Subaru Forester oil consumption

[SubaruWTF]

Apparently, some of the new Subaru Forester 2013 and 2014 non-turbo models, consume quite a lot of 0w20 oil. According to the Owner's Manual, Subaru considers up to 1 litre per 2,000 kilometres to be normal.

Here is a quote from page 446 of the manual, which can be found on subaru.ca under Owner Resources:

"If the oil consumption rate seems abnormally high after the break-in period, for example more than 1 quart per 1,200 miles or 1 liter per 2,000 kilometers, contact your SUBARU dealer."

I think this is outrageous. This is not 1970's anymore. The fact that Subaru put that as a statement in the manual, does not make it right. What if they stated that a head gasket replacement is required every 50,000 kilometres? Would that be OK too?

I am wondering how does that measure up against other brand new vehicles? Do they also need top ups between oil changes?

In the 2014 Forester, Subaru added a low oil warning light to the dashboard. How many other cars have low oil lights?

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by SubaruWTF

Subaru added a low oil warning light to the dashboard. How many other cars have low oil lights?

Pretty much all of them.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Our 2013 XV Crosstrek will consume 1L every 1000km when driven hard, it's partially due to the boxer engine design. Most manufactures find 1L every 1000km to be where they consider a problem.

[R-Audi]

I dont see the issue. The last thing the dealer wants is a bunch of morons complaining that they lost 200ml of oil over the last 20,000km. They set a standard so people dont waste their time. If you lose more oil than what the manual states? Yeah, go in for service.

Nice first post btw...setting yourself up for success.

[DeleriousZ]

Lots of modern cars have this same sort of spec on them from the factory. It is kind of silly, but I'm not privy to the reasoning behind the allowance of large amounts of oil consumption.

[bourge73]

Mazda RX-8 owners would know all about oil consumption. Then again they are probably on their 2nd or 3rd engine...

[FraserB]

Thats in line with Chrysler as well.

[rage2]

Mercedes is worse. From the manual:

Depending on the driving style, the vehicle consumes up to 0.9 US qts. (0.8 l) of oil over a distance of 600 miles (1000 km). The oil consumption may be higher than this when the vehicle is new or if you frequently drive at high engine speeds.

Almost 1L/1000km lol. A hard break-in usually means lower oil consumption, at least from my experience. There are tons of MB owners bitching about how often they're topping off oil, I've seen as high as 8L/20,000km posted, and they're all ppl that break 'em in nicely and drive the car easy.

[JRSC00LUDE]

That was within factory tolerance on my prelude I am pretty sure as well.

[Tik-Tok]

Audi considers 1 quart per 1000kms to be acceptable as well.

DON'T THEY ALL KNOW THIS IS 2013!!1!!1! HOW DARE THEY MAKE ME ADD OIL TO MY CARZ!!!!!!!!!!!

[gretz]

1999.5 - 2003 2.0L VW... 1L / 1000km.

OP, here's what you do >

-Empty washer fluid reservoir
-fill with 0W20
-Tap a hole and put a barbed fitting on your oil cap
-Disconnect wiper hose from sprayers and run it to barbed fitting.

Next time your low oil light comes on, just hold your wiper sprayer for a bit until the light goes out. Problem solved

[Boosted131]

Why do they use so much oil? After 8000 km in my truck it's still on full on the dipstick

[Hallowed_point]

I burn a ton of oil with my manual transmission equipped camaro..but that is due to the tach seeing north of 5 K rpm often. I'd say I go through ~ 1- 2 L in between changes in the summer. A lot gets pulled past the pcv with high rpm driving, throw a catch can in line to trap the oil vapor.

[Canmorite]

My STi consumes about that much as well. Carry some spare oil.

[rage2]

Originally posted by Boosted131
Why do they use so much oil? After 8000 km in my truck it's still on full on the dipstick

Rings not seating properly, blow-by.

[clem24]

Originally posted by rage2
Mercedes is worse. From the manual:


Almost 1L/1000km lol. A hard break-in usually means lower oil consumption, at least from my experience. There are tons of MB owners bitching about how often they're topping off oil, I've seen as high as 8L/20,000km posted, and they're all ppl that break 'em in nicely and drive the car easy.

Haha yup, my 2011 C63 drinks quite a bit. The low oil light actually came on and I am not due for next service for another 2-3 months!

[G]

I bagged mine from day one and added oil once in the 3 years that I owned it.

[ExtremeSi]

Originally posted by gretz
1999.5 - 2003 2.0L VW... 1L / 1000km.

OP, here's what you do >

-Empty washer fluid reservoir
-fill with 0W20
-Tap a hole and put a barbed fitting on your oil cap
-Disconnect wiper hose from sprayers and run it to barbed fitting.

Next time your low oil light comes on, just hold your wiper sprayer for a bit until the light goes out. Problem solved

DOI - direct oil injection

[gulfstorm]

Never mind fuel consumption...how about oil consumption....LOL

Most TFSI Audis are up to 1L/1000 km as was mentioned earlier.

[revelations]

Yea like RAGE mentioned, easy break-ins are usually the culprit when all other issues have been looked at (eg leaking seals, gaskets etc).

Also SOME cars come with a low oil LEVEL warning in ADDITION to the low oil PRESSURE light which is on 99.9% of vehicles. Subaru probably figured that its better to let people know about the situation BEFORE damage is done - which is what is happening to the engine when the oil PRESSURE light comes on.

Also OP, what about using 5w30 oil? Its a little thicker and could help a bit in the consumption department. I'd ask a Subie forum specific to your vehicle/engine first though.

For eg, my Civic came with 5w20 from the factory (helps with mileage) but owners were finding that the camshafts were wearing out rapidly with that thin of an oil so many switched to 5w30.