Agreed
Checking fluids and topping off only takes a few minutes
I’d have to ask mechanics. How effective is replacing a shortblock? In line 4 or v6? Reuse heads. As is? Or refurbish heads too? A Subaru mechanic might say don’t bother. Put in long block. Or not
Neither of the above.
It could have an H-6 if not for the fact that the OP stated he has the 2.5 liter engine, which is an H-4.
If somebody has already established that his vehicle consumes little or no oil, then once a month is fine. However, when first acquiring a vehicle–whether new or used–the dipstick should be checked much more often until the owner gets a good idea of whether or not oil is being consumed.
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A short block is a subset of a long block. So it seems like it would depend entirely on what parts of the engine are broken.
Short block, long block? Time to start treating this as a business transaction. In a normal business transaction, the first thing is a second opinion, and not a second opinion from the internet. Despite what I think is the problem and what you should do, I have not put eyes on the engine, heard it run or done any testing. So you need a second opinion from someone who is in a position to do these things.
After that, get bids for the work. Be sure to compare what is being done for the money. A new engine is not the same as a used engine from a junkyard. An overhaul is not the same as a fully remanufactured long block from a reputable company.
But I still think you should do what I recommended above, based on your posts.
Yes, I know a subi flat 4 is different then an in-line 4 and obviously a vee motor. My point is, IS replacing the shortblock with the current used heads a good idea? Vs a new long block. A dealer says using old, untouched heads on a new shortblock is proper?
That’s if ANY major repair is done.
I advise people to check the oil by mileage, not time.
Initially I say after every tank of gas, then every other tank, then every 1000 miles if no consumption.
Easy reminder on the odometer.
It takes me anywhere from 3 days to 4 months to go 1000 miles
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Yes, and the oil should still be checked regularly after that.
Had a customer who bought a brand new 2017 Beetle. I told him that these engines tended to use oil and that he should check it once a month just to be safe. At 70,000 miles the car came in with a check engine light and rough running condition. We found fault codes that were probably caused by the engine being 3 quarts low on oil.
I reminded him that these engines are prone to oil consumption and that having to add a quart every 1000 miles was perfectly normal and would have prevented his issues. He replied “I checked it all the time for 30,000 miles and it never used any so I quit checking it.”
I’ve installed quite a few Subaru short and long blocks.
On the short block versions those heads are going to get serviced no matter what.
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You only drive 10,000 miles a year and you admit to driving 12000 miles between changes. It is also obvious that you don.t check your oil between changes because the dealer found the oil low and you didn’t. You manual says your oil needs to be changed every 6 Months or 6000 miles, whichever comes first.
Your dealer is giving you a gift that you apparently don’t appreciate.
Even if you had receipts for oil changes at the proper times, the fact that you brought the car in with low oil is enough to completely void the warranty. YOU are required to keep the oil above the add mark, not the dealer.
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The issue isn’t the oil level. The likely cause of the problem you’re experiencing has to do more with the over-extended oil changes. It seems that at least in some cases you went close to double the maximum stated distance between oil changes. Per your car’s manual, you’re supposed to change the oil every 3k-6k miles depending on driving conditions. If you were going 8k-12k between oil changes then that’s likely the root cause of the issue. Compounding this is that your car requires a specific synthetic oil. If the shop you had been using (the one that went out of business) wasn’t using that oil, then your problems were two-fold.
Subaru could technically go tell you to hit the bricks at this point. But they are being quite generous with their offer. To reiterate, the oil level and the condition of the oil aren’t necessarily related, the oil level can be absolutely perfect, but if the oil in the crankcase has gone twice as long as it was supposed to, then you’re going to have to problems. The “oil light” on most cars is there to tell you that your oil pressure has dropped to a dangerously low level. It can indicate low oil level, but by the time the oil level is low enough to activate the light, damage has usually already been done. The “oil light” also does not tell you the condition of the oil in the car. You can have dirty oil in the engine, and it won’t come on unless the oil pressure drops.
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FoDaddy provided an excellent summary.
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Yes, in a nutshell, modern engines are very unforgiving of lax maintenance compared to those from just 20 years ago. People routinely went for double the recommended oil change interval, used whatever type and viscosity was on sale, and used whatever brand filter was on sale in their 1980’s/1990’s economy car, and got away with it. These new engines will sludge up, suffer from VVT and timing chain issues, etc. if you do that.
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Fully agree.
I still remember pumping gas in the late 60’s, and when I checked the oil on someone’s car, the oil on the dipstick was thick sludge. I suggested to the driver that he get his oil changed.
He replied with:
No thanks. I keep all my cars 100,000 miles. I change the filter every 25K and never change the oil. It works fine for me.
Those were in the days when the 2K oil change intervals were rising to 3K.
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Yup!
Circa 1972, I was a passenger in a co-worker’s car on the way from NJ to Florida, and when we stopped for the first fill-up, the station attendant showed him the dipstick and asked, “When was the last time you changed this mud?”. My co-worker replied, “Oh, I don’t believe in oil changes”. 
It turned out that the car had never received any type of maintenance, with the result that the un-lubricated stick shift mechanism snapped when we were in Virginia. I had the misfortune to be driving it at that point, and I couldn’t at first figure out why second gear didn’t engage when I lifted my foot from the clutch pedal.
After the shift linkage repair, we made it as far as South Carolina, when we overheated and burst the top seam of the radiator–which had never been flushed. What came out of that radiator looked like red clay.
After than, we actually made it to Florida–and back to NJ–without incident, and the engine itself never skipped a beat.
And, I learned to never again ride in his car for more than a short distance.
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Late to the party, but if me, I would go with a long block. Why use heads that have 72,000 miles on them unless the dealer plans to send your old heads to a machine shop to be overhauled.
Your dealership is being very generous. I hope you understand all the above comments about checking your oil and changing your oil at correct intervals according to driving conditions and time.
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I still do not understand why so many of you are still recommending replacing either the short block or long block. The first thing to go when the oil is not changed is the VVT mechanism and then the chain tensioners, neither is in the block.
Worse case, replace these two items and do an oil change. Best case, a couple of back to back oil changes will sort it all out. There is no evidence that the block is sludged up or otherwise in need of an overhaul. You’re just wasting @cf2frss_178688 money.
But @cf2frss_178688, you didn’t properly maintain this vehicle and it is out of warranty so the dealer owes you nothing. I hope this is a lesson learned for you. Sorry about being critical but you need to hear this. Life is all about lessons learned, right?
An oil change won’t fix the rod knock. There must be a reason for a short block replacement other than dirty oil.
Rod knock? Did I miss something?
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