Just finished about a 3800 mile roundtrip road trip vacation with the 17 Forester a few days ago. Added about 1/2 qt of oil after the first half and about 1/2 qt today a couple days after getting home. The weirder thing to me was the coolant reservoir went from being to the full line when cold, in the morning, to 1/2 full today in the afternoon heat (hadn't been driven) today. Probably like 1/4-1/2 cup worth of coolant. It was hot on our road trip. Temps 100+, mountain passes, flat "flyover states" at 80+mph with wind. The oil I'm thinking "eh, not awful, probably acceptable, but my Toyota doesn't drink that much". But the coolant...where did it go? In normal commutes (mostly highway 55-65mph) doesn't noticeably drop in the reservoir for 10k+ miles. Why did it drop a 1/2 cup or so? Seems odd to me. Please comfort me with your words and ideas.
Thousands Miles Road Trip Oil Use
- Thread starter HowAboutThis
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Look in the oil. If it looks like dark chocolate (black) and NOT like milk chocolate or frothy, you are probably okay. The radiator cap or the coolant lines to the throttle bodies might leak a bit, so you can check there. Otherwise, you aren't going to see white smoke with such a slow burn, but most likely some seeped past the head gasket and went out the exhaust. If the engine runs good without any shakes then the head gasket is good enough most likely.
Regarding the coolant, what color is it? If it is the blue coolant for Asian vehicles, I have been using the Prestone Asian which is already pre-mixed for Nissan, Subaru, Honda, Accura, Infiniti, Suzuki, and it has been fine. I wouldn't worry about half a cup, but eventually you might need to top it up when it gets below the minimum take it back to the maximum line.
Regarding the coolant, what color is it? If it is the blue coolant for Asian vehicles, I have been using the Prestone Asian which is already pre-mixed for Nissan, Subaru, Honda, Accura, Infiniti, Suzuki, and it has been fine. I wouldn't worry about half a cup, but eventually you might need to top it up when it gets below the minimum take it back to the maximum line.
Just a few of my recent experiences:
2015 Lexus NX200t - Coolant consistently dropping about a quart and oil dropping about a quart between 5k mile oil changes. Lexus tells us this is normal and has never heard of this problem. Has 56k miles as of tonight and still uses a quart of oil and coolant at every change. Diagnostics at the dealer never show any problem. We just keep adding fluids.
2019 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road: Put 30k miles on it. Used about a quart of oil between 7500 mile changes, severe driveline noise, coolant being used to the tune of about 1 quart per month, transmission going bonkers, cruise control unusable due to the transmission, stalled on us running 60mph, head unit freezed until you pulled over and turned off the truck, water leaked from the third brake light, etc. Been at the dealer about 7 times to get some things fixed, including a factory under filled transmission (still didn’t fix it) but the rest Toyota said normal and they have never heard of it. Fourth trip to the dealer attempting to fix the rear axle noise and they tell us it’s a known problem but no fix. Recall for the fuel pump problem they said they’d never heard of (parts not available) never got fixed and they said the TSB for the rear axle whine didn’t apply to my truck. Still no fix for the transmission or coolant. I dumped it.
2015 Acura TLX: Many issues related to the 8 speed transmission. Car was excellent except for the rough shifting trans. Excellent service but they basically told me they couldn’t do anything unless it threw a code. Rode it to the 50k mile service and had the transmission fluid changed. Miraculously it fixed it and I traded it in on the Tacoma.
I’d say count your blessings, but also don’t let them tell you everything is “normal”
2015 Lexus NX200t - Coolant consistently dropping about a quart and oil dropping about a quart between 5k mile oil changes. Lexus tells us this is normal and has never heard of this problem. Has 56k miles as of tonight and still uses a quart of oil and coolant at every change. Diagnostics at the dealer never show any problem. We just keep adding fluids.
2019 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road: Put 30k miles on it. Used about a quart of oil between 7500 mile changes, severe driveline noise, coolant being used to the tune of about 1 quart per month, transmission going bonkers, cruise control unusable due to the transmission, stalled on us running 60mph, head unit freezed until you pulled over and turned off the truck, water leaked from the third brake light, etc. Been at the dealer about 7 times to get some things fixed, including a factory under filled transmission (still didn’t fix it) but the rest Toyota said normal and they have never heard of it. Fourth trip to the dealer attempting to fix the rear axle noise and they tell us it’s a known problem but no fix. Recall for the fuel pump problem they said they’d never heard of (parts not available) never got fixed and they said the TSB for the rear axle whine didn’t apply to my truck. Still no fix for the transmission or coolant. I dumped it.
2015 Acura TLX: Many issues related to the 8 speed transmission. Car was excellent except for the rough shifting trans. Excellent service but they basically told me they couldn’t do anything unless it threw a code. Rode it to the 50k mile service and had the transmission fluid changed. Miraculously it fixed it and I traded it in on the Tacoma.
I’d say count your blessings, but also don’t let them tell you everything is “normal”
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It's a 2.5 liter boxer engine in a Subaru -- enough to strike fear into any man's wallet! (I'm kidding... kind of)
Anyway, 1 quart of oil in 3800 miles and 4 ounces of coolant is nothing to worry about.
I had an 05 for a bit with the expensive head gasket fix. I'm aware LOL
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