Some 2011-2014 Subarus To Get New Piston Rings

Has anybody else heard about this yet?

 

http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1092813_some-2011-2014-subarus-to-get-new-piston-rings

 

Subaru will replace the piston rings on some 2011-2014 Outback, Forester, and XV Crosstrek crossovers, and Impreza and Legacy sedans, due to a problem with excessive oil consumption.

 

On some of these vehicles, Subaru has found unanticipated wear of the oil control piston rings. In affected engines, oil consumption will be higher than normal and consistent, and the condition remains until repair is made.

 

The fix

 

Subaru has come up with a fix for this problem in the form of a change in the surface treatment of the oil control piston rings. On affected vehicles, Subaru will replace the piston rings at no charge under the provisions of the cars' warranty.

 

On vehicles out of warranty, customers will have to pay for their vehicle's repairs--a major out-of-pocket expense, since the engine has to be disassembled, piston rings installed and the engine reassembled, plus any other parts that were damaged as a result of oil loss, gaskets and fluids.

 

Owners should closely monitor their oil levels, and to report consistent drops in oil levels to their dealer, along with the relevant Subaru TSB number, depending on which vehicle they own:

 

2013 Legacy & Outback w/ 2.5 FB engine: # 02-143-13R. Title: "Engine - Excessive Oil Consumption, Piston Ring Wear"

2012 - 2014 Forester w/ 2.5 FB engine: # 02-144-13R. Title: "Engine - Excessive Oil Consumption, Piston Ring Wear"

2011 - 2012 Forester w/ 2.5 FB engine: # 02-147-13R. Title: "Engine - Excessive Oil Consumption, Piston Ring Wear"

2012 - 2013 Impreza w/ 2.0 FB engine; 2013 XV Crosstrek: # 02-145-13R. "Engine - Excessive Oil Consumption, Piston Ring Wear"

This Service Campaign is being managed by VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) and on a case-by-case basis. Owners of a vehicle that may be consuming too much oil should have a dealer inspect the vehicle.

 

For more info or answers to questions, call Subaru Customer Service at 800-782-2783.

 

I wonder what problems will show up for the FA series engine?

 

You would think that by now Subaru would know how to make good headgaskets and piston rings, but apparently not.

FB oil consumption has been known for a while. It sucks for anyone who falls out the warranty period (over 60k miles) give that oil burnin problem has been known for quite some time.

So essentially they admit that they screwed up the rings, but if you're outside of warranty your SOL. Nice going, SOA. Warranty or not, it's still a factory defect they're admitting to.

Sucks about the warranty, but I bet Subaru will handle those on a case by case basis as well

This is why I don't buy into the "Subarus may be ugly but their reliability makes up for it" argument. I think Subaru's reputation is inflated, and I'd have no expectation of wildly different repair costs over a 200k mile life on most similarly priced cars being built today.

All manufacturers have their issues. I'd rather their be a chance of oil consumption in my car than repeated recalls for engine fires like Ford.

All manufacturers have their issues. I'd rather their be a chance of oil consumption in my car than repeated recalls for engine fires like Ford.

 

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/blogs/post--recall-2013-ford-escape-recalled-again-for-engine-fires

 

Engine fire would be scary, but it seems to be a pretty low rate of occurence, and Ford is actively recalling.

 

The thing that annoys me here is that subaru seems to be saying "we screwed up and put bad piston rings in, but we're only going to replace them if you have a problem during your warranty period" which isn't any different than just honoring their warranty.

Friend is Subaru tech and said the piston ring gaps wire lined up at factory during limited number of vehicles. Allows blow by and loss of compression. He said they are fixing them all.

Toyota has had this problem for decades lol.

Friend is Subaru tech and said the piston ring gaps wire lined up at factory during limited number of vehicles. Allows blow by and loss of compression. He said they are fixing them all.

 

OK, so not really a problem with the rings themselves - an assembly problem where the person assembling the engine don't check that the rings are aligned right.

 

Of course - it sucks to get it corrected.