I have a 2018 Crosstrek manual 6 speed 4 cylinder and I am having similar issues. my oil has been consistently low after 5000kms (27-2800miles?). It seems to be a thing since I bought it, all seals are still intact, no signs of leaking etc. I use good quality oil. Of course now I'm out of warranty and trying to find ways to improve this but not holding much hope after reading some reports. So just to say, I also was perturbed that it was a newer vehicle with this issue as well.
I have a 2018 Crosstrek manual 6 speed 4 cylinder and I am having similar issues. my oil has been consistently low after 5000kms (27-2800miles?). It seems to be a thing since I bought it, all seals are still intact, no signs of leaking etc. I use good quality oil. Of course now I'm out of warranty and trying to find ways to improve this but not holding much hope after reading some reports. So just to say, I also was perturbed that it was a newer vehicle with this issue as well.
I have a 2018 Crosstrek manual 6 speed 4 cylinder and I am having similar issues. my oil has been consistently low after 5000kms (27-2800miles?). It seems to be a thing since I bought it, all seals are still intact, no signs of leaking etc. I use good quality oil. Of course now I'm out of warranty and trying to find ways to improve this but not holding much hope after reading some reports. So just to say, I also was perturbed that it was a newer vehicle with this issue as well.
Sounds like your problem started long before the 3 year warranty ran out. Why didn't you take it in to the dealer before then? For that matter, major components warranty (which incl engine) is 5 years, so you should still have that.
Excessive oil consumption is extremely rare in the newer Subarus, so either an original factory defect or something must have happened to it. We need more info before we can help you with suggestions.
While it's true there is no way a human will choose the most efficient gearing all the time like a CVT can do, I really doubt small differences will make much difference in engine longevity or cause an oil burning problem. More likely these engines that have the problem are chronically lugged. In other words, if you don't really know what you're doing, there is a lot more you can do wrong with a manual than an automatic.
Another MT with oil consumption. Those with manual transmissions are more likely to engine brake and down shift resulting in high vacuum which sucks oil past the valves/rings.
A few years ago my kid's new Nissan was using a quart every 500 miles. After a number of dealer warranty trips the dealer did an oil change and put this strange tape on dipstick, drain and fill areas to "prevent tampering." Came back at 250 miles with the tape undisturbed with a half quart low, then at 500 miles after losing a quart and Nissan replaced the short block. The confounding thing was that there were no visible external leaks, the car easily passed CA's fairly rigid emission's tests, and the spark plugs looked clean as a whistle. The car literally seemed to make the oil disappear. I dunno.
Assuming that there isn't any sign of any external leaking I wonder if your oil consuming Subaru would pass a careful smog test?
Another MT with oil consumption. Those with manual transmissions are more likely to engine brake and down shift resulting in high vacuum which sucks oil past the valves/rings.
Not sure how high your tach goes when you downshift. For me, I downshift gradually so my tach never goes above around 4000, but usually more like 3000-3500. I downshifted all the time with my previous cars over 100K miles and never had excessive oil consumption.
I have a 2018 Crosstrek manual 6 speed 4 cylinder and I am having similar issues. my oil has been consistently low after 5000kms (27-2800miles?). It seems to be a thing since I bought it, all seals are still intact, no signs of leaking etc. I use good quality oil. Of course now I'm out of warranty and trying to find ways to improve this but not holding much hope after reading some reports. So just to say, I also was perturbed that it was a newer vehicle with this issue as well.
I live in a mountain town, so almost half my driving is downhill using engine braking. Some is at highway speeds and thus at higher rpms, 3000-3500. I try to keep the rpms down in the 2000-2500 range for mild lower speed driving.
Prior to this location I lived in the flat valley and didn't have to push the engine up a steep hill or ride it down with engine braking. Oil consumption was zero when I lived there, and I was using the recommended 0W-20 viscosity, and always a top brand fully synthetic.
As soon as I moved to the mountain town it started consuming oil. About 1 qt in 4000 miles, as I recall. Enough to catch my attention at that first oil change after moving!
I have switched to 5w-30 fully synthetic oil now, and on the last 2 changes have not had any consumption. The engine is also a bit quieter and less angry sounding at the higher rpms.
5w-30 is within Subaru recommendations in the owners manual. The 5w vs 0w means the oil will be a bit thicker in cold weather, but the temperatures have to be so cold you'd be living in the arctic before the 5w would be too thick, below -30 degrees C (-22F). The 30 vs 20 means at high temperatures the 30 will be a bit thicker than the 20, and it actually is "better" in that it retains viscosity at hotter temps. For most of us, we live in climates where either oil is well within usable limits.
So, you may find by switching to 5w-30 your oil consumption problem goes away. Also, if you change your driving style it may reduce the problem. I don't push the engine so hard up the hills, and try not to engine brake so much down hills.
So does the CVT allow us to lug our engines? At times when I accelerate gradually while at low speed and low rpm's it sounds like the engine is lugging, though there is no knocking. Is it harmful? Might put a catch can on this year as the valves are getting gunked up even with the yearly intake service I do.
Yes I broke it in quite carefully. Total kms now is just under 90 000kms. I have had it looked over pretty thoroughly several times with very regular maintenance, but I can definitely double check on that specific test. Cheers
Sounds like your problem started long before the 3 year warranty ran out. Why didn't you take it in to the dealer before then? For that matter, major components warranty (which incl engine) is 5 years, so you should still have that.
Excessive oil consumption is extremely rare in the newer Subarus, so either an original factory defect or something must have happened to it. We need more info before we can help you with suggestions.
I live in a mountain town, so almost half my driving is downhill using engine braking. Some is at highway speeds and thus at higher rpms, 3000-3500. I try to keep the rpms down in the 2000-2500 range for mild lower speed driving.
Prior to this location I lived in the flat valley and didn't have to push the engine up a steep hill or ride it down with engine braking. Oil consumption was zero when I lived there, and I was using the recommended 0W-20 viscosity, and always a top brand fully synthetic.
As soon as I moved to the mountain town it started consuming oil. About 1 qt in 4000 miles, as I recall. Enough to catch my attention at that first oil change after moving!
I have switched to 5w-30 fully synthetic oil now, and on the last 2 changes have not had any consumption. The engine is also a bit quieter and less angry sounding at the higher rpms.
5w-30 is within Subaru recommendations in the owners manual. The 5w vs 0w means the oil will be a bit thicker in cold weather, but the temperatures have to be so cold you'd be living in the arctic before the 5w would be too thick, below -30 degrees C (-22F). The 30 vs 20 means at high temperatures the 30 will be a bit thicker than the 20, and it actually is "better" in that it retains viscosity at hotter temps. For most of us, we live in climates where either oil is well within usable limits.
So, you may find by switching to 5w-30 your oil consumption problem goes away. Also, if you change your driving style it may reduce the problem. I don't push the engine so hard up the hills, and try not to engine brake so much down hills.
Thank you. I also live in a mountain area and use engine breaking as a general rule. It’s never really cold here in the winter either so I appreciate your insight. Worth a shot. Cheers
My 2019 Crosstrek 6mt is also consuming oil. Started with only 42,000km dealership did an oil consumption test and confirmed, now waiting on Subaru of Canada for the next step.
Before you do that google "Hyundai oil consumption" and read similar complains to yours. For those few Subarus that do consume oil, it tends to be ones with a manual transmission. I'm more worried about the oil level rising on my dipstick (from oil dilution) than I am oil consumption.
BTW, you may void your engine warranty not using the recommend 0W20 oil if Subaru finds out.
Agreed on the Hyundai bit, plus trans problems, spontaneously catching fire...
Not advocating you hold onto a lemon, or even stick with subaru, but do good homework.
Hey Guys Im new here and found this thread. I have a 2019 Crosstrek MT with the same oil burning issue. I now have 113,000+ miles but this has been an issue since I first purchased the car. It is strange because some times I can go months with out having to add oil and other times the indicator light comes on about 1000 miles early on a 6,000 mile oil change interval. I drive about 100 miles everyday 95 miles of which are highway, with the tac @ 3,000 most of the time in 6th gear. I have had the same driving pattern every day for the life of the car, which was purchased new. Just yesterday, for the first time the oil indicator light came on with 3,000 miles to go til oil change. This is quite a difference. I checked for leaks and found none. The car seems to be driving "normal" with no noticeable changes. What else should I be checking? If something major is wrong, I assume I am out of any type of Subaru warranty period since of the high mileage, is that correct? Has anyone else experiences this issue? I see some people mentioning using 5w-30, is that safe to use after using 0w-20 all this time? One last question, I'm in northwestern NJ, any Subaru specialist mechanic recommendations?