1999 Subaru Impreza Sport Oil Consumption

Try replacing the PCV valve unless that's been done recently.

Carl

A quart of oil every 1000 miles is within the norm of most makes and models. Unless a mechanic can find a visual leak that can be easily fixed they're usually enclined to just leave it alone.

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Based on what data? I've had 7 cars and driven each for at least 100,000 miles and never had to add a quart of oil every 1000 miles to any of them. I just sold my 97 OBW at

115 K miles and never had to add oil between oil changes, which were at 3000 mile intervals. If my 2006 Forester uses 1 quart per 1000 miles I will be very disappointed and it will be my last Subaru.

-- Vic Roberts Replace xxx with vdr in e-mail address.

Probably not 'average' but it is 'normal' (from personal experience as well as reading) IN THE SENSE that, most makes will not offer any repair to someone making a warranty claim of excessive oil usage unless there is evidence of low compression, leaking, etc. at a rate of 1 qt. per

1,000miles. Not saying someone may not have gotten an adjustment of some type, but there are plenty of stories of folks being told 1qt/1000 miles is within acceptable limits and to drive home and live with it.

Carl

Hmm, $1.50/qt here in expensive California times 100 is about $150 extra per 100k miles. Sounds cheap relative to other costs (gas, repairs insurance). Lots of reasons to dump Subaru, but this is not a good one.

We are arguing different things. I would take "normal" to mean "typical" or "average" performance. On the other hand, I don't expect any company to repair or replace a product just because its performance was below average. I understand that they set a lower limit than "average" for the trigger point where they will pay for repairs.

-- Vic Roberts Replace xxx with vdr in e-mail address.

You make a good point about the cost. However, I would also factor in the hassle factor and the fact that after owning so many cars that did not need any oil at 1000 mile or even

3000 mile intervals, I would consider a car that did to have been designed and/or manufactured poorly and for that reason would go elsewhere. .

-- Vic Roberts Replace xxx with vdr in e-mail address.

agreed, I just overlooked the poor choice of wording.

Carl

I would not consider oil consumption an indication of poor quality. My Yamaha GTS-1000A was drinking just as much as your Forester does, especially when pressed and it was running just fine. RX-8 is a fine car but known to consume about 1 qt per 2k miles. Maybe some SOB just abused the heck out of your car during a test drive and the dealer was happy to unload it? Does not necessarily mean you'd end up with engine problems in the long term. Usually other things tend tofall apart in jap cars before engine goes. The car might be happier with different oil or oil viscosity. Experiment a little... create your own synthetic blend and you might end up with a Martha Stewart grade franchise in the end :-] Besides, I think the manual says you should check oil level at every gas stop.

You have been somewhat lucky to have avoided a "slow loser" out of 7 cars.

Out of the 16 I've either owned or were "in the family" (5 new), 4 consistently used some oil between changes at the rate of a quart every

1000 to 3000 miles. I'm not talking about rapid wearout, the oil use was consistent for at least 10,000 miles on all of these.

One of the strangest ones was an '82 Toyota pickup that only used oil when Castrol was put in it. There was noticeable blue smoke and it would be down 2 quarts in a thousand. It wasn't leaking. (FWIW it was only doing a quart /3000 when sold with 255,000 miles.)

My Bronco II has a habit of "gulping" a couple of quarts at weird intervals. I've never seen smoke or leakage. Go figure.

My wife's 97 OBS occasionally will use somewhat less than a quart on a long hot trip. It's hard to guess by the dipstick but it is noticeable. The level is still OK by dipstick, so we don't add any.

I wouldn't worry about 1/1000 oil use but will admit that it's a pain to keep adding oil if you drive long distances.

Man, I want the same gas tank you have to go 1000 miles in one sitting.

Btw on Subies there is a thing called cargo net where spare oil bottles fit very nicely,

My Forester is fine. Someone else had posted about the high oil consumption of their Impreza. I was discussing a hypothetical that has not occurred.

-- Vic Roberts Replace xxx with vdr in e-mail address.

A quart of oil every 1,000 miles is NOT normal for any car unless it's one you run at Indy.

However, it is within specs for just about every car sold in the USA. It's OK, it doesn't mean your engine is toast or anything.

The bottom line is that you won't get any warranty relief. And more so, unless a leak is found, you probably can't fix it without a total engine rebuild. And even so, you still might end up with an oil user.

I've got a few (older) cars in the 1,000 miles per quart category. I just add oil, it's not worth the expense and effort to try to fix it. One car had a leak at the valve cover. Fixing it got the miles per quart up from 1,000 to about 1,500.

Note that you have to use some oil. You have to lubricate the cylinders all the way into the combustion chamber. Otherwise you've got real serious problems.

You sure any oil in 4 stroke engine should get into combustion chamber? If it does 1 qt per 1000 miles seems low.

The piston rings allow some oil to pass around them. Note that the proper term for the "oil ring" is "oil control ring". It's job is to let just enough oil to leak through to lubricate the bore. The requirement is pretty small, maybe a quart every 10,000 miles.