4th Gen. Subaru Outback - Oil Consumption

Just wanted to see who all here has a 4th gen Outback and has oil consumption issues. As of now I have 7000 miles on my 2014 Outback and have used about half a quart in 3600 miles. This isn't as bad as the folks who have had their shortblocks replaced due to this issue, but it is still a little unnerving. Subaru says anything over 1 quart per 1200 miles is excessive, which seems normal for most car manufacturers, but my Tacoma and my wife's Honda Fit use unmeasurable amounts between oil changes.

 

Not sure about Subie generations, but the wife's 2007 Forester uses about a third of a quart per 5000 mile changes. (Synthetic oil) Those boxer engines are just like that. This is our third Subaru, and they were all like that. My Tacoma doesn't use a drop between changes.

 

As long as you check your oil at reasonable intervals, the only harmful thing that could potentially result from high oil consumption is poisoned cats. There's a fairly lengthy 8 yr/80k warranty on the cats, so you are covered.

 

Thats one harmful thing, but the issue thats causing the problems for others is bad piston control rings. So leaving it go and checking/adding oil more often just pushes the issue down the road, while the rings get more worn and oil is consumed at a higher rate. I'm new to boxer engines and dont know if a little oil consumption is normal because of their layout, which is what Shelf Life seemed to confirm. Hopefully it doesnt get worse, I'll be monitoring it very closely that's for sure. Thanks for the input guys.

 

Is this a problem on both engines? Outback will be our next new vehicle.. I'm aware of the head gasket issues on the smaller engine size, but this is a new one to me.

 

2.5 or 3.6?

I seem to remember on the Outback forum some were noticing this.


PeeRunner, they came out with a new 2.5 "FB" engine to replace the "EJ" engines, so there's a good chance the head gasket issue is no longer an issue on those--time will tell. On the 3.0s and 3.6 it is relatively rare. Those H6s are bulletproof.

 

When was this? I think I was reading head gasket issues as recent as the 2013s.

 

2013+ got the FB.

I hadn't heard of any issues with it. Usually the HG thing took some mileage to show up though.

 

Cool. I remember it was usually in the 70k-100k mileage range.

 

Yes, and 2000-2012 was essentially the same engine with minor tweaks so it was probably an issue for that time...not to mention 96-99 DOHC engines.

 

That's good news.. hopefully by the time I have to buy a new car they'll prove to be fixed. Hoping to get another few years before I'm in the market for the Subie.

 

It was a problem on both the EJ and early FB engines, but Subaru supposedly fixed the issue on the 2014+ models by adding some alloy coating to the rings. Theres a class action lawsuit going on regarding the oil consumption issue on certain model year Outbacks, Foresters, and Imprezas. So far our 2014 Outback doesnt seem to be using too much oil. It is still fairly young in mileage, so hopefully it will use less the older it gets.

 

Good info, thanks. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it.

 

This is what I was about to post, the 14's and newer seem to be fixed. My wife has a 13 forester 2.5 FB engine and it's doing the same thing. Subaru will do a free oil consumption test for you which is supposedly so accurate that even checking the oil yourself during the test time frame will influence results.

As for the head gasket, that was supposedly fixed in the 13's, my wife's is running strong with no coolant issues and is around 60,000 miles right now.

 

In my opinion, using that much oil with that low of miles is unacceptable. I'd be up their ass to fix it every single day. I wouldn't buy a new vehicle expecting to have to work on it all the time or add oil every week. My Tacoma is creeping up on 90k miles and uses 1/4 of a quart every 2,000 miles which isn't bad in my book but normal for something with close to 100k on it.

 

My brother was telling me about his troubles with this. He has a 2013 Outback with the 3.6. It's at about 65k and will go through 2qts in 7k miles.