98legacywv Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 i had real head gasket problems with my 98 legacy gt.. after a month and a half in the shop they fixed the problems... then i had a small oil leak.. i checked the oil and it showed the oil was high... i drained a little of the oil till it said it was the right amount.. no more leak.. car ran fine.. 3 days later i changed the oil.. i put redline 5w 30 in it.. i read it needs 4.8 quarts.. i put 4 in let it sit for a while and checked it.. right in the hash marks where it should be.. now 3 days later.. there is no oil on the dipstick.. i let the car sit all weekend.. i didnt start it up after i changed the oil so i figured.. it just didnt get into the filter and stuff..so i add another quart... run it about 5 minutes.. and let it sit for 30.. dipstick is still bone dry... my neighbor claims that subarus do this and showed me his 2001 wrx.. it has very little oil on the disptick.. is it possible that all the oil is still in there and not showing up .. i have put 5 quarts in... there are no visible leaks.. no burning oil smell.. not oil on the bottom of the car...nothing visible.. no oil in the antifreeze.. none out of the heads.. nothing.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shimonmor Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 If you've added 5 qts then it's either in there or it's leaking or you are burning it. Is the dipstick tube seated in there properly? Are you making sure you push the dipstick in all the way before checking? Are you sure the oil isn't being wiped off while pulling the dipstick out? If it's not a dipstick problem then look at the bottom of the engine. You may not see oil leaks on the ground but you can still be leaking oil. Is it oily under there? Check around the valve cover gaskets and front cover. Small oil leaks can deplete oil suprisingly quickly. What color is your exhaust? You could be loosing oil through the valve guide seals. BTW, I always prefill my new oil filter before putting it on to make sure the engine always has oil on startup after an oil change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBrat84 Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 If your oil is super clean it might just be real hard to see on the dip... 5w30 is also very thin for these engines. I use 10w30 in my 98 2.5 GT .. Haven't had this problem though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98legacywv Posted April 11, 2005 Author Share Posted April 11, 2005 As far as i can tell there are no oil leaks.. both valve covers are bone dry.. i let the car idle and reved it once it ws warm a few times and it doesnt seem to be burning oil.. i cleaned everything off with a degreaser right before i changed the oil.. nothing on there.. no the dipstick is dry.. there is no oil on it.. last night after i put the other quart in to make it 5 quarts i let the car idle for a while then shut it off .. im going to check it this morning and see what i find.. 5w 30 is the recommended oil weight for this car isnt it.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98legacywv Posted April 11, 2005 Author Share Posted April 11, 2005 exhaust is normal smelling and looking.. it looks to be a little black.. like its burning a little rich.. but i just replaced the o2 sensor so i thought maybe that had something to do with it... If you've added 5 qts then it's either in there or it's leaking or you are burning it. Is the dipstick tube seated in there properly? Are you making sure you push the dipstick in all the way before checking? Are you sure the oil isn't being wiped off while pulling the dipstick out? If it's not a dipstick problem then look at the bottom of the engine. You may not see oil leaks on the ground but you can still be leaking oil. Is it oily under there? Check around the valve cover gaskets and front cover. Small oil leaks can deplete oil suprisingly quickly. What color is your exhaust? You could be loosing oil through the valve guide seals. BTW, I always prefill my new oil filter before putting it on to make sure the engine always has oil on startup after an oil change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friendly_jacek Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 Well, subs are notorious for quirks with checking oil levels. I have been fooled more than once. But, if your technique is correct, something happened to the oil. I guess possibilities include pouring to wrong filler (probably not), internal leak in the engine (? is it possible), and most likely, your WRX friend stealing your expensive oil since his car consumes a lot of oil, as he showed you :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98legacywv Posted April 11, 2005 Author Share Posted April 11, 2005 i suspected him *L*.... if there was an internal leak it would show up.. he said that if a quart of oil had disapeared in a few days that i would definateyl have noticed.. Well, subs are notorious for quirks with checking oil levels. I have been fooled more than once.But, if your technique is correct, something happened to the oil. I guess possibilities include pouring to wrong filler (probably not), internal leak in the engine (? is it possible), and most likely, your WRX friend stealing your expensive oil since his car consumes a lot of oil, as he showed you :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiny Clark Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 Are you sure they put the right dipstick back in after they were through with your car? Is it long enought to go down into the pan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98legacywv Posted April 11, 2005 Author Share Posted April 11, 2005 this is the same dipstick that was always with the car.. its parked on a perfectly flat garage pad.. i degreased the eintire underneath so that if something leaked i would see it.. NOTHING!!! if oil leaked out it didnt leave any trace.. if it didnt then either something else is very wrong or subaru cant make a dipstick that works.. I talked to the guys that did the work on my car.. they didnt have any idea.. Are you sure they put the right dipstick back in after they were through with your car? Is it long enought to go down into the pan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98legacywv Posted April 12, 2005 Author Share Posted April 12, 2005 update.. i drained the redline 5w 30 from the car.. not as clean as i would like.. i got over 4 quarts out of the car.. i ran it then drained it.. spilling just under half a quart by my estimate on the ground and ending up with about 4 quarts in the bucket. does this sound right?? i put 5 quarts of mobile 1 10w 30 in and ran it.. now its parked letting it settle so i can see where it sits on the dipstick if at all.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBrat84 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 Interested to read the results.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddevil Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 I have a 1990 2.2 Sometimes I check the oil and get nothing, or really low, so I stick in a quart. then the next time I check it is about 2 quarts to high. I still havent figured out why it does this. I have rebuilt the motor twice so I supposedly know how to check oil levels....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98legacywv Posted April 12, 2005 Author Share Posted April 12, 2005 ok this morning i checked the level before i left for work.. it sitting just above the full hash mark.. this is crazy.. the only thing i can think of is that about a half a quart was left in the car and putting the 5 quarts in made it just a touch high.. but that means that the measurement before was way off.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98legacywv Posted April 12, 2005 Author Share Posted April 12, 2005 this subaru has been like a soap opera.. i know that it will probably run forever now but im thinking about getting rid of it.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
99obw Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 the only thing i can think of is that about a half a quart was left in the car and putting the 5 quarts in made it just a touch high.. All of the oil can't be drained from an engine, not possible. With that said, I use 4.5 quarts (including filling the new standard-sized filter) on our '99 EJ25 and it puts it just below full. I usually wait until it drinks it down to about half a quart low before adding more. I think 5 quarts is too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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