Average oil consumption

[msewalson]

Wondering what the average oil consumption is for 97 Legacy OB with 2.5 DOHC. Just drove 1000 miles over two days and needed to add 2 quarts of oil, basically consuming 1 quart a day. Driving conditions consisted of interstate driving with average speed being 80 mph.

 

I recently did a bunch of work to it, cam seal, rear main, front crank, water pump, timing belt, idlers, rocker cover seal and clutch. I also replaced the plastic oil separator plate since it was leaking and oil was dripping onto the exhaust causing a burnt oil smell.

 

I haven't noticed any leaks but still a bit of burnt oil smell. The smell isn't as bad as before and i just figure its the left over still on the exhaust. I haven't really crawled under it mainly because of the sub zero temps and been busy visiting family on our holiday trip.

 

Thanks,

Matt

[Stevo F]

That's pretty high oil consumption Of course the extended high speed driving might increase it some, but not that much. I would suspect you still have an oil leak somewhere if you are still smelling it more than a few miles after fixing the known oil leaks.

[PorkchopSandwiches]

You might have an internal headgasket leak. One of my Subaru technicians said that it's a pretty common issue on the DOHC 2.5 engine. You wouldn't see a lot of dripping in the driveway but you would be burning oil internally I think (I won't pretend to be a mechanic). Maybe switch to high mileage oil and see if that helps. I did it on both my Volvos and saw an improvement.

 

My dohc 2.5 is at 123k and doesn't consume any oil between changes. I've even done cross-state round trips in washington (about 14 hours of 75mph driving) without using oil. I've had cam seals done and a couple other minor oil leaks fixed. It leaves a little bit of oil on the garage floor but almost never enough to require another quart between regular 5w30 oil changes.

 

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[mailman]

if it's a headgasket you'll see oil in your coolant/vice versa. At least take a look under it. My dipstick leaks like a faucet (...) and I don't lose that much oil.

[pleaidestar]

Wow that is a lot, a blown headgasket wont consume the oil like that without broadcasting a problem, you would have thick black smoke and the motor would run like caca and probably coat the catalytic converter if it was going through the combustion chamber. Through the water jackets it would over flow and fill the reservoir and appear to be eating the oil, but you would definitely know that by it over heating randomly and the sludge in the over flow.

[Headtrauma89]

Do a compression test. You probably have a bad piston ring or bad valve guides.