legacycentral bbs

Alright, so what the heck is the deal with the engine oil hiding? Some days when I go to check my oil level, it's completely fine. Other days I'll check it and the tip is barely wet with oil. I'm checking it on mostly level ground and after the car has been sitting for hours.

Does the oil stay up in the heads that long or something else? Really makes checking the oil level hard...

I've written it off as a peculiarity of boxer engines, or at least Subarus.

My Legacy has done the same thing on numerous occasions. I think it hides in the heads somewhere.

If you want to eliminate a variable, you can get a new dipstick from the dealer, just to be sure it's not a fault of an old dipstick. The new O-ring on the new dipstick couldn't hurt either.

You're taking into account whatever oil leaks your car has, right?

Now, is it burning any? You're not using synthetic right? I've seen my Legacy burn oil with my own two eyes, when it was on synthetic. Had a friend drive the car away from me and get on it, and poof! big puff of blue smoke out the tailpipe on the 1-2 shift.

I share Steve's observation that I almost NEVER see a Subaru burning oil. So it kinda shocked me.

Burning oil, needless to say, can make you lose oil rather quickly, especially if you have a lead foot.

Except I only use Mobil 1 changed every 7500 to 10000 miles.

I don't understand how running synthetic would leak faster or be more likely to get past the rings. Like synthetic oil shouldn't break down as easily once heated and it should hold its density while normal oil can break down more easily. I think I will try synthetic next oil change. Synthetic in the diffs, and engine. Maybe transmission fluid.

I run Amsoil Full Synthetic and Amsoil filter and mine never burns oil. That is in my 90 Legacy AWD wagon. I change the oil in that car once a year. I only drive it during the winters for snowboarding and to work if the roads are bad. I think you have another problem on your hands.

The theory is that on engines that have run long miles on dino that the seals get coated with a film that prevents leaks, but keeps the oil from keeping them lubricated. Changing to synthetic cleans them off, leaving now dried out seals to do a poor job of sealing.

So what your saying is it would have been better to start off with synthetic from the beginning!

My car had over 200,000 miles on it when I changed over to Amzoil with no leaks or burning of oil going on. I have done other high mileage engines also with no untoward consequences. Always used Amzoil however that figures in.

Jeff

I think it hides next to the tiny unicorn's nest. You know, the unicorn that is in your exhaust pipe.

^ Maybe.

I think the logic module decides some times that the heads may need extra reserve lubrication and holds oil up there from time to time.

u think maybe it hides in the heads for start up purposes?

maybe to keep the start up lubricated..

this problem even occcurs on my 2003 wrx.. sometimes it is showing empty, sometimes full..

i have used mobil 1 since i bought her. they only time i burned oil was when my seals in my turbo were bad.. now she hasn't burned oil in a long time..

101k on my bugeye.. runs perfect too..

been running stage 2(up pipe, turbo back, and intercooler hoses) for 95K now... compression is still good.. just normal maintenance.. nothing major..

18psi max, 91 pump octane tune(crappy cali gas) 236 whp, and 245wtq on a 10.5 afr average.

Oil doesn't accumulate in the head for startup purposes. Even if there was a pool of oil there, its not going to do you much good since its not being fed by pressure to the cam journals.

i know.. i was just blowing smoke man lol

if i was serious that answer would have never explained y its not always that way

No worries. Since it wasn't as off the wall I wasn't sure.

lol.. ok..

Let it stand over night then check. It does seem that the oil does stay in the upper end of the motor longer on these motors.

Rather Bump this thread then start I new one.

I seem to be noticing the same thing about oil hiding. I mean granted the thing leaks oil, it nowhere leaks the amount of oil the dipstick represents I'm loosing. I know the engine will burn oil, but it's only at 6000+ rpm, and it's barely noticeable. Plugs looked good too.


Funny I drove it 1500 miles and it showed quart low. I add a quart. back to normal. I changed the filter yesterday (doing an Auto-rx treatment). Barely any fluid came out, plus whatever was trapped in filter. I top off. Tried to check it today after moving car to parking spot down by where I work in the evenings and it says I'm L.

I now just checked it a half an hour ago, and it still says L. that's 4hours of sitting. Stupid thing!

I have 3 different places in the yard I use when checking the oil on Subies.

1. in the garage, almost perfectly flat/level
2. middle of the lower driveway, slightly off center to get level
3. in the normal parking spot, but am aware that it will usually show 1/2 qt high due to sitting tail low.

I've noticed that a few degrees of level makes a big difference in the reading, and that they need at least 15 minutes after running to be even close to accurate.

Yeah, I have found that the best time to check the oil is after you warm up the vehicle, turn it off, and then let it sit for about 20 minutes. Seems like you gotta give it enough time to let the oil trickle back down into the pan, but be sure to do it while the oil is still warm. Just my 2 cents; it works great on my 92 NA Wagon when I do it this way.