Rocker arm failed

[MrDinkleman]

"1 qt. per 600 miles" is nothing new nor specific to Toyota/Subaru. I first ran into that back in 1995 or so when a friend of mine told me she had to add a quart of oil every other tankful of gas in her Mercedes 190e. When I expressed shock she said that was normal according to her OM and the dealership. I looked up various manufacturers and it seems they all say that now. I dunno, could be just the makers' covering their asses or a way to reduce warranty claims. Mine uses about a quart every 3k miles so I carry around that last 0.3qt. Of oil left over from the oil change. I like to change my oil at 4k intervals. If you take your car to the dealer to complain about using a quart every 2k miles, they'll just tell you that is within spec...

[Sapphireho]

My twin burns no oil between changes. Zero. I'm going 7k between changes with 5-30 Torco SR-5.

[shaynek]

Originally Posted by ermax

Read the "Hint" on this page from the service manual:
https://demos.starbase7.net/t3Portal...44588675128151

They are saying this engine consumes oil at 1US QT every 2000 miles. This info should be in the owner's manual that comes with the car. Not the shop manual that the average person will never see. This tidbit in itself is class actionable IMO. 1qt every 2000 miles is what most manufacturers would consider excessive.. not normal. How many modern cars require at least 2 top offs between oil change intervals... hell how many cars require any top offs at all between changes? I got my car used, changed the oil on day one and only put about 4000 miles on it before spinning a bearing. during that 4000 miles I did top it off a few times (1/4qt each time) which I just attributed to the age of my car until I read that crap in the service manual. We are car guys so we are the type that will check our oil all the time. Your average person will not check their oil level regularly. They will just change the oil at the recommended interval and call it a day. I always thought it was odd that the change interval was so short on this car considering it requires synthetic. Most modern cars with synthetic have a 10k+ interval. For example BMW says 15K. They knew this car drank oil so they gave it a short interval. I'm surprised these cars don't blow purple smoke with this level of consumption.

Long story short I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of the failures are do to the consumption problem. I got my car used and I'm just going to cross my fingers that mine spun due to neglect from the previous owner. I hope that when I finish rebuilding mine that it will be okay in the long run because I check my level regularly. But I still think Subaru/Toyota needs to be more upfront about the consumption being so high. If they were more upfront they wouldn't be able to sell the cars though. 1qt/2000mi is a joke.

My motor had 65k miles before it blew. I never tracked it but I never noticed any oil consumption. If your car was burning oil, then it was mostly and issue with the specific car. As far as a spun bearing, that seems to common on the 13's. mine had a bent rod which I'm sure it was probably due to oil starvation. There's a design flaw with these engines. they oil passages can get clogged fairly easily in which your engine is toast. many have gotten the
cam plates resealed under warranty and a few thousand miles later had an engine failure because the dealer used too much sealant. I'm just surprised how they have gotten away with this for so long. Some blame the boost which could indeed have something to do with it but when stock engines seize, then you know it's not the boost. the 13 model engines tend to go out around 60k from what I've seen

[humfrz]

Well, I'll weigh in. My 2013 FR-S, with 21,000 miles, uses less than a 1/2 qt. of oil (0w20) in between oil changes (every 7 months or 7,000 miles).

However, I've never tracked it, only hit the rev limiter a couple of times (once in a heated race with a soccer mom in a mini-van) and I have the shift light set at 6,200 rpms.

Pretty exciting - huh -


humfrz

[jRuN]

Did Subaru redesign the rocker arms in later model BRZ's or is it the same design throughout all the years?

[gravitylover]

Originally Posted by shaynek

the 13 model engines tend to go out around 60k from what I've seen

If they're going to go...

I'm at 102k now and so far the engine has been rock solid other than the timing chain cover leak which the dealer covered. It doesn't burn any oil either and I do lots of long (200-600 mile in one day) trips. Fingers crossed every time I start it up

[ermax]

Originally Posted by jRuN

Did Subaru redesign the rocker arms in later model BRZ's or is it the same design throughout all the years?

I don’t believe the rocker itself changed but the pivot changed (has a much smaller hole in it) and the valves got longer which would change the angle of the rocker. A smaller hole in the rocker would increase the lift in it which I could see reducing play in the rocker which would reduce ejections.

[jRuN]

Originally Posted by ermax

I don’t believe the rocker itself changed but the pivot changed (has a much smaller hole in it) and the valves got longer which would change the angle of the rocker. A smaller hole in the rocker would increase the lift in it which I could see reducing play in the rocker which would reduce ejections.

Thank you for that information.. and for the lesson! Do you happen to know what year they made those changes?

[shaynek]

Originally Posted by gravitylover

If they're going to go...

I'm at 102k now and so far the engine has been rock solid other than the timing chain cover leak which the dealer covered. It doesn't burn any oil either and I do lots of long (200-600 mile in one day) trips. Fingers crossed every time I start it up

Many have had their engines fail due to getting the timing cover fixed. Apperantly some dealers use too much sealent and it seeps through which ends up clogging the oil lines inside the engine which eventually leads to catastrophic failures. I don’t want to misinform anyone but apperantly the early 2013 models with the block # 22212 are the ones that fail. Mine was a 22212 and it blew but older 13’s-16’s use block #22222

[ermax]

Originally Posted by shaynek

Many have had their engines fail due to getting the timing cover fixed. Apperantly some dealers use too much sealent and it seeps through which ends up clogging the oil lines inside the engine which eventually leads to catastrophic failures. I don’t want to misinform anyone but apperantly the early 2013 models with the block # 22212 are the ones that fail. Mine was a 22212 and it blew but older 13’s-16’s use block #22222

I spun the #3 on my 2013 which had a 22222 block. The replacement short block from Toyota is also a 22222.

[shaynek]

Originally Posted by ermax

I spun the #3 on my 2013 which had a 22222 block. The replacement short block from Toyota is also a 22222.

interesting. Mine was an old block. They made adjustments within a few months of production of the 13's

[Lantanafrs2]

I don't think they would necessarily change the part number for a revision.

[displacedTexan]

Updated the first post.

I'm looking at purchasing a used engine, worst case scenario. If we get to dispute settlement and that doesn't work, I'm not going to spend more money on litigation than it costs to replace the engine. Feels like the right thing to do would be to fight Toyota as far as possible on this, but it may not make sense financially.

Haven't given up, yet. We'll see what happens in the next week. Good news is I'm used to not having the car now, so I'm not nearly as stressed out as I was in the first week or two.

[ermax]

So what they are basically saying is changing your own oil voids the warranty? What a bunch of BS. Im curious if there is a way to sufficiently prove to Toyota that you’ve changed the oil. Recipes apparently aren’t enough. Do they need a freaking time stamped video?