or a quart per 20,000 miles or even less. I use a long life oil, so I am able to determine "exactly" how much oil my engine consumes. The first engine I had (97 OB, 2.5L DOHC Phase I) used a liter for every 7,500 km roughly. The new engine (also a Phase I from the same build era as my original engine) is consuming only a liter per 20,000 to 25,000 km. It also does not suffer near as much from the piston slap issue and is defintely quieter, interestingly enough. The 2 Honda Civics I had from the 80's used very little oil. I never added between oil changes and I rarely observed it dropping either. However, I did oil changes every 5 to 6,000 km. Generally, most manufacturer's do not consider oil consumption a "warranty" issue unless it is greater than 1 quart (liter) per 1,000 miles (1,600 km). Very high consumption rate by most standards, but that is what they set it at. Most cars will get from 10 to 15k km to a liter, hence you don't really notice it if you are changing every 5 or 6k km. Some newer engines (notably Hondas, Toyotas) will go 30k km or more. Did you know that if you used 1 drop of oil for every stroke of the piston, you'd burn up a quart in about 2 miles?!! Sorry for the mixed units guys. Commuter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 My other car is a BMW M Roadster and BMW considers it normal up to a quart per 750 miles. Of course you buy an M version to drive it hard anyway. My 99 Forester seems to be using a pint to 5,000 miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 I wonder if a 'weak' or clogged PCV could cause oil to 'go' somewhere? (valve guides?) Is that the only symptom? Cylinder wash down from a bad injector could maybe cause high oil consumption. just guessing Carl 1 Lucky Texan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbhrps Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 Over the last 10 years or so these are my experiences with oil consumption between oil changes. I monitored it carefully as I do my own oil and filter changes. 97 OB (121 000 kms) none 02 OB (42 000 kms) none 97 Lexus ES 300 (127 000 kms) none 94 Toyota Cressida (364 000 kms) none 89 Toyota Cressida (229 000 kms) 1 litre between changes 90 Nissan Pathfinder (122 000 kms) none 90 Nissan 300ZX (67 000 kms) none Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nug Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 I drove my worn-out jaguar from VA to MA and back, about 1000mi. FIFTEEN QUARTS BABY! Yeah, there's no oil control over 3k rpm. At no point, however, did I exceed 120 mph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmm001 Posted May 15, 2005 Share Posted May 15, 2005 Of the four Subarus my family has owned ('86 GL wagon, and currently own a '95 Legacy sedan, '97 Impreza sedan, and '98 Iegacy wagon), none of them have ever used any oil that I'm aware of between oil changes. The milages range from 91,000 on the '95 to 120,000 on the GL when we traded it in. I drive much harder in my '95 than my parents do in their cars, but even I have yet to notice any oil consumption. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted May 15, 2005 Share Posted May 15, 2005 My car uses 1 litre evey oil change (5K to 7k kilometers). I suspect it to be a mixture of oil consumption and a number of smal leaks. With my usual optimistic outlook on life, I see this as a mean of refreshing the oil additives... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Roberts Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 Hmmm. The mechanic from hell who's been torturing my 1988 GL (hey, I'd only owned it a week, what did I know? not enough ....) diagnosed an oil leak and convinced me to do all the gaskets. It had suddenly gotten very bad after being checked over "for any possible problems" - - lost 2 quarts in a 300 mile trip I make fairly often. 1988 GL, the one that's getting its 4th attempt at a replacement 5-speed dual low range 4wd transmission tested out tomorrow morning. No difference -- still losing oil -- after replacing gaskets down to the head gasket. I asked several times about the rings/pistons and was assured they looked great and could not be a problem, before they put the engine back together. Drove it and it still lost 2 quarts per 300 miles. Still had a puddle of oil on top of the flat cover over the steering gear on the right front side. That mechanic went on vacation and his boss found a cracked valve cover was leaking. Replaced that, now it's losing a quart and a half per 300 miles. That's three hundred, as in three zero zero. Current story is that when they did the head gasket they increased the compression and it must be losing oil through the cylinders. Mechanic claims a compression test would not prove anything about where the oil is going and sort of goes blank when I say "leak down test" -- he's French, originally, and, well, communication is at best marginal by now. So, anyone got ideas on what can be checked? The mechanic has flatly refused to do the ultraviolet additive I am used to using in older cars (alas, the mechanic I trusted for 30 years retired a few years ago, throwing me into this strange new world). So -- is it really true that there are "oil rings" behind the "compression ring" on each piston, and that they can be overwhelmed somehow by the slight increase in compression when a new head gasket is put in? And is it really true there's no way to find out where the oil is going by testing either compression or leak-down, whatever the latter is? Or did they just figure I looked old enough to bamboozle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 That's a lot of oil going down the pipes! I would reckon that your compression rings are letting oil slip by and get burned off. Yes, there is a third "oil scraper" ring, or two rings actually, separated by a wavy spring, kinda like sandwich cardboard. The oil scraper is there to deliver oil to the top of the cylinder wall to prevent wear. With a lot of wear, to either compression rings or cylinder wall, oil will burn off. Surely the car emits some blue smoke from the tailpipe? You could try to run some "Seafoam" through the engine in the hope that you're rings are just coked up and not sealing properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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