[wendybgpdx17]

Hi All. I realize this forum is for 2017 Impreza's but wondering if anyone has had issues with an upper oil pan leak in their older Impreza's. It's an expensive repair as it requires removing the engine. My car is past warranty ( has 110 k miles on it). Would appreciate anyone's thoughts/experiences with this issue. It's apparently not common and is unclear as to the reason for this failure given it's not been damaged. I am the cars one and only owner. I am debating paying for the repair ( estimated at ~ $ 3500) or trading it in for a new car. I love my car- it's a champ. Is it worth fixing??

 

[SUPRARU]

You have an 8 year old car. Most are leaking something by that point. Most of the time my guys are doing cam carrier reseal jobs which going by your quote price should be about what your job is and maybe they also are doing the upper oil pan seal. You're pretty much doing everything but headgaskets.

 

[MagikAram]

Upper oil pan? There's two parts to it? I thought the oil pan wad a single tray with maybe some baffling inside...

Ah: parts.subaru.com
Oil pan may need to be replaced if impacted from below or your drain plug is worn or damaged. 'Kay makes sense... But that's the lower portion... then every video I see for the upper oil pan, shows that it basically is what covers the underside of the crankshaft, and does in fact require engine out service...

For you OP, at 110k miles, engine out service like this you might as well do a full engine rebuild. As for the oil leak, are you 100% confident that the upper pan is leaking?

 

[SUPRARU]

Upper oil pan? There's two parts to it? I thought the oil pan wad a single tray with maybe some baffling inside...

Ah: parts.subaru.com
Oil pan may need to be replaced if impacted from below or your drain plug is worn or damaged. 'Kay makes sense... But that's the lower portion... then every video I see for the upper oil pan, shows that it basically is what covers the underside of the crankshaft, and does in fact require engine out service...

For you OP, at 110k miles, engine out service like this you might as well do a full engine rebuild. As for the oil leak, are you 100% confident that the upper pan is leaking?

Yes, there is a lower oil pan and an upper oil pan...

 

[wendybgpdx17]

You have an 8 year old car. Most are leaking something by that point. Most of the time my guys are doing cam carrier reseal jobs which going by your quote price should be about what your job is and maybe they also are doing the upper oil pan seal. You're pretty much doing everything but headgaskets.

Thanks. I know about the head gasket's eventually needing replacement although was told by the service rep at Subaru that Impreza's don't typically need this repair. I don't mind paying what is needed for this repair but will admit to being surprised that this needs to done at all. I've had many other cars over the years with higher mileage that don't have oil leaks and this one is, in my opinion, spendy.

 

[wendybgpdx17]

Upper oil pan? There's two parts to it? I thought the oil pan wad a single tray with maybe some baffling inside...

Ah: parts.subaru.com
Oil pan may need to be replaced if impacted from below or your drain plug is worn or damaged. 'Kay makes sense... But that's the lower portion... then every video I see for the upper oil pan, shows that it basically is what covers the underside of the crankshaft, and does in fact require engine out service...

For you OP, at 110k miles, engine out service like this you might as well do a full engine rebuild. As for the oil leak, are you 100% confident that the upper pan is leaking?

I took the car to Subaru and this is what they told me was wrong. It's odd- there's no oil leaking under the car; just a burnt oil smell when I start it after it's been driven. It's also intermittent in regard to this smell. My boyfriend and I are going to see if we can figure out the source of the leak ourselves this weekend. I am wondering if it could be a bad oil pressure sensor.

 

[Alex_Rochester]

Unfortunately, the engine used in the previous Impreza is a different engine altogether from the ones we have.

 

[MagikAram]

Unfortunately, the engine used in the previous Impreza is a different engine altogether from the ones we have.

2012-16 USDM Impreza's use a FB20 - meanwhile 2017-23 use a FB20D (D for Direct Injection) with a higher compression ratio, though they all share the same bore & stroke. So there are differences, but largely the same base engine.

 

[Boinks]

There's no oil under the car because your car has slash guards. Pull your splash guards you'll find your oil. I learned this when I cracked the seal on my lower oil pan offroading. Splash guards are great for air flow but they prevent splashing of all fluids both ways unfortunately.