New Radiator Solved My Problem! This is my Subaru FB25 engine oil in coolant solution which is working so far! Hi all, I have a 2014 Subaru outback 2.4L with 180k miles which had oil in coolant problem. I had no obviously visible oil leaks around the head gasket. Went ahead and replaced all the coolant hoses, seals and the plastic crossover union part Mr. Subaru points out in video as potential issue (Spent $750 on parts, materials and few tools needed). Spend a weekend flushing water through the engine and radiator to clean out any remaining oil. Noticed small amounts of oil kept flushing out even after hours of flushing fresh water and sometimes using dawn dishwashing detergent. Cleaned everything up and put it all back together with new the parts and still had oil showing up in fresh coolant (frustrating!). Thought long and hard about the issue and how no water was getting into engine oil. As a last resort prior to replacing the head gaskets, got a new OEM Subaru radiator ($275 online) and changed it out. The CVT transmission, which uses a form of oil and not traditional tranny fluid, have cooling lines that pass through a small linear radiator built into the bottom of the larger radiator. I cut the old radiator apart today and found residual oil stuck to the inside of the plastic portion of the radiator around one of the two connections of the CVT lines into the larger radiator. No CVT fluid was leaking outside the radiator connection, only inside. The CVT aluminum hose connector part has a gasket and o-ring that are intended to seal that connector to the plastic portion of the radiator. The other CVT connection inside the radiator showed no residual oil and was perfectly clean only 15" away from the other connector. There was my problem and my fix! If it starts leaking oil into the coolant again, I will repost an update to this video. So my suggestion when all other solutions have failed, try a complete new radiator prior to going down the road of new head gasket on the FB25 engine. Hope this helps you to solve your problem!
UPDATE: After 5 weeks of perfectly clearn coolant with the new $275 OEM radiator, the same oil started to show in my coolant. It didn't just start slowly either, it was just as bad as the original radiator from 2014 pretty much overnight. Replaced the new OEM Subaru radiator with $60 amazon radiator and again perfectly clean coolant now for two weeks. Pressure tested the internal CVT cooler of replacement OEM radiator and won't hold pressure. Clearly it did hold pressure for 5 weeks and failed. I'm going to bypass the internal cooler and just have an aftermarket add on external CVT cooler and be done with this problem for ever. If you are wondering, the $60 amazon radiator has a slightly different set up of the CVT cooler connections than the OEM. They look cheaper than the OEM but they work for now and are holding back the CVT fluid. Now you know why Subaru moved the CVT cooler out of the radiator starting in 2015 and replaced it with a external heat exchanger
My coolant has remained clean except for some small amounts of left over contaminate that didn't get flushed out when I changed to the cheap radiator. I'm still planning on bypassing the internal cvt cooler inside the radiator to an external cooler. Couple things I have done: I bought a Topdon 900BT scanner on Amazon and ran pressure scan of the cvt secondary fluid pressures while driving. At times and in short bursts, the cvt pressures hit 700 to 800 psi. These high pressures occur when you shift into reverse and when you accelerate quickly from a full stop. Normal driving pressures seems to be in the 80 to 110 psi range. If those high pressures (700 to 800) are transmitted into the cooling system, it's definitely more than the seals within the radiator can manage (in my opinion). The factory manual goes over what normal pressures should be but their test is for the car to be static with your foot on the brake. Those pressure ranges I am getting while getting while driving are within spec for static testing but again it's not clear if those pressures also go into the cooling portion of the cvt fluid system. I put my first OEM replacement radiator cvt cooler under a pressure test with gauge and it's been sitting for weeks under pressure . I can't produce much more than 200 psi to test it. However, the test has shown me that the cooler setup can't consistently hold more than a 100 psi. It's possible that my test setup is not perfect and I am losing pressure through my test equipment. However, if 100 psi is where it's happy and can hold pressure, then forcing 700 to 800 psi cvt fluid in short bursts is going to push the cvt fluid into the radiator. I also serviced the cvt and replaced 6 quarts of fluid. I had no water or any other contaminates in the cvt fluid. Topdon 900BT makes the relearn process easy and worth the money if you are willing to invest. I have already used it on my other cars and runs scans and fixed other problems. I have no water in the engine oil either, perfectly clean. Best of Luck!
You have no idea on how great full I'm that I found your channel. Watching your videos has save me thousands of dollars and has allow me to do my own car maintenance, thanks a lot.
Same here, cross contamination on a 2015 Crosstrek with 85k. Did the oil change this past weekend and saw a brown milkshake residue on the coolant reservoir recovery tank. Did the coolant flush and noticed the radiator was showing signs of deterioration, specially on the top hose. replaced the radiator, hoses, thermostat and radiator cap. next is the pcv union mention at 1:45. reading all the comments in this video, there are plenty of owners having this same issue and why is Subaru is not issuing a technical service bulletin? Subaru must be aware about this issue.
I'm been buying Subarus since 2006 never had mayor problems , the miles I put on them range from 150k to 230k , don't know why people have to change several engines , if you do the recommended maintenace you shouldn't have mayor problems , besides i don't know why people hate on Subarus , i love Subarus but i also like other brands also .
I think it’s from people like myself who bought subaru used, wanted to love them so bad, and then a year into their ownership were hit with engine rebuilds left and right. These cars are breaking down at 75,000. Again, wanted to really love Subaru and honestly I don’t think there is a car like the Impreza manual but is it worth the guaranteed 4-5 grand in repairs you know are coming? Maybe. Maybe not. I still have mine, just deal with filling it with oil every four days.
@@theskyizblue2day431 All of my Subarus where used Subarus, my newest Subaru was 4 years old , and the oldest Subaru was 11 years old and i drove it past 230 k when i sold it , original engine and transmition .
Hearing stories like this is why my family switched from toyota to subaru. 2012 STI, 2014 Forester and 2016 crosstrek. All scheduled maintenance, we treat them with white gloves, all with soo many issues. When they work, they work great, but the amount of issues that have piled on is absolutely insane.
Haha. U r rite, I have a Subaru Outback, and I am starting worry and wondering why I purchased one. Hahaha, even this is my second Subaru with the FB engine, first one for totaled due to I was driving straight and opposite side just turn left😢
Agree I'm glad I didn't buy subaru, it eats oil like crazy. Transmition sucks , no wonder it's the cheapest all wheel drive car out there , it's because you need money to keep fixing it down the road! Reminds me of my ford 6.o
Lots of good information and insight to that engine, could you do a part 2 of this video where you explain how you would go about determining which one of those points is the failure point?
As a Subaru tech, unfortunately, I have to assume all of them failed at once. Doing just the oil pan o-rings or head gaskets and reassembling the engine just for it to fail again isn't really an option.
This is super helpful. We took our 2014 outback in for cross contamination and they wanted 8k to fix everything. They didn’t offer any of your suggestions. Ugh
i wish i knew that too, currently have cross contamination but no coolant in either the trans or the oil pan. since the CVT fluid appears to be similar in color to engine oil vs pink like most ATF's its too hard to tell which oil is in the radiator. i pulled the pcv and while the o-rings looked flat and small potential for cross contamination, there was no nail on the head on that. I pulled the tranny cooler line and let some of it drain out and there was no evidence of water in the tranny fluid (but transmission pressure is more than coolant) I will pressure test the tranny cooler tomorrow and report back if it was that.
I've always liked Subaru cars and I've owned one, and my dad and friends have owned several. After watching this video and channel for a while now I'm convinced I'll buy anything but Subarus from now on. But I do enjoy the videos!
It seems like even if you maintain the vehicle above what is required, these problems will occur after a 100k time frame. Definitely unload the car after a 100k on the odometer. So disappointing.
So glad I found this video and channel! I have a 2014 Outback with 100k miles. So I was having engine overheating problems. The temp gauge would go from middle to upper third and back. Always stayed out of the red. But eventually checked the coolant level and the reservoir was empty. Then opened the radiator and saw it want full. Added about a third of a gallon of coolant to top it and fill the res between the full and min line. After that, everything was working fine for a week until the upper radiator hose burst after i had parked it at home and was unloading the car. Went to top it off with some distilled water before driving it to the service center and when I took the radiator cap off, there was some light coffee colored frothy sludge on the inside of the cap and around the inside. (I wasn’t sure if it was from additive drop or what). Anyways, they checked the cooling system, replace the upper and lower hoses, flushed the system, did a pressure test, then an engine block test and it all passed. Great! Then the next morning I got a call and they said when they pulled the car out of the stall to check it again, the sludge was back and that it is oil in the coolant, and they probably did the test the previous day too soon after changing the coolant. The service advisor said the “only place oil can get into the coolant is from the head gasket” and he quoted me $5,900!!! I called the mechanic I take my other cars to to see how much they would charge to replace the head gasket. He said for my car it would be $3,000. Like half the price. But he said they’d want to check several things first because there are other ways for the oil to get into the coolant of which he named a few. So I told him I’d bring my car over to have him do some investigating. I still haven’t gotten my car from the Subaru service center yet as I’m waiting for a radiator cap to arrive first (had a torn seal/gasket in it. I think I might have done that when I misaligned it when trying to replace the cap earlier?) Anyways, I then started looking online for other ways oil can get into the coolant and came across an Outback forum thread and in there was a link to this video. Learned a lot and been watching other videos on the channel too. Now I know why my Outback burns so much oil between oil changes. I’d always make sure to buy extra oil and keep 2 quarts in the trunk to make sure to fill anytime it got low. Happened ever since I got the car brand new in 2014 and I could never find the reason before seeing another video on this channel. I never experienced any of the issues people associate with head gasket failure, so I’d like to think that isn’t my problem. Hoping it is one of the first two issues in this video. And Gawd, $5,900 to change the head gasket is just criminal. And they didn’t even tell me if they checked those other things. And he said it could only come from the head gasket. So that leads me to feel like he’s being deceptive. Then he said something along the lines of, “I know it’s a lot, another option is i can have sales reach out and see if you’d be interested in a trade-in for a newer vehicle if you’d rather go that route.” I’m not going to tell him to check those things or what I’ve learned. Just gonna get the car back after the radiator cap comes and take it to the other mechanic. Even if in the end it is the head gasket, $3k vs $6k…
I just picked up my car. He stressed that I should keep it parked at home and not to drive it. Also brought up the trade in and he would want to do that if it were him. I just told him I needed more time to consider my options. While waiting for them to bring my car up for pickup, I looked at the free multi-point inspection report they attached to my paperwork. It had a red box next to the in-cabin air filter (requires immediate attention)… I just physically replaced that myself like 3 months ago!!! This weekend when I have time, I’m going to check it as well as what the new contaminated coolant looks like. I just really feel like something is really off with this dealerships service center. Maybe it’s common now with all of them. Never again.
@@jsd202 I took it to a Subaru specialist shop. It was a leak from the upper oil pan. They did check the head gasket and said it was looking worn. I had it replaced anyways.
I have a 2019 cross trek base model. About two weeks ago, It started making a knocking sound after put into gear and take off. Slow down at stop sign and the knocking is loud again. Oil light came on earlier, so I added a quart and that’s when I noticed the dark dark coolant. It’s very sludge like. We get regular oil changes too. Came and found your video.
What really sucks about those o-rings is that, even if you are pretty sure that's where the failure is, you can't be sure that the head gaskets are still good. Especially if the customer overheated the engine before finding coolant in the oil. So, at least in my shop, all of these engines also get head gaskets.
This is a good practice to follow in my opinion. If I have to pull the engine its getting a full reseal no matter what before it goes back in. It just makes sense if you're already there.
Guys I have 2017 Impreza with 130000kms. Car feels like it’s misfiring but no codes. Also it lacks power when taking off . I found oil in water . Customer states they never overheated the vehicle and have full service history.
Is there anything like this on the old EJ engines? I'm doing a headgasket job and I can't find where it failed. Had coolant in the oil. MLS gaskets look good, block and heads are well within spec
I had an upper oil pan leak. Had to pull the engine. Replaced all the gaskets. Only had 9500 miles on a 2017 Legacy. Dealership had my car for a week. So far all good now.
Hello, I just received my 24 Impreza with the fix a flat kit. I’ve always had a spare tire and was wondering if you can create a fix a flat tutorial. Thanks!
QUESTION: MR SUBARU, Can you address the exhaust manifold cracking at the accordion joint on 14-18 Foresters? My 1st cracked manifold ('17 Forester 2.5i)was replaced at 80000 miles under factory warranty. Now , 2nd one is cracked at 165000 miles. I bandaged it with hitemp exhaust spooge, stainless steel tape and tiewire. Dealer wants 5500$. SOA said they would comp $2K... My bandaid cost less than 1% of that.
Thanks for sharing of very knowledgeable information! I’m not owning Subaru, but videos like this elaborating root cause of the issue from mechanical/physical standpoint are very practical and can be approximated to any other engines which makes troubleshooting/understanding problem less puzzled.
The CVT cooler leak into the antifreeze is a similar issue on radiators with transmission coolers on other manufacturer’s vehicles ie. a Toyota Corolla that one of my step daughters had.
Alot of transmission coolers can have this very issue. I believe Honda/Acura had serious problems with this years back. Transmission coolers are a good thing in general but this a caveat of alot of them.
Good idea . I just bought a used 2018 Crosstrek and it’s not been anything but a lemon. I will NEVER buy another Subaru and should have listened to others. POS cars.
Thanks for the video Robert great information only problem with my Subaru outback 2011 is a leak from the dipstick tube on the upper oil pan, I changed the o rings but didn't work. Going to pull it apart later. 289k.
My problem with my 2011 Subaru is I'm getting oil in the water not water in the oil. I know it sounds weird but it is sucking the oil out of the pan and pushing it in the radiator in about a four or five week time span but if I drain the oil pan there's not one drop of water in it. Would that still be the water o-ring problem in the oil pan. Thanks for your help
Right in the middle of fixing it now I'll know for certain next week but the o-rings he was referring to were flat and dry rotted cracking so I hope that's it
@MRSUBARU1387 :Have you replaced the TCV thermostat control valve, egr gasket, fuel pipe delivery tube, engine intake gasket ? After watching many of your videos I’m going to replace the pcv as well since I have to drain the coolant. I have 80k on the 2019 forester touring and the check engine light came on while disabling every safety feature on the car at the 55k mark. The dealership wouldn’t correct it under warranty and told me the parts are back order and couldn’t even place the order due to supply chain issues. They said it was ok to drive though. So fast forward 30k miles and I’m soon to receive the parts but have not found any helpful literature or content on replacing the parts. If you can help with guidance that would be awesome.
On the 3.6 (2012 tribeca) bottom rad hose stays cool to cold thermostat works on bench test. Engine stays at normal op.temp. the heat inside is hotel on driver's side, cool on passenger side, did try to back flush but same deal
Can you pressure test the coolant system with the bottom oil pan off to see if the three rings are actually leaking before pulling the RTV glued items.
My oil analysis showed that I'm getting a little potassium in the oil which could indicate coolant, which has only started happening after they did the valve spring recall that involves pulling the engine and resealing many of the failure points. I'd rather they not have touched the engine. Whatever the case it's leaking oil from the cam holders after they did the work. Sent Subaru of America a long email with pictures of the oil leaks and the shoddy RTV job they did on the reseal and I'll keep you updated on what happens.
Always fantastic videos. A Technical service question. 2020 Outback bought new. Only about 2500 to 3000 mi every 6 months. The 30 months service is due. Wd new brake fluid be over kill at 17k?
Thanks again for the great diagnostic details. I wonder if it's possible to have a video on how to remove and replace an FB engine in a home garage? Something challenging for most DIYers unfamiliar with the most logical sequence of removal procedures to do their own repairs.
@mrsubaru1387 I am having this exact issue on my 2012 Forester 2.5L NA engine. Since this engine burned a quart of oil every 600 mi, I have decided to replace it with a brand new ( from Subaru) short block and remanufactured head set. I already planned on replacing the radiator because of the oil in the coolant but I have a quick question for you about the PCV union. Does that piece come on a brand new short block? Or should I replace it during the engine replacement?
When doing the upper pan o rings mine aswell put new pistons and rings and main in while your at it , and head gasket ! There almost right there ! And of course reseal
I have a 2017 Forester Premium 2.5 and I found that my PCV valve was full of clean oil. The plunger valve still moves when shaken so I cleaned it out. Moves freely now. Should I be concerned? Thank you, for your great advice!
Do Subaru Dealer technicians know about these issues? Are there TSB's to alert them? Because most owners are not likely to. I see no recalls or service notifications for my 2021 Crosstrek Sport with the FB25D engine and TR580 CVT.
Seems like the main reason the O rings are difficult to replace is because you need to take the timing belt cover off. I’ve seen other videos where they fix oil leaks from valve covers without removing the engine. Not saying it’s trivial, but I think this would be doable, at least by me (I’ve done head gasket on EJ with engine in by watching you tube). What do you think?
Awesome advice and in-depth explanation on the FB series, I have a 2011 FB25 built in april of the year , I was wanting some advice if possible? I leant the Subie to a friend and when I got it back some 3 months later I did a dipstick test and no oil on stick I put in a litre ran the engine then stopped it then dipstick again and nothing put in another litre and oil barely showed at end, how likely is it that my engine has been seriously damaged??
I had very minor oil crossover to coolant in EZ30. Coolant would weep... only could be seen by one or two spots of dried coolant at weep hole. Water cooler renewed at later point, and no crossover to coolant. It's a fault point in EZ30 design... possibly not needed, mechanic put fuji bond at same contact point as paper gasket... anyway, I had crossover before... engine ran hot ( within temp limit), and is operating well since 😊
The EZ30/36 have their own host of potential issues. Potential being the key words here. I think a lot of people watch videos like this and get the impression that these issues are widespread and imminent.
Great video! Unfortunately I am experiencing this mix of fluids. Do you know the part numbers for both hoses connected to the PCV Union? I am not finding finding the small coolant hose anywhere.
Since the thermostat is right out there, would you recommend a pre-emptive change? At what mileage do thermostats generally have problems on this engine? Great videos.
Do you agree that the least likely cause of an oil filled coolant system would be the upper oil pan o-rings? seems like there's no oil pressure surrounding those o-rings just coolant pressure?
Great video! Just recently found I have oil in my coolant on 2018 Impreza. Dealer service tech says it's upper oil pan o-ring leak. I'm trying to understand they mechanism or physics of how oil would be working itself into the pressurized coolant versus the opposite. Do you have any videos that might go into more detail on that?
Some of the people be freeeaking out with the information in this video as if Subaru is meant to be broken. With that said, would regular, routine maintenance mitigate the three problems shared in this video? In particular with the upper oil pan o-ring problem, that was the first time I have heard about it. I have not read about it in the 5th gen Impreza forum yet.
Ill say it again. I love my EJ. Its got its problems, sure. Every engine does. But they are so much simpler and the flaws can be taken care of by the aftermarket. These newer engines seem like a pain in the ass. But thats all things modern i suppose.
Really nice tips. Thanks a lot for sharing. If you don't mind I would like to share another point of possible oil/cooling mixing point that was actually my case, after I've checked yours suggestions. Some of Subaru FB20 models like mine instead of a radiator cooler attachment have a CVT oil/coolant heat exchanger that is positioned on the right side of the engine bay (it's a rounded pan that has 2 inlets and 2 outlets for coolant and CVT oil). Mine was leaking had a hole or holes (it's a sealed component so very hard to be sure) that let collant and oil to mix before get back to the system. The way I did check was to using a vacuum machine (the same one I use to refill air conditioner gas) and apply into the inlets and outlets. Since they did not susteined the vacuum between in and outlets got clear that it has a hole where it shouldn't. To be 100% sure I also did test applying vacuum to the 4 outlets, which actually did hold, so... Hope that can help you guys if youy come if the same problem. Also I would like to share another way to check and replace those 3 o-rings on the engine bottom panel without completely removing the engine. I noticed that I could have acces to that panel if I remove the front wheel suspension train completely and believe me it is easier than remove the engine. Just a few bolts and tricks.
Mr. Subaru love your videos extremely informative. My question is about my 2008 Subaru legacy it's a single overhead cam engine and the 4 speed automatic transmission there's no spin on filter located on the transmission but there is a block off plate there. Is there some way to put a filter on there😊 because I don't believe in lifetime oil.
How did they manage to spin a rod bearing in this engine? Too new to have oil consumption issues. And shouldn’t have a head gasket blowing the coolant out to overheat.
@@jeffreygoss8109 I pulled an engine from a wrecker 2 weeks ago to use as a core to completely rebuild and just do a swap. 2007 EJ253 Non turbo. Completely blown connecting rod. Timing belt was fine. Never seen that happen in a non turbo Subaru. I wish I could post a photo
@@jeffreygoss8109 the broken connecting rod was cylinder 1. I’ve had massive oil consumption on all my 2007’s. Was curious if it was a bad year for rings or if running a K&N air filter for 100,000 miles was killing them. Using 1L per 600 miles. Engines with 200,000 miles.
Thanks for the video Great Help I had already checked my cooler but no leaking this is excatly what I was looking for keep it up you have a new subscriber out of me . ( Benjamin Rogue Valley Diag Tech )
Hi, great vid - quick question. Do these same 3 places apply to the 3.6R engine? I have a 3.6R in a 2012 Outback and have the exact same issue. It seems that motor maybe doesn't have a PCV union? Are there any other areas oil could get into the coolant? For that matter, could it even be the head gaskets? I thought I read somewhere that coolant doesn't flow through the heads from the block... Thanks!!
My wife and I just had this issue with our 2019 Impreza. We had a major issue with low coolant because most of it drained into the motor. We had to have the entire motor replaced. Luckily we had the gold warranty and we only paid $100 plus tax for the brand spankin' new replacement motor.
I have never worked on a Subaru engine and my first reaction is this seems overly complected. That said I would have purchased a new Outback in early 2021 if I could have found on one in stock.
What's the best way to keep those coolant o-rings from failing besides regular coolant drain/fills? Is there an ester or cooling system friendly product to recondition older rings?
Ugh, enjoy the videos and have my own FSTi build! But dang… Subaru falling off hard these days, supposed to get better not worse with more points of failure and the typical EJ stuff as well…. Keep speaking truth to power with honest videos bud! 😎👍🏻
Just got a 14 outback in today with oil in the coolant, I thought maybe the radiator oil cooler, but alas no. Engine oil in the coolant, not the other way around, I'm thinking of perhaps 2 possibilities.
Great video Mr. Subaru. I watched one of your previous videos about changing the PCV Valve and hoses. Same/different or just do both repairs together, especially if you have pulled the motor. I have been having a hard time getting info on my 2015 3.6R Outback. What is the engine model name? And could you recommend a good Repair Manual (Book). Thanks
I just changed the oil in my 2024 Ascent with 1500 total miles on it and the oil looks like chocolate milk. The service department said this is normal, but I’m not convinced.
good to see all these videos, I just brought a 2009 Subaru liberty 2.5 it runs well but had a small oil leak from the LH rocket cover and decided to get it fix straight away, but the machinic condemned the engine due to bad sludge, i have been told to walk away or replace the engine, yet the car still drive and runs well, so looking for ideas to fix the problem myself, as here in Australia no one wants to work on them or if they do it is outrageous prices, anyone have any suggestions
hello so i have question i have forester 2013 with 119k mileage and i have oil in my coolant system . So i drain oil from engine and there no coolant in my oil . So if those rings broken its must be coolant in engine oil or not ? because im half way from taking off engine and im thinking right now ))) please answer . You really help me ) Thank u .
Any tips for me.. I’m starting a 1 year apprenticeship with a Subaru dealership! I’m super nervous! I have some car experience but not much I just want to do something I’m passionate about like cars !
Can valve stem seals cause more than a litre (~quart) of oil to go missing (no external leakage) on one of those engines? 2012 Impreza 100k miles. If not what other culprits
This Impreza also has chain slap at cold start up, bearing in mind the oil consumption, will fixing the tensioners stop its low rpm medium throttle pinging?
What do you think about FA24F engine. Is it reliable? I am considering to buy the 2024 outback wilderness edition. Never had a Subaru before, so I don't know how reliable are those engines with the CVT combined. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
I have a 2022 Subaru Outback 2.5 and I’m worried about an issue. Usually every 5k miles, the coolant magically disappears. By this I mean, the reservoir goes all the way down from full to empty. From the times I’ve taken it to the dealership, they just say that coolant “evaporates” and just simply top it off. I live in Houston, TX, but it has happened during winter time, as well. Any suggestions?
@@mailmanjoe I personally think its air in the system that take time to work itself out as I have experienced this in multiple Subarus I have owned and it eventually stabilized. I do believe there is some evaporation in the overflow tank as it's not sealed, but it doesn't explain the rest.
So I had this weird "coolant disapperaing" on my 2020 Impreza. Bought it at 11k miles, already noticed my coolant was below low after about 5000 miles of ownership. Bought Subaru's coolant and added it to adequate amount. (Note, I didn't fill all the way to full.) I then had to fill the coolant two more times after that; 7 months, 10k miles after 1st fill, then 5 months, 5k miles after the 2nd fill. On that 3rd fill, I made sure I filled the cooant as close to the top as possible. Now at 40k miles and 8 months since my last fill up, the coolant level has been very, very stable. Since the top off, it has stabilized at the middle area of the safe zone. The level increased a bit when the weather is hot, and dipped a little when the weather is cold, but the coolant hasn't disappeared since. I have been diligently checking my coolant level whenever I check my oil. Yes, all I did was add coolant when needed, and eventually after quite a number of miles, it fixed itself. Additionally, my Impreza never overheated, never had any issues. Just the most reliable car I have owned yet. No idea what it is that makes coolant disappear in new Subarus. That's my story with the "disappearing coolant."
@@niuhuskieguy I am very interested to know if the same thing happens after I perform my Impreza’s first coolant change in the near future. Of course, not to forget to burp the air completely.
Hello, let me ask please...i have colant coming out from the exaust...maybe head gasket?...i just look the spark plugs and they are kink of withe just like both oxigen sensor wich I've cleaned last week...i was hoping to find one, or maybe 2 spark plugs from the same side with a funny colour ...but they are all the same...that makes me think the water is coming from somewhere else...ant idea please? Thank you so much for all your videos 😊👍🐟
Please help, We have 2017 Impreza 2.0 and, and after resealing the upper oil pan due to coolant contamination, we now have a light knocking noise at idle, from the driver side. We can feel the oil filter pulsate in conjunction with the knocking. Our oil pressure at idle warm is 15psi, off idle the noise goes away. No check engine light and no drive ability issues. Was hoping you had run into this or have some ideas, Thank you
I have a 2017 impreza 2.0l with oil in the cooling system I had the oil changed and the shop drained the transmission fluid and then they filled the crankcase with 4.5 quarts of oil. I drove the car for 4 blocks it was making a bad Noise from transmission took it back they refilled the transmission and redid the oil change. Now after about a month it has oil in the cooling system. My question is could this much oil cause the upper oil pan o- rings to fail
New Radiator Solved My Problem! This is my Subaru FB25 engine oil in coolant solution which is working so far! Hi all, I have a 2014 Subaru outback 2.4L with 180k miles which had oil in coolant problem. I had no obviously visible oil leaks around the head gasket. Went ahead and replaced all the coolant hoses, seals and the plastic crossover union part Mr. Subaru points out in video as potential issue (Spent $750 on parts, materials and few tools needed). Spend a weekend flushing water through the engine and radiator to clean out any remaining oil. Noticed small amounts of oil kept flushing out even after hours of flushing fresh water and sometimes using dawn dishwashing detergent. Cleaned everything up and put it all back together with new the parts and still had oil showing up in fresh coolant (frustrating!). Thought long and hard about the issue and how no water was getting into engine oil. As a last resort prior to replacing the head gaskets, got a new OEM Subaru radiator ($275 online) and changed it out. The CVT transmission, which uses a form of oil and not traditional tranny fluid, have cooling lines that pass through a small linear radiator built into the bottom of the larger radiator. I cut the old radiator apart today and found residual oil stuck to the inside of the plastic portion of the radiator around one of the two connections of the CVT lines into the larger radiator. No CVT fluid was leaking outside the radiator connection, only inside. The CVT aluminum hose connector part has a gasket and o-ring that are intended to seal that connector to the plastic portion of the radiator. The other CVT connection inside the radiator showed no residual oil and was perfectly clean only 15" away from the other connector. There was my problem and my fix! If it starts leaking oil into the coolant again, I will repost an update to this video. So my suggestion when all other solutions have failed, try a complete new radiator prior to going down the road of new head gasket on the FB25 engine. Hope this helps you to solve your problem!
UPDATE: After 5 weeks of perfectly clearn coolant with the new $275 OEM radiator, the same oil started to show in my coolant. It didn't just start slowly either, it was just as bad as the original radiator from 2014 pretty much overnight. Replaced the new OEM Subaru radiator with $60 amazon radiator and again perfectly clean coolant now for two weeks. Pressure tested the internal CVT cooler of replacement OEM radiator and won't hold pressure. Clearly it did hold pressure for 5 weeks and failed. I'm going to bypass the internal cooler and just have an aftermarket add on external CVT cooler and be done with this problem for ever. If you are wondering, the $60 amazon radiator has a slightly different set up of the CVT cooler connections than the OEM. They look cheaper than the OEM but they work for now and are holding back the CVT fluid. Now you know why Subaru moved the CVT cooler out of the radiator starting in 2015 and replaced it with a external heat exchanger
Any more update with the after market cvt fluid cooler? Which one did u use?
Any new update? Im experiencing the same issue
My coolant has remained clean except for some small amounts of left over contaminate that didn't get flushed out when I changed to the cheap radiator. I'm still planning on bypassing the internal cvt cooler inside the radiator to an external cooler. Couple things I have done: I bought a Topdon 900BT scanner on Amazon and ran pressure scan of the cvt secondary fluid pressures while driving. At times and in short bursts, the cvt pressures hit 700 to 800 psi. These high pressures occur when you shift into reverse and when you accelerate quickly from a full stop. Normal driving pressures seems to be in the 80 to 110 psi range. If those high pressures (700 to 800) are transmitted into the cooling system, it's definitely more than the seals within the radiator can manage (in my opinion). The factory manual goes over what normal pressures should be but their test is for the car to be static with your foot on the brake. Those pressure ranges I am getting while getting while driving are within spec for static testing but again it's not clear if those pressures also go into the cooling portion of the cvt fluid system.
I put my first OEM replacement radiator cvt cooler under a pressure test with gauge and it's been sitting for weeks under pressure . I can't produce much more than 200 psi to test it. However, the test has shown me that the cooler setup can't consistently hold more than a 100 psi. It's possible that my test setup is not perfect and I am losing pressure through my test equipment. However, if 100 psi is where it's happy and can hold pressure, then forcing 700 to 800 psi cvt fluid in short bursts is going to push the cvt fluid into the radiator.
I also serviced the cvt and replaced 6 quarts of fluid. I had no water or any other contaminates in the cvt fluid. Topdon 900BT makes the relearn process easy and worth the money if you are willing to invest. I have already used it on my other cars and runs scans and fixed other problems.
I have no water in the engine oil either, perfectly clean.
Best of Luck!
I haven't installed yet. I need to pull the front bumper cover and just haven't gotten around to it yet. I bought a Hayden 402
You are beyond good and into very clear explanations. This old technical writer and Subaru owner applauds!
You have no idea on how great full I'm that I found your channel. Watching your videos has save me thousands of dollars and has allow me to do my own car maintenance, thanks a lot.
Same here, cross contamination on a 2015 Crosstrek with 85k. Did the oil change this past weekend and saw a brown milkshake residue on the coolant reservoir recovery tank. Did the coolant flush and noticed the radiator was showing signs of deterioration, specially on the top hose. replaced the radiator, hoses, thermostat and radiator cap. next is the pcv union mention at 1:45. reading all the comments in this video, there are plenty of owners having this same issue and why is Subaru is not issuing a technical service bulletin? Subaru must be aware about this issue.
This just happened to me 😢. What did you end up doing with your Crosstrek?
Watching the visual clarity of this 4K video makes me envy the format, despite the huge files, longer uploads, and overall bulk. Bravo!
I have 8 SSDs in my PC with TBs of video files! 😂😂😂
I'm been buying Subarus since 2006 never had mayor problems , the miles I put on them range from 150k to 230k , don't know why people have to change several engines , if you do the recommended maintenace you shouldn't have mayor problems , besides i don't know why people hate on Subarus , i love Subarus but i also like other brands also .
I think it’s from people like myself who bought subaru used, wanted to love them so bad, and then a year into their ownership were hit with engine rebuilds left and right. These cars are breaking down at 75,000. Again, wanted to really love Subaru and honestly I don’t think there is a car like the Impreza manual but is it worth the guaranteed 4-5 grand in repairs you know are coming? Maybe. Maybe not. I still have mine, just deal with filling it with oil every four days.
@@theskyizblue2day431 All of my Subarus where used Subarus, my newest Subaru was 4 years old , and the oldest Subaru was 11 years old and i drove it past 230 k when i sold it , original engine and transmition .
Hearing stories like this is why my family switched from toyota to subaru. 2012 STI, 2014 Forester and 2016 crosstrek. All scheduled maintenance, we treat them with white gloves, all with soo many issues. When they work, they work great, but the amount of issues that have piled on is absolutely insane.
This guy makes great videos as to why not to buy a Subaru
Haha. U r rite, I have a Subaru Outback, and I am starting worry and wondering why I purchased one. Hahaha, even this is my second Subaru with the FB engine, first one for totaled due to I was driving straight and opposite side just turn left😢
Saw the thumbnail and thought the same 😂
Me on my third crate motor on my forester in 11 months
Agree I'm glad I didn't buy subaru, it eats oil like crazy. Transmition sucks , no wonder it's the cheapest all wheel drive car out there , it's because you need money to keep fixing it down the road! Reminds me of my ford 6.o
Maybe not to buy one, but it does give you pause in keeping one after the warranty runs out!
Lots of good information and insight to that engine, could you do a part 2 of this video where you explain how you would go about determining which one of those points is the failure point?
As a Subaru tech, unfortunately, I have to assume all of them failed at once. Doing just the oil pan o-rings or head gaskets and reassembling the engine just for it to fail again isn't really an option.
This is super helpful. We took our 2014 outback in for cross contamination and they wanted 8k to fix everything. They didn’t offer any of your suggestions. Ugh
@MrSubaru1387 so, the bigger question is, how the heck do you diagnose exactly which one is causing the cross contamination?
Hopefully can offer that answer in a future video.
I like that question!
Any update on the new video?
i wish i knew that too, currently have cross contamination but no coolant in either the trans or the oil pan. since the CVT fluid appears to be similar in color to engine oil vs pink like most ATF's its too hard to tell which oil is in the radiator. i pulled the pcv and while the o-rings looked flat and small potential for cross contamination, there was no nail on the head on that. I pulled the tranny cooler line and let some of it drain out and there was no evidence of water in the tranny fluid (but transmission pressure is more than coolant) I will pressure test the tranny cooler tomorrow and report back if it was that.
Any solutión ? Thnks
I've always liked Subaru cars and I've owned one, and my dad and friends have owned several. After watching this video and channel for a while now I'm convinced I'll buy anything but Subarus from now on. But I do enjoy the videos!
It seems like even if you maintain the vehicle above what is required, these problems will occur after a 100k time frame. Definitely unload the car after a 100k on the odometer. So disappointing.
There’s issues covered are very rare.
@@lp2565my 2014 Impreza leaks oil everywhere at 75,000. Quoted five grand to fix it, and you know I’ll just have other problems later on.
So glad I found this video and channel! I have a 2014 Outback with 100k miles.
So I was having engine overheating problems. The temp gauge would go from middle to upper third and back. Always stayed out of the red. But eventually checked the coolant level and the reservoir was empty. Then opened the radiator and saw it want full. Added about a third of a gallon of coolant to top it and fill the res between the full and min line. After that, everything was working fine for a week until the upper radiator hose burst after i had parked it at home and was unloading the car. Went to top it off with some distilled water before driving it to the service center and when I took the radiator cap off, there was some light coffee colored frothy sludge on the inside of the cap and around the inside. (I wasn’t sure if it was from additive drop or what). Anyways, they checked the cooling system, replace the upper and lower hoses, flushed the system, did a pressure test, then an engine block test and it all passed. Great!
Then the next morning I got a call and they said when they pulled the car out of the stall to check it again, the sludge was back and that it is oil in the coolant, and they probably did the test the previous day too soon after changing the coolant. The service advisor said the “only place oil can get into the coolant is from the head gasket” and he quoted me $5,900!!!
I called the mechanic I take my other cars to to see how much they would charge to replace the head gasket. He said for my car it would be $3,000. Like half the price. But he said they’d want to check several things first because there are other ways for the oil to get into the coolant of which he named a few. So I told him I’d bring my car over to have him do some investigating.
I still haven’t gotten my car from the Subaru service center yet as I’m waiting for a radiator cap to arrive first (had a torn seal/gasket in it. I think I might have done that when I misaligned it when trying to replace the cap earlier?)
Anyways, I then started looking online for other ways oil can get into the coolant and came across an Outback forum thread and in there was a link to this video. Learned a lot and been watching other videos on the channel too. Now I know why my Outback burns so much oil between oil changes. I’d always make sure to buy extra oil and keep 2 quarts in the trunk to make sure to fill anytime it got low. Happened ever since I got the car brand new in 2014 and I could never find the reason before seeing another video on this channel.
I never experienced any of the issues people associate with head gasket failure, so I’d like to think that isn’t my problem. Hoping it is one of the first two issues in this video.
And Gawd, $5,900 to change the head gasket is just criminal. And they didn’t even tell me if they checked those other things. And he said it could only come from the head gasket. So that leads me to feel like he’s being deceptive. Then he said something along the lines of, “I know it’s a lot, another option is i can have sales reach out and see if you’d be interested in a trade-in for a newer vehicle if you’d rather go that route.”
I’m not going to tell him to check those things or what I’ve learned. Just gonna get the car back after the radiator cap comes and take it to the other mechanic. Even if in the end it is the head gasket, $3k vs $6k…
Dude I just got quoted $5000 to fix my 2014 Impreza’s leaky engine. They offered the trade as well haha
@@theskyizblue2day431 seems like a common tactic...
I just picked up my car. He stressed that I should keep it parked at home and not to drive it. Also brought up the trade in and he would want to do that if it were him. I just told him I needed more time to consider my options. While waiting for them to bring my car up for pickup, I looked at the free multi-point inspection report they attached to my paperwork. It had a red box next to the in-cabin air filter (requires immediate attention)… I just physically replaced that myself like 3 months ago!!! This weekend when I have time, I’m going to check it as well as what the new contaminated coolant looks like. I just really feel like something is really off with this dealerships service center. Maybe it’s common now with all of them. Never again.
@@_morgoth_ did you ever figure out the issue? I have had a similar experience.
@@jsd202 I took it to a Subaru specialist shop. It was a leak from the upper oil pan. They did check the head gasket and said it was looking worn. I had it replaced anyways.
I have a 2019 cross trek base model. About two weeks ago, It started making a knocking sound after put into gear and take off. Slow down at stop sign and the knocking is loud again. Oil light came on earlier, so I added a quart and that’s when I noticed the dark dark coolant. It’s very sludge like. We get regular oil changes too. Came and found your video.
Two screws dropped, "Gravity," said Rainman Ray's. LOL Great teardown vid, sir.
What really sucks about those o-rings is that, even if you are pretty sure that's where the failure is, you can't be sure that the head gaskets are still good. Especially if the customer overheated the engine before finding coolant in the oil. So, at least in my shop, all of these engines also get head gaskets.
This is a good practice to follow in my opinion. If I have to pull the engine its getting a full reseal no matter what before it goes back in. It just makes sense if you're already there.
Also hard to tell the integrity of the main and rod bearings depending on how long they ran the coolant oil mix.
@@MrSubaru1387 True, I've seen at least one forester with rod knock that we're sure was caused by the o-ring failure.
@@drahkas8526 Hard to tell because the boxer engine makes a knocking noise normally
Guys I have 2017 Impreza with 130000kms. Car feels like it’s misfiring but no codes. Also it lacks power when taking off . I found oil in water . Customer states they never overheated the vehicle and have full service history.
If you are resealing the cam carriers you should might as well address the upper oil pan rings.
I agree..if one of them seals failed then most likely the other one would fail soon. Might as well reseal both
Yep. Every time I do a reseal for a simple oil leak I also do the upper oil pan o-rings. Preventative maintenance, if nothing else.
Thank you again for the tear down and expertise on the f series engine
Is there anything like this on the old EJ engines? I'm doing a headgasket job and I can't find where it failed. Had coolant in the oil. MLS gaskets look good, block and heads are well within spec
Dude... You're kinda of a life saver!! Huge help... Thanks man
I had an upper oil pan leak. Had to pull the engine. Replaced all the gaskets. Only had 9500 miles on a 2017 Legacy. Dealership had my car for a week. So far all good now.
Hello, I just received my 24 Impreza with the fix a flat kit. I’ve always had a spare tire and was wondering if you can create a fix a flat tutorial. Thanks!
I see you on the Subarus forums and stuff. You’re doing gods work.
QUESTION: MR SUBARU, Can you address the exhaust manifold cracking at the accordion joint on 14-18 Foresters?
My 1st cracked manifold ('17 Forester 2.5i)was replaced at 80000 miles under factory warranty.
Now , 2nd one is cracked at 165000 miles. I bandaged it with hitemp exhaust spooge, stainless steel tape and tiewire.
Dealer wants 5500$. SOA said they would comp $2K... My bandaid cost less than 1% of that.
Thanks for sharing of very knowledgeable information! I’m not owning Subaru, but videos like this elaborating root cause of the issue from mechanical/physical standpoint are very practical and can be approximated to any other engines which makes troubleshooting/understanding problem less puzzled.
The CVT cooler leak into the antifreeze is a similar issue on radiators with transmission coolers on other manufacturer’s vehicles ie. a Toyota Corolla that one of my step daughters had.
Alot of transmission coolers can have this very issue. I believe Honda/Acura had serious problems with this years back.
Transmission coolers are a good thing in general but this a caveat of alot of them.
I wouldnt buy a subaru ever but i like this guys videos for some odd reason
Good idea . I just bought a used 2018 Crosstrek and it’s not been anything but a lemon. I will NEVER buy another Subaru and should have listened to others. POS cars.
Thanks for the video Robert great information only problem with my Subaru outback 2011 is a leak from the dipstick tube on the upper oil pan, I changed the o rings but didn't work. Going to pull it apart later. 289k.
Did you check your PCV valve? Might be a buildup of crankcase pressure 😊
@@blueheelerfriend8450 going to change that to.
My problem with my 2011 Subaru is I'm getting oil in the water not water in the oil. I know it sounds weird but it is sucking the oil out of the pan and pushing it in the radiator in about a four or five week time span but if I drain the oil pan there's not one drop of water in it. Would that still be the water o-ring problem in the oil pan. Thanks for your help
Any solution.?
Right in the middle of fixing it now I'll know for certain next week but the o-rings he was referring to were flat and dry rotted cracking so I hope that's it
@MRSUBARU1387 :Have you replaced the TCV thermostat control valve, egr gasket, fuel pipe delivery tube, engine intake gasket ? After watching many of your videos I’m going to replace the pcv as well since I have to drain the coolant. I have 80k on the 2019 forester touring and the check engine light came on while disabling every safety feature on the car at the 55k mark. The dealership wouldn’t correct it under warranty and told me the parts are back order and couldn’t even place the order due to supply chain issues. They said it was ok to drive though. So fast forward 30k miles and I’m soon to receive the parts but have not found any helpful literature or content on replacing the parts. If you can help with guidance that would be awesome.
ill take the EJ series even with the issues they had over these cuckoo-clocks anyday
Agree. Asinine design.
Amen to that. have 3 ejs and 2 fa's and 10 times the trouble with the fa's
On the 3.6 (2012 tribeca) bottom rad hose stays cool to cold thermostat works on bench test. Engine stays at normal op.temp. the heat inside is hotel on driver's side, cool on passenger side, did try to back flush but same deal
Can you pressure test the coolant system with the bottom oil pan off to see if the three rings are actually leaking before pulling the RTV glued items.
I haven’t done it, but it should show the leak.
My oil analysis showed that I'm getting a little potassium in the oil which could indicate coolant, which has only started happening after they did the valve spring recall that involves pulling the engine and resealing many of the failure points. I'd rather they not have touched the engine. Whatever the case it's leaking oil from the cam holders after they did the work. Sent Subaru of America a long email with pictures of the oil leaks and the shoddy RTV job they did on the reseal and I'll keep you updated on what happens.
Always fantastic videos. A Technical service question. 2020 Outback bought new. Only about 2500 to 3000 mi every 6 months. The 30 months service is due. Wd new brake fluid be over kill at 17k?
Thanks again for the great diagnostic details. I wonder if it's possible to have a video on how to remove and replace an FB engine in a home garage? Something challenging for most DIYers unfamiliar with the most logical sequence of removal procedures to do their own repairs.
Thank you for explaining, very informative. You saved me from possibly having to buy a new engine
Going on 7 years. Hasn’t cost me anything other than routine service. Would I buy another one ? You bet
DITTO!
Subarus are great cars! Everything mechanical breaks eventually. None are exempt.
@@MrSubaru1387 True. See it every day on the farm. Alot of "how the heck did that break?"
@mrsubaru1387 I am having this exact issue on my 2012 Forester 2.5L NA engine. Since this engine burned a quart of oil every 600 mi, I have decided to replace it with a brand new ( from Subaru) short block and remanufactured head set. I already planned on replacing the radiator because of the oil in the coolant but I have a quick question for you about the PCV union. Does that piece come on a brand new short block? Or should I replace it during the engine replacement?
Mr Subaru, What's the approximate cost for each problem area?
Thank your, i enjoy your videos. I own 2014 157k
Forester.
Hard to say as labor costs vary all over.
When doing the upper pan o rings mine aswell put new pistons and rings and main in while your at it , and head gasket ! There almost right there ! And of course reseal
I have a 2017 Forester Premium 2.5 and I found that my PCV valve was full of clean oil. The plunger valve still moves when shaken so I cleaned it out. Moves freely now. Should I be concerned? Thank you, for your great advice!
Wow is all that I can say. Thanks for the information. Learning a lot from you on this videos.
Do Subaru Dealer technicians know about these issues? Are there TSB's to alert them? Because most owners are not likely to. I see no recalls or service notifications for my 2021 Crosstrek Sport with the FB25D engine and TR580 CVT.
My guess is that service data would have this information.
Oh we know...
Seems like the main reason the O rings are difficult to replace is because you need to take the timing belt cover off. I’ve seen other videos where they fix oil leaks from valve covers without removing the engine. Not saying it’s trivial, but I think this would be doable, at least by me (I’ve done head gasket on EJ with engine in by watching you tube). What do you think?
Awesome advice and in-depth explanation on the FB series, I have a 2011 FB25 built in april of the year , I was wanting some advice if possible? I leant the Subie to a friend and when I got it back some 3 months later I did a dipstick test and no oil on stick I put in a litre ran the engine then stopped it then dipstick again and nothing put in another litre and oil barely showed at end, how likely is it that my engine has been seriously damaged??
I had very minor oil crossover to coolant in EZ30. Coolant would weep... only could be seen by one or two spots of dried coolant at weep hole. Water cooler renewed at later point, and no crossover to coolant. It's a fault point in EZ30 design... possibly not needed, mechanic put fuji bond at same contact point as paper gasket... anyway, I had crossover before... engine ran hot ( within temp limit), and is operating well since 😊
Was this before or after 200,000 typically??
LOL
Thanks for the video Mr. Subaru!
Does the 2015 EZ36 engine suffer from any of these issues? I hope not...
The EZ30/36 have their own host of potential issues. Potential being the key words here. I think a lot of people watch videos like this and get the impression that these issues are widespread and imminent.
how much chanses that my subaru 3.6l have jumped chain after i accelerate maximum from 0 to 60 i get this missfire on engine few cylinders not working
Glad I found your channel! On my second Subaru and I love my Crosstrek. And that is even after owning a 4Runner for a bit.
Great video! Unfortunately I am experiencing this mix of fluids. Do you know the part numbers for both hoses connected to the PCV Union? I am not finding finding the small coolant hose anywhere.
Mr Subaru, I ordered my first Hazet ratchet today. I ordered the Hazet HiPer 916HPL.
Drain the entire block or just the radiator for the PCV union repair? Thanks!
Since the thermostat is right out there, would you recommend a pre-emptive change? At what mileage do thermostats generally have problems on this engine? Great videos.
Do you agree that the least likely cause of an oil filled coolant system would be the upper oil pan o-rings? seems like there's no oil pressure surrounding those o-rings just coolant pressure?
Great video! Just recently found I have oil in my coolant on 2018 Impreza. Dealer service tech says it's upper oil pan o-ring leak. I'm trying to understand they mechanism or physics of how oil would be working itself into the pressurized coolant versus the opposite. Do you have any videos that might go into more detail on that?
Some of the people be freeeaking out with the information in this video as if Subaru is meant to be broken. With that said, would regular, routine maintenance mitigate the three problems shared in this video?
In particular with the upper oil pan o-ring problem, that was the first time I have heard about it. I have not read about it in the 5th gen Impreza forum yet.
Keeping on top of maintenance always helps prolong vehicle life and health.
Great info thanks Mr. Subaru!
Ill say it again. I love my EJ. Its got its problems, sure. Every engine does. But they are so much simpler and the flaws can be taken care of by the aftermarket. These newer engines seem like a pain in the ass. But thats all things modern i suppose.
Really nice tips. Thanks a lot for sharing.
If you don't mind I would like to share another point of possible oil/cooling mixing point that was actually my case, after I've checked yours suggestions.
Some of Subaru FB20 models like mine instead of a radiator cooler attachment have a CVT oil/coolant heat exchanger that is positioned on the right side of the engine bay (it's a rounded pan that has 2 inlets and 2 outlets for coolant and CVT oil). Mine was leaking had a hole or holes (it's a sealed component so very hard to be sure) that let collant and oil to mix before get back to the system.
The way I did check was to using a vacuum machine (the same one I use to refill air conditioner gas) and apply into the inlets and outlets. Since they did not susteined the vacuum between in and outlets got clear that it has a hole where it shouldn't. To be 100% sure I also did test applying vacuum to the 4 outlets, which actually did hold, so...
Hope that can help you guys if youy come if the same problem.
Also I would like to share another way to check and replace those 3 o-rings on the engine bottom panel without completely removing the engine.
I noticed that I could have acces to that panel if I remove the front wheel suspension train completely and believe me it is easier than remove the engine. Just a few bolts and tricks.
Mr. Subaru love your videos extremely informative. My question is about my 2008 Subaru legacy it's a single overhead cam engine and the 4 speed automatic transmission there's no spin on filter located on the transmission but there is a block off plate there. Is there some way to put a filter on there😊 because I don't believe in lifetime oil.
How did they manage to spin a rod bearing in this engine?
Too new to have oil consumption issues.
And shouldn’t have a head gasket blowing the coolant out to overheat.
Good question, but there are some people who can ruin anything. I would guess maybe it had coolant get into the oil.
@@jeffreygoss8109 I pulled an engine from a wrecker 2 weeks ago to use as a core to completely rebuild and just do a swap. 2007 EJ253 Non turbo. Completely blown connecting rod. Timing belt was fine. Never seen that happen in a non turbo Subaru. I wish I could post a photo
@@arthurmiller-vl6sw strange. I know the back, I think 4 gets coolant last so has ring problems, maybe there is something about the oiling system.
@@jeffreygoss8109 the broken connecting rod was cylinder 1. I’ve had massive oil consumption on all my 2007’s. Was curious if it was a bad year for rings or if running a K&N air filter for 100,000 miles was killing them. Using 1L per 600 miles. Engines with 200,000 miles.
Thanks for the video Great Help I had already checked my cooler but no leaking this is excatly what I was looking for keep it up you have a new subscriber out of me . ( Benjamin Rogue Valley Diag Tech )
Thank you thank you thank you I will check the first on the list since my wife doesn't have a cvt transmission in her x limited forester
Love your Videos! Do you have a video of the CamShaft Carrier Assembly resealing/Removal or work in that area?
Hi, great vid - quick question. Do these same 3 places apply to the 3.6R engine? I have a 3.6R in a 2012 Outback and have the exact same issue. It seems that motor maybe doesn't have a PCV union? Are there any other areas oil could get into the coolant? For that matter, could it even be the head gaskets? I thought I read somewhere that coolant doesn't flow through the heads from the block... Thanks!!
For the PCV union/ coolant breather replacement: is it absolutely necessary to drain the coolant or can I do a partial drain of the coolant?
My wife and I just had this issue with our 2019 Impreza. We had a major issue with low coolant because most of it drained into the motor. We had to have the entire motor replaced. Luckily we had the gold warranty and we only paid $100 plus tax for the brand spankin' new replacement motor.
how prothetic, I just changed that PCV union connector......thanks for showing the problem areas.
Great advice! Thanks for the video. 👍
I have never worked on a Subaru engine and my first reaction is this seems overly complected. That said I would have purchased a new Outback in early 2021 if I could have found on one in stock.
Can we add a little bit of RTV silicone when replacing those o-rings just for good measure or is the o-rings good enough as it is?
Wouldn’t recommend RTV on the o-rings.
tank you man, my Foreser 2010 XT have a coolant contamination with oil when i running so long time.
Mr Subaru is the Best!
What's the best way to keep those coolant o-rings from failing besides regular coolant drain/fills? Is there an ester or cooling system friendly product to recondition older rings?
Hi mr. Subaru. I just want to ask. is it possible to remove the upper oil pan without removing the timing chain cover and re timing the fb20 engine?
Yo can I use black o rings instead of the orange? Parts people at my local dealership can’t seem to remember to throw them in on my order
Hi Mate
The pcv union failure , will it cause vehicle to loose power? The engine feels like misfiring but no codes ?
Could you replace with own o rings or just better to replace part
Ugh, enjoy the videos and have my own FSTi build! But dang… Subaru falling off hard these days, supposed to get better not worse with more points of failure and the typical EJ stuff as well…. Keep speaking truth to power with honest videos bud! 😎👍🏻
Want rock solid engime then swap in H6. Ideally 3.6R for most torque. You will have porache soundtrack as added bonus.
On the PCV union, if water goes into the PCV side, where does the water go, into the oil pan?
Just got a 14 outback in today with oil in the coolant, I thought maybe the radiator oil cooler, but alas no. Engine oil in the coolant, not the other way around, I'm thinking of perhaps 2 possibilities.
Isn't the upper oil pan oil/coolant issue just about as bad as the notorious head gasket issue since it requires removing the entire engine?
Great video Mr. Subaru. I watched one of your previous videos about changing the PCV Valve and hoses. Same/different or just do both repairs together, especially if you have pulled the motor. I have been having a hard time getting info on my 2015 3.6R Outback. What is the engine model name? And could you recommend a good Repair Manual (Book). Thanks
Great information!! Thank you!
👍👍👍👍👍
How many hours would you expect a shop to bill for the upper oil pan o-rings?
I just changed the oil in my 2024 Ascent with 1500 total miles on it and the oil looks like chocolate milk. The service department said this is normal, but I’m not convinced.
good to see all these videos, I just brought a 2009 Subaru liberty 2.5 it runs well but had a small oil leak from the LH rocket cover and decided to get it fix straight away, but the machinic condemned the engine due to bad sludge, i have been told to walk away or replace the engine, yet the car still drive and runs well, so looking for ideas to fix the problem myself, as here in Australia no one wants to work on them or if they do it is outrageous prices, anyone have any suggestions
hello so i have question i have forester 2013 with 119k mileage and i have oil in my coolant system . So i drain oil from engine and there no coolant in my oil . So if those rings broken its must be coolant in engine oil or not ? because im half way from taking off engine and im thinking right now ))) please answer . You really help me ) Thank u .
Question how I know what kind of engine I have ? I hear you say Ej ?
Any tips for me.. I’m starting a 1 year apprenticeship with a Subaru dealership! I’m super nervous! I have some car experience but not much I just want to do something I’m passionate about like cars !
What is the part number of this three oil seals?!
Can valve stem seals cause more than a litre (~quart) of oil to go missing (no external leakage) on one of those engines? 2012 Impreza 100k miles. If not what other culprits
Every 1300 miles
Also can this kind of consumption cause this engine to has its renowned pinging? Or is it something else
That’s pretty high consumption. Likely piston rings. Common cause of oil consumption in the FA/FB series engines.
This Impreza also has chain slap at cold start up, bearing in mind the oil consumption, will fixing the tensioners stop its low rpm medium throttle pinging?
What do you think about FA24F engine. Is it reliable?
I am considering to buy the 2024 outback wilderness edition. Never had a Subaru before, so I don't know how reliable are those engines with the CVT combined.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks.
whats torque bolts for upper oil pan FB25 Forester 2013
I have a 2022 Subaru Outback 2.5 and I’m worried about an issue. Usually every 5k miles, the coolant magically disappears. By this I mean, the reservoir goes all the way down from full to empty. From the times I’ve taken it to the dealership, they just say that coolant “evaporates” and just simply top it off. I live in Houston, TX, but it has happened during winter time, as well. Any suggestions?
I had that happen on my 2011, 2016, and 2019 Legacys. In all cases, the coolant loss eventually slowed dramatically.
@@mailmanjoe I personally think its air in the system that take time to work itself out as I have experienced this in multiple Subarus I have owned and it eventually stabilized. I do believe there is some evaporation in the overflow tank as it's not sealed, but it doesn't explain the rest.
So I had this weird "coolant disapperaing" on my 2020 Impreza. Bought it at 11k miles, already noticed my coolant was below low after about 5000 miles of ownership. Bought Subaru's coolant and added it to adequate amount. (Note, I didn't fill all the way to full.) I then had to fill the coolant two more times after that; 7 months, 10k miles after 1st fill, then 5 months, 5k miles after the 2nd fill. On that 3rd fill, I made sure I filled the cooant as close to the top as possible.
Now at 40k miles and 8 months since my last fill up, the coolant level has been very, very stable. Since the top off, it has stabilized at the middle area of the safe zone. The level increased a bit when the weather is hot, and dipped a little when the weather is cold, but the coolant hasn't disappeared since. I have been diligently checking my coolant level whenever I check my oil. Yes, all I did was add coolant when needed, and eventually after quite a number of miles, it fixed itself. Additionally, my Impreza never overheated, never had any issues. Just the most reliable car I have owned yet. No idea what it is that makes coolant disappear in new Subarus. That's my story with the "disappearing coolant."
Might be worth contacting Subaru of America or a second dealership. The “coolant evaporating” is a total bs blowoff answer.
@@niuhuskieguy I am very interested to know if the same thing happens after I perform my Impreza’s first coolant change in the near future. Of course, not to forget to burp the air completely.
Hello, let me ask please...i have colant coming out from the exaust...maybe head gasket?...i just look the spark plugs and they are kink of withe just like both oxigen sensor wich I've cleaned last week...i was hoping to find one, or maybe 2 spark plugs from the same side with a funny colour ...but they are all the same...that makes me think the water is coming from somewhere else...ant idea please? Thank you so much for all your videos 😊👍🐟
How often does this actually happen ??
Rarely.
Please help, We have 2017 Impreza 2.0 and, and after resealing the upper oil pan due to coolant contamination, we now have a light knocking noise at idle, from the driver side. We can feel the oil filter pulsate in conjunction with the knocking. Our oil pressure at idle warm is 15psi, off idle the noise goes away. No check engine light and no drive ability issues. Was hoping you had run into this or have some ideas, Thank you
I have a 2017 impreza 2.0l with oil in the cooling system I had the oil changed and the shop drained the transmission fluid and then they filled the crankcase with 4.5 quarts of oil. I drove the car for 4 blocks it was making a bad
Noise from transmission took it back they refilled the transmission and redid the oil change. Now after about a month it has oil in the cooling system. My question is could this much oil cause the upper oil pan o- rings to fail