Mugwamp

I see discussions about the known Subaru excessive oil consumption problem but I don’t see advice on what to do about it. It spans 2011 to 2015 on Outback, Legacy, Forester, Impreza and Crosstrek models. We bought a used Outback with only 61,000 miles and we have to add a quart of oil every month. The low oil alarm always comes on at the worst times when my wife is somewhere far from home. It’s a major pain! There was nothing on the Carfax or Edmunds reviews. My mechanic looked it up and gave me the “Service Bulletin.” I think Subaru figured out they could hide it as “Service Bulletin” warranty extension rather than it being a recall that potential buyers would discover. I called Subaru of America and they made me pay $200 for them to do an Oil Consumption Test. They verified that the car is indeed consuming excessive oil, but then told me that they won’t help me. Even though my mileage is well below the 100,000, the car is over 8 years old, so outside the warranty. Pretty crappy. The Subaru dealership wants like $5,000 for an engine rebuild to fix the problem.



Does anyone know what the actual problem is and how to fix it? Is this something I can get repaired by a local mechanic at a reasonable price rather than the crazy expensive Subaru dealership? Any other advice?

hedgecutter

iTrader: (5)

Subaru also state to check your oil at every fuel fill up; if you're waiting until the alarm sounds, that's way later than most would comfortable with. Volkswagen Audi also give similar warnings on oil consumption.
As this is a UK based forum, can you tell us what a "quart" is in litres so we can get an idea of consumption

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Oil consumption is the headache of a lot of modern cars now.

Low tension piston rings, single piece oil scrapers, shallow skirt pistons with thin ringland areas, high oil temperatures, extended oil change intervals. Mineral oils labelled as synthetic. I could go on.

The annoying thing is you can have two identical cars with identical engine and miles but one will guzzle oil, the other won't. It is almost always do to with the way the car was treated historically. Either stored when new in a cold damp climate causing surface corrosion of the bore causing scoring and improper bedding in. (we had a lot of 1 to 2 year old cars come in burning oil after being laid up during Covid lockdowns) Short use in cold climates causing bore wash and polishing of the bores. Or hardened oil deposits/carbon making rings stick.

Subarus are known to suffer piston ringland and ring failure depending on model. However usually this causes obvious exhaust smoke. And would be covered as a defect during the warranty period. Which is probably what the service bulletin alludes to.

Bottom line is it's a used car. Out of warranty. Recalls usually only cover defects that jeopardise safety.
For example only automatic ECObooms are recalled in the US as a timing belt breakage causes loss of brake assistance. Many safety departments only force manufacturer recalls on safety defects. Oil consumption won't cause you to crash so there will never be a recall unless a private class action lawsuit is collectively put forward amongst affected owners.

Somewhere in that car's 8year history it suffered bore/ring damage. Maintanence (lack of and/or poor quality oil), vehicle use and storage conditions who knows. Chances are the last owner got rid of it because of the oil use.



The solution at the very least is an engine strip down and rebuild with at the very least bore rehone and new piston rings. Yes it's expensive and will require an engine builder familiar with the quirks of Subaru engines. It's still going to be expensive as it's a labour intensive job and also depends on what else they'll likely find wrong; Like worn/damaged pistons and bearings, as the engine could have been ran too low on oil and starved at some point, low oil levels causes oil to overheat and combined with combustion blow-by creates sludge and further damage of engine components; Because of this a Subaru dealership would throw in a new short engine, or maybe long engine.

Mugwamp

Oh I didn't realize UK! 1 quart = .946 litre, So similar.

Mugwamp

This is good advice and commentary. I was fixated on it being a known issue and Subaru pulling a fast one on me. Who knows? I'm nearing 60 years old and never had a car that needed remotely this much oil. A litre a month on a car with a 30 minute daily commute. I can't afford a major engine job. If I top the oil off every week or two, will the engine still live a good long life? Or should I try to sell the car ASAP and avoid future heartache?

Gambit

iTrader: (6)

What grade of oil are you using? I'd be inclined to go a slightly thicker grade, so if you're using 5w30 id try a 10w40 in it at those miles.

4evascoob

maybe not pass the issue on to another buyer without brining up the issue up with the buyer first , That would be a ****ty thing to do !
Thays far too much oil to be using without a problem that’s occurring or building.

JdmSti2006

use 10w50 millers nanodrive nt+ ,it should improve oil consumption

Vxr2010

As above a 10/50 would help , my forged engine uses a bit of oil , and is run on 15/50 , which should still be ok for a non forged engine , if you keep the oil topped up to the max line it appears it over all uses less oil , and also means it runs longer before it needs topping up , not good having warning lights or noises saying the oil is low , as the damage is being done , worth checking more often and topping it up more regularly , maybe forged engine time if it's a keeper 👍

RJBingham

Crazy, my run-around 2007 2.0 n/a has done over 160000 miles, still using 3w30 oil, used les than a quarter of a litre between oil changes, that's progress for you

Matty81

my old hatch started using more oil when it was forged and when i started messing about with it! ie more power and upgrades etc. hardly used anything when it was standard! unfortunately these cars give you a headache which is why i sold it on