Burnin oil

I have a 2009 Legacy 2.5i with 258,000 miles. It had been leaking oil (I thought) pretty bad. Subaru dealership said both heads & rear main were leaking. So 8,000 miles ago I had all new gaskets, water pump, & timing belt replaced.

 

Well, it ain't leaking oil, but I have to keep adding oil, quite a bit. I had replaced the cat when I first got the car, & now it's sending another cat code. I think it's from all that oil burning messing my cat up.

 

All that to say, where should I look first? Valve guides? Rings?

 

Thanks!

At 258k, take your pick.

 

You most likely have leaking valve guides, valve stem seals and your piston rings probably aren't sealing as well.

If the head gaskets were done they should have at least checked the heads and valve guides, while replacing valve stem seals though.

New car.

 

With that kind of miles... if it was a GT it might be worth putting money into it...Didn't the dealership warn you...oh yea, like that's going to happen.

 

If the body is in good shape, look around for a local repair shop that fixes lots of Subaru's. Don't pay dealer labor cost.

Check the invoice and see if they did change valve seals.

How much oil and how often do you top up?

Yeah I'm curious to know how much oil too. I'm the original owner of my legacy, and I've always had to add anywhere from 1-2qt's over a 4-5k oil change interval. My consumption gets worse in hot weather and with highway driving.

It isn't always the same every time, but around 2 qts every month, & sometimes less than a month. I travel around 80-100 miles per day, mostly hwy. The car started running bad today. Rough idle, dying at stops, & not having any power when down shifting to pass. It's an automatic btw. I do want to keep the car. Can I buy an ej257 short block, & get my heads reworked off my motor & use them with the rest of my parts from this motor on the new short block? Would it be cheaper to rebuild the motor & get the heads worked?

 

not only your engine is tired, your transmission will be needing work to keep up par with the new motor that you will be putting in. nothing last forever...

Being a 2.5i I don’t think a ej257 will work. I think you need a ej253.

I will say your car does look great.

It seems like I'm screwed. 2 years ago I financed the car with a warranty $5,500. 1 year ago I paid Subaru $1,100 to replace the converter. Several months ago I've invested around $2,000 in 5 XXR wheels, Whiteline strut tower brace, & Ksport Coilovers Kontrol Pro Lowering Coils, & some misc. stuff. Then a few months ago, when the warrenty paid to repair my iol leaks I paid $1,100 for new water pump, timing belt, thermostat, & some other gaskets.

 

Now I have a car with major troubles, that ain't worth puttin the money into, but I have no other option. & worst of all, the wife ain't happy about it. I told ya so KEEPS coming up...sigh

I'd be worried that the consumption would stay the same after a rebuild... These cars consume oil, I think people still have issues after rebuilds. Maybe changing the pcv could help a little? Probably not much though.. With the car running poorly did you get a cel and any codes? Anything done to the car recently, even a simple battery disconnect?

Nothing done lately. Been running great till yesterday when the check engine light came on. It was the same cat code as before. I cleared the code & it came back within 8 hrs, but this morning I cleared it, & it didn't come back on. It has a slight rough idle & wants to die while idling, but going down the road it drives well, it just seems to not have the power it had before. Maybe cuz the cats clogged? I think imma order a new cat, not from subaru this time, & put it on myself. It fixed the problem the last time the car threw this code. It lasted almost a year.

I'd look into checking the O2 sensors before buying another cat a year later. If it was a stock cat that the dealer put in, it shouldn't be cooked that quickly. Mis-reading O2 sensors can also make your car run terribly.

Is it possible to clean the o2 sensors? Like spray with carb cleaner or thinner?

No.

 

Did you check the PCV system? At that milage you probably have all sorts of intake leaks and clogged hoses. Mine was bad enough that I though I had blown the short block, when in reality it was just the PCV system being clogged.

CHATTANOOGA...local brother. I own Buddy's Shoe Repair in Hixson. Maybe you can come by & show me a thing or two.

 

No...didn't check that. The last time I got this code, I changed the o2 sensors, & then put the cat on, & that fixed the problem, until now. I'll look into that.

 

Thanks everyone for helping so much.

Ok...I put the cat on today, & it still runs bad. It got so bad I had to have it towed back to the house, cuz it wouldn't go. It would sit there & idle, but as soon as I gave it some gas it fell on it's face. I didn't change the o2's yet.

 

When I took the cat off there was 1/3 of it missing. Not sure if that would be causing my power loss. Tomorrow we're going to check the fuel pressure. & probable the pvc. Any other suggestions?

 

Thanks!

Pull the rest of the cat out of the resonator.

Today I put new post cat o2, & pulled next section of pipe with secondary cat, & it was the problem. It was clogged with the pieces from the pre cat that broke off. We drilled a quarter inch hole, broke it all up, shook it out, & welded the hole back up. Runs GREAT!

 

Thanks for all y'alls help.

Glad to hear it. I pass your Legacy on Hixson pike from time to time and was wondering whose it was. I drive a white LGT wagon.

Cool...Yeah I park it next to the sign for my shoe repair business, Buddy's Shoe Repair. I'm probably goin to be selling it now that it's running great again.

its because of the milage , time for a jdm engine .