well i hate to add another thread about engine problems but i'm at the point now where i could really use anyone's advice and help about how to deal with possibly replacing an engine. i have a 2005 2.5RS with 37.5K miles on it, and it's my first subie. i bought it used at 26k from a pretty cool guy who kept the thing super clean. it's had synthetics all of its life (that i know of) and has basically been a commuter/DD car with only 1 autocross, and oil levels have never gone below safe (again, that i know of). gets 93 octane at all times to keep pinging to a minimum and is always driven gingerly when cold. it currently has good power, makes no weird noises, and returns 30mpg easily on the highway. i do all my oil changes myself with OEM filters. the past 2 oil changes i have noticed very, very fine metal particles in my oil pan -- gold, which i think means bearings, which is bad. initially i wasn't sure what to make of it, i couldn't fathom that such a young car, and a N/A motor at that, could possibly be having oiling issues. this past weekend i changed the oil again and noticed particles yet again when i held the pan at an angle to the light. crap..... so, what the heck do i do at this point? the motor still runs fine but is it panic time? should i run my current oil for a while and then send it to Blackstone? if i take it to the dealer for the next oil change and bring up my observations, and point out any more particles i see when they drain it, will they consider that grounds for a warranteed engine replacement or will they just feed me something about it being "normal"? if worse comes to worse, would it be better to buy a used block, a new one from subaru, or maybe an EJ257 block -- but from who? and then swapping it out, no way can i do that myself.... sorry this is such a long post, but i'm kind of overwhelmed. it may be for no good reason but i just don't know enough about these cars to feel safe coming to any conclusions on my own.
I'm not an expert by any stretch, but sometimes that is normal. I've heard that some small amount of metal in the oil can possibly be normal. But don't quote me on that. It sounds, honestly, like you know more about this than I do. In any case, if a dealership tells you that it's normal and it does die, you bet your ass I'd go all the way to the top at SOA for a new motor. If it's going to take a shit on you before 50,000 miles, I would raise holy hell about it. That just should not happen. Good luck with it! I'm sure you'll find some answers on here.
thanks. i don't want to freak out about nothing -- it may be normal, but it's not something i've ever experienced before. i usually equate metal in oil to mean bad things.
If she is running fine I would not stress about this. Just keep an eye on the dip stick and the oil light. It is normal to have SOME fine shavings...I would not go more than 3K between oil changes...even though our owners man. states 5K
thanks. i have a bad habit of staying old school when it comes to oil changes, i have trouble allowing myself to take them past 3-4k, although i know it's wasteful.
EXTREMELY FINE stuff in the pan, more like SUPER FINE 'DUST' is completely normal. It should be a VERY VERY VERY small amount. Keep an eye on it tho. Contact the previous owner and see if he has oil change receipts....as many as he can get. At that point you need to find your receipts for you buying the OEM filter and the oil and what day and mileage you changed the oil. Keep up with those records. Store them in a safe place that you will not loose them. Another thing you can do is take the car to Classic for kingwrex to look at. Have him check the oil pressure by the FSM and see if its within spec. If it is, then you really have nothing to worry about at this point. Make sure its documented, the reasons, the results. However, if the amount increases in size and or amount, you might want to consider having king tear it down and see if there is a bearing issue that might be one of those rare defects...if its a defect, thats easy to see and there should not be a problem for warranty to cover it. However, oil starvation due to lack of oil or oil that was aged too much is easy to distinguish from a defect, warranty will likely not (95%) pay for that. Eventho the previous owner told you that he had synthetic in it and changed it often etc etc...he still could have run it low one time or went too long once or twice. Remember: One good oil starvation event will kill the engine. It may still run and seem to be ok, but its a ticking time bomb.
I made a good habbit of reseting my trip odometer every oil change, and I generally change my oil between 2800-3000 miles. I have a very light dusting of flakes in my oil as well (and that goes for every car I've ever owned) so dont freek out, it's normal.
If you feel its getting worse. Give us a call and we can check out the engine for you and see whats going on. Tray M
Even though I can get through an oil change myself, I am bringing the BuGi to Kingrex from here out so he can keep an eye on the oil for me. I realize many experts may state that oil starvation seems like a rare occurance, but despite that, I have been seeing alot of it on differen't sites accross the country. This leeds me to believe that these situations are more than just isolated incidents and they seem to effect differen't models accross the board in reference to the isolated "06 STI oil sump issue". Since I am out of warranty tearing down the engine on my daily driver would turn into a "thousands of dollars" ordeal for me. Every time I start feeling better about this another person posts with "metal shavings in their oil". Love my Suburu, yes I do, feeling that it's reliable right now, not so much.
well, i dropped the car off at Classic Subaru last night to have the oil pressure looked at (thanks for the recommendations guys) which would indicate if bearings were wearing down. if the pressure was low we'd have a problem. Jerry at Classic set me up and the guys took a look at pressure cold and hot -- and thankfully the RS got a good report, everything is in spec. I will be going back to them for the next oil change to have them assess the oil coming out for their opinion. i can definitely recommend them, their service department is thorough and helpful. call me paranoid but it was worth the money for peace of mind. maybe the engine is still clearancing itself, i don't know. either way, if you do see some very little gold flecks or dust you may not need to panic. i'll try to keep an eye on this and post up a picture of the oil that comes out next time, so others can see what i mean for reference.
Its good to hear that you got a clean bill of health. I send a sample into Blackstone to get it analyzed every oil change, and the wealth of information I get back is worth more than it's weight in gold. I highly recommend getting your oil analyzed as well, if you're as paraniod as I am.
so, just to be positive, i took my car in to Classic today for an oil change to make sure they would be able to see if there was still anything in the oil coming out. apparently the oil was fine...i wasn't expecting a whole lot since i didn't run this oil very long but it's good to hear that things seem to be OK. i'm filled up with Pennzoil Platinum 5w-30 and looking to run this interval out to a good milage and then have it sampled by Blackstone.