I had an issue with the low oil sensor coming on around 4,500 miles beyond the oil change and was told by my local Subaru dealer to add some synthetic oil (recommended weight) … Didn’t think too much of it. I took a recent road trip, oil sensor on again at about 4K on a flat stretch of road, checked dipstick and found level about 1/4″ above lowest hole, added about 1/4 to 1/3 qt. of synthetic oil and drove another 200-300 miles and oil sensor came on again. Added another 1/4 to 1/3 qt. oil.
What interests me about your post is that you drove the first two oil change intervals (0 -6000 miles, and 6000-12000 miles) without incident, then about 4 K after oil change #2 (somewhere around 16K or so if I’m reading you right) the oil light came on. You added oil and the light went off.
Now, after oil change #3 , the light came on again at about 4K into that cycle (around 22K?) and you added oil and the light went out.
You then drove 200 or 300 miles (which?) and the light came back on again and after adding more oil, it went out once more.
You don’t mention, not once, checking the oil level on the dipstick at any other time except for when a warning light comes on.
So, I think some questions arise;
When the service department changes your oil, they should refill with at least 5 quarts of fresh oil. The “proper” fill amount, per the manual, is a little bit more than that, but 5 quarts will certainly suffice.
That will put the level within 1/8″ or so of the upper dipstick mark. Or at least it does on our 2.5 OB.
Is that what happens with your vehicle after the oil change?
Where, exactly, is the oil level on the dipstick when the car has just had an oil change?
If your oil level warning light is coming on when the level is about 1/4″ above the lower dipstick mark (anyone know if that sounds typical?), and you add 1/4-1/3 Quart of oil, where is the level on the dipstick at that point?
So far, if I’m reading you right and my math is correct, it looks like you’ve added, what, maybe 1 or 1 1/2 quarts of oil in 22.5K miles of driving?
That’s not really outside of normal oil consumption range.
I’m not arguing for not having your vehicle checked out, but if your car is starting to burn oil you will need to document the consumption meticulously, checking the dipstick level frequently (at least with every tank of gas, I’d say) and measuring how much oil you need to add to keep the level close to the upper mark.
