Did Subaru resolve the excessive RTV on the BRZ ?
- Thread starter Dave Hess
- Start date
It was an issue with the older FA20 engines, and it's still an issue with the FA24 engines on the 2022+ BRZ, unless they've made recent manufacturing improvements I'm unaware of.
For the FA24, instead of addressing the root cause of the RTV issue, Subaru decided to change the design of the oil pickup screen. It has a box-type design now, and the RTV typically just plugs up one of the four sides. This is an improvement, but if you were to buy one of these cars, I'd plan to inspect the screen at least once after break-in.
The FA24 does suffer from oil pressure drops in right-hand turns on certain racetracks, which has caused bearing failures, but this is largely unrelated to the RTV. It seems to be related to the offset position of the oil pickup in the sump, combined with the poor oil drainage from the heads and timing cover that's inherent to the boxer engine configuration. If you don't track the car and you mind your oil level, I wouldn't be too concerned about this issue though.
For the FA24, instead of addressing the root cause of the RTV issue, Subaru decided to change the design of the oil pickup screen. It has a box-type design now, and the RTV typically just plugs up one of the four sides. This is an improvement, but if you were to buy one of these cars, I'd plan to inspect the screen at least once after break-in.
The FA24 does suffer from oil pressure drops in right-hand turns on certain racetracks, which has caused bearing failures, but this is largely unrelated to the RTV. It seems to be related to the offset position of the oil pickup in the sump, combined with the poor oil drainage from the heads and timing cover that's inherent to the boxer engine configuration. If you don't track the car and you mind your oil level, I wouldn't be too concerned about this issue though.
Its pretty bad when the manufacture can't choose the correct sealer to use, and over does it to boot.
Between RTV and oil pressure issues, one has to wonder about overall engineering.
It is to me that someone advertises a vehicle as track-ready for that crowd and has issues like that.
Mazda Miata is your answer. Subaru and Toyota screwed up pretty badly on this one.