Wife's 2015 Forester Loves to make oil disappear

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BlitzPuppet

BlitzPuppet

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Nov 10, 2003
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Houston, Texas
Hey all,

My wife is currently driving her 2015 Subaru Forester 2.5 non turbo with around 46K miles on the clock. At around 30-Something thousand I started doing her oil changes for her, since I do them on my car anyways.

I use Pennzoil Plat 0w-20 on her car and go 6-7K between oil changes. I change the oil filter, oil, and drain plug gasket each time and do not notice any oil spots in our driveway or her parking spot at work.

About a month and a half after the oil change her low oil light came on by work, so she had to put in a full quart to bring it up to the full mark. Everything was fine until about a week before I was scheduled to change her oil again...same thing happened there. Full quart down the fill port.

When I changed the oil I made a note to check for any signs of leaks and I couldn't find anything. Everything was bone dry, no signs of oil leakage anywhere. Tail pipe area is clean and I don't see any carbon deposits anywhere.

I had read about some 2.5 Subarus having an oil burning issue, called the dealership and was told that her VIN does not fall in the range of cars that suffer from this. He did say something interesting though. "In the two years that I have been here we're had a lot of calls come in on this, and it's always with end users that change their own oil. I recommend you have your oil changed here and we'll monitor it".

Doesn't make any sense to me. There is the oil filter and the drain plug+washer/gasket.

Anyone have any ideas on what could be going on?
 
I think your car is burning oil, the whole story about "end users who change their own oil" is a bunch of junk, however let them do the next few changes and see what happens to consumption since they will "monitor it",
 
Subaru has made progress with the 2.5l engines drinking oil, but has not gotten the issue totally under control.
If you're going to let them handle the oil and do a consumption test, INSIST on seeing the oil level before they put the seals on. Subaru dealers routinely overfill all vehicles because of consumption issues, both my 2.0l turbo and the NA version in my daughter's Impreza got that treatment even though that engine is much less likely to consume oil than the 2.5l. The consumption test is a lie if they overfill it a quart and then open the seals to show the oil right at the full mark after X miles of driving.
 
Originally Posted By: FirstNissan
I think your car is burning oil, the whole story about "end users who change their own oil" is a bunch of junk, however let them do the next few changes and see what happens to consumption since they will "monitor it",


That's what I was thinking as well. I've been changing the oil in my cars as long as I have been driving...and the only thing that has changed is the location of the filter and how much of a pain it is to get to.

Go figure, her car is the easiest one I've ever had to change.
 
Originally Posted By: BlitzPuppet
Hey all,

My wife is currently driving her 2015 Subaru Forester 2.5 non turbo with around 46K miles on the clock. At around 30-Something thousand I started doing her oil changes for her, since I do them on my car anyways.

I use Pennzoil Plat 0w-20 on her car and go 6-7K between oil changes. I change the oil filter, oil, and drain plug gasket each time and do not notice any oil spots in our driveway or her parking spot at work.

About a month and a half after the oil change her low oil light came on by work, so she had to put in a full quart to bring it up to the full mark. Everything was fine until about a week before I was scheduled to change her oil again...same thing happened there. Full quart down the fill port.

When I changed the oil I made a note to check for any signs of leaks and I couldn't find anything. Everything was bone dry, no signs of oil leakage anywhere. Tail pipe area is clean and I don't see any carbon deposits anywhere.

I had read about some 2.5 Subarus having an oil burning issue, called the dealership and was told that her VIN does not fall in the range of cars that suffer from this. He did say something interesting though. "In the two years that I have been here we're had a lot of calls come in on this, and it's always with end users that change their own oil. I recommend you have your oil changed here and we'll monitor it".

Doesn't make any sense to me. There is the oil filter and the drain plug+washer/gasket.

Anyone have any ideas on what could be going on?


The people that get their oil changes at the stealership never wait until the oil light comes on to get the next oil change. The majority of them are probably doing oil changes at 3000-4000 miles.

I doubt many of them even know where their dipstick is or how to check it properly.

I would say it sounds like it's using oil.
 
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Subaru had some oil burners during those years. I think even legal action taken to help the owners. See if yours has any recalls or tsb's that need to be done. Beyond that, try running a 5w30 and I might even give your dealer a call to see what they say. If I read your post correctly, that's 2qts. In 6,000-7,000 miles on a newer car with under 50k miles. I'd be very unhappy with it.
 
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
Subaru has made progress with the 2.5l engines drinking oil, but has not gotten the issue totally under control.
If you're going to let them handle the oil and do a consumption test, INSIST on seeing the oil level before they put the seals on. Subaru dealers routinely overfill all vehicles because of consumption issues, both my 2.0l turbo and the NA version in my daughter's Impreza got that treatment even though that engine is much less likely to consume oil than the 2.5l. The consumption test is a lie if they overfill it a quart and then open the seals to show the oil right at the full mark after X miles of driving.


I did notice the last time I changed the oil they had some sort of was "tamper-mark" yellow wax placed on the drain plug that I thought was odd. The dipstick was never marked or sealed that I can remember.
 
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Blitz, sorry if I missed it, but is your Forester a CVT or 6spd manual? It seems many of the oil burners were manual trans equipped. I know what you mean though. I owned a 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek 5spd that made oil disappear sporadically from new until I traded it in @ 35K miles for my 2016 Forester CVT. Zero oil consumption so far at 32K miles.
 
Originally Posted By: JTK
Blitz, sorry if I missed it, but is your Forester a CVT or 6spd manual? It seems many of the oil burners were manual trans equipped. I know what you mean though. I owned a 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek 5spd that made oil disappear sporadically from new until I traded it in @ 35K miles for my 2016 Forester CVT. Zero oil consumption so far at 32K miles.


Sorry it's actually a CVT as well. I need to put that in the original post.
 
It's a Subaru, burning oil is normal for them.

However, if the dealer does start monitoring your oil usage and they put the tamper proof tape on the dipstick, make sure to check it with them to make sure they don't overfill it beforehand.
 
Originally Posted By: Blkstanger
My Sister in law has the same car and Subaru just replaced her engine free of charge.


What was the reasoning behind the engine change?
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
It's a Subaru, burning oil is normal for them.


Not true. I had my leased 2015 Outback 2.5 premium for 27,000 miles before trading it in, and it never used a drop of oil. Oil changes done at 6,000 mile intervals. First two were free by the dealer. I did the last two using 0w-20 synthetic.

So far as I know, the Subaru 2.5 liter engines that had oil usage issues were the 2012-2013 model years. 2015 models were unaffected. Good luck with yours. If your warranty is still in effect, by all means let them do the consumption test, but be sure to witness the sealing.
 
Write or email Subaru Corp customer service. Tell them regardless of the VIN it's loosing oil, they can figure out where/why.

Have the dealer change the oil and monitor it. But you monitor it also and if it's getting low stop by the dealership so they can see. They can add makeup oil. If you add the makeup oil they may question it.

I had brake issues at 36k and local dealer replaced front pads and cleaned/lube brakes on the rear. I was charged. I emailed Subaru Corp and said no matter what, should not have brake problems in first 36k miles. They agreed and cut me a check for what the dealer charged me. So pushing a little helps.
 
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Originally Posted By: BlitzPuppet
Originally Posted By: Blkstanger
My Sister in law has the same car and Subaru just replaced her engine free of charge.


What was the reasoning behind the engine change?
It failed the oil consumption test.
 
[/quote]

The people that get their oil changes at the stealership never wait until the oil light comes on to get the next oil change. The majority of them are probably doing oil changes at 3000-4000 miles.

I doubt many of them even know where their dipstick is or how to check it properly.

I would say it sounds like it's using oil. [/quote] I recommend the 3,000 to 4,000 mile oil change for most people that never lift the hood.
 
2 quarts in 6-7k miles? Seems like they will say its "normal" to me. Have them monitor it anyways, and let them do the next few changes.. what that will change is nothing LOL.. see what they say or contact Corporate. Personally try to deal with it before the warranty is up.. I have the impression they will deny and say its normal usage.. thats my bet. If that ends up being the case I would try thicker oil. but not before trying the other things first.
 
Nick hates anything that's not Hyundai or Toyota. Look at his posts, he seems to have something nonconstructive and negative to say about other makes. I've been. Lurking for over a year and have read them. I'd ignore his posts..
 
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