Engine oil!

[Muiretta]

I am the second owner of a 91 legacy L Wagon that ever sense i bought it two years ago has had the most annoying oils shortedge problem. First it acts like its out of oil after a long trip,then it fills back up after an hour. Car leaks out the rear main, and oil pan. Doesn't burn oil or smoke. It has 140k and runs great. everytime I go to the garage or the dealer they think i am crazy! Any idea's from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

[Dynamic Entry]

more than once I have checked the oil on my car when it was not fully warmed up and it read below the LOW line

the first time I panicked and put in some more oil

only to find out when I checked it again upon reaching my destination that it was WAY over FULL

so last month when I checked it a couple days after an oil change and it read empty all I did was shrug and drive it the 1/2 hour trip

and when I got there it read perfectly Full


I know it is not the same thing you are describing, but there may be some correlation

[Muiretta]

Sounds close for sure! its only after I drive mine and the only thing that scares me is the fact that I a couple of times ran completely out of oil to ware the valves were clanging! Not good. Car mildly overheats after two years of driving it. Man I love this car but hate the freaky things it does!

[Lunatech]

I went through this just after I got mine too. I'd check it and it showed way to low, so I'd put some in and check and it would be fine.
The next day I'd check it and it was waaaay over full. Now I kinda shrug it off.
If I don't like what I see when I check it, I just wait a half an hour and check it again.

[evolutionmovement]

This has been covered a bunch of times. For whatever reason, perhaps the oil takes too long to drain out of the horizontal engine, the dipsticks don't read accurately unless the car's been sitting a while. When checking it hot, I've found that there's little need to worry unless there's nothing on the dipstick (then you don't know how low you are). A small amount on the very end seems to mean about a quart down, but I can't vouch for that being the same on every car.

[Muiretta]

Yep its weird! It generally does it after a long trip at 80.
And usually its at the very tip of the dipstick causing great
alarm.Infact its so low that 1/2 a quart only sometimes works
out that it comes back up. its gotta be the weirdest thing I have
ever seen on cars and I used to work on Alpha's and Lotus as well
as old Rover 3500s's not to mention IHC's from the 60's. Anyway,
I love Subaru and this won't be my last for sure. THanks for the info.

[ericem]

ya before checking the level wait 10+ mins. I was the same way then of course when cool was overfilled. make sure you check on level ground and wait 10mins thats all it takes to get a accurate level.