You mean you’ve added oil incrementally and the total added is 6 qts? Or you changed oil & filter and have filled up with 6 qts at this point?

You want to pull the dipstick and wipe it off first. Wait a minute to let the oil in the dipstick tube go back in the pan, otherwise it will smear the reading. On my car, the dipstick is curved with the concave (inward) dimples facing the rear and convex (outward) dimples facing forward. The “blade” is horizontally aligned left-right and the loop of the handle is axially aligned front-rear. I usually read it on the convex side, but it reads the same on both sides. Make sure you are fully seating the stick in the tube so the O-ring is pushed all the way in and the yellow ring stops against the tube.

 

Make sure your car is up to temp and then park it on a level surface. Let it sit for more then 5 minutes (I like to do 10) and then take your reading. Look at both sides of the dipstick and take the lower reading as your accurate reading. I believe it is aprox. 1L from the lower dot to the upper dot and the upper dot is considered full.

I am still working on tracking down my oil consumption with the dealer.. I am starting to think I have a leak even tho I haven't noticed any on the ground.

-Ghost

 

Look at both sides of the dipstick and take the lower reading as your accurate reading.

Good approach. The dipstick enters the pan at an angle, so maybe the level on the rear-facing “upper” side reads a tad lower than the forward-facing “lower” side.

Hope you solve your mystery oil loss.

 

The side of the dipstick toward the front of the car curves against the wall of the dipstick tube. It gets coated and isn’t going to be accurate because of that.

 

I agree that the varying readings on the dipstick are because it enters the oil pan at an angle. That is no big deal. Losing any oil for a car that has not been track driven is not normal.
I am on the same oil for over 3k miles now and have not lost any. I also did a hard break in for what that is worth.

 

If I end up keeping my BRZ I plan on swapping in a 22 WRX pcv valve. Direct swap and has more blow by resistance.

 

Would be a great how-to write-up.

 

If you read your owners manual, you will see that you are supposed to go off the side that is lower. Page 347 (at least for the BRZ), step 5: "Check the oil levels on both sides of the level gauge. The engine oil level must be judged by the lowest of the two levels. If the oil level is below the low level mark, add oil so that the full level is reached."

 

Interesting thread
I checked my wife’s last night and regardless of which side of the stick I was right in between the two dimples. Close to 700 miles and I am chomping at the bit to change the oil and filter and DPG.
I’ve already gone to the Subaru store to get the oil the filter and some drain plug gaskets. I’m going to stay stock for the time being.

 

This engine design is built loose so to speak. In Toyotas engineering to get more power and fast revving they reduced friction with piston and piston rings having low tension. Results in oil passing by the rings and some consumption. My question is how much is OK and will it increase as miles add up. My car has had usage with the breakin oil (1/3 quart) in 4500 miles, first oil change (4500 miles) 1/2 quart and now my 2nd oil change at just over 3500 miles (1 Quart needed to bring to full) it is scary to see an increase !! I’m using 0W20 as recommended. Should I go with a 5W viscosity?? Will it help?

 

I’m using 0W20 as recommended. Should I go with a 5W viscosity?? Will it help?

5W20 will give you about 11% higher viscosity at normal oil operating temperature (205° F / 96° C), so that should help.

 

Yeah, I had some consumption too. Just put a quart in to top it off. But I did do a track day. I’m just keeping mindful of it and checking here and there

 

Oil loss during break in is expected and normal. Especially with that crap oil they use for the factory fill. 4500 miles is way too long IMO for that stuff. My car does not lose any oil at all at this point. I drive hard pretty much at all times and it had a hard break in. 5w20 is the sweet spot for sure with oil, but I know some people prefer to follow the owners manual.

 

I’m not seeing any consumption with 5W20.

 

I had my oil change at 1k and my miles now I'm at 2241 miles, so only added 1241 miles but I did go to Cali twice from AZ and I tend to drive around 85mph to 90mph on the highway but rarely go over 4k RPMs.

Just checked my oil today and it's gone down a bit, should I be worried? I don't track and drive pretty normal unless I'm on the highway/freeway.

Check my dipstick 3 times and it's at where I marked the line.

 

Was the car cold? If ran recently, how long was the engine off?
Did you check it after the oil change to be sure it was ever all the way full?
The level you have there is totally safe for street driving, but I always keep mine to the fill line.

 

Was the car cold? If ran recently, how long was the engine off?
Did you check it after the oil change to be sure it was ever all the way full?
The level you have there is totally safe for street driving, but I always keep mine to the fill line.

I let it warm up to temp and turned it off. Checked the oil maybe 30 seconds later 3 times.

After the 1k oil changed, I check and it was perfectly filled up.

 

Per the manual, and what I have found to be true is that you are supposed to wait 10 minutes or more before checking. These silly sideways engines take forever to get all the oil from the top half back into the pan. I have just been checking mine totally cold. If you wait longer, I will bet there will be more on the dipstick.

 

Oh, I know I had to get the car to temp but wasn't sure when to check it so I just did it lol. I'll check again later the right way and see how it is. If anything I'll just top it off to be safe.

 

I checked my oil recently it's around 4k miles and I changed it at 1k it's about half way between full and low. I did follow the break in period and kept the revs to a minimum.

I may have screwed up when I added oil which is hopefully the issue and not an oil consumption problem. If I was to add oil on a slight incline would the dip stick have read higher, or lower than the actual oil level in the pan? I was a dumdum and filled it up on a not so flat surface.

I will have to be more careful going forward as I need to make sure there are no issues. I have seen some horror stories about oil consumption. I'm planning on keeping the car for the long haul so need to make sure I don't end up with an oil eater.

Planning on doing an oil change in the next few days and monitoring the oil level closely. This time I will be following the recommended steps on the manual to make sure I actually fill it up perfectly this time.

I am kind of panicking though. It would be a long tiresome process if I had to go through the dealership.

How common is oil consumption on new FA24 engines?

 

The dip stick enter the block at the front of the car. So if you were to check it and the angle of the front end was facing down it would read higher. If the nose was facing up the incline the dipstick would indicate there is less oil than there really is.

 

Alright thanks sir. I am an idiot my oil level is fine. I think I read the dipstick too quickly without letting the oil back into the pan.

 

After 10 minutes, I check twice and it's still perfectly filled, was worried there for a bit the car was eating a lot of oil even though I drive fairly normal😅

 

goes and checks oil

Mine is actually over filled, I put 5.5QT in last oil change and its a tad above the top dot. Whoops.

 

goes and checks oil

Mine is actually over filled, I put 5.5QT in last oil change and its a tad above the top dot. Whoops.

That should be OK if it was well-settled.

 

I just changed my oil to 5w30 but am having a hard time gauging where my oil level is. I let my car warm up a bit after changing the oil and tried to read the dip stick.

Both images are the same, just slightly different lighting from angling it a bit. Is it at the full mark? It seems kind of smeared and goes past it so I can't tell if I need to top it off more or not. I filled about 5 liters worth.

 

I just changed my oil to 5w30 but am having a hard time gauging where my oil level is. I let my car warm up a bit after changing the oil and tried to read the dip stick.

Both images are the same, just slightly different lighting from angling it a bit. Is it at the full mark? It seems kind of smeared and goes past it so I can't tell if I need to top it off more or not. I filled about 5 liters worth.

Looks halfway between the dots to me. You can see where the oil goes from completely covering the stick to halfway covering the stick (side to side). Add half a quart.

your level is gonna be where the stick is fully covered in oil, your half smear is just stuff that got transferred from the tube.

 

 

I picked up my car last weekend but I cannot get a good reading on the oil level.

It's so clear that it's hard to see, the oil that I can see is smeared all over the dipstick. I tried a couple of times but no luck.

In case it matters, I checked 15 minutes after driving for an hour or so. Engine bay was still pretty warm.

 

Completely cold works best for me.

 

Check it in the morning before you start it.

 

It's interesting the differences from the FA to EJ. The FA24 manual says the 'level is to be judged by the side with the lowest level'. There is no orientation, lettering or hatch marks on the dipstick. In comparison, the EJ dipstick has a specific orientation, lettering (which is the side you read the level from per the manual), cold, and hot full levels. Hot full being the notch. I checked all 3 FA24 engines we have here and aside for differences in the distance between notches and lengths, they all just have the dimples. Both manuals state 'wait at least 5 minutes after shutdown before checking oil level'.

My method? I prefer to check when the engine is dead cold, in the morning.

 

You have to read off the underside of the dipstick.