rustfarmer

Our rear wheel bearings seem to be getting loud, again. With only 152K miles on the car we have replaced rear bearings twice already at a cost of $1200 each time. We don't tow anything and never carry more than a 50 lb sack of dog food and rarely have even one passenger in the rear seats. Are the factory bearings just a poor quality part? Could I use aftermarket USA bearings and do the job myself?

Just finished a week long trip--about 1000 miles and since carrying some luggage I upped the tire pressure to 35 psi rear and 34 psi front. After running about 4 hours in speed zones with 80 mph limit the TPS warning light started blinking so we exit and find a air pump and buy a new digital gauge. Tires were all fine and reading 36 rear and 34 front while still warm. After this short stop the light was off so just kept the speed down to 75 and it did not come back on. Next day, light came on again running about 80 so slowed to 70 and it went out. Tire pressure was still fine. My question is, could the light be coming on from tires being over-inflated? Or could the sensors be old and failing?

Thanks for your input Numbchux. That's the first I've heard about the replacement short blocks being tighter. Our 2014 has a "rebuilt" title, which means it was a salvage title then inspected and "certified" rebuilt, which if funny, because so much major safety stuff was still wrong after the inspection. I guess that gives Subaru an excuse to void the warranty although ours has only 79K miles.

Thanks heartless. Our 2013 Crosstrek was getting 28 mpg at 120K miles but after tuneup and throttle body cleaning it now get 31 to 32. It runs 0-20 oil and never needs any between changes I do at 6K. FWIW, a dealer service advisor I like just told me about a product he swears will reduce oil consumption by about half. He says B G Engine restorer is a engine flush that actually works! He recommends just before an oil change get the car a quart low; add a quart of this product (available on amazon and some parts stores); run the engine for 10 minutes; stop engine and let cool (which I assume helps the product dissolve deposits); restart engine and run 5 minutes and then drain while still hot (be careful!). Complete oil and filter change--oil will be black as tar. Do this for two normal oil changes and oil consumption should be greatly reduced. He did not recommend using thicker oil, but we'll see. I will try this soon and report my findings. May still go to 5-30, but I'll try this first.

No thoughts anyone? I was thinking 5 w 30 might be a help.

I have done further research on this issue and turns out there is a tech service bulletin about reprogramming the ECU so that the low oil light only comes on when you are 1.1 quarts low. This seems like a bad idea, but is a band aid due to the excessive oil consumption issue on these engines. I found a youtube video (mrsubaru1387) which claims the real problem is that corporate made the decision to try to get extra fuel mileage by building these engine to "looser" specs. Apparently even a class action lawsuit a has been settled which resulted in Subaru replacing entire short blocks for some folks, but that did not help the issue and thus some owners actually got a buy back. The excess oil use can foul plugs, catalytic converters, O2 sensors, etc. My question now is, might it make sense to use a different weight oil, even if this reduces fuel mileage a bit? Color me frustrated!

Thank you Numbchux. That seems to be our experience as well.

Update FWIW. Daughter reports oil level is within normal level but perhaps could take a half quart so she added about that much (although she said she spilled quite a bit so who know exactly how much was added). Light was off for a while, then came on for ten minutes, that on and off some and finally on steady. She will check in the morning when dead cold to get exact reading. Engine seems fine with no noises, excess heat, nor tailpipe smoke and she has run about 9 hours today. Frustrating for me and wish this part could just be replaced more easily. I will post again when I know more.

Thanks Bennie. That is our decision too. The occasional false warning will be a reminder to check the dipstick just to make sure. If the warnings become too frequent we may price having the unit replaced.

Nice. Thanks so much for your help Ferret54.

Thank you Numbchux for that info. Is there an easy way to disable the oil level indicator (snip a wire?) if it is giving false readings? Dealer said oil level was spot on.

Thank you Ferret54 for this information. This is the first I have heard about this being such a PITA job. I, too, am an old wrench (74 years) and will be looking for some work around if this turns out to be the bad part. What would be an easy way to disable it without the warning light coming on? Have others dealt with this as well and if so, how? Thanks for your help.

Thank you Bennie!

Thanks for your reply Bennie. My reading does confirm that this model has both an oil pressure sensor and an oil level sensor. The dealer said both parts are inexpensive but they didn't want to replace them without a second false reading. They said drive at least another 1000 miles to see if the warning light comes on again. Not a very satisfactory answer IMHO. I would have gladly paid to replace both sensors and inspect the wiring too. Time will tell I guess.

Thank you for your reply Lucky. My reading indicates that an oil level sensor exists on the newer models, probably because on older ones once the pressure light comes on you have already damaged the engine. I was wonder if that sensor has issues? Update: Dealer ran tests and says everything including oil level looks fine and they have no idea why the light came on. Good, but also bummer in that now we have no idea if there is an issue or not.

Our daughter recently bought a 2014 Impreza which had been wrecked and rebuilt (somewhat) so we took it to a dealer and spent $3000 for fluid changes, filters, and safety checks which replaced trans mount, ball joint pinch bolt (wrong undersized bolt had been used), brake fluid flush, and throttle body service. She drove the car for about a month around town and then I did an oil and filter change using factory filter and 0-20 Mobil 1 oil. She then started a long trip and during the first leg from Nashville to Oklahoma City. About 30 miles from OK city the oil can light came on so she slowed speed to 60 and within a few minutes light went off. When she got to her stop she called us and a dipstick check seemed to show the oil level a bit low but hard to tell from her photos. The car only has 79K miles on it, but of course we have no way of knowing its service history. Engine did not overheat or make any unusual sounds and has never shown signs of oil burning. It's at a dealer for diagnostics right now but wondered if the oil pressure sensor is a likely fail, or if there is wiring that should be inspected because of prior wreck and repairs?

Still don't know what t&h stands for, but standard all season touring I get just fine. Thank you.

What are H&T's? Never heard of this type.

Ready for 3rd set of tires and wonder what others like? I liked the stock ones, but $225 each seems a bit pricey from the dealer. I have used Goodyear gas savers and found they hydro plane badly once half worn. Michelin are twice the cost of others. Are they worth the cost? Tried Pirelli and did not like them at all.

Our 2013 needed both rears at 90K. Dealer charged $1200, but at least they changed one again 20K later when it failed too without charge. I am used to my older cars getting 300K from rear bearings.

Our 2013 Crosstrek was part of the recall. We were the first one done by Darrell Waltrip Subaru in Franklin TN. The service manager was very helpful and gave us a loaner rental truck and told us he told his technician to take his time since this was his first and he had just been trained. He also said that there were two possible variants of the engine and one could be repaired without pulling the engine but not so with the other. The repair was done at no cost and included an oil change. Upon return, the car runs quieter (less valve noise) and so far no further issues. We had 109,000 miles on the clock the time. We have had great service from this car and it uses no oil between changes, which I do myself using factory filters and Mobil 1 0-20. We hope to get 300K miles or better from this one, although we have had to replace rear wheel bearings. FWIW, you might think that after years of wheel bearing issues Subaru could have resolved this problem. We also own a 1999 Forester and when I replaced rear bearings on it I used Timken bearings and so far have had no problem but haven't run it that much since.

Just got a recall notice for defective (possibly) valve springs and dealer says they don't have parts or special tools so it may be February before the work can be done. The service manager says all the cars that have had this problem failed in the first few hundred miles. If so, why is the recall happening six years later?

I have a 98 forester and also a 2001 forester parts car. The 98 set trans code 24 and had torque bind, so I put in the FWD fuse, which mostly works, however sometimes at startup the temp light starts flashing and torque bind occurs even with the fuse in. I thought this means the duty c solenoid is bad, but more reading tells me it could be the TCU failing, so (Finally) my question is, will the 2001 TCU work perfectly, or even just for testing?

Just because the FWD fuse works to activate the transfer clutch solenoid, does not mean it operates correctly when the fuse is not installed. I was having torque bind and installed the FWD fuse but at first nothing changed. After two start/stop cycles the FWD light came on and torque bind was gone. It was easy to confirm FWD mode was working as front tires now spin coming up driveway. Note that solenoid may be sticking when fuse is not used, such that torque bind comes and goes.