AMileHighLGT Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 I asked a Subaru mechanic the same thing. He said that it burns the oil up because the cat is so hot and doesn't really effect flow. Seems like a lot of oil to burn up without smoke. I just used 2 3/4 quarts oil in 317 miles. They are going to check the plugs and see if there is excess build up (Ring lands). If not its going out the turbo. When oil burns, it leaves carbon soot/ash. Soot and ash will clog the catalyst. Any oil in the catalyst will shorten the life span of said catalyst.. Have you ever seen inside a catalyst? Not much space for ash to build up in the honeycomb, and then its plugged. The Subaru tech you asked, was full of ish, which doesn't surprise me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxymomo Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 I asked a Subaru mechanic the same thing. He said that it burns the oil up because the cat is so hot and doesn't really effect flow. Seems like a lot of oil to burn up without smoke. I just used 2 3/4 quarts oil in 317 miles. They are going to check the plugs and see if there is excess build up (Ring lands). If not its going out the turbo. 2 3/4 quarts is a lot of ****** oil. You sure your drain plug is on tight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMileHighLGT Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 If it was leaking that much you would see it on the ground, and all over underneath from blowing back when driving. My money is on it is burning oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxymomo Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 If it was leaking that much you would see it on the ground, and all over underneath from blowing back when driving. My money is on it is burning oil. it was just a joke.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRogge Posted March 15, 2015 Author Share Posted March 15, 2015 Can we ask, what did they give you for the trade in?? Had to play hard just to get about $4,600 out of them for the trade in. Not what I was hoping for, but good enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyra24 Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 If it was leaking that much you would see it on the ground, and all over underneath from blowing back when driving. My money is on it is burning oil. It's going to mystery land. No leak and no burn. Getting it checked tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-VO Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 I have the same problem, but I have a visible pressure leak coming from the passenger side of the front of the car. I'm going to pull the downpipe, replace the PCV, and if I can get in there, check the spark plugs for oil contamination. It would really suck for my VF52 which has 3500 miles on it to have blown the seals... Also, holy crap man, $4600 on a trade-in... wow, and you had the unicorn 5MT LTD wagon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nm Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 I keep seeing people doing compression tests. THESE: http://www.notajetta.com/lgt/engine/IMG_4444.JPG Passed 2 compression tests. (Yes, the missing chunk was still in there, but fell out at removal) Leakdown gave it away. And I wasn't burning half as much oil as some of you (1qt per 500mi). Actually the leakdown and the oil use were the only things that gave it away besides some light smoke at WOT and occasional slightly heavier smoke at startup. Now to be fair, one compression test did show the issue, but that was mostly luck. More of them passed than failed with two pistons gone. The #4 had slightly lower numbers on the two passes, but only by like 10psi, which on a 90k motor was pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRogge Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 So, my next thought is; when I eventually get another turbo Subaru, were our LGTs and OBXTs the only ones really susceptible to all of this turbo oil starvation and broken ring lands? Can you expect better durability out of an STI? If I came back to Subiedom, it would be in a couple of years, and I would be aiming for an '10 or later STI hatch, or new Levorg (yeah right). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gimpydingo Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 So, my next thought is; when I eventually get another turbo Subaru, were our LGTs and OBXTs the only ones really susceptible to all of this turbo oil starvation and broken ring lands? Can you expect better durability out of an STI? If I came back to Subiedom, it would be in a couple of years, and I would be aiming for an '10 or later STI hatch, or new Levorg (yeah right). The LGT is an STI. And to buy a used STI, good luck. I'm sure the previous owner(s) have beat the hell out of those cars sadly. I see what drives WRX/STI around my neck of the woods, I guarantee they don't even change the oil, but dammit to hell I need 90 degrees of camber on my wheel. EXTREME CAMBER!! If I put a NoS sticker on my car, how many HP does that add? I know a Monster sticker is good for at least 10 - 15 HP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gimpydingo Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 I keep seeing people doing compression tests. THESE: http://www.notajetta.com/lgt/engine/IMG_4444.JPG Passed 2 compression tests. (Yes, the missing chunk was still in there, but fell out at removal) Leakdown gave it away. And I wasn't burning half as much oil as some of you (1qt per 500mi). Actually the leakdown and the oil use were the only things that gave it away besides some light smoke at WOT and occasional slightly heavier smoke at startup. Now to be fair, one compression test did show the issue, but that was mostly luck. More of them passed than failed with two pistons gone. The #4 had slightly lower numbers on the two passes, but only by like 10psi, which on a 90k motor was pretty good. What were your compression and leak down numbers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nm Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 ^^^^^^^^^ It was several years ago, I don't recall exactly. But the passing ones were all within 10%. So, my next thought is; when I eventually get another turbo Subaru, were our LGTs and OBXTs the only ones really susceptible to all of this turbo oil starvation and broken ring lands? Can you expect better durability out of an STI? If I came back to Subiedom, it would be in a couple of years, and I would be aiming for an '10 or later STI hatch, or new Levorg (yeah right). No, all north american EJ255/7s have the piston issue. It is more of a tune issue anyhow. Australian EJ255/7s apparently don't have any problems at stockish power. The oil issue is only an issue if you don't remove your banjo filter (which I think subaru did at some point) and don't change your oil with synthetic enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex0856 Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 They removed the banjo filter in 07 I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dispatch20 Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 They removed the banjo filter in 07 I believe. The 07-09's still had banjo filters in the oil lines, but they were oriented differently. It is generally believed that the 07-09 are less problematic in terms of clogging, but I'm not sure there is hard proof of that. The banjo filter in the oil feed line of my 08 LGT has been removed. I still have it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex0856 Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Huh, didn't know that. Was under the impression it was simply removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyra24 Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 So, my next thought is; when I eventually get another turbo Subaru, were our LGTs and OBXTs the only ones really susceptible to all of this turbo oil starvation and broken ring lands? Can you expect better durability out of an STI? If I came back to Subiedom, it would be in a couple of years, and I would be aiming for an '10 or later STI hatch, or new Levorg (yeah right). They no longer install the filters so newer cars should be good in that respect. If you search the forums (wrx, sti, turbo anything) They all get broken ring lands. I wouldn't buy a car with the EJ25, pretty sure they all have weak ring lands. I am interested to see if Subaru fixed it with the FA20DIT. They do have a couple oil consumption lawsuits on their hands as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gimpydingo Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 They no longer install the filters so newer cars should be good in that respect. If you search the forums (wrx, sti, turbo anything) They all get broken ring lands. I wouldn't buy a car with the EJ25, pretty sure they all have weak ring lands. I am interested to see if Subaru fixed it with the FA20DIT. They do have a couple oil consumption lawsuits on their hands as well. So you are here, what are you driving? And it's not weak ringlands, it's the bad stock tune that can cause increased knocked and break the ringlands. People put forged in and those can break as well with a bad tune or not logging/maintaining the car. I think you mean "I wouldn't buy a used WRX/STI, pretty sure they all have drivers who don't know how to maintain a car." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyra24 Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Subaru tech called me back. They put 2 quarts in my car and drove it 80 miles yesterday. checked it and said the level was good. Warmed it up and checked it this morning and said it was a quart low. Seems relatively weird. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gimpydingo Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Seems maybe they don't know how to read the dipstick? Seems odd it's fine the day before and there is a full quart missing the next day. I would have to have made a puddle somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex0856 Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 You'll get a different reading after driving and after just warming up/idling. Ditch your "Subaru tech", they don't know what they're doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyra24 Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 You'll get a different reading after driving and after just warming up/idling. Ditch your "Subaru tech", they don't know what they're doing. I explained that but their argument is that it should be the same according to Subaru procedure. I think this is going to end badly. I did tell them the turbo sounded off but they thought it was okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex0856 Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Even if it did lose that much oil, the fact that they don't have a clue where it went makes it even more disturbing. You can't exactly miss an oil leak like that. Where do you live? Hit up the regional forum for your area and find a Subaru shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nm Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 The legacy dipstick is very, very finicky. It really only is accurate for oil loss if you check it in the same spot, in the same condition (hot, cold) every time. A very small change in angle can cause you to read fairly high or low. Note also that with my issue, I could go several fillups with no change in level at all and then go from high to low in another fillup. In my cracked ringland, we have theorized that the loose metal would sometimes move back into a seal and sometime not. This is probably why it would pass a compression test. Also, with little boost, you'll have a lot less oil blowing by. And I never used much oil when I tracked it (yes, I tracked with a dead ringland, but I didn't know, I was still in denial over the oil use), the extra heat really helped sealed things up. Similarly, the oil really does expand when warm. He could have topped it up, check it and it would still be fine. Then when cold, it reads low. That said, any mechanic should account for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderboiler Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Similar issues. Replaced everything but the turbo, which has 178k on it. Car runs great but damn it goes through a quart every 700 miles. Am I looking at a new turbo? Works fine and no shaft play but been reading about a bad seal. Thoughts? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrTris Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Similar issues. Replaced everything but the turbo, which has 178k on it. Car runs great but damn it goes through a quart every 700 miles. Am I looking at a new turbo? Works fine and no shaft play but been reading about a bad seal. Thoughts? Thanks Yes, it's the turbo. Why didn't you replace it when you had the chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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