Daskuppler

I did the oil analysis just to get ammo for fighting with Subaru. It obivously didn't work. The service advisor felt bad and is supposed to be giving us a deal, we will see if they come in below $6500 or take care of the passenger seat SRS occupant detection malfunction for free. Even if they come in at 6500, they are cheaper than anyone else including other dealerships. The car should be done Friday.

Thank you. Sounds good!

Does anyone have any input on best procedure to break in the new block? From what I can tell Subaru keeps it pretty simple... Keep it under 4,000roms and try to avoid a constant speed/rpm for any length of time for the first 1k miles. Nothing mentions anything about an oil change, do they still need to be done at about 500 miles and again after break in? Anything else to keep in mind? Is there a best oil to use for break in? What do you guys run after the fact? Is Amsoil still good? I have 4 vehicles and a motorcycle so I can certainly just the subscription if it's worth it.

This ended up being a wheel bearing.

I got my results back from Blackstone. They essentially told me the oil was too diluted/not used long enough to get accurate results (I can only go about 800 miles before adding oil). I attached the report in case anyone has any insight. Looks like the engine is running well and it's truly just bad rings. Blackstone 14 Forester.pdf

I ended up just getting the OEM assembled unit. now the alignment shop is arguing with me saying they can't get it in spec because something is bent. It was fine with the old control arm, it should only be better now haha

Haha, fair enough. The shop just quoted me $8600....so they won't doing the work. Does replacing the block fix the oil consumption issue? I've seen some horror stories of people going through a couple blocks.

Hello Everyone, I drive a 14 Forester NA and one of the front control arm bushings completely failed. I don't have a press but I could pull the arm and have a shop do it or buy an assembled unit. Subaru doesn't sell just the bushing so I would have to go aftermarket. Is it worth it? Are there better front control arms then OEM? Cheers, Andrew

Hindsight is 20/20. I thought I had it in the bag with as much oil as I had to add. I did think about it at the time but didn't know if there was anything to prevent tampering. What I wouldn't give for that little oil now. We still have one EJ251 running strong at least.

Subaru's official response: Hi Andrew: The vehicle is well beyond the terms of the warranty and our obligation to the vehicle has concluded. Subaru of America will have no further involvement.

This is Subaru's response: Hi Andrew: The vehicle is well beyond the terms of the warranty and our obligation to the vehicle has concluded. Subaru of America will have no further involvement.

I tried. SOA told be to pund sand, warranty expired at 100k or October 21,2021 whichever comes first. I'm past both....I called the dealership and asked for the vehicle's records. I had to talk to a manager just to get them, but they won't do anything. They stand by their technician that the car did not burn a drop of oil during the test. They blamed it on a bad PCV valve which they replaced prior to the test. I argued with them on at the time and they wouldn't do anything, apart from trying to hold the vehicle for safety issues because the brake fluid had gelled....which miraculously happened while they had the vehicle. I'm still waiting for results from Blackstone but it looks like I'm SOL at this point. Subaru won't touch it, unless it's to work on it.

I would be using LED as well. Thanks for the input

I'm not sure the noise would be picked up over all of the road noise while driving. So far it is not present at idle or without load on the engine. It's going to a local Subaru only shop to see if they can provide some insight as to cost of repairs and required repairs.

Hello Everyone, Has anyone added map lights to their older 2.5i Imprezas? From what I gather, the connector is present on the main wiring harness on the A pillar, but the actual harness is not installed. The solution is to add the harness and run it up to where the map lights should be, cut a hole in the liner, connect map light, and install map light. Good to go. Anyone have any success? Pointers? Any idea on part numbers? There aren't any WRXs in my local junkyards.

So, with a recent development of a metallic chatter (i thought it was something else), could my oil consumption be related to bad valves/seats? I didn't see a TSB regarding any known problems. The blue smoke is definitely in puffs, not consistant and most prevalent at high RPMS and taking off from idle (there is also a big stumble from the motor taking off from idle).

All I am seeing regarding the engine is the oil consumption issue. I'm going to call the dealership that performed the test and request a copy of their test since they told me the car did not burn a drop of oil while they performed the test. After reading the service bulletin, they didn't follow the instructions so I'm hoping I can find a loophole to get a new engine since it is beyond my skill level to do that much work on this engine.

I'm not disagreeing with you. This car has been troublesome to say the least. I certainly miss the older cars and engineering.

I replaced about 4 broken clips and it did not resolve the issue. I also noticed a rattling when the engine was started from cold (sounds like it's passenger side engine) followed by what sounds like valve chatter which went away after a couple seconds. While driving around, I have noticed the noise seems to be most present when the engine hesitates which I have recently correlated to the oil consumption and puff of smoke. Could this be valve chatter, poor oiling, etc?

Thanks for the input. I've done heads on the older blocks (early 2000's) are these much different? Or should this be done by a shop due to required tools and such? I can't imagine much has changed. I just looked up the part on Subaru parts, the short blocks are now $2255 plus $100 shipping and handling.

Update to this fiasco. Mother Subaru obviously said no, no surprise there. I was following my wife driving the car today and could visibly see the stumble in the engine as it lagged, then there was a puff of black smoke from the tailpipe. Since this is not the time to buy a new vehicle, where is a good place to buy a used engine? Are these worth rebuilding? Are there any non turbo performance options for an easy engine swap?

Haven't had a chance to look. Best I can tell as of now is the the heat shields are good. One of the front plastic pieces on the undercarriage has had a few of the plastic clips pulled out. Pushing on the bullet results in a very similar noise. I ordered some clips/fasteners and will see if that fixes it.

Definitely not a thumping sound. It's a very fast and brief metallic tap/rattle. Is there a way I could check the bushings beyond a visual inspection?

Turning does not make it worse or better. If anything it is less prevalent when wheels are turned. Slight increases in pedal actuation do not trigger the noise (maintaining speed up a hill). It does do it periodically when passing. The noise is not always the same intensity. To my knowledge, the engine and transmission have never been removed. The car was purchased with 30k miles on it and was supposed to be clean, but I noticed when installing the lightbar a while back that the passenger side of the front bumper had been dented behind the plastic so I'm not entirely certain of the accuracy of the history/Carfax. That being said, bringing up the light bar makes me wonder if something there is loose. I'll have to check it this evening.

It does not happen in park, only under load for a brief second and not every time (though it occurs more often than not).