Subaru Outback years not burning oil

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a family member wants an outback (2010-2014 range) no questions asked ... Mind is made up and I'm just trying to help. I tried to talk them into 4-Runner or RV4 but it didn't work
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This is not about bashing Subaru.

Based on my recent and very limited experience with Subaru, all I've heard is they burn oil and I'm just not used to cars burning oil per design or not ...

one friend had a 2014 impreza or outback? and it burned lots of oil. He bought it new and ended up selling the car after 2 or 3 attempts by the dealer to fix ... Long story.

Another friend has a very nice looking outback but it burns lots of oil ... he bought it used with just under 60K miles on it. Can't recall the year. I think 2013-2015.

I am told anything after 2017 would not burn oil. and it had to do with some ceramic seals ... idk. The problem is we are looking for 2010-2014

Do they all (pre-2017) burn oil or just a few bad apples or is it just certain engines?
 
IIRC
for your model years in question
2010-2012 is the ej25 which was an old engine with poor fuel economy and a variety of mostly fixed issues.
2013+ is the fb25 There were some oil burners esp the MT equipped vehicles.

not all burn oil.. not all the oil burners are excessive. ie 1qt in 5000miles..


The issue has to do with the low tension piston rings used in the pursuit of fuel economy. in no way does it affect engine durability but it can be annoying.

I have owned/worked on 3 of them in the family. the 2013 outback with MT was the only "oil burner" out of the 3
it got new rings.. didnt help, and a new shortblock.. still burns 1qt/2000 miles. It has 130000 miles on it and everything still works (emissions etc)

you have 2 different vehicles. in the 2010-2012 vs the 2013/14

Also 2015 was a new design year.. might want to stretch for that.
 
Some early production 2013 2.5 Outbacks have the oil burn issue (we have one). That includes some CVT models. The 2014 models have different rings.
 
Read the post "Subaru Quality Strikes Again", and if that is not enough to convince you that Subaru's have AC problems, do some searches on Youtube, and or the Subaru forums.
 
Find one that Subaru put a motor in...that would be a good car. I think all 2.5's in 11-14's had a massive oil consumption problem. Prior years had the head gasket issues.

I will say this, my dads 06 Accord EX-L felt like a Rolls Royce compared to my old GFs 09 Forester Limited. They really tried to save weight in that interior. Hopefully the Outback feels more solid.
 
Originally Posted by JimPghPA
Read the post "Subaru Quality Strikes Again", and if that is not enough to convince you that Subaru's have AC problems, do some searches on Youtube, and or the Subaru forums.


Terrible comparison of a 2017 model to a 2010-2014 vehicle. I owned prior generation 2005 Legacy GT (turbo) wagon manual and the AC was ice cold to 230k. The one issue was a $7 intermittent relay around 12 years in. However my experience not applicable either because 2010-2014 is a different vehicle.
 
Originally Posted by Rand
IIRC
for your model years in question
2010-2012 is the ej25 which was an old engine with poor fuel economy and a variety of mostly fixed issues.
2013+ is the fb25 There were some oil burners esp the MT equipped vehicles.

not all burn oil.. not all the oil burners are excessive. ie 1qt in 5000miles..


The issue has to do with the low tension piston rings used in the pursuit of fuel economy. in no way does it affect engine durability but it can be annoying.

I have owned/worked on 3 of them in the family. the 2013 outback with MT was the only "oil burner" out of the 3
it got new rings.. didnt help, and a new shortblock.. still burns 1qt/2000 miles. It has 130000 miles on it and everything still works (emissions etc)

you have 2 different vehicles. in the 2010-2012 vs the 2013/14

Also 2015 was a new design year.. might want to stretch for that.



seems like oil burning would be a risk when going to low tension rings? wonder --did they test any? seems not/
 
It's good to hear they finally solved the head/head gasket issues that seemingly plagued them for years. Maybe I will add Subaru to my list of potential new cars now that I am old and slowing down.
 
Originally Posted by edwardh1

seems like oil burning would be a risk when going to low tension rings? wonder --did they test any? seems not/


Not really fair, many manufactuers are having major issues crop up in the pursuit of fuel economy.

The jeep tigershark 2.4 has much more serious issues. than any fb25 made.

When they start drinking oil its so fast the car stalls due to the no oil pressure switch

but you dont see nearly as much hate on here for those.

FWIW I'd take using 1qt /3000 miles of oil over the previous generation head gasket issues.

FB25 started in 2011 in forester only. from the internet echo chamber: 2011 and 2012 most have no oil burning or light ie less than 1qt/3000 miles.

Then a spike in 2013-14 with more but in this case massive amount of oil burners could be 5%... would you like your chances of winning the lottery with 95% win rate?
 
Originally Posted by Rand


Also 2015 was a new design year.. might want to stretch for that.


Agreed. My daughter has a 2015 Legacy and it burns 1/2 quart at most during 6k oci's running 0W-20.
 
like the EJ motors better - but the 2.2 with the Solid cam was their best.
These new hydraulic cam motors are flabby. Plus they have wet timing systems.
Yes, a Timing Belt is better on a OHC engine.

We obtained 31 MPG in our 2009 Forester with a 5MT easily.

I could even get mid 30's puttering around town short shifting.

That engine had a Subaru's variation of VTEC called i-AVLS.

Plus you gotta love way over-square motors - it the path to power!
 
please correct me if my memory is faulty.. but, back in the known oil burning days.. wasn't it determined that it was just the N/A motors that had the issues, that the Turbo units didn't burn? I swear i remember reading that a few places...
 
I'd do some research on the CVT as well. Oil consumption is cheaply solved, just check it when you fill up, but a transmission isn't. Subaru extended the warranty on the CVT so I'd try to buy with miles left in the warranty or if the CVT has been replaced already. A high mileage, original, out of warranty CVT probably isn't a good idea but I don't know the actual failure rates. They had torque converter issues which would stay locked and stall the car but I think in 16-17 they solved that, but on a test drive, any shuddering as you come to a stop or accelerate from a stop could be the torque converter lock up acting up. Even my 2018 CVT had some changes to make it run quieter and subaru also extended they warranty to 10 years or 100k miles, even though there hasn't been an issue with them yet. 2017 was the last year for manuals.
 
If this helps, my 2014 Subaru outback with a 2.5 motor has not burned any oil thru 80,000 miles. About a quarter of those miles were interstate cruising at 75-80 heavily loaded with a bunch of very large suitcases in the roof basket. The remaining miles are pretty much heavy traffic, stop and go on the overcrowded NY/NJ/CT metro area.

I've gone through a few sets of tires and a few brake jobs. The motor oil gets changed every 6,000 or so. No issues with the CVT tranny which still has the original fluid.
 
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When buying a car I check for oily soot in or around the tailpipe.
It's easy to tell what's burning a little...or a lot.
 
Originally Posted by earlyre
please correct me if my memory is faulty.. but, back in the known oil burning days.. wasn't it determined that it was just the N/A motors that had the issues, that the Turbo units didn't burn? I swear i remember reading that a few places...


I think that was head gaskets. The turbocharged engines didn't have issues with the head gaskets blowing. Apparently it's common for people to use the turbocharged engine headgaskets on NA engines.
 
Head gaskets were early 2000's.

Turbo has a different block with a semi-closed deck.

There was a year around 2009 IIRC that had defective cyl heads where the valve guides were mis-drilled and redrilled causing oval shaped pilot and through hole. I have the TSB on my PC somewhere.

I think the ring tension issue was with the FB not the EJ. These is a public TSB on that also and a settlement.
 
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