Massive oil consumption in FXS 06

sambo

sambo

Forum Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2011
Messages
5
Location
Northern Rivers, NSW
I feel stupid asking this question, but new to subies so here goes.

I recently purchased 2nd-hand ForesterXS 06 with 150K KMs on it. Spent a lot of time researching getting the right one and was loving my first Subie. I had got it serviced when i brought it, 3,000KM and five weeks ago at a Subie dealer, which included replacement of oil & filter.

Loving it until last weekend. Under hard brakes i noticed the oil light flicker on then off. When i stopped i checked the oil. Nothing on the dipstick. Added a liter. Nothing. Added another liter. Nothing. In the end 3.8 liters of oil went in before it reached the top mark on the dipstick.

I took it back to the service centre with a whole bucket load of really!. The service mechanic has confirmed there are no external leaks. They are saying that 'it used it'.

I am saying that they must have forgotten to put oil back in. Is it possible for a subie to use that much oil in so short a time? Has anyone had a similar problem?
 
G'day sambo & :welcome: to ORS.

Sounds like you were lucky & didn't seize or blow your engine :o
I have heard from a few, that the MY06 model does go through a bit of oil (maybe 1 litre or so) but not that much :eek:

Hope this helps :)

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
Howdy and :welcome:sambo!!!

Sorry to hear about the oil loss, wish I had an answer for you, but I can say that most likely if the engine 'used' the oil you would have been blowing smoke out the exhaust. Something you would have noticed most likely. Time to visit a different mechanic perhaps???
 
Howdy

I own an MY06XS and although it did "use" some oil when the car was new but as mr turbo says to 1 litre max and never in a short period of time.

I did have a similar experience that I had to pour in more than 3 litres of coolant (if not more from my memory) after a major service which included replacement of coolant. I discovered this when I felt the car was a bit 'sluggish' when driving on the freeway on a hot day. Dealer denied forgotton to put in cooolant. Problem solved for good by having my car serviced by another dealer...

I learnt to always check the oil and coolant levels before driving off my car after being serviced.
 
I don't trust any dealer with any servicing.
Take your car to a Subaru specialist, not a dealer
 
You need to add your location to your profile so we know where you are and thus who could help. I know people in my area- no good if you live in another city, town, state or country.
 
Welcome sambo. A drained 2.5L will take about 5L of oil so there was some left. I've had experts tell me that any consumption over a litre per 1000 klm is an issue. Now that's it's full again just keep a regular eye on it and see what happens (which I'm sure you doing anyway!).

What warranty came with the car?

Your location would be of assistance as Rally says.
 
Thanks all for the welcome. Great forum and look forward to being a part.

Most definitely keeping an eye on the dipstick. It is currently on a 'usage test', so I gave it a nice 300KM run up and down the hills of Northern NSW this weekend to check it out. Seems to be a little drop but no where near enough to get to multiple liters by 3000KM.

carljwnc, definitely no clouds of smoke behind the subie (but i feel the dealer is blowing it out his A&$3). In terms of warranty, just the statutory 3 months that is the requirement in Oz

I think Mr Turbo, that the seize up comment is spot on. That's what is really pissing me off - as an old 80 series 'cruiser owner, I've got no problem with topping up oil, but it could have done some catostrophic damage. After buying the car I specifically asked the service centre/dealer for any ongoing issues so I could look after the car - none. Apparently. :iconwink:

I'll see what happens after the 1000KM i guess.
 
Even though my family comes from Lismore I don't know anyone in that part of NSW who works on Subarus. Contact Subaru direct for their input as well as to what they think is acceptable, and also the NRMA
 
Thanks Rally, will do so. Apparently this region has the highest per capita ownership in Oz?! Something to do with the winding, slick and potholed roads and the great stability and control of the subie.

I spoke to Subaru Oz who said that 1L/2000KM is considered acceptable use, which is interesting. I would assume that that is the upper edge of the range for a '06 engine.
 
sambo said:
... 1L/2000KM is considered acceptable use, which is interesting. I would assume that that is the upper edge of the range for a '06 engine.
Click to expand...

I have topped up about 2.5 litres in the last 6,000 km, so just under the acceptable limit. Not bad I guess for a high klm 04 build engine.
 
sambo said:
Thanks Rally, will do so. Apparently this region has the highest per capita ownership in Oz?! Something to do with the winding, slick and potholed roads and the great stability and control of the subie.

I spoke to Subaru Oz who said that 1L/2000KM is considered acceptable use, which is interesting. I would assume that that is the upper edge of the range for a '06 engine.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I thought Cooma in the Southern Highlands was the biggest selling Subaru dealer in Australia.

re the oil consumption. I would be alarmed if my Forester used 1L/2000km of oil. At 180,000km it has used nothing. The same with my 319,000km Camry V6.
 
Seems there is all kinds of different levels of consumption. Guess the trick is to 'know thy car' and look after it as appropriate.

Does anyone know where this oil is 'going'? I have yet to see a Forester blowing smoke, but it seems that some cars are doing something with the oil.
 
With a flat engine, maybe a bit getting swept into the cylinders at minimal wear, unlike vertical plocks with a natural tendenvcy to run back down...
 
Well, it's confirmed..... 1 litre oil = 1000KM :cry: Back to the drawing board with the dealer - let's hope the statutory warranty is honoured, and the dealer has honour.

At least I will single handedly be preventing Saudi Arabia from slipping into a financial crisis.
 
Oh, I didn't know our government was heading over there. Good luck. With consumption like that you won't even get halfway between official services.
 
Thought i would add my 2c worth. Mine is a MY05 2.5 N/A. I change the oil roughly every 12,500klms and use Castrol Edge 5/30 which is full synthetic (used to use Mobil1 but it got too dear). I usually have about 1ltr left in the bottle and this is used by the time i change the oil and the dip stick usually reads maybe 500ml or so from full.
So this equals about 1 to 1.5ltrs over 12,500klms.
As i understand it, your car SHOULD use some oil but i agree with guzzla. I reckon it is rubbish that it is OK for a car to use 1ltr per 2000klms.
I have never owned a car that used that much oil.
 
Gidday Silver

silver said:
Thought i would add my 2c worth. Mine is a MY05 2.5 N/A. I change the oil roughly every 12,500klms and use Castrol Edge 5/30 which is full synthetic (used to use Mobil1 but it got too dear). I usually have about 1ltr left in the bottle and this is used by the time i change the oil and the dip stick usually reads maybe 500ml or so from full.
So this equals about 1 to 1.5ltrs over 12,500klms.
As i understand it, your car SHOULD use some oil but i agree with guzzla. I reckon it is rubbish that it is OK for a car to use 1ltr per 2000klms.
I have never owned a car that used that much oil.
Click to expand...

I agree.
The last car I had that used that much oil was my hot-as-a-rocket Morris 1100. 1967~1969.

Roo1 (1994 Impreza) used no oil or water in 4,300 km trip to Brisbane and back. 35~40C almost all the way. A/C ran for all but about 200 kms. And that with about 236,000 kms on the clock ...

The car was serviced fairly regularly - about every 12~20,000 kms :iconwink: ... with full 100K services done more or less on time. It never used a drop of oil between services.

Have only done about 1,000 kms in Roo2 so far (2006 Fox). It appears to have used no oil at all in that time. Like all "new" cars, I check it fairly regularly.

Our 2.2L 1994 Camry (164,000 kms) uses about 0.5L between services (approx every 12,000 kms ... ).

Our workshop uses Shell Helix.

None of the cars I have owned since about 1980 have ever used significant amounts of oil.
 
Thought I would add my recent discovery to this thread, rather than creating my own..

the last 2 trips to the gulf I used 2L of oil over 1000km which is really strange considering my trip here of 1800km towing a trailer and fully packed I used nothing! The only change is the new weber... I can't imagine my merging/blocking some vacuum lines and breather lines would do this... I haven't noticed oil consumption around town, but I didn't notice a puff of smoke on start up after a 2hour leg of a trip.. So I know that there is some oil being burned but it's not smokey at all while driving... I have a theory that my inlet manifold gaskets are deteriorating but that doesn't explain the super high consumption.... I guess I've got a tired old motor... pity it's only got 195k on the clock... I thought it would have been a bit better.
 
Species said:
Thought I would add my recent discovery to this thread, rather than creating my own..

the last 2 trips to the gulf I used 2L of oil over 1000km which is really strange considering my trip here of 1800km towing a trailer and fully packed I used nothing! The only change is the new weber... I can't imagine my merging/blocking some vacuum lines and breather lines would do this... I haven't noticed oil consumption around town, but I didn't notice a puff of smoke on start up after a 2hour leg of a trip.. So I know that there is some oil being burned but it's not smokey at all while driving... I have a theory that my inlet manifold gaskets are deteriorating but that doesn't explain the super high consumption.... I guess I've got a tired old motor... pity it's only got 195k on the clock... I thought it would have been a bit better.
Click to expand...

The EA82 in my L is in better nic than my EJ20 in the Foz.

The EA runs like a dream but the carby has a few issues, could always replace it but it's still running so im not going to bother. The foz smokes like a train, I have to top up the oil twice a week (600km on average). Offroading though I can go through 1l in 40km!

Does the weber carby make much difference to power?
 
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