Oil consume in 99 Legacy 2.5 GX

[Arne Chr. Halseth]

Oil consume in 99 Legacy 2.5 GX





My Legacy (have run 100 000) is using about 1 liters of oil for every 1000
kilometers. Is this normal? I cant see any leeks.



Arne

Norway

 

[Jiz]

Did you see any mushrooms?

 

[Arne Chr. Halseth]

Mushrooms?

Arne

Did you see any mushrooms?

 

[Jelly]

Did you see any mushrooms?

I think the original poster meant that 1 litre of engine oil was being
consumed every 1000km.

I'd love to get 1000km/litre of gas

 

[Tony Hwang]

Hi,
Has good PCV valve?
Spark plugs stay dry and clean, any sign of oil burning?
Blue smoke out the tail pipe?
Any sign of oil in the coolant? Any sign of overheating?
Tony

 

[Jiz]

u were searching 4 leeks - curious if you found other vegetables?

 

[Arne Chr. Halseth]

`Leek - of course - miss spelling ;-)

u were searching 4 leeks - curious if you found other vegetables?

 

[Arne Chr. Halseth]

Everything is OK. I runs smooth and nice, and I am very pleased with the
car, but I am a bit worried about oil consume. This is my 5. Subaru and I
have never had problems with the other Subs. My be the oil consume is
normal.

Arne

 

[Bill Putney]

I think the poster was making fun of your misspelling of the word
"leak". The word "leek" is a type of vegetable, therefore the joke
about mushrooms. Ignore the comment.

I think Jiz ought to be required to compose a reply in the language of
Norway (Norwegian?) and see how well he does. 8^)

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

[Subie25l]

I've got a 1998 Australian Legacy\Liberty 2.5RX
It has 100,000Km's and doesn't loose any oil at all.
1L every 1000K sound like too much

 

[Rory]

My 2002 TS, when driven hard in the summer, tends to consume a
liter/4000kms... I was concerned about this in a brand new engine (less then
40k km), but the dealer tells me that Subaru Canada has an acceptable oil
consumption level (??? - I thought any oil consumption was unacceptab;e in
new cars...) of 1 liter per 1500 kms (AFAIR)...

 

[Edward Hayes]

Any oil consumption is unacceptable?? I think not. Most engines use some oil
and the amount is dependant on engine condition and how it is driven. My
2.5L Forester engine uses about 1/3 quart per 5000 miles when driven fairly
easy (AT shifts at ~2500 rpm). If I drive in a sporting manor with 4-5000 or
even 6000 rpms shifts regularly I will consume ~ 3/4 quart per 5000 miles. I
now have 58,000 miles on a properly broken in engine. ed

 

[MIKE]

My 91 legacy RS (156,000km) uses a little oil between 5000 km services, but
not enough to warrent addeing any oil between services (ie the level is
still between the marks on the dipstick).
I use Pennzol 10-30 oil as specified by the manual, I have found many people
use 5-50, or 0-50 systhics which are too thin in normal ambient temperatures
(5-30 is reccomend for colder temperatures) . The turbo has a nack of
loosing oil when these thinner oils are used as i imagine do other
components. Synthectics are good but only when they are the correct grade
otherwise you are just wasting your money.

Mike

 

[Rory]

Perhaps I should have re-phrased to "any _significant_ oil consumption is
unacceptable" Significant being enough consumption that the dipstick shows
the oil touching the lower notch (which is where my oil seems to be after
4-5000 kms)....

Now this is not to say I'm overly worried. If this is a trait of the engine,
well so be it. I guess my engine is performing as it should...

 

[S]

Hi Arne!

Everything is OK. I runs smooth and nice, and I am very pleased with the
car, but I am a bit worried about oil consume. This is my 5. Subaru and I
have never had problems with the other Subs. My be the oil consume is
normal.

A liter of engine oil every 1000Km (a quart every 600 miles for you
metrically challenged gringos ;-) is way more than a little, and
definitely _not_ normal. If you don't see any oil beneath your car
after parking overnight, then it is probably being burned in the
combustion chamber; it's gotta go somewhere, right?

As Tony suggests, check/replace your PCV valve (cheap part), and have
a look at your spark plugs, and inside of your exhaust pipe. Oil
consumption of this magnitude will leave the plug tips, and most
likely the exhaust pipe looking pretty sooty, possibly even oily/wet.
I don't know what Norway has in the way of emissions regulations, but
a vehicle burning this much oil would never pass inspection where I
live. Plus it will destroy your catalytic converter (if so equipped)
in short order.

Also possible that the missing oil is making its way into your coolant
loop, but I'd expect you would have discovered that already if that's
what is happening. Look for oil in the coolant reservoir.

I'd bet on a leak (oil pump, and rear main seal are the usual
culprits; slide under the car and have a good look), but if your
engine is burning the oil, suspect valve guides/seals, and piston oil
control rings. 100Mm (60K miles) is nowhere near enough to wear these
parts out under normal driving conditions; we have a '93 Legacy 2.2
with nearly 500Mm (300K miles) that leaks a little, but doesn't burn a
noticeable amount. Hope this is helpful.

ByeBye! S.

Steve Jernigan KG0MB
Laboratory Manager
Microelectronics Research
University of Colorado
(719) 262-3101

 

[Tony Hwang]

Hi Arne!




A liter of engine oil every 1000Km (a quart every 600 miles for you
metrically challenged gringos ;-) is way more than a little, and
definitely _not_ normal. If you don't see any oil beneath your car
after parking overnight, then it is probably being burned in the
combustion chamber; it's gotta go somewhere, right?

As Tony suggests, check/replace your PCV valve (cheap part), and have
a look at your spark plugs, and inside of your exhaust pipe. Oil
consumption of this magnitude will leave the plug tips, and most
likely the exhaust pipe looking pretty sooty, possibly even oily/wet.
I don't know what Norway has in the way of emissions regulations, but
a vehicle burning this much oil would never pass inspection where I
live. Plus it will destroy your catalytic converter (if so equipped)
in short order.

Also possible that the missing oil is making its way into your coolant
loop, but I'd expect you would have discovered that already if that's
what is happening. Look for oil in the coolant reservoir.

I'd bet on a leak (oil pump, and rear main seal are the usual
culprits; slide under the car and have a good look), but if your
engine is burning the oil, suspect valve guides/seals, and piston oil
control rings. 100Mm (60K miles) is nowhere near enough to wear these
parts out under normal driving conditions; we have a '93 Legacy 2.2
with nearly 500Mm (300K miles) that leaks a little, but doesn't burn a
noticeable amount. Hope this is helpful.

ByeBye! S.

Hi, Steve
Know a guy by the name of Larry Ganz down there?
73,
Tony, VE6CGX

 

[Jiz]

i wouldn't be able to to write in norwegian

In all seriousness - I would think a litre of oil every 1000 kms is not
good - regardless of car make unless it was a two stroke ..... (or a rotary
with crummy seals)

 

[Adrian Le]

My 98 Liberty RX (100,000 Km) has similar problem (not as much) which due to
leak around/near Cam area. The leak occessionally drip onto the hot metal
send out fume and smoke. I've took it to Subaru Dealer for 100K service and
fix the problem as well.
See if you have any evidence of oil leak.... I think it's only explanation
for engine oil consumption.


Hope this helps.
Adrian

 

[DC]

My Legacy (have run 100 000) is using about 1 liters of oil for every 1000
kilometers. Is this normal? I cant see any leeks.

Engines always consume -some- oil, but 1 liter/1000km is way too much.

1. Check your coolant reservoir - if there is oil in the coolant, you likely
have a head gasket problem and that's where you're losing oil.

2. Make sure that when you check your oil level the car has been sitting for
a while, say 15-30 minutes. It takes a while for the oil to drain back into
the pan, and if you check the oil immediately after running the engine, you
will not get an accurate reading on the dipstick.

 

[Dave Goodman]

Not sure if its "normal" but it has happened to our 99 2.5L Forester at 113K
miles. 1 qt of oil per week/400 miles. I was taking it in to the dealer
anyway for a clutch job, so asked them to look for leaks
because it didn't appear to burning oil. They did the clutch and said the
head gasket was leaking(kinda expensive to repair, estimated at $900 for
labor alone), along with a slight "weeping" from the water pump. I was
convinced they had found the problem, and authorized all that and an oil
pump because " they go too and its wise to replace them while the camshaft
belts are off" oh yes, decided to get the cambelt replaced, since it didn't
break at 60k like it was suppose to. $2300 later, found that it was still
using oil. Complaints to the dealer ....bleah! They said "You said look for
oil leaks and we found some and you authorized repairs" Anyway, at 125k
miles, it is visibly burning oil. I suspect rings are bad. 2 qts of oil a
week and sworn never to speak to that dealer again.


Thanx for letting me vent

Hope this helps