There's a lot of noise in the Forester thread (originally started in 2011) but some of the more interesting/ironic problems came from an early nasioc FAQ contributor and former dealership employee ("North Ursalia"). This guy has been hosting Subaru enthusiast web sites since around 1999 or so, and knows a lot about the brand.
Quote:
OK, so unofficially, there is a problem with the 2014s. Appears that someone has been lining up the ring gaps all pretty at the factory, resulting in low compression and burning through oil. The dealership has seen and fixed a few, and they have ordered a new ring set and all the bells/whistles for a headgasket job so they can replace my rings.
Cylinders 1, 3, and 4 had about 150 for compression and normal leakdown. Cylinder 2 has about 125 for compression and 20% leakage. Fun stuff. It actually burned through another quart between me leaving North Conway, going home, and getting it back to Manchester Subaru (about 3 hours of driving).
And just a bit later.
Quote:
A lawyer isn't yet needed- part of this is my want for the car to be fixed and not deal with the hassle of being bought out of it. SOA has already offered to buy me out of it, and provide me a SAS gold warranty to renew a bit of faith. I have been holding out for the 'it's my car and I'd like it fixed' path.
That said, I have somewhat caved on that point, spoken with SOA about being bought out of the car, and expressed my concerns with the process. Most of my concerns were around the financing, the remainder being accessories added. For part the first, the short story was I would pick up my loan where it is now, SOA will deal with taking care of the rest. Part the second, they are checking on the possibility of paying for and having the dealership install all the factory accessories that have been put on. I will speak with them about that tomorrow as I missed their call this afternoon.
Getting back to the repair, the dealership wanted the TSB rings put in the shortblock about as much as I did- mostly because the call to do it was made after the repair was nearly complete (engine had to come back out again). I didn't want the shortblock touched at all for fear about install issues with the rings. As an aside, the new shortblock PN does NOT contain the updated rings. The repairs this time were done either by the service manager (he is a certified Subaru tech), under his supervision, or under the supervision of the tech trainer sent out. I do not smell oil at all this go around which is a good sign.
Getting on to the damage... wow. No amount of honing would have removed the scores in the cylinder walls. The piston skirt contact area on two of the cylinders had grooving on both sides of the cylinder wall, and the anti-friction coating on the pistons skirts was worn like I'd only expect to see in a car with 100,000+ miles. The pistons were again black from the burned oil like they were painted, and they were completely clean 900 miles ago when they went back in after the TSB re-ring. There are discernible ridges on the top edge of those two pistons above the top ring land (you can feel it with your fingernail) as well as some gouging on the top edge. Sadly, it appears to have been an installation problem, not a defect. The pistons were possibly put in dry/no lubrication, but in any event, it is ready for SOA to take.
If there is a bright side to all of this, the oil consumption test guidelines were updated about 2 days ago- I'd like to think I had at least something to do with it. I don't want to post specifics as I don't know if it is 'public' information yet, but I encourage anyone who has excessive consumption issues to go to the dealership and complain about it. The new specs for what is acceptable burning-off are much lower than the old ones, and the consumption test is FAR shorter than it was before (when it was 4 times at 1,000 miles each). The new guidelines now says step one after verifying is updating the rings via the TSB.
I am cautiously optimistic this go around, but any further issue with it and I'll give in for a new Forester. My only concern then is what if it all happens again. I don't want to think about that right now that is for certain.
Here's a nasioc thread that shows the TSB:
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2583247
Of course, some bitterness and noise there as well. The OP of their oil burning thread (different than the linked thread) started it in 2012 and has gone through a lot of headaches and a lot of "It's normal".
-Dennis
