Subaru Head Gasket Issues, A Thing Of The Past! Fixed For Over A Decade! But This New Issue Isn't!

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[scottykilmer]

Brilliant video. We need more guys like you out here on YouTube.

[bigdaddymak]

That engine has probably gotten hot also which will kill the rtv. I have an 2016 Outback with 135k and there's a little seepage at best. I agree totally on PCV and oil changes also.

[RMartin]

I am so glad that I found your channel. I have a '18 Impreza 5 door. I am trying to be fanatical about maintenance but I didn't know that the PCV valve would need to be changed so often. 3, 000 mile 0w20 synthetic oil and filter changes. Rotate the tires. Air and cabin filters. Valve cleaning with CRC GDI IVD Intake Valve cleaner every 3rd oil change. The whole 9 yards. I pulled mine out today at 45, 000 miles and it just barely clicked when I shook it. I had a new one ready to go in. The whole job only took 20 minutes. When you first look down at the PCV valve you're wondering how you're ever going to get it out but it is pretty simple. Just remove the air intake (2 hose clamps and a clip) and set it to the side. Take a pair of 90° bend needle nose pliers and pull the PCV hose off. Then use a 19mm deep swivel socket with a long ratchet and it comes right out. Put some Permatex thread sealer on the PCV valve threads and put it back in. My old PCV valve is in the ultrasonic cleaner and hopefully I'll be able to reuse it.

[teh]

I would recommend replacing the PCV valve hose on the FB25 engine when replacing the PCV valve. The hose is usually rock hard, has cracks, or both. Great video Robert.

[louhmx]

After a hg leak and a throwout bearing failure, i have left subaru forever. Love my Toyotas!

[matthewbailey]

My wife’s Outback had a full reseal at 72, 000 miles from a cam carrier seal failure. Subaru outdid themselves in making this more complicated than it needed to be and less reliable than it should be by using RTV instead of traditional rubber seals

[BrianHoff]

Your comments / content are amazing. Thank you very much for your time & effort.
I am brand new to Subaru. Just bought a 70, 000 mile, 2018 Outback Limited (so many bells / whistles... almost need to go to a class to learn all that stuff).
Anyway.. I think the car is amazing and in incredible condition. But.. the valve carrier cover on the "right" side (passenger side) has a very slow leak. The car has a warranty with the dealer so I just sent the email, pictures, and a link to your video. So far the leak is very light (no real drip, just a slightly darker, wet looking appearance). Can't have started that long ago.
The dealer has been amazing up to this point so I hope that will continue.
I'll update next week just to let others know what the experience can be like.
MrSubaru.. I'm very happy to know you are out there for those of us new to the Boxer world.

[rmaxhaliburton]

Burning/leaking oil seems to a problem for decades. Our 2014 consumes way too much oil, the mechanic said not worth fixing, drive it and add oil weekly. Turned off the the whole subaru thing. Best to lease and dump after 3 years.

[chucklanholm]

That engine looks pretty clean inside suggesting that the owner likely kept up with oil changes, however it was still leaking even though it was a supposedly low mileage engine.

[noman]

Thanks for the info. I only wish I knew all of this before we bought my wife her beloved 2015 Outback. The headgasket failed in Oct of '22 -- gratefully we were near home, had the repairs done etc...but yesterday when she went for an oil change/service was told there was oil leaking "on the right" with a recommendation of -- yup, new seals by the next oil change. I"d say the oil leak issue in boxer engines is far from resolved. Makes me appreciate my Hondas and (family) Toyotas

[beezlebub]

That’s interesting, I genuinely learned something about PCV systems I didn’t really think about before, thanks man!

[blipco]

The Achilles heel for Subaru is the boxer engine itself. I wouldn’t take a Subaru if you gave it to me. The boxer engine design is the reason I opted for a Honda over a Subaru when I bought a new car ten years ago.

[garrettdraper]

Great video, just went through this entire re-seal process on a 2018 Forester with the 2.5 after only 45k miles with all previous service done at the local dealer. At least it was under warranty, was only out $30 for a tire rotation, gotta love that low cost of ownership when this happens under warranty 😂

[johnchambers]

Good informative video and a reminder to check your PCV valve before the engine starts to leak.

[RollerCoasterLineProductions]

The FB in my 2019 crosstrek sprung a leak at 25k, I have a repair order and the dealer had to pull the engine to fix the oil leak. I was inspecting my engine like I do every month and I found oil near the electric power steering pump on the passenger side.

[kiwikidusa]

Excellent explanation! Well, I'm definitely keeping my 2005 Forester XS. I have pulled the engine at 198, 000 miles and replaced the head gaskets with SixStar gaskets and replaced the clutch plate and ancillary parts including all engine seals. Even if I have to replace the short block I will and keep the car. These new Subarus with all the electronic gizmos in them with functions I'd never use; I'll pass. Thanks for the continuing very informative videos!

[LoveMyZJ]

Subaru has reccomended replacing the PCV valve every 30k miles for as long as I can remember, so it's definitely a good idea to replace the valve regularly 👍 Based on what I've seen in the shop at the Subaru store in our dealer group, re-seals on these engines are indeed very common...there's usually at least one engine out every time I stop by, usually at around the 100k mile mark. Some parts around the mating surface of the cam carrier (corners I think), the metal looks almost perfectly smooth, like there's no ability in the surface for the RTV to "sink into" if that makes sense, and it just squishes out the sides.

[obloj]

Great video. I have oil leak on my 2013 legacy. It leaks on the pipe so i do not see it on the ground it just burns up without smell on the cabin. Just have to top of 1qt per 5k miles. Oil is cheeper than repair.

[josebenitez]

One thing that I seem to notice through different forums and from recent personal experience is timing issues. My 2019 inpreza recently gave me a check engine light. The code that came back was P0016. Took it to the shop, and the mechanic said it was the intake cam sprocket. He said that it's an issue F series engines are having now.

[michaelhui]

The Ej 253 sohc also has a cam carrier which is sealed with 3bond. Those also leak from the cam caps on the back side of the heads. The cam caps cover the parting line between the head and cam carrier. I think this isn't talked about much because the head gaskets usually fail first and whomever does the repair will reseal the cam carrier while doing the hg job.