Originally Posted By: krismoriah72
Subaru recommended it as part of their campaign to avoid replacing head gaskets. It was a band aid meant to last through the warranty.
The consensus is that it has helped owners reach the 100K mark give or take without having to replace head gaskets. passing the buck onto the owner later down the road.
The new subaru problem is oil consumption..which they have a class action lawsuit. The new band aid? 0W20 synthetic
REQUIRED
http://www.subaruofkeene.com/synthetic-oil.htm
I am not a subaru hater by any means..i love mine..but i did pay for my own head gaskets.. and it was a known flaw in my engine that should have been recalled and fixed on their dime. Did i use the conditioner? yes. Did it work? obviously not.
I was almost going to buy a 2013 subaru forester last year until i found out about the oil burning issue. If i did i would own a 2001 forester that was a head gasket victim, a 2003 Forester that will be a head gasket victim and is currently a piston slap victim (another design flaw). and an oil burner that is being bandaided with 0W20.
I know ive hijacked this guys thread..i apologize.
Ok, not addressing a "hater" but we need to be more accurate.
The "oil burning" issues is a unicorn (semi-technical term). Rare but widely believed. Last I heard, it was a PROPOSED class-action. First folks suing claim they PAID thousands of dollars of repairs for vehicles still under warranty... that there should be a red-flag. Most were a ring issue and was repaired (Subaru covered). Other claims are likely a combination of extended OCI, lower weights, and adding a oil-level monitor. Since 95% of folks likely don't check their oil, the monitor lead to folks who used to put-around without a clue what actual consumption would be... because this issue arose when the oil life monitor was added. Even known Toyota oil-burners have legendary reliability. Still, the reported oil burn/usage is infrequent but even Subaru has classified 1200mi per quart as being potentially normal.. My 2014 burn almost no significant oil for every 6000OCI (I have a more severe driving service routine). Yes, they "require" synthetic because 0w20 is the only available at that interval it is the only flavor. Actually, 0w20 might be a related factor to the increase oil consumption... so the 0w20 is NOT a band-aid to oil burning. In theory, (if you want to ignore the warranty) you can use 5w30 as it is spec-ed for the same engines in Europe. I would not do it in a vehicle under warranty, but when my warranty is up, it would not matter. 0w20 is more about squeezing a few extra MPG from the vehicles... not a CAFE issue since most Subies are "light duty trucks" thus not needing to hit as high of targets but rather for advertizing compared to their rivals. Hitting that 30 and 32 mpg mark for Outback and Foresters is good for the sale dept.
Subaru HG were not reported to be failing under the warranty. It was commonly between the 90-130K range (although many 200-300k+ examples can be found) and each year-range was slightly different. The 1996-1999 HG issue is different from the 00-03/4. Actually Subaru changed the design to address the HG issue only to have a 3rd party supplier drop the ball on the HG By 2004, the HG failure rate was significantly lower, but by then the critical eye was cast. The Phase I issues are a result of boring the 2.2 to a 2.5 and the manufacturing tolerance was slim. The phase I had about a 1 IN 7 chance to develop in a suspect vehicle. The Phase II rates were higher but the symptoms were easier to spot and you could limp them indefinitely. The Phase II were an flaw within the 3rd party-supplier composite material. Sure, Subaru added the Holtz stuff but it can work small leaks.
Piston Slap: That is Genuine Subaru Accessory... at least during the GM era. Nothing says flat-4 without the diesel sound coming from the engine. It does not damage the vehicle and there is a fix available if you want to fix the vehicle. Nothing to worry about.
If you want to complain about "known flaws", speak with my about Honda Transmissions, Toyota Pre-Cat failures, or the entire vehicle if it is a Chrysler. A HG issue for 100K vehicles sticks but it is cheaper than the Honda transmission or the new 1ZZ-FED engine/rebuild. That is $3K+
Now that is what thread-jacking is all about.
