chiark

Just checked my oil at 8,500 miles. Nasty surprise - level was just below the "L" mark.

The car took between half and 3/4 of a litre to make it up to just under "F".

MY03 wagon. The MY00 never used any oil, but didn't see as many miles...

Check your oil today

Cheers,
Nick.

blip

Chiark - yep I checked my 03 wagon last night and had the same nasty surprise, there was no oil on my dipstick at all!!!!!!!!

Was the engine cold, warm, hot when you checked it? I am still really confused about when you should check it, some people say when it's stone cold like first thing in the morning, others say when the car has been sat for say an hour.

BTW, what oil are you using??

naturbo2000

Ditto - checked my 03 (5000 miles) this weekend.

Oil had dropped to just above the L

Lets hope it settles in soon...


Zaust starting to get a little growly at least - esp. during gear changes

pslewis

My old Sierra of 1982 vintage (in 1982!!) had a wire monitor on the dipstick ................. if the oil dropped off the stick the light came on!! Brilliant!! why not on Imprezas 20 years on!?

Pete

JIM THEO

Be cautious out there, I had some oil consumpton during running in period (1500kms-less than half litre) in my new WRX03 but my method was quite different from what others follow - never mind - after that I check my oil very often and have found that you have to warm the engine for 5-10 min, left it for AT LEAST 20-30 min to cool down and then check your oil levels. If you check your oil before this time you'll find that is close or below the "L" mark, believe me I added some oil cause of the above phenomenon in my car and found later that is above "F" mark!
JIM

gregh

So no oil warning light then in the mark 3 Impreza??? nice to see subaru are learning the way of the modern car !! DOH!!

chiark

I spoke to the garage who supplied the car (Subaru dealer)

They told me to warm the engine, then let it stand for a couple of minutes, then check the oil.

Still less than "L"...

Speak to the servicing garage, they'll tell you what to put in. I had to use Castrol Magnatex GTX or something like that, available from Halfords.

Cheers,
Nick.

akshay67

My MY99 has never used a drop...Is that necessarily a good thing?

image doctor

Why no oil light.

Someone is going to pay for that!

BlackScoobyWRX

I believe the set-up is designed to burn a small amount of oil because of the piston rings used - mine uses about 2 to 3 litres between services (7500 miles) and has done since I bought the car 18 months ago (no smoke as such and putting out a healthy 300BHP+).
Depends how you drive as well I suppose!!
Use good quality 10-40 semi-synthetic.

sammyh

iTrader: (1)

My 03 STI has not used any yet, my 02 used a litre every 1.5k.

lucky_strike

I had the lack of oil drain to the dip stick thing sometime ago - certainly it used a bit during the first few thousand miles (upto around 3000 I think) during which I needed to top it up a tad but I remember checking sometime after the 1000 mile service and the oil was low (assumed the dealer filled it correctly!), this would be just a little while after being out in it...but I would have expected the oil to have drained back. Anyway filled it up again but then later found (another 1000 miles or so) that it was over full.

My conclusion, being new to the boxer engine, was that it takes longer than normal to drain back down to the sump - or it is extra sensitive to having the oil checked on level ground.

Anyway, 15000 miles now and it doesn't seem to use a drop.

Cheers,
Richard.

chiark

The really strange thing is that my MY00 never used a single drop?

Wierd. I'll keep an eye on it.

john banks

The thing I can't believe is that Subarus don't have oil temp gauge, and low oil and coolant level warning lights. And a sensible low oil pressure warning light rather than a light which tells you your engine just let go My crappy old 406 has all this - means you never need to open the bonnet

lucky_golf

Checked oil last night on MY03 wrx, its done 4k since 1000 mile service, and **** me no oil at all registering on the dip stick! I was well shocked....having said that it only took 3/4 litre to fill up to the required mark.

Will it continue to use oil at this rate or is it down to the running in period?

jhrfc1

I checked mine about 1000 after the 1000 service and also was of the bottom. Gave me a shock. Topped it up and haven't used much since, the level is just under half way now after 8400 miles.