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EA82T guys - oil and coolant usage thread


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so the XT i own is the 4th car ive had with an EA82T...

 

i wanted to know if you guys would elaborate on your cars' oil and coolant usage habits.

 

it seems to me that im always adding a few cup fulls of antifreeze in between oil changes...i generally fill the over flow bottle twice between oil changes, and this on every one ive owned or worked on.

 

oil is another story too. the engine in my XT has roughly 10k on it since a complete teardown to the crank for a rebuild...it doesnt leak a drop but will still use about a quart of 20w50 between oil changes

 

any pertinent info or opinions from the experts?

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my wagon does not use much if any coolant. I think I added mabey a quart in the last 10,000 miles. using coolant could indicate a bad gasket somewhere. seepage?:-\

you dont fill the bottle to the top right? only half way.

 

as for oil I add a couple quarts for 5,000 miles of use. I use Red Line synthetic so I spread out the oil changes a bit.

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well my turbo wagon has 290k original uses at the most a quart of oil between changes...

 

coolant it never uses unless i go on a long trip then i gotta put some in.. was told by another person here on the board that the coolant usage is prolly a water pump.. when it leaks a little it drips onto the crossover pipe and poof gone.. so no sign of it.. i kn ow in my wagon, if ya get over 70-75 mph for extended periods it uses some, but just runnin around town, back and forth to work i never have to add any..

 

so i'm pretty sure its not a head gasket or the turbo, just a weeny water pump.. maybe bad design in them dunno...

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nope...this is on every single car with an ea82t ive owned, not just some newly discovered thing, and ive never overheated a single one.

 

i can boost at 14psi all day long and the temp guage wont go over halfway unless im doing 90 in 4th...very doubtful that anything serious is going on.

 

also - this is all mostly highway/high speed driving

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Pretty similar experiences.. A quart between changes.. more if I have long trips.. I need cam seals and a crank seal.. the little drips are driving me mad!

 

 

I noticed that I used a little bit of coolant recently.. not much.. don't know where it went.. no leaks

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I use about 1/2L of oil between changes - If I fill it with 4L of oil after a change, the oil level will be down around the 'add' mark by the time it needs a change.

 

Coolant - my WP is shot, so it uses quite a bit of coolant in the summer, maybe a cup or two a week, if I drive it lightly. In the winter, it always runs nice and cool, so no problems - maybe a cup a month or so.

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My EA82T doesn't lose any coolant (on the odd occasion when I've managed to get it totally sealed), but it seems this engine just isn't happy unless its weeping coolant from somewhere. As soon as I fix one leak, another one would start somewhere else. Currently it's got a very minor weep around the dash temp gauge sender where it screws into the thermostat housing, but I've left that one go, and no others have developed since.:confused: Also noted that the coolant would also go down after a bit of serious hill climbing while off road, but found that was caused by coolant slopping out of the reserve tank with the car at a nose high angle. Oil consumption is about the same as what you say with 10W-40. Probably most gets drawn into the intake via the PCV as the air intakes are always oily on my vehicle.

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I've had about 20 EA82T's and most use some oil, anywhere from almost none to a couple quarts between changes with advanced leaking. On the coolant issue, most of mine aren't coolant users but I have had a few like that, generally when it was alot, it could be tracked to a hard to detect leak or a head gasket on it's way out. I've had a couple that had bad head gaskets that just barely leaked and drove them like that for years. I know the head gasket or head was leaking because I could smell anifreeze in the exhaust and they did use water at a slow rate.

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well after talking to SOA techs, its determined that its a normal condition.

 

especially in the turbo motors because all EA82s (T's or not) have essentially the same cooling system and with the addition of a turbocharger and more cooling lines - this only puts more of a strain on the system.

 

my oil usage may have been exaggerated in my intial post - i probably use about a half quart between changes but this last month i did 3k alone after driving all over the damn state for work and all.

 

keith - my XT uses more gas then your STi, lets have a race to see who can burn off 15 gallons faster.

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Originally posted by Dennis ex24

my oil usage may have been exaggerated in my intial post - i probably use about a half quart between changes but this last month i did 3k alone after driving all over the damn state for work and all.

 

keith - my XT uses more gas then your STi, lets have a race to see who can burn off 15 gallons faster.

 

I would say mine used half a quart every 3k. For it being a turbo and knowing what turbos do to the oil that is probably normal. Plus depending on the addatives to the oil you will lose some as things like detergents burn off.

 

BTW, I've heard of guys running track events and only getting about 3 miles to the gallon on fuel! :boohoo:

 

Keith

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Mine is just leaking bad. Think I've got a cam box on the pass. side and something up front has put a nice burned glop on the crossover pipe. Come to a stop at a light and the smoke comes out of the hoodline. Looks like it's on fire. Nice.

 

Just from a cursory glace it seems to be coming from around the oil pump.

 

Tearing it down in the next month to do a reseal and hopefully pipe in the intercooler with a bit more reliability and about 10 lb of boost.

Trying to work out a front mount so I don't have to deal with the intercooler being a heat sink in the engine bay. We'll see.

 

 

Good luck with selling your RX. I've talked it up to a few people.

 

I might still have those pictures of your RX if you want me to scan them and send them to you, let me know.

 

Regards,

 

Jay

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my gl wagon drips oli everywhere. in fact, i leaks enough oil that i don't even have to do oil changes. it changes itself. some would see that as a big inconvenience, but hey, at least i don't have to change it. just filters now and then. as for coolant. i can put it in there and it only stays for about a week or so, then i have to add more. doesn't overheat though.

 

BTW, how hard would it be to replace gaskets and whatnot to find my damn oil leak. keep in mind, i am no master mechanic. would this be worth my time or should i pay a shop to do it?

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My 92 Subaru leaks from various locations...

 

The main leak is around the timing belt cover, but I found in my records that the crank shaft oil seal was already replaced a year ago with the timing belts. However, I don't think the seals on the timing belt pullys were replaced. (more on this later)

 

So... I also found some black RTV silicone that is hi-temp and oil-proof at the local auto parts store.

 

I cleaned (with a lacquer thinner solvent) then siliconed all the places I though were leaking. After the silicone dryed (the next morning) I would spray the area with a silver high-temp paint to make it clean and easy to track future leaks.

 

To prevent the oil from collecting within the timing belt cover I drilled a little hole in the bottom of the cover at the lowest point and added a tube with catch bottle ( about the size and shape of an Excedrin botle) to help drain and collect any oil that may be leaking from the timing belt pully oil seals.

 

 

To date I have done this clean/re-seal 5 times. The oil leaks are almost totally gone and the little catch bottle is only 1/10 full.

So far so good.

 

:D

 

T.J.

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