Known Oil Consumption Issue / Service Bulletin

[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?  

[idosubaru]

3 hours ago, Mugwamp said:

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?  

Piston rings. Not ideal to have another shop do it for a litany of reasons. Unless they’re very experienced in Subarus  

subaru doesn’t even fix it, they just replace the entire short block  $2000 new block and $3,000 for new headgasket and reassembly. Costly but at least you get a good warranty out of the new block instead of just 12,000 miles and 1 year from a typical shop repair  

the good news is they come with a 36 month unlimited mile warranty. Used to be 36,000 miles now I think it’s just 3 years no mileage limit.  That’s just the block, everything else, which practically speaking is just the headgaskets, would have the standard 1 year 12,000 mile warranty  

Best fit solution: schedule a reasonable check and top off schedule you do routinely, don’t keep using the dash light. Top it off every Sunday or night you’re home or gas fill up, I see people checking oil at gas stations (I travel a lot), you’re already waiting for the pump anyway.

When you change the oil, overfill it a 1/2 quart. The top fill line is extremely forgiving - if it wasn’t then every mountain, curve, steep boat ramp, hard braking causing the oil to rise on one side or slosh around would damage the engine. Pro tip: none of those damage the engine.

Use thicker 40weight oil.  10w40.  Shoot as a test I’d run 20w-50 and see what happens.  But that freaks out the inexperienced oil nazis.  Either way - don’t use the recommended 0W-20 garbage  

 

Edited March 10 by idosubaru

[nelstomlinson]

Meanwhile some of my old diesels will burn a quart of lube oil in 50 miles. Check your oil regularly, add it when needed. It's pretty easy to add oil on these little Subies.

[Numbchux]

Recalls are only for life threatening conditions. Even warranty extensions and class action lawsuits expire.

The fix is tighter piston rings. Replacing piston rings in a mechanical shop is costly and time consuming, makes more sense to just swap it for an updated shortblock. Either way, tighter rings will reduce fuel mileage.

If you know a GOOD mechanic (not a guy who worked on a Chevy once) who will give you a screaming deal on his time, the engine can be rebuilt. Probably $800ish in parts from your local dealership, but a LOT of labor.

Or $3k in parts from the dealer for a shortblock and gaskets, and then only a bunch of labor (and still skilled labor. Cam carrier and timing chains will leak the first few times a person does them).

 

I've heard of people retrofitting used engines from slightly newer cars with a few minor modifications. Might be worth looking into. But consult with the shop you're likely to use, as that can be a can of worms that leads to endless headaches for everybody, so they might not want to touch it.

 

Or, just live with it. My mom bought a 2012 Impreza years ago with about 20k miles on it, but a salvage title (no warranty, even extensions. Only recalls). She drove it for about 200k miles before the CVT failed. She had to add a quart or more between every single oil change. We would buy a case of 0w-20, and always keep a quart in the trunk, and tuck a small funnel and rag into the engine bay next to the battery. Learn the difference between oil level and oil pressure warning lights. Oil level warning doesn't mean stop right now, you can wait until the next fuel stop.

 

Oil consumption is a symptom of looser tolerances and lighter oils, which all manufacturers are using to try to meet the demand for fuel economy. This is not uncommon. And complexity of repair is definitely universal on modern cars.

[azdave]

I would simply top off the oil at every other tank fill rather than risk all that can go wrong having someone swap in another block. Plenty of things can go wrong after an engine swap on a used car and then the blame game begins. I agree with thicker oil as well.

 

 

[Dads Old 99 Forester]

At least you know what to expect from consumption.

  My mechanic suggested a slightly heavier oil in my 99 engine to help with the consumption. After an oil change I went to a 5/30 syn blend oil, and walla! No more oil use.

  Granted I’m at 260,000 miles on original engine. Previous owner sold it because of smoking exhaust. I’ve owned this car since first of the year, no more burning oil, runs like a champ and gets 25+ mpg!!