Subaru Impreza Engine Problems

dino001 · October 2011

Actually, loaners are "standard of care" in my neck of the woods. The only limitation is call in early. In case of a longer repair, a rental car is provided, tab picked up by Subaru.

A a former (still former?) Honda salesman you may not be aware, but Subaru is a half-notch higher than Honda when it comes to post-sale customer treatment: 3/36 B-B, 5/60 P, 3/36 roadside, mainenance service loaner (need to reserve due to limited supply), car rental for overnight repairs, even their creaks and rattles, wear and tear is 3/36K (including break pads - only problem you would have to wear them to 1 mm, which is kind of hard). And it's all included in the original price - at least with my local Subaru dealer.

nippononly · January 2012

Now you have me worried!

In the last six months I just discovered my '09 OBS is going through a lot of oil - 2 quarts in the last OCI, which is 5K miles, and it was low again when I took it for the oil change. So at the last service (the 30K mile service) they did whatever it is they need to do, and now I am supposed to bring it to them the next time it needs oil, which will be in 1000 miles or less going by my experience with it so far.

Unlike those posting above, I have never had a Subaru that consumed lots of oil, even my '84 never needed extra oil between oil changes, although it did use a little.

And unlike the Bellevue dealer, my dealer pretty much sucks, so this could go badly. I will say this though, if the engine fails and needs to be replaced, particularly if it strands me somewhere, I won't be keeping the car.

The only question then would be whether to buy a '12, whose looks and much improved interior and fuel efficiency have my interest piqued, or to walk away from the Subaru brand forever. I like the quirkiness of Subarus, but having a dependable and long-lasting car is more important to me than having a quirky car with a boxer engine.

Wish me luck! :-/

ateixeira · January 2012

The FB series engines have separate fluid lines for the block and heads, so the head gasket problems should be a thing of the past. There are far fewer holes/seals in the gaskets now.

FB engines go in the new Impreza and 2011+ Forester.

nippononly · January 2012

Too bad my 2009 isn't an FB then. :-(

My '09 is what, an EJ? But I'm really hoping that just as people said at the time when I bought the thing, the head gasket problem was already behind them well before that year.....

ateixeira · January 2012

EJ25, yes.

The gasket material itself was much improved, but when they got a chance for a clean sheet design, they kept that in mind.

I have an 09 since mid 2008, just oil changes so far. Wife loves it, won't even discuss trading up for a new one.

isellhondas · February 2012

Well, if your Subaru is using a quart every 2500 miles, that's not such a bad thing and it's probably well within what Subaru considers to be acceptable.

Even a quart every 1000 miles is probably within specs I would think.

Any car can blow an engine and I wouldn't write off Subaru because of some oddball occurance.

Still, our son's Impreza has fallen short of what he expected.

nippononly · February 2012

I'm sure it's well within what every automaker considers acceptable, but it's not what I consider acceptable. ;-)

Never had a Toyota do that, never had any of my other Subarus do that. But I have driven about 1500 miles and so far it only seems to be down less than half a quart, so that's something.

Thing is, if it's a quart every 3000 miles now, what will it be when the car passes 100K miles and is well out of warranty? I always keep cars longer than that....

isellhondas · February 2012

All cars use **some** oil.

I think you are worrying for nothing. It's very possible for one thing that they didn't get it totally full when the oil was changed.

A quart every 3000 miles is nothing, really and there is no reason to think the consumption will increase with miles.

xwesx · February 2012

While I agree that it is not "catastrophic" consumption at this point, I am right there with you in thinking that it is worthy of concern. My '10 Forester consumes about a half-quart over 15,000 miles. While that is far better than I ever expected, if it were going through a quart every 3,000 miles, then I would be concerned.

I just checked it this morning, with about 8,000 miles since the last oil change, and it was sitting just a tiny bit under full.

isellhondas · February 2012

Man, how often you you change your oil??

I would NEVER let any of my cars go that far!

As I said, internal combustion engines HAVE to use some oil. A quart every 3000 miles would be of zero concern to me. That would be totally within normal ranges.

Also, people tend to check their oil before it has a chance to drain back into the pan, they check it on uneven surfaces and, again, the people changing the oil don't always get it up to the full line.

A lot more worse things to worry about, I would think...

xwesx · February 2012

I change mine annually on July 4 weekend, so it generally runs 13,000 - 15,000 miles. I get good use out of the oil that way, and it is still well within operational specs. I could probably run another 5-10K miles, but that's a great weekend to do it, easy to remember, and it ensures I won't need to be lying on a snow pack to do the work.

isellhondas · February 2012

Wow...I would NEVER let my oil go that far.

I've seen a lot of sludged up engines given such treatment.

Seriously, oil changes aren't expensive compared to engines!

xwesx · February 2012

I appreciate your concern. I do oil analyses to verify the integrity along with using high-quality oil.

All is well.

isellhondas · February 2012

I respect that. You go ahead with your analyses.

I'll keep using my high quality oil and stick with my 5000 mile intervals.

I just feel better that way but that's me.

nippononly · February 2012

All cars use **some** oil.

My Echo I just gave to a friend, with 164,000 miles, doesn't use ANY oil between oil changes. Neither did any of the Toyotas I had before it. Dipstick still at the full mark as they were going in for the oil change.

The last two Subarus I hung onto, one to 120K miles or so and the other up to the 150K-mile mark, used no oil during my 5000-mile OCI, and I know because I always check just before it goes in for the oil change to see how much it is using.

Now every older Honda I have had has indeed gone through enough oil to need extra quarts between oil changes, and I like old Hondas but I just don't need the hassle.

I consider it a bad sign for a car with only 31K miles to be using oil, if that is indeed what mine is doing. Maybe a sign of piston rings not seating properly. And like I said, not typical AT ALL of past experiences I have had with Soob. And I do check the oil level when I get home from the oil change too, because I don't really trust service departments in general and my local Subaru dealer in particular. This one has been at the top of the dipstick right after the oil change, so that is not the reason for the low oil.

isellhondas · February 2012

I'm not going to keep arguing but it's impossible for a car to not use a bit of oil. Unburned gas will help keep the level up on your dipstick.

Our son's 2009 Impreza started using a lot of oil. About a quart every 500 miles. Subaru was having him bring it in for an "oil consumption test" when the engine blew at 30,000.

"I just don't need the hassle"

OK, if adding a quart of oil every 3000 miles or so is a "hassle" then I do understand.

For me, that wouldn't be a big deal.

nippononly · February 2012

Our son's 2009 Impreza started using a lot of oil. About a quart every 500 miles. Subaru was having him bring it in for an "oil consumption test" when the engine blew at 30,000.

And you're telling me I have nothing to worry about with my '09 Impreza??!! ;-)

isellhondas · February 2012

Hopefully not.

Our son't Impreza spun a bearing or two which really should have been a seperate issue than using oil.

ateixeira · February 2012

They got a bad batch of bearings at one point, there was even a recall IIRC, but it was for turbos engines. Maybe he somehow got some of those.

Reliability on the turbos affected was average for the first years, but improved per CR, so seems like the fix did work for the most part.

jl09610159 · March 2012

I ma interested in Imprezas old models before 2012 (4 door or 5 door) and I will probably go with a CPO.
I went here: http://www.subaru.com/vehicles/certified-pre-owned.html?s_kwcid=+CPO%20+subaru

Never bought a CPO before and so confused by warranty issues, so here are my questions:

If the car has some original warranty left, is that going to be transferred to me?

Where should I look for terms conditions of 6year/100,000 mile Powertrain plan? How do I know what's covered/not covered ?

If I am not satisfied with 6year/100,000 mile Powertrain plan, I should buy Added Security Extended Service Contracts (either Classic or Gold Plus). Correct ?

Thanks Subaru owners !

zwzachary87 · March 2012

I have a 2009 Subaru Impreza sedan and it just did the same thing at 34k miles, I was getting on to the highway and my check engine light came on then traction control light and started knocking pulled over checked oil it was bone dry 3 QUARTS LOW, rod in motor started knocking car spun a ring. Subaru is warranting the motor which is a good thing but i am a little worried about how they are talking about fixing my motor eater they will replace the bad parts with new, or they will order a short block for my car and i have a problem with those options because of the fact of you are taking your heads off the motor that has been damaged and putting them on the new short block well i have a problem with this because what is to say the heads were not damaged from not being lubricated and foreign material from shavings in the motor.

i have my oil changed every 7500 miles because i run fully synthetic oil and i only have the dealer work on my car.

0n 2/3/12/ car had 29800k miles on it when i had the oil changed and transmission serviced,

on 3/15/12 car had 34000k miles on it when it chose to break down

and i checked my oil 2 1/2 weeks ago and it was full

car has not been tampered with at all

please if this has happened to anyone i would really like to know

nippononly · April 2012

I got to 35K miles, and the car went in for its next oil change having lost no oil since 30K. Now I don't know what to think - why would it lose all that oil between 25K and 30K, then lose no oil in this OCI? I always check it right after they change it, so I know it was properly filled at 25K.

Oh well, inconclusive......

kelstar · April 2012

I just got my car back from the dealer, had to have a new block put in (~47,500 miles). It was covered under the warranty, luckily. I haven't had the car back for a full 24 hours and the check engine light is on AGAIN, as well as the traction control and the cruise control lights. Neither of these buttons are responding when I try to turn them on or off.
Has anyone had this happen? I want to think that something isn't connected or there's a blown fuse, but I'm afraid to keep driving it and have it crap out again. Of course today is Sunday....
Anyone?

nippononly · April 2012

Sounds like some electrical connections didn't get reinstalled in the right way. I wouldn't worry about damaging the new engine, but don't be surprised if you suddenly have a dead battery in the next day or two. If it were me, I would be straight back in there to get this fixed on their dime.

k3nd0 · July 2012

@zwzachary87 That is exactly what happened to my 2010 impreza 2.5i at 36,700 miles I had changed the oil every 3k per dealership and on the last one I went 7k because I was going to change the oil myself after the warantee was up... The day I was going to change it myself it spun a bearing exactly as you described it, with the traction control light and no oil etc etc. After looking at it they are going to cover it as warantee by replacing the shortblock. but what troubles me is they didnt even fight me over it. That says to me that there is a bearing issue and I just hope that it doesnt blow again soon. I am going to have to check the oil every stop for gas just to be sure the engine doesnt start burn ing oil like a champ when I least expect it and blow the engine again.

:sick:

xwesx · July 2012

The warranty for drivetrain components, including the engine, is 5 years or 60,000 miles. That likely factored heavily into the decision they made.

picturethis1 · May 2013

This exact thing just happened to me. What did you end up doing? I've only had the car for less than 8 months... not a happy camper. It sounds like a new engine is the only way to deal with this. After this is makes me wonder if the car is worth holding onto. Thanks for your advice to help ease any issues I could be facing in the future.

jake_emerson · July 2013

I had this same thing happen this past Tuesday evening. Turned off the freeway and a pinging started. Not one engine light or oil light came on. Checked the oil and its 3quarts low. just bought this car last year with 29,000 and now have 68,000 as it is my commuter vehicle. I get my oil changed every 5,000 miles with full synthetic and have all the receipts, so how is it getting that low on oil?

Subaru Impreza Engine Problems

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