antdiesel3

Well I had previously posted that my 04 WRX w/ just over 6k miles,had been experiencing high oil consumption. By this I mean 1 & 1/2 qts. every 1k miles. I brought the vehicle into service and turns out the compression readings in cyl #3 were about 25% lower the the rest. Problem solved or so I thought.

I called to get a status just recently and was told that the rings in said piston were off by about .030, causing blow-by. So far so good right? Wrong! I was told that the fix was to replace that piston and its ring set. Yes you read correctly. To correct this problem the service dept. was ordering (1) piston and (1) ring assy to replace the defective part. I was told that the cylinder would be de-glazed and the new piston installed.

I am more than a little uncomfortable with the thought of only replacing (1) piston and ring on an engine with about 6,700mi. The service dept. fully assured me that this was normal and would not be a problem down the road. I have never heard of such a thing. I was told this on Thursday and meant to call SOA today but was too busy @ work (I have been in constant contact w/ SOA even before bringing the car in for service).

My question is this: Do you think I have a legitimate gripe with Subaru only replacing (1) piston and not at least a short block? I had planned on keeping this car for some time. I would have to think the longevity of the engine would be somewhat compromised with this half-*** repair.

snicklous

i would say it depends on the way the inside of the cylinder looks. if it needs to to be honed more than one pass or needs to be bored then yes i would definitly ask for a short block.

808subaru

iTrader: (16)

i too am experiencing high oil consumption in my04 wrx wagon, but, i do drag once a week, and it is maybe .5 - .75 quarts every 1200 miles. btw turboed cars do burn oil, but i'm curious as to what oil weight are you using, as i have switched form a 0w to a 5w, and the car burns less oil, the 5w is thicker.

antdiesel3

I use a Mobil 5w30 as I live in the northeast. I was also noticing the oil was becoming very black in color after a short period of time. I don't drag race my car but do get on it here and there. I was getting this consumption w/ pretty much normal driving. I knew it was burning too much oil and my suspicions were confirmed after a compression check.

nic3krnnamja83

iTrader: (8)

due to the fact u live in cold weather could be just the fact u have to warm up the car )that is if you do hoping that u do) maybe why ur oil turns dirty quicker. plus since it may take longer to get to normal operating temps due to the extreme weather conds. just some precaustions not an expert just my thoughts.

antdiesel3

I just got my car back this week. It was at the dealer for about 2 weeks. Seems the rings in the # 3 piston did not fully seat on break-in. This was causing blow-by and oil consumption. The dealer replaced the # 3 piston and ring set which I thought was a little odd (not changing the short block). I was assured the repairs were done correctly and should not be a problem down the line.

The service manager also said the he would open up a case # for me for SOA. He told me to write a well worded letter to them and ask to have my engine warrantied to 100k due to the repairs. I will let you guys know how I make out.

So far so good the car runs well. I haven't driven it enough to check the oil yet. Gas mileage seems improved though. I was told by service to observe the 1k mi. 4k rpm break-in again. It was was tough enough to go through break-in when I first bought the car never mind now.

Kevin M

iTrader: (12)

Only replacing the single piston is normal. It's the only thing that was broken, so why replace the rest? It would have been advisable to replace the whole shortblock oly if the cost of the extra parts were less than the extra labor of replacing the piston, and it's not. They weren't doing anything shady to you.

imporacer

I don't think it will be a problem since it's not a blown piston or anything that bad. When I was building my friend B18C1 for his Type-R, we're putting low compression JE pistons so he can run a turbo on it. I accidently scraped the cylinder wall when putting the final piston in. We had to by a whole new piston and rings and re-hone #4 cylinder and bore it .010 over. So far, he has already 56,000 miles on that engine and it still running good. Compression is still good since we just check it last week. So it should be ok, wish you luck.

HellaDumb

iTrader: (3)

Who says turboed cars burn oil?
If you use 10w-30 (like the dealer puts in) or SAE30 or 40(warm weather only), you shouldn't be losing any oil.

MVWRX

iTrader: (1)

Why would the dealer put in 10w-30 when the owner's manual (and the oil filler cap) say 5w-30? The manual recomends 10w-30 for warm weather or hard driving conditions...I just assumed the dealer used 5w-30 because that's for normal conditions.

Kevin M

iTrader: (12)

It wouldn't make much diffrence either way. And trust me, plenty of dealers do actually put 10w30 in- they buy oil in bulk. Some use 5w30 some use 10w30.

BlingBlingBlue

I run Mobil 1, 10-30 in the summer and 5-30 in the winter. My car does not use any perceptible amount of oil between my 3,750 mile oil changes. But it is extremely common for turbo charged engines (and BMW engines, lol) to burn oil.

Kevin M

iTrader: (12)

It's got nothing to do with the turbo. Subarus have a habvit of burning oil as they age because of the engine configuration, among other things. Most engines will use some oil slowly because of the PCV system as well.

antdiesel3

I called SOA today. I gave them some background info on my situation. I explained the dealer had done an excellent job w/ the repairs and service but I had concerns over the longevity of the engine internals after the repair. At the time my oil problem was diagnosed I had about 6,800 mi. They asked me if I had done my first oil change yet. I said yes and it was done at the dealer at 2750 mi. His next question was whether I used synthetic or conventional oil for the change. I used Mobil 1.

What SOA told me was the they did not reccommend using any type/brand synthetic oil in the WRX. I was told that all of their testing was done using 5w30 conventional oil and that the engine tolerances were designed for conventional oil. He went on to say that there is nothing wrong with synthetic oil however our engine just wasn't designed to use it.

SOA said that there was a possibility that my switching to synthetic oil at the first change may have prevented proper break-in. I basically told him that was b/s. I explained that my car had 50 mi when I bought it new and who knows what kind of test drives were taken during those 50 mi. He re-assured me that he wasn't accusing me of anything he was just suggesting that I stay away from synthetic oil in my WRX.

I asked that they extend my engine warranty to 100k which they denied. SOA did say that I have a case number and my problems are documented, so I should encounter any problems in the future (beyond 60k) they would take that into consideration. SOA's response was basically we build a solid car and we will stand behind it should I have any problems. I guess that is good enough for me.

I know this is going to spark a lot of responses from people who use synthetic and swear by it. This is what SOA says to use and that is good enough for me.

Anthony

BlingBlingBlue

The reason I use synthetic oil in my WRX is because in the labratory, synthetic can endure higher temperatures than dino before it breaks down. Oil goes through my turbo, which gets really hot...until they state in the owner's manual that I shouldn't use synthetic, I'm going to stick with it.

FWIW, I switched to synthetic at my 4th oil change around 10K miles, and as I stated above the car uses a negligible amount of oil between changes. Of course, I only have 53K on the odo. I would not be surprised if the engine started using a bit of oil after 100-130K miles.