February 16, 200818 yr ok so i changed my oil today and to my dissmay i found it was only running... ONE quart !!!!! i was like omg. so i replaced the filter (NO FRAM) and the oil i put in it was synthetic 7500 mile stuff. well i felt a thunk then i was pouring the old oil into jugs well i found a steal ball idk what it gose to it looks like the ball from the oil pressur sending unit (the one that sets with a spring and all) just wondering what it could be from? the car runns great and i have oil pressure PS car is 1980 subaru gl wagon 2wd ea71 thanks Rob.
February 16, 200818 yr I wouldn't expect the 7500 mile oil to actually still be in the engine 7.5k later. A 28 year old abused engine is going to burn/leak oil. This is why Subaru thought to put a dipstick front and center on their engine. You can monitor the level of the oil in the engine with this simple device, avoiding the "OMG it's got no oil" problem.
February 16, 200818 yr Author ok i know this this is the first oil change i have done on this car and i dont expect it to still be there. and when i checked the oil it seemed fine so idk . anywho ball berring ill try to get pics later
February 16, 200818 yr I'm with 91L I change the oil in mine every 5000km, and in that time have probably replaced all the oil at least once over.
February 17, 200818 yr This is why Subaru thought to put a dipstick front and center on their engine. You can monitor the level of the oil in the engine with this simple device, avoiding the "OMG it's got no oil" problem. On his EA81, the dipstick is on the rear of the engine, passenger side side behind the air filter box. Only EA82's and newer have the dipsick up front. As long as it had pressure.... ball bearing couldn't really come from the oil pump, and there's no other ball bearings that I can think of in the EA81, so it must have fallen into the filler cap or down the dip-stick tube. That would be my guess anyway. GD
February 17, 200818 yr Author thats what im guessing. ps its an ea71 thanks all the car is running great. Rob
February 17, 200818 yr Yes, a subaru will still run 3 quarts low. But, it's probably best not to do that I run the synthetic 10,000 mile stuff in mine, but it burns about a quart every 500 miles, so it doesn't actually stay in there very long. It runs so much smoother on synthetic, that's why I do it. 237k miles on the original EA82 right now. Starting to hear a little TOD on a cold (less than 20F) starts recently though... Z
February 17, 200818 yr Yes, a subaru will still run 3 quarts low. But, it's probably best not to do that I run the synthetic 10,000 mile stuff in mine, but it burns about a quart every 500 miles, so it doesn't actually stay in there very long. It runs so much smoother on synthetic, that's why I do it. 237k miles on the original EA82 right now. Starting to hear a little TOD on a cold (less than 20F) starts recently though... Z Doesn't the synthetic burn off faster than regular oil? A quart every 500 miles sounds like it could get kinda expensive, especially with synthetic. TOD on cold starts? Oh well. These things are just big ticking time bombs.
February 17, 200818 yr Hmm. The only ball I can think of it being is the Oil pressure relief valve ball. I don'[t know how it could have gotten out of there, unless the spring behind it broke or failed or something. When it's the little one you should be able to see when you remove the oil filter. It i there to provide a path for oil to circulate if the oil filter gets too dirty. It's important to look at this *bypass* ball each time you change you're oil. If for any reason something jams it open, ALL of you're oil will recirculate without being filtered. very bad, very bad. (70's and 80's chevy V8s with Nylon coated timing gear had thi problem ALOT. Chunks of the gear would get stuck in the bypass and wedge it open.) So, take off the filter, and look for the relief vavle ball. If it isn't there, you need to reinstall it.
February 17, 200818 yr I'm with 91LI change the oil in mine every 5000km, and in that time have probably replaced all the oil at least once over. I NEVER change my oil, just the full flow oil filter and the Frantz oil filter. The Frantz filters have worked for me for over 40 years and saved me a lot of oil. My oil is always clean so my engines stay clean on the inside.
February 18, 200818 yr I NEVER change my oil, just the full flow oil filter and the Frantz oil filter. The Frantz filters have worked for me for over 40 years and saved me a lot of oil. My oil is always clean so my engines stay clean on the inside. It may always be clean but heat breaks down oil. Thus causing the oil to lose viscosity. Which means it will lose it's ability to lubricate.
February 18, 200818 yr It may always be clean but heat breaks down oil. Thus causing the oil to lose viscosity. Which means it will lose it's ability to lubricate. Frantz received FAA approval back in the 1970's, the United States military uses them (doesn't drain oil), and I never had a problem due to lack of lubrication in 40 years and over 900,000 miles. You can't argue with success AND oil analysis results.
February 19, 200818 yr Author ok dont argue in here pleas also where can i find the PCV on an ea71 thin case thanks Rob.
February 19, 200818 yr I dont think that a ea71 has a pcv valve, or at least i have never seen one:) Yes, it does. Back of the manifold same as all the other EA's. GD
February 19, 200818 yr ok dont argue in here pleas also where can i find the PCV on an ea71 thin case thanks Rob. nothing wrong with a little debate. especially if the other poster does in fact have an actual oil analysis.
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now