Dealer rebuilt the short block for oil consumption, now I have an oil leak.

[nitroman58]

Back in April of this year, the dealer rebuilt the short block on my 2011 Forester because it failed the oil consumption test.  The car seems to be running fine, but then I notice that there is a burnt oil smell after I shut the car off.  So in July, the same dealer takes the car in for another week and to repair a leak in the front crankshaft oil seal.  Now, I do not get the burnt oil smell, but the car leaks oil.  The oil leak seems to be coming from the front of the passenger side.  I call the dealer to mention this, and they tell me that if it is coming from the short block they will address, otherwise it is my responsibility.  The car did not have an oil leak to begin with.

So to summarize this problem, I start out with an oil consumption issue, and now have an oil leak issue.   This whole issue is getting very frustrating.  On one hand, they did all this work at almost no cost to me, and the car is running great, but now I have oil leaking from underneath the car.

Should I take the car to the dealer to see what they say, or should I contact Subaru at this point?

[Gloyale]

Soft lines to the power steering resevior leaking?

[Subaru Scott]

Having a new front main seal, installed correctly, go bad after three months is about as likely as you finding a hundred dollar bill in their parking lot... more like a stack of hundreds. 

 

Them telling you leaks other than the shortblock is a pretty skinny scapegoat since all the gaskets would have to be replaced for that repair anyway. Camshaft seals, which would have been at their discretion, would be about the only thing not required to replace, but probably should have been under good will. Likely, those will magically be where the oil leak is coming from.

 

Much, much, more likely that something didn't get tightened down, or was installed incorrectly in both cases. 

 

All that being said, it was pretty good of them, and Subaru, to cover a shortblock on a 6+ year old car, so if they treat you good otherwise, it might not hurt to throw them a LITTLE bone. But definitely ask lots of questions, like EXACTLY where the oil is coming from and why, after they had the engine completely apart for the repair, and every gasket and seal would have been replaced or inspected and found fit for years of service. 

[nitroman58]

Having a new front main seal, installed correctly, go bad after three months is about as likely as you finding a hundred dollar bill in their parking lot... more like a stack of hundreds. 

 

Them telling you leaks other than the shortblock is a pretty skinny scapegoat since all the gaskets would have to be replaced for that repair anyway. Camshaft seals, which would have been at their discretion, would be about the only thing not required to replace, but probably should have been under good will. Likely, those will magically be where the oil leak is coming from.

 

Much, much, more likely that something didn't get tightened down, or was installed incorrectly in both cases. 

 

All that being said, it was pretty good of them, and Subaru, to cover a shortblock on a 6+ year old car, so if they treat you good otherwise, it might not hurt to throw them a LITTLE bone. But definitely ask lots of questions, like EXACTLY where the oil is coming from and why, after they had the engine completely apart for the repair, and every gasket and seal would have been replaced or inspected and found fit for years of service. 

Okay, I will ask a lot of questions.  Also, for what it's worth the short block was done per the class action lawsuit settlement. I feel that if I contact the Subaru headquarters then I may get more attention, but i don't want to annoy the dealer either.

[Fairtax4me]

Find out exactly where is leaking first, so that you know where the leak is coming from before taking it in. More than likely it's coming from a seal they replaced while doing the work.

[golucky66]

Them telling you leaks other than the shortblock is a pretty skinny scapegoat since all the gaskets would have to be replaced for that repair anyway. Camshaft seals, which would have been at their discretion, would be about the only thing not required to replace, but probably should have been under good will.

 

So. You'd THINK all gaskets would be replaced. But on my 04 Baja, HGs were done about 50k ago (before i owned it). And the valve cover started leaking. So i went in to replace it. The technician who did the HGs REUSED the rubber valve cover gasket and coated the ENTIRE thing in RTV (not just the four small spots required)

 

Imo, most dealer tech, especially on a warranty claim. They+the shop aren't going to replace anything that's not mission critical because A) they're flat rate and wanna get it back together ASAP. and B ) the dealership or customer would have to cover anything above what SOA would repay them for for the short block replacement.

 

Either way, hack/rush job. See if they will fix it for you under warranty. And then take your car somewhere else for work.

[Subaru Scott]

Yes, I understand about the class-action suit. But it's still up to the dealer to determine "normal" use and verify all maintenance was up to date and done properly. They could get very picky if they wanted to. 

 

Best to keep everything friendly and ask questions because "You don't understand how everything works, but you really want to!" Not implying they did anything wrong.

 

Only call SOA as a last resort. It's like telling a woman you think she's fat. It may be 100 percent true, but once you go there, the relationship will never be the same. 

[GeneralDisorder]

And this is why I have so much business. The dealers are having a really hard time finding qualified mechanics. It's so bad here the dealer parts department sends customers to me.

 

GD

[Subaru Scott]

BTW, the factory never, ever had a problem paying for any gaskets or seals I replaced for any reason under warranty in all my years at the dealerships. 

 

If I was replacing a single head or gasket, I ordered a complete engine gasket kit, just because it made more sense, "just in case," and they never balked at it. 

 

It really comes down to the person who actually works on your car. And I tell this to people all the time, when they ask me, "Where can you recommend me to get the best service?"

Because it really has nothing at all to do with the place of business. Of course, the big, expensive places will advertise "Certified, ASE, Factory trained, etc." And knowledge IS, of course, the greatest asset ever. But all the knowledge in the world means nothing if the guy just doesn't give a f*** about your car. There are guys in the darkest, scariest, most unequipped holes you could possibly find, who would be proud to polish, and accurately torque your lug nuts for 8 bucks an hour. And if he has enough initiative to do his own research, for free information that anyone can access these days, he could be every bit as "Qualified, Certified, blah, blah," as anyone in the most expensive, exclusive shop in the world. 

 

So the challenge is finding "that guy" if you are hiring out, and not "the place." Which is quite a bit more difficult...

[GeneralDisorder]

The information is out there, but you can't replace experience with information. Some things just aren't going to get learned from an internet forum or a manual. You might get close, but if you're dealing with someone that hasn't worked on a Subaru it will dramatically increase diagnostic times, and there will be missed opportunities for bundling labor and taking care of common failure items when doing seemingly unrelated jobs. You can't replace a lifetime of experience seeing pattern failures and knowing all the weak links that can be addressed "while you're in there".

 

It almost certainly will cost you more in the end to go with a generic mechanic or even the dealership. They have no interest in using a HG that isn't ever going to fail. They use what's called out by the VIN. There are MANY more examples but that's the one most people will understand.

 

GD

[idosubaru]

The oil leak seems to be coming from the front of the passenger side. I call the dealer to mention this, and they tell me that if it is coming from the short block they will address, otherwise it is my responsibility.

I'm simply looking at facts here - they've done you right so far, fixed everything for free, and now the person on the phone, who usually isn't a mechanic or technical, won't guarantee a free repair over the phone on a car they can't see with customer diagnosis.

 

Given the facts, this looks like a great dealer.

 

Take it to them, let the cards fall, then worry about it.

Edited August 7, 2017 by idosubaru

[Mike104]

BTW, the factory never, ever had a problem paying for any gaskets or seals I replaced for any reason under warranty in all my years at the dealerships. 

 

If I was replacing a single head or gasket, I ordered a complete engine gasket kit, just because it made more sense, "just in case," and they never balked at it. 

 

It really comes down to the person who actually works on your car. And I tell this to people all the time, when they ask me, "Where can you recommend me to get the best service?"

Because it really has nothing at all to do with the place of business. Of course, the big, expensive places will advertise "Certified, ASE, Factory trained, etc." And knowledge IS, of course, the greatest asset ever. But all the knowledge in the world means nothing if the guy just doesn't give a f*** about your car. There are guys in the darkest, scariest, most unequipped holes you could possibly find, who would be proud to polish, and accurately torque your lug nuts for 8 bucks an hour. And if he has enough initiative to do his own research, for free information that anyone can access these days, he could be every bit as "Qualified, Certified, blah, blah," as anyone in the most expensive, exclusive shop in the world. 

 

So the challenge is finding "that guy" if you are hiring out, and not "the place." Which is quite a bit more difficult...

 

My son works at a Subaru dealer and when they do a short block or HGs under warranty (not as common these days) they also order a engine gasket kit and replace what they need.  I have picked up a few gaskets from the left overs when I visit him.

[Gloyale]

Them telling you leaks other than the shortblock is a pretty skinny scapegoat since all the gaskets would have to be replaced for that repair anyway. Camshaft seals, which would have been at their discretion, would be about the only thing not required to replace, but probably should have been under good will. Likely, those will magically be where the oil leak is coming from.

 

No cam seals.  FB timing chain engine.

[Silent Bob]

Front crank seal is the only oil seal replaced with the short block. That and valve cover gaskets.  The rest is all RTV, a LOT of RTV.  Most likely culprit would be that the chain cover was not cleaned and/or sealed properly.  Take it back and have them check it out, and ask to look at it before they start cleaning it off.  Or crawl underneath and look to see where the oil is coming from first.