Here you can see my beloved Subaru "BumbleBeast" behind one of the Sorentos on which I've done this simple modification, in fact this was the third one and it belonged back then to my Best Friend: my Father, he passed away on late 2019 ... the Sorento now belongs to my mother.
In the next photo below, you can see the Metal Cap in its place,
covering the filtering mesh at the opening of the oil pick up tube:
Notice the small hole on it, something around 1/4 of the total opening's area:
Notice how the filtering mesh looks like without the Cap,
almost all the cars that I've serviced, looks like this: (No cap at all)
But sadly, these engines needs the Cap there to hold the filtering mesh in its place; so what I did to "Solve" the problem,
was to modify the cap by empty all the metal on it, so it ends being a simple "Ring" to hold the filtering mesh in its place,
as factory intended, but without being restrictive at all. See:
Right after reinstalling this ring, I cleansed everything, reinstalled the oil pan (carter) with mega grey silicone, waited some time then poured fresh Valvoline's synthetic motor oil and swapped a brand new oil filter... I did this procedures long years ago, but I delayed the date to share it online, here, as it is a Subaru forum, mainly... then I've been studying the engine's behaviour after this modification; and in the words of the Sorento's Owner: "I feel the engine a little more responsive" ... everything is working fine and the engine runs smooth as silk, even today, quiet yet powerful.
This procedure is very Easy, you only need to remove the oil pan (carter) to do it, modify the restrictive cap to turn it onto a holding ring, and reinstall the oil pan (Carter) using mega Grey silicone. A fresh oil change and that's it!
I really hope in God that this could be the answer, or at least, this will help the engine to keep a proper oil flow and thus elongates its lifespan.
Disclaimer: I am not telling nor suggesting you to do what I did, use all my ideas, my photos and my written information shared, at your very own risk.
Additional information, I've done this modification, to three Sorentos so far and their owners are very pleased with the Results; furthermore, I shared this idea on a closed group of mechanics on whatsapp since late 2016 and as far as I know, they swear that it prevents premature wear and keeps these engines from getting noisier with age and mileage.
Kind greetings from the Caribbean Honduras.