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P0607 + Possible Engine Knock? Need advice


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Hello everyone,

 

In an interesting situation right now and would love as much advice as I can get.

 

So I am drove up this Thanksgiving on a 6-hour/393 mile trip for Thanksgiving with the in-laws in my 2006 Subaru Legacy 2.5i Limited Sedan.

 

Originally purchased at 161,150 miles for $4.7k, head gaskets just got replaced so it seemed like a good deal at the time.

 

Now at 171,300 miles as of typing this message.

 

At 373 miles into this 393 mile trip, my car decided to throw a check-engine light and stall out. I attempted to accelerate, but it wouldn't go past 4000 rpms and I started to slow down.

 

Thankfully we were able to slow down and get onto the side of the road.

My wife noticed a smell in the car like a burning of some type.

 

I pop the trunk and notice that either the Alternator is smelling, or it is coming from the little puddle of dark liquid below the alternator.

Either way, I don't check the dipstick because I thought it was an entirely different issue.

 

We leave the car on the highway and get the in-laws to get us to safety.

 

On Thanksgiving day we take a peek at it before Thanksgiving dinner, I forgot my BlueDriver in the car and decide to see what codes it threw.

We manage to turn it on after it struggles to start and it makes this gnarly knocking sound. It manages to stay around 1000 rpm, but it is obviously knocking very loudly. After approximately 5 minutes, it decides to shut off on its own. All local repair places are closed so we decide to leave it another day .

 

(See link for a video of what it sounds/looks like).

 

The code it read initially were

P0607

P0028

P0026

P0304

P0303

 

Apparently that's a bad mistake since the State police decided to tow it regardless. We got it from the towing company and they tell us that they investigate why cars are on the side of the road. This is when they tell us they checked the dipstick when they popped the trunk and said there was no oil on the dipstick.

 

I purchased the car with an oil change from the used car dealership and did one at 165,500 by myself according to guides online and the manual with high mileage synthetic oil.

 

Somehow in the 5,000-6,000 miles that I drove, it managed to burn all the oil I put into the car.

 

We got it towed to a dealership for an initial inspection since everything was still closed since it is the Friday after Thanksgiving.

 

We gave them the keys and they told us they would call us earlier to take a look at it. We got a call from them later on in the day and they told us the whole entire engine was seized and a new short block was needed. (Obviously costing much more than the car is worth).

 

They are willing to keep the car in the lot for as long as I need to make a decision of trading it in or attempting to repair it somewhere else.

 

Today we decided to take all my personal belongings from the car.

My father-in-law was curious to see if adding oil will make it stay on for longer.

After adding the oil and struggling a little bit, it manages to crank and start after pumping the gas a multitude of times.

It makes the same horrendous knocking sound that it made before, but it wasn't turning off on its own quite yet.

We decided to run codes first and it only returned one

P0607

We decided to put it in drive and move it to see if it would limp home, it managed to move a little bit, but died when we tried to press the gas any further.

 

We put it back in neutral and moved it back.

 

Now we're here.

 

We're obviously looking for something else in the meantime, but is this car fixable at all? Or did I just manage to buy a lemon from a used car dealership.

 

I'm hoping we can repair this car for a reasonable amount, but I'm not sure if the dealerships "seized" engine claim is even correct at this point.

 

I'm open to any and all advice at this point.

 

Thanks for the read.

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Sorry for your loss. But once again, people need to check the oil level on these old cars. Your the second one like this I've read about recently. These cars can't run that many miles without having its oil topped off.

 

 

You need to decide if the body is good enough to keep or cut your losses and move on.

305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD).  CHECK your oil, these cars use it.

 

Engine Build - Click Here

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I am very surprised you got as far as you did. I wonder how the PCV was working, if at all?

 

In my opinion, move on. The car has a fair amount of miles and if you go through the work and financial burden of a new short block the rest of it is still of age. Wheel bearings, suspension, differentials, cv shafts, transmission. It may be solid, it may nickel and dime you. Good luck in your decision.

 

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

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So 4,350 miles before you changed the oil for the first time, hopefully it was already close to zero mile oil when you purchased the car. Did you check the oil level, at any point and before you drained it? That could have given you an indicator you went too long if you discovered it was low.

 

5,800 miles for your second "interval" that didn't happen because you ran the motor out of oil and seized it.

 

5-6000 is two times too many miles on one oil change interval, doesn't matter what kind of oil. half of THAT number is at the very largest distance you should have gone without checking the oil. I recommend checking oil every other petrol station visit, and changing the oil every 3,750 miles.

 

I do enjoy that people will rag on these cars, calling them lemons, but it really comes down to the owner. it's the owner in every instance.

 

My father-in-law was curious to see if adding oil will make it stay on for longer.

 

^^^^ This made me cringe.

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It's not uncommon for a Subaru engine to consume 1qt per 1k miles, and Subaru isn't unique there; even BMWs can do that. No oil on the dipstick means you are at least two quarts low, likely it's more than that if the engine ate itself. If the engine wasn't seized before, it likely is now. Unfortunately, this is a bit of an expensive lesson in maintenance, especially for older cars. If you (or a friend) are mechanically inclined, you *might* be able to replace the engine with a used one and get more life out of the car; but it's probably more likely that you need to list it with a dead engine and get $500 from someone (assuming there isn't anything else majorly wrong with the car.)
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Sorry for your loss. But once again, people need to check the oil level on these old cars. Your the second one like this I've read about recently. These cars can't run that many miles without having its oil topped off.

 

 

You need to decide if the body is good enough to keep or cut your losses and move on.

 

I check my oil level every 250 miles on both my 06 EJ25 as well as on my EZ30 and never have consumed a drop. The 06 was purchased new and driven for six years as a daily before parked. The EZ 30 and 36 are not very prone to oil consumption as the EJ25s however.

 

It seems either the head gasket in this case was not done properly or not done at all causing the loss of oil and issues.

 

I have also found that certain oils will burn off faster then others especially in synthetic. In fact my Infiniti burns about a half to a quart every 3k with Mobil 1 and when I switched to Pennzoil Platinum Ultra(very reluctantly) it does not burn anything with the same viscosity(5w30)

 

I do in this case side with the OP in the decision to look for something else as nothing is guaranteed with a replacement engine especially a used one.

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the only subaru engines that consume oil are those incorrectly assembled, or those that weren't maintained properly. I have a fresh rebuilt in my LGT that I've done several changes on and not once was it below the F line. my GC-RS on the other hand, the place i had build it didn't seal the case halves correctly... talk about an oil leak. 1 quart per 1000 miles is excessive and would fail subaru's oil consumption test. Ideally it's 1/3 or less per 1000 miles.

 

No oil on the stick does not mean it was 'at least two quarts low'. it would be closer to at least 1.5 quarts low, still not good by any means! between F and L is 1.1 quarts, or 1 litre. there isn't enough stick left beyond the L mark to measure another quart. But you do have me curious now, I've never bothered to check the oil after putting in 2.5 to see if it touches the stick, vs 3, etc. obviously 3.5 quarts should get you to the L mark.

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These cars absolutely do consume oil, my 2009 legacy has burned oil since I drove it off the lot with 3 miles. At 3k I checked the oil for the first time, and It was either at, or just below the low mark. It has continued to consume oil up to where I'm at now, 260k. The consumption is worst with highway driving, hot weather, and when the oil gets more miles on it, and shears down to a lower viscosity. It is very well documented by many people here that our cars use oil, even the owners manual makes it sound like up to 1qt every 1200mi is acceptable

oil2.png.6b7040fd25ec3d8587fcbf402eb94dd0.png

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Best quote I have ever got for a short block replacement and head job was 6500, trustable shop and I would be worried to pay much less

 

It's a big job , the upside you get a lot of the obvious maintenance items with done as well.

 

Once the motor is out the clutch also is probably a good idea as well, slippery slope.

 

The blue book is sadly low although I see them sell well over book right now with how the car market is, I also think long term they will be desirable.

 

If you like it enough to keep it for a long time fixing it might be worth it.......

 

Not sure what your financial situation is but unless you have 7500 or so cash or can get a low interest personal credit union loan, you are almost certainly better off buying another car.

 

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

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1 quart per 1000 miles is excessive and would fail subaru's oil consumption test. Ideally it's 1/3 or less per 1000 miles.

 

At 3k I checked the oil for the first time, and It was either at, or just below the low mark.

 

I guess I was a little confusing. if it's 1/3 quart or less per 1200 miles, that's normal and not what i considering consuming oil. your low reading after 3000 miles is normal, 1 quart over 3000 miles is 1/3 per thou, not excessive consumption.

 

That note is for a new car. It states you can not judge a new cars oil consumption early in its life, rings have to settle, etc. It then states if you have excessive consumption after the break in period, take the car in to the dealer. Likely for a warranty short block replacement.

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My brand-new engine burns a quart every 3K miles or so now after 12K on the replacement block. You definitely should be checking your oil frequently on any car over 10 years old regardless if it's a boxer engine, which is already insanely prone to piston ring failure (and, consequently, oil burning).

 

Probably time to part ways with the car.

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