Snooky

Hey people just bought a subaru impreza wagon 2.0 sport!
Just wondering on the engine oil usage! Bloke before me used fully synthetic it's got 103k miles on clock I have had it 2weeks and have had to top oil up a lot! Use it daily for school runs n things, I say roughly every 250-300miles I am putting in about a pint of oil in to top it up!! Had it ramps can't find no leaks or splits nothing,is this normal usage??

Cheers for any help/suggestions

CREWJ

I've had a sport for over 6 years and I've never had to put oil in other than servicing.

Snooky

So I take it there might be something wrong as its burning the engine oil up quickly!

Thanks for the reply too

rallyep6

I have had my 2.0 sport now for 3 months, oil and water level has remained the same, we have done about 1500 miles in it, school runs every day.
I would have thought the amount of oil you are using you'd see blue smoke out of the exhaust.

Snooky

That's what I was thinking but I don't get no smoke at all! If I had it plugged in to a diagnostic kit it would tell me why/how it's using oil?

rallyep6

I would have thought that was unlikely as the diagnostics would only be communicating with the electronic systems and would not be able to tell if oil was being drawn past the piston rings. Sounds odd that oil is not leaking anywhere or not being burnt.

scoobyster

No a diagnostic isn't likely to help, and on the classics at least, you can connect two plugs under the dash to read the stored fault codes DIY without needing to plug anything in.

Have you checked very thoroughly for oil leaks? Try removing the end covers from the cambelt (use release lube on the captive nuts in the back half of the cover, or you risk cracking the covers) - you would see in there if there has been any leaks from the camshaft front seals, or perhaps the crankshaft front seal or oil pump (which are in the middle so you won't see them directly, but oil leakage would probably have got onto the cambelt which would be visible). Also check the rear of the block to see if the camshaft rear seals have been leaking.

Snooky

Cheers for the info!! Have gone over the outside of the engine and can't see no oil leaks marks or dribbles!! From this morning when car is started the oil light flickers then stays off!! Oil level still same as yesterday! Booked in garage for Saturday so hopefully they can look into it further

Thanks for all the replies

Frizzle-Dee

This might seem like a dumb question but are you sure you are using the right oil?

When I got my car serviced at my local garage last year they clearly put the wrong oil in and it vanished within a few months!! yet there was no apparent blue smoke to give the game away that it was burning excessive amounts...it was only when I went to check my levels before a long journey that I was shocked to see I had next to nothing left!
Now she's back on the proper stuff, the level has hardly gone down in the slightest and its been about 8 months now.

Another trick you could try is parking your car over either a sheet or a large piece of cardboard overnight after an outing to check for even the most smallest of drops, it could help you isolate the problem area should there be a leak

Good Luck

Snooky

The bloke before me used Mobil super 3000 a 5-30 fully synthetic oil he did oil change n all that about 1000 miles before I bought it! The cars done 103k miles! I put card under it last night as I had read it else where it was a trick to see leakages kinda thing!!

Frizzle-Dee

Hmmmmmmm that's the right stuff so it really is a mystery...

Other than blaming an 'Oil-Gremlin' I am all out of ideas...

I hope your trip to the garage gets to the bottom of it

Let us know how you get on

scoobyster

The oil light flicker is due to a flaw with the oil pump. The pump rotors are contained by a backing plate which is held on with screws which can come loose over time, though not all do. I don't think the plate can actually fall off as the engine block gets in the way, but the gap allows some bypass of the oil pressure, especially at start-up. I learned all this when I removed my oil pump for inspection during a cambelt change, my start-up oil lamp flicker then disappeared and oil pressure is increased (I have a gauge). That said, my engine doesn't seem to have come to harm, but I'm glad to have full pressure now, so I would plan for a cambelt change and oil-pump removal (locktite the screws in) before too long. It won't lose any oil through this issue, it just by-passes the pump, so it's not your primary problem. Hope you trace the problem.

Snooky

Just an update!! Had oil pump looked at and checked was loose tightened up put back together didn't replace it and light has stopped flickering! So touch wood it was that! Might just go ahead and get it replaced in a few weeks just to be on safe side!

Snooky

I have just done oil change and spark plugs!! While pulling rubbers off spark plugs I had small amount oil on the rubber casing!! What would this mean???

Cheers

Snooky