Subaru Repair & Service in Colorado Springs | Westco Automotive

Head gaskets on the older boxer engines

The one everybody has heard about. On the EJ series boxer engines the head gasket sits in a horizontal engine, and the failure usually shows as an external oil weep at the seam or coolant loss without an obvious puddle. Subaru revised the gasket design over the run, so not every year is the same, and a car that has already had the later gasket fitted properly is a different proposition from one that has not.

That makes the paperwork worth more than the model year here. Ask for the big one by name.

Oil consumption on the FB engines

From what we have read, some of the FB series engines from the early 2010s can use oil between changes, and the mechanism usually described is the piston rings again rather than a leak. There was a manufacturer program around it.

Practical advice is the same as anywhere: check it. An engine that uses oil quietly is only a problem for owners who never look.

All-wheel drive and tyres

This one is specific to Subaru and costs people real money. The all-wheel-drive system does not like mismatched rolling diameters. Putting one new tyre on a car with three worn ones, or mixing sizes, makes the centre differential or the transfer clutches work continuously to resolve a difference that should not be there.

Replace them as a set, and keep them rotated. That is the cheapest drivetrain insurance on the car.

Wheel bearings and suspension

Going off what comes across the lift, wheel bearings are a common wear item on these, usually announced by a hum that changes as you load the car through a corner. It is a straightforward repair and worth doing before it takes anything else with it.

In Colorado these cars work hard, and suspension wear tends to run ahead of the mileage.

Booking

Westco Automotive & Truck Repair, 1130 Valley St Ste A/B, Colorado Springs, CO 80915. Call (719) 591-7743 or book online. Female-led, ASE-certified, gas and diesel, all makes. We do not perform delete work on emissions equipment.