2000 Forester LEMON

juliewen

I have a 2000 subaru forester with 30k miles. It is burning 1 qt./2000 miles. As of today, the tech. at Liberty Subaru in Oradell, NJ told me he sees no problems and that he checked with Subaru to see that this amount is okay and that they will not fix it. I am contacting Subaru of America (the actual warranty guaranter) tomorrow. I am hopeful, but not optimistic. How can this be. Do you think they will put this claim in writing. Where should I go from here?

Mr_Shiftright

I'm afraid you have no case at the present time, nor do you have a "lemon". So relax. This is a normal range of oil burning and I wouldn't worry about it. However, you should have them write down your complaint on a repair order and if the consumption should increase (it may not, probably won't) then you will have evidence of reporting it while in warranty.

But at the present time I don't think you have any legitimate complaint. Your engine could run for 200,000 miles while burning this amount of oil.

Also, you may want to change the oil, park in a level spot, and record the level on the dipstick. Then, every 500 miles, go to the same spot and check the oil again after waiting the same amount of time (15 minutes?). It is also possible that you are not burning as much oil as you think, since oil consumption will vary with cleanliness, and type of driving you do, and climatic conditions.

One other suggestion. Switch to synthetic oil and see what happens.

juliewen

I did not mean Lemon as in Lemon law. I realize that it is too late for that. But I find it hard to believe that 1 quart per 2000 miles on a car whose service manual recommends 7500 mile oil change intervals would be running very long. I guess you would have to add oil almost constantly. If you did not, you would be down 3.75 quarts at scheduled oil change. I have had 3 Toyotas with over 200k that hardly burn anything. I cannot believe Subaru designed an engine with this kind of consumption in mind.
I have been watching it like a hawk and checking the level in the exact same spot and conditions.
I am actually a realively good mechanic and have always done all of my work on my own cars, so I am very careful with this, my first, new car.
Subaru was about to change one of the cylinder heads but changed their minds according to the tech. I spoke to.
So, I guess I will contact SOA (Subaru of America) in hopes of some action.
Have you ever had a car that burned this much oil from this tender age?
By the way, my name is Scott, Julie is my wife.Thanks

Mr_Shiftright

Hi Scott,

Oh, yeah, most of my cars burn a little oil and thanks actually okay with me. I like a small amount of oil up there in the valve area and upper cylinder. Many exotic cars are actually designed to burn a bit of oil.

If Subaru was going to change a cylinder head, this relates to oil burning only in terms of valve guides or valve stem seals. This could cause some oil burning as the engine vacuum will suck oil from the valve cover area along the valve stem into the combustion chamber. A classic test for worn valve guides would be to look for lots of blue smoke on initial start up in the morning....also, if you are decelerating rapidly and then hit the gas, you'll get a big puff of blue smoke (since the deceleration creates a engine vacuum).

But again, I don't think you have a case for a defect at this point. It is perfectly all right for an engine to burn a quart every 2,000 miles. It is within the expected parameters of manufacturing. Some burn less, some more. If in fact the valve guides are wearing, this is more an annoyance than a real problem. Has this vehicle had a "cylinder leakdown test"? This might indicate where the oil consumption is coming from at least....I say might because the consumption isn't very much relative to what is usually deemed "excessive" (under 1,000 a quart)

Some people state that their cars burn "no oil". This is very unlikely. Either they are burning at least a little or they drive very sedately. The faster and harder you drive the more oil your engine will consume as well.