Hi everyone- 05 Outback XT, 100k miles, lightly modded. We bought it at 87k, it has burned about a quart every thousand miles. A few of the basics, it could be the PCV, or a head gasket, or blowby, but not sure what. I know it could be as simple as a few hours to replace a PCV down to an engine rebuild. I'd like to have that taken care of, and maybe a few more mods while it is taken apart. Where would you take it? DB is good Sorenson Motors? Nothing about them but they claim to be Subaru specialists. Joe @ AM PM? Which would you recommend, or other places? Thanks!
Are you running conventional oil in it or synthetic oil? Id also switch to a heavier weight synthetic oil and see what happens. Its summertime so you dont have to really worry about the oil being too thick or anything like that until fall/winter. Also look up eneos oil, its specifically designed for japanese turbocharged engines to reduce oil consumption because these engines use the oil to cool the turbo so they will use a little oil between oil changes. I know Napa sells it but thats the only place Ive seen/heard about it. Ive been running it in my car with the Napa gold filter and after 4k miles the oil still had a gold coloring to it.
I've been running Royal Purple with an OEM filter after the previous owner used conventional. All 5w 30 I believe. I know Subies burn oil especially over time but this is the wife's car and we depend on it especially in the winter. I'm just worried I'm feeding oil and treating the effect and not the cause. I'd like to switch to a cheaper oil (not Mobil 1 of course) because RP isn't cheap and easy to find in the big jugs. I'll give the Eneos a shot, especially if I do my own oil changes, thanks for the suggestion. I'd still like it checked out before something barfs oil from somewhere. Or worse, the previous owner starved it and there's some damage somewhere.
Yea thats understandable. The Eneos seems like good oil to me compared to the other oils out there but I havent really used synthetic oil until I bought this car. I work at Napa so thats where I heard about the Eneos oil and I wont do any other oil in this car cause it seems to run a little smoother than with the other synthetic oil too. Ive heard that a lot of the guys on here are using the rotella t6 stuff but I wont use it cause the Eneos has worked out the best for me.
I've heard some iffy things about Dr's tuning, but not sure about their rebuild abilities. Otherwise NF and RS are 2 other great local shops. I've personally worked with NF and they have taken great care of me. Might also want to check your compression... Low compression = more blow by.
By Dr do you mean DB? Just wondering, in case my car asplodes. I didn't know about NF! I read up on them, seem solid and I will try and get in touch, thanks! And yes, compression is exactly what I was thinking if it wasn't easy like PCV. Hopefully the compression test will be enough to distinguish where the loss is occurring. It may just be an excuse to build the bottom end lol.
Yep, I meant DB, sorry. And if the compression test doesn't tell you enough, you can also do a leak down test which would help narrow a piston issue vs. a head issue.
I had an 05 obxt with the same issue. The pass side valve cover gasket fails due to the heat from the turbo. Mine eventually started dripping onto the up-pipe and would smoke every now and then when I stopped. I replaced it myself soon after, although it was easy with the transmission out while I was putting in a new clutch and flywheel.
Thanks for the tip! That's one I didn't think about. We changed the oil this weekend and it came out pretty dark, I let it run too long. Didn't notice leaks elsewhere but we'll see! I'll try calling NF but I haven't seen them post or reply for the last couple of weeks...
