2013 Legacy oil concern

Hey Legacy folks! First post over here from the NASIOC forums. I own an Impreza, and my wife has the '13 Legacy.

 

I'm trying to do some prelim troubleshooting before I take the car to the shop for a scheduled oil change. Over the past month I've had to put oil in the car twice after the light has popped up on the dash. The car is only at 75k miles so I wouldn't think it's burning oil that fast. I put about a half quart in each time just to hold over until the oil change.

 

I am worried there might be a leak somewhere. Any of you experience a common leak around this time on your Legacys? I'm also hearing what sounds like an air popping/rattling sound at 4k+ RPMs. One might say its just a heat shield rattling, but I'm not sure if they'd be related issues right now or not. I know there is some rust underneath from PA winters and a lot of highway driving/salt on it.

 

I'll probably have the shop I go to check it out regardless, but I'd like to know what I'm walking into if I can.

 

Another note: The steering seems pretty loose, like I need to correct it quite often on the highways (don't remember it like this previously, but there was a decent amount of time I didn't drive the car). Is this normal on the legacy, or would you suggest getting the steering components checked? I'm just hesitant because the car just had the big 70k maintenance done on it so I would like to think anything would have been done/corrected then.

 

Sorry for the winded, first post here My wife and I lived apart for 1.5 years before getting married and moving in together a month ago. I babied my Impreza by cleaning/modding/covering it and riding my bike a lot. So now that we live together, I need to get her car up to speed on top grade care. We did have it regularly maintained/oil changes though, just needs some TLC to look new again. So i'll be peeking around these forums now

Hopefully I can help a little bit:

1. oil consumption - this is a known issue and there is a TSB on this. Even though you are out of warranty, you should precisely monitor your oil consumption and look to bring the car into a dealer to "officially" monitor this and file a report with Subaru.

I have 56,000 miles and I am currently burning about 1 qt every 2000 miles. Subaru states consumption is only excessive if over 1 qt every 1200 miles. you can search this site and forum for more detail

2. popping sound- TSB on this also. you can search this site and forum for more detail

3. Steering issue - was your 13 legacy included in the steering recall? you can check on Subaru's website by VIN#. This recall was related to a pin that could come loose, so I don't know that "loose steering feel" would be related to this, but if you still need this recall performed, it would a good time to have the dealer look into the steering system.

I'd get the next oil change done at your local dealer and see what they can do for you out of warranty for the above mentioned oil consumption issue. Once you have the issue documented by the dealer, you can call SOA and see if they will offer goodwill assistance on the fix if one is needed. I'd try that since it's a known issue.

 

Register the car on mysubaru and it will tell you if there is a Subaru Added Security extended warranty on the car (long shot, but I've known people to buy an extended warranty during the new car purchase, then forget about it).

Thanks for the info. I've ruled out the steering recall. Maybe I'm just paranoid, and my recent suspension upgrades on my Impreza may have spoiled my thinking. Koni's and RCEs for the wife's car it is!

 

Every oil change has been done at the dealer to date, so I will definitely have them first look for leakage and if not, document that between the last change/maintenance and now there has been oil burning at excess rates.

 

And I'll look into the popping some more. not high on my priority right now though. Thanks again.

 

Edit: NVAKeith, I notice you're in Alexandria. Same here. Would you recommend Beyer or Springfield Dealer? I took my Impreza to Beyer for the brake line anti corrosion recall work (need to go again too :/) and they tried pushing rotor and brake work so that kind of turned me off. To be fair, they were coming to the end, but I knew they'd hold me for another year (not the 1 month they made it sound like). And I did it myself . I started going to Mach V for anything I can't/don't want to do.

Warning, long response incoming....

 

I've never tried the Springfield dealer.

 

Beyer service was horrible in the early 2000s to the point where they sent me a free oil change certificate and I threw it out. Voicemails to the service advisors would go unreturned for days. I started using fitzmall for a while.

 

Beyer got better in the late 2000s and I started using them for warranty work. I had an awesome service advisor, Steve, for a few years but he switched to sales. Then I worked with a service advisor named Tony, he was good too, but he left last year. My last warranty work there last winter was an absolute cluster, had to bring the car back about three times and the service advisor I got would reply to detailed emails with three words.

 

I use a local garage for routine maintenance and Andrewtech for out of warranty diagnostics and clutches.

Just following up. Ended up taking it to Beyer Subaru for the mid-tier service level (car currently at 75k). Mentioned the oil consumption and they dismissed it as normal and seems to be based on feedback. I just thought Syn lasted quite some time and could last at least double the normal oil change interval of 3k. I will monitor the actual mileage this time to see if I will need to replace the oil at excess rates. No complaints else wise other than follows...

 

Now one thing that irritated me, not anything from Beyer, but my wife just had the car in at 70k for an oil change and PA state inspection back in June (2-3 months ago) at the normal dealer and where she purchased it new (Lancaster Co Motors). The service guy at Beyer called us to report the front tires need replaced and aren't even safe to drive on and the rear pads are way low (1.5mm). I was like . Showed me the pics on the report because I looked at him weird at pick up and sure enough the inside of the fronts were practically bald with metal about to poke... I didn't notice it myself because the wear was on the inside and I've never lifted or worked on wife's car. Also, how did the tires and pads pass inspection less than 3 months ago!? I knew we were going to need to replace soon, but I didn't realize the extent based on previous check.

 

A few other things that this has spun in my head, what were they actually doing for my wife's car when she was taking it to LCM? Since all of her maintenance has been done ritualistically there, I wonder if they just started taking short cuts knowing she'd be back? I like to replace pads 2.5-3mm, and usually thats when you are notified of replacing. Anyone experience 1.5mm+ of pad wear in ~5k miles for light, daily driving???

 

What variance in front to rear tread life is there usually? The tires don't seem to have been rotated properly based on mid status rears and dire status fronts. And inside tire wear like that seems like alignment is off... unless anyone can confirm this is normal for AWD fronts? I'm still building my knowledge base on my Impreza and her Legacy, usually as I go through the work on them.

 

Anyway, the past is the past. Ordered all 4 tires from Tire Rack, 5 star rating all-seasons, Posi-quiet pads, and the simple centric rotors. Just going to have Community Car Care (great reviews and easy inspections when we moved here) in the local area do the work. Don't have the place and minimal time and the wife is being weird about me working on her car, even though I've done everything to mine Would have liked to just get winters at this time (and summers in the spring) and some Hawk pads, but still recovering from the wedding back in Aug. Next year! Thanks for replies.

You'll want to get that inside wear issue fixed while those new tires go on. Wear that agressive is usually an impact event that put alignment out, or a part of your suspension has worn to the point that your alignment is out.

 

Either way, get it fixed or you will be buying new tires again within the year. What did the guys at Beyer say about the uneven wear?

If you change your mind about the winters, JJBerk in Maryland has an almost new mounted set for sale in the wheel classifieds.

If the tires werent rotated properly the fronts due tend to wear the shoulders pretty quickly. If its an alignment issue you should feel it while driving, the shop should check the alignment when they install the new tires. Most shops here do the check as a courtesy.

I own at subaru legacy 2013 and I had the oil consumption problem where all the oil would be gone by 3k. I took it to the dealer a few times and told them the problem so they had to do a oil consumption test. After coming in twice when the oil light on and no oil in it they determined it was the rings in my engine qhere the oil just slipped right through and the engine burned all the oil. So under the warranty they rebuilt my engine and gave me a new short block and haven't had a oil problem since. It's a known problem though and subaru does know about it and stats 1 quart by 1.5k miles is normal is false. Hope this helps.

You will soon learn to hate the words "it is within spec".

 

That is one of the reasons why I traded 2013 2.5i for 2013 3.6r.

my H6 seems to like ester based oil (great taste but expensive..). It won't burn a drop when using redline or motul oil. But burns 1 qt every 7000 miles when using Castrol, Pennzoil..etc. No big deal, now I stick to redline and change it every 5K miles.

Ah sorry, never followed up before. I got the new tires balanced and an alignment done to make sure everything was set. Haven't had any issues since with it feeling 'loose'. I wonder if that was just attributed to the horrible inside wear on the old tires.. seems most likely :/. Also haven't had the oil hit the light yet. I planned on checking the miles driven since work was done and the oil levels over Thanksgiving when I have some time. Also planned on checking the tire wear to make sure it isn't suspension bits worn or damaged from VA roads.

 

I think I just need to be more aware of my wife's car condition now that we live together Probably will do oil changes at 5k and stick to Castrol. Will also be tracking via my car log the tire rotations more carefully to make sure I get the life out of all 4 tires.

 

And yes, the "In spec" is lovely. "Oh, your car isn't burning oil.. via the specs, they can get 'thirsty'"

Having similar issues with my 2010 LGT with 105xxx miles. Takes 1quart every 1200 miles. Brought it in to subaru on Monday since I have a 3rd party extended warranty. All they can do now was do a oil change with subaru oil and filter and told me to come back in every 500 miles for them to check it.....

So it's a bit after Thanksgiving.. but didn't really have time to follow up until X-mas. Happy to say that haven't had any more oil issues. Probably just needed a good change and new filter. I just changed the headlight bulbs last night.. what a PITA.

 

While I was doing it, I realized the front coolant reservoir by the radiator is pretty much empty... Do I need to get the system flushed now for any potential air pockets? Or can I just top it off no problems?

 

To go along with this, I haven't seen any signs of coolant leaking.. and as stated previously all maintenance intervals were performed by taking the car to the dealer. Should the coolant run empty like that? I would think that wouldn't happen if the fluids were really getting checked and topped off during their "multi point inspection" BS they tell you. Please let me know, as I planned on running to WMart for some anti-freeze tonight. If it'll need flushed Ima try to get it in saturday.

Hopefully I can help a little bit:

2. popping sound- TSB on this also. you can search this site and forum for more detail

 

Can anyone link to this thread? I've searched now and previously, and am not able to find it. I have this sound to and want to know what it is.