Burning Oil?
 

Im at about 3100km and im down a half liter of oil. Is this common? I am doing the oil change this week. Im hoping some improvement will come after the change. I notice after every 3 fillups that it is a bit lower (i hate adding anything less than a half quart). Whats everyone else showing for oil consumption at or around break-in period?

And while we are at it is everyone elses valve train really noisy? :iono:

Half a liter doesnt seem too healthy.

I would guess that you followed the normal 'gentle' break-in procedures, yes?

Please read your manual about initial oil consumption. Your manual actually says it can burn up to 1.1 quarts as "normal" during break in. Or something to that effect.

Yeah, the manual specifically states that new engines will consume more oil and to check your oil regularly/ add oil accordingly.

That may be so but I feel on modern engines this is just a way for the factory to get around any problem engines.

My BRZ now at 2600 miles has not used any oil. The oil level is right at the full mark and it was the day I bought it.

My '06 GTI at 93,000 miles is using 3/4 quart every 5,000 miles.

Heck, my wifes PT Cruiser with 120,000 miles uses only a quart every 10,000 miles!

Perhaps your oil consumption will decrease a bit with some more miles.

Do you drive the car hard or AutoX it at all?

If you AutoX a lot, you could be blowing the oil through your PCV system. It's a common problem with boxer motors and can be solved with a catch can.

If you don't drive the car hard at all, and never really have, your piston rings might not be fully seated. Spend the next tank of gas or so when the car gets up to temp (not just coolant, but oil; say 7-10 miles) flog it hard whenever you can.

I had plenty of blow-by during break-in; the dipstick would pop out all the time. But now that it's out of break-in and I've been driving it hard now and then it stays seated. So the rings do need to seat on these engines, and lots of fun driving is the cure. :)

Ive hit 7k RPM maybe 5 times? I'll often leave a light on an open road and rev it up to 4K before shifting 1st and 2nd, then its time to roll it into 6 and coast lol. No AutoX though. I broke it in as per manual... well maybe i broke 4k RPM once or twice...

I did read the manual and know that its considered "normal" but I just wanted to see how normal it was in real life as opposed to an engineers/lawyers say so.

So you shift 1_2@4k_6?

Are you lugging the engine at all... the fear with a normal break in is that the rings do not seat as rapidly, with oil consumption being the driving worry.

I shift 1_2@4-5k 2_3@4-5k (clutch in let revs drop) Shift to 6th. Only when im driving like an arse which really isnt often. Otherwise its all shifts @2-3.5K

as for lugging, I will get it when im trying too hard to be efficient but I will always downshift if it starts to vibrate.

4-5K is still in the torque valley, you're not letting the engine get into it's Fun Zone. :D Wind it out and play above 5K, the engine was designed for it.

Ill give it a shot. Thats not to say it hasnt been done though. I did 3 celebratory donuts in a local parking lot after rolling over 2000km in celebration... i was paying a lot of attention to my driving but im most certain i hit 7K.

In any case thanks so much for the help guys. I'll take this as normal for now. If it continues consuming a half quart per 3000km ill get more worried for now ill try not to OCD over it.
:thanks:

I've found Shifting from 1st to 2nd gear, the sweet spot is 3100 RPMs. The rest of the shifts happen around 3500 RPMs. When I pull out on to the highway or in other high traffic instances I will rev it up higher. If Im out for fun I shift at 7000 RPMs to stay in the power band.

90% of the time I drive conservatively and I like my MPG
10% of the time I push the car, revving high, burning tires, ect.

100% of the time Im having fun because this car kicks ass.

Oh and I've noticed virtually 0 oil consumption, I've only got about 100 miles on it since my last oil change though so we'll see how things go after a couple tanks of gas.

Last weekend, the engine oil for my BRZ was about 200 ml low when I checked it at about 1100 mi on the odo. I baby it except at highway speeds, and I've never even gotten it beyond 7k in any gear so far-- I'm waiting for the first oil change.

A little bit of oil consumption is totally normal. *Especially with a direct injection system.* More than a quart of oil consumption, I dunno, that's a bit much imo, but the manual is the manual. :) Rice_classic is correct.

If you're not getting consumption, great, but new boxer engines are known to be a little oil-thirsty. In my experience, though, it does not continue through the life of the car.

Just my 2c.

Oil usage
 

3800 miles. Have not burned a drop of oil.

I didnt and my car does not burn oil or run badly. I did my first oil change at 500 miles and tracked the crap out of the car right after that. :bellyroll:

There's two distinct theories for break in.
The "follow the manual and baby it for 1000 miles" or
"Drive it like normal, and early on, do some WOT pulls, but overall drive it easy".

The only cars I've seen consume noticeable amounts of oil are babied and never driven hard. With every *new* car I've ever had (Including two STI's and an Evo) I've driven them normally from mile 1 (with some WOT pulls and never stay at one rpm for more than a few minutes). I have never had oil consumption issues and they all ran beautifully with zero engine/drivetrain problems.

edit: There's a boatload of theories on why the manual says to baby the car; ranging from overall mechanical systems break in, to ensuring you "learn" the car and avoid driving an unfamiliar car too aggressively.

Here's two dumb questions. If he's burning oil, how big of a a deal is it, and is it fixable?

Thats what I like to see! :burnrubber: :happy0180:

I have over 1700 miles and the oil level is the same. In fact, the oil level is about 4mm over the full mark, they must have over filled from the factory.

I have clocked up 700km now (434miles) and just checked the oil after warming it up (15min drive) and the oil is at exactly full level.

I haven't rev'd my car over 5k rpm and pretty much babied it from the start as I wanted to run it in as per manual. The difference with this one is that I have been 'loading' up the car almost everywhere I have driven... Ie; 1st to 4th under 3000rpm then full throttle for a while, back off the throttle and let it slow down then back on full throttle.

My old man used to be a mechanic and engine builder and told me this in his opinion was the best way to bed the rings in.

No oil consumption, great low down pull and smooth as silk. Guess it hasn't been a bad thing doing it this way.

I have no idea how break in is supposed to work, but driving like that cycles between maximum cylinder pressure and minimum cylinder pressure, so it seems like it would bed the rings in pretty hard.

Yep, this is what he advised me was the key to bedding them in. The other reason for keeping rpm low while bedding rings in was that high rpm with stiff new rings can (but not always) cause 'lipping' at the top of the bore, which can end up damaging the rings. After around the 700km mark, increase revs by 500rpm for 100km, then progress from there until run in period is finished and your at max rpm.


Who knows tho right, there are those where this seems like nonsense, there are those whom are Internet engine building specialists who know all, and there are those who know not a lot. For me, this hasnt had any detrimental effects but I guess only time will tell.

My car uses exactly 1 qt every 12,400 miles.
 

I have been carefully tracking my oil consumption on my 2017 86 Automatic by observing how many quarts of Mobil-1 I have gone through topping up over the last 2.5 years and 27K mi. My car uses exactly 1 qt every 12,400 miles.

As an aside: coolant consumption is 3.7oz every 7,500mi service interval.

I was super careful during the break-in period to watch RPM's and vary constantly, and a few strong pulls (torque'y, but not high RPM) to "seat the rings" if that really does happen. The car gets serviced per book at the dealer as it's new.

I drive it only for fun on a 90 mile route mostly on hiway-1 (Calif coast) to my fav hill climb from San Gregorio to Woodside CA. I do the 10 miles in the hills at 4,500-7K RPM quite hard, very fun. The oil temp gets to about 234 deg at it's peak when I reach the peak of the mountain. The water hits 212 at most (ambient air temperature of about 85).

Scenic driving flat along the coast the oil is 196 deg and water is 190.

I also blend my stupid 91 Calif gas in Woodside with 100 oct race gas (the 76 sells it there!) to get 93 oct and watch the ignition timing to confirm it advances properly to get the most power. I use BlueDriver to monitor.

Another aside... Starting in 2017 forward, Subaru stupidly programmed the car to let the battery discharge during acceleration and stops, doing most of the charging while decelerating only. I discovered this when I parked to listen to the radio for an hour and the car would barely crank. They said it's for "economy" B.S.! This will ruin batteries faster. You can force the car to "normal charge" at 14.2V by turning on the running lights (I drive with them all the time now). Also, if you turn the fan on it will hold at 13.3V. But drive normally and watch the voltage drop from an initial 14.4 at start to around 12.1 in just a few minutes. More on this later as I'm working up a big expose.

I'm an Engineer, I like to measure things.

did you really need to bump every oil consumption thread to tell us the exact same thing?

He is an "engineer" so probably.

I have over a 100k miles on my 2013 and it doesn't burn ANY oil, or at least a noticeable amount. Burning oil is not normal on almost any vehicle. No manufacturer develops a car knowing that it will burn oil and they are okay with that, aside from perhaps a few rare exceptions (rx8, etc.).

Point is, I would keep an eye on it and bring it in soon before warranty is up if it continues. If I had a new vehicle burning that much oil I would make them replace the motor....no question. If it burns that much oil now by the time you hit 150k you may be adding in more oil than gas haha

Also, when breaking in a motor you should follow the break in guidelines but make sure you vary your speed a lot. This is where everyone messes up. Freeway driving is bad for breakins. Side streets and stop lights are good. On and off full throttle is good. Ultimately you just want to avoid red-lining a car like crazy for the first few hundred miles.