2012 Impreza thread

[IHaveAHorse]

Does anyone else's car seem to struggle to get up to anything close to proper operating temp when it's below zero? Unless you're driving on the freeway? I feel like I could drive around town for hours when it's say -10 or -20f and the coolant would struggle to get above 60-70c, so it'd be blowing somewhat warm air on a good day. I don't think it's a thermostat issue, there's no other symptoms of a bad thermostat. I feel like the engine is just too small and fuel efficient to produce enough heat when it's extremely cold out. Would blocking the grille in this weather do anything? I know in theory it shouldn't help much until the thermostat opens at a higher temp, but I wonder if it would help a little bit at least by not having freezing cold air blowing through the engine bay even with the thermostat closed.

* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

[transplantMi]

I recently purchased a 2012 2.0. I did an oil change, drove 1500 miles and I am a quart low. Only 36000 miles on it. Besides adding oil and monitoring anything else to do? Anyone have any luck reaching out to Subaru?

Car is great no issues until this, but I only have had it 1500 miles

[dcon9999]

Nope. Car warms up great even on freezing cold PA mornings (well, back when winter was still a thing)

[dcon9999]

Originally Posted by transplantMi

I recently purchased a 2012 2.0. I did an oil change, drove 1500 miles and I am a quart low. Only 36000 miles on it. Besides adding oil and monitoring anything else to do? Anyone have any luck reaching out to Subaru?

Car is great no issues until this, but I only have had it 1500 miles

Two thoughts.

1. Did you do a full 5.3qt at change?

2. There is a known o-ring issue. Subaru SHOULD still be willing to do an oil consumption test. If you fail, they'll replace the short block

[transplantMi]

Originally Posted by dcon9999

Two thoughts.

1. Did you do a full 5.3qt at change?

2. There is a known o-ring issue. Subaru SHOULD still be willing to do an oil consumption test. If you fail, they'll replace the short block

Thanks. Yes.
Dealer said to top it off and then see how long until it happens again and then they would do oil consumption test.

It has low miles but 11 years old, so not sure if they cover anything.
What does short block replacement cost?

[dcon9999]

Gotcha.

Don't know the cost. Here's the service bulletin: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2018/MC-10144873-9999.pdf

Definitely talks about 8 years or 100,000 mi. Clearly you're under the miles, but I don't know if Subaru will push from 8:00 to 11 years. Seems unlikely but you don't get what you don't ask for right? Maybe they'll go halves with you or something similar if it's too bad an issue to just keep adding oil

[CLL_OBP]

Originally Posted by transplantMi

I recently purchased a 2012 2.0. I did an oil change, drove 1500 miles and I am a quart low. Only 36000 miles on it. Besides adding oil and monitoring anything else to do? Anyone have any luck reaching out to Subaru?

When does the low oil light come on? I bought mines brand new in Feb 2012 and for the past 10 years my janky oil level sensor will trigger the light with the level at the full mark. Where did you buy a '12 with 36k miles? I reached 36k around Christmas 2013.

Originally Posted by dcon9999

Gotcha.

Don't know the cost. Here's the service bulletin: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...44873-9999.pdf

Definitely talks about 8 years or 100,000 mi. Clearly you're under the miles, but I don't know if Subaru will push from 8:00 to 11 years. Seems unlikely but you don't get what you don't ask for right? Maybe they'll go halves with you...

2012-13 model years with high oil consumption are "in the books". Zero chance they will cover something that expired three years ago

[transplantMi]

Originally Posted by CLL_OBP

When does the low oil light come on? I bought mines brand new in Feb 2012 and for the past 10 years my janky oil level sensor will trigger the light with the level at the full mark. Where did you buy a '12 with 36k miles? I reached 36k around Christmas 2013.



2012-13 model years with high oil consumption are "in the books". Zero chance they will cover something that expired three years ago

Oil light came on 1500 miles after oil change. I put over a quart in it to get it up to the full level

Purchased the car from a little old lady that never drove it. I bought it at 34000 miles.

I just didn’t realize how much oil it would use. I started my own oil consumption test today. Costco had 0w20 for $40/10 quarts….

[CLL_OBP]

Originally Posted by transplantMi

Oil light came on 1500 miles after oil change. I put over a quart in it to get it up to the full level

Purchased the car from a little old lady that never drove it. I bought it at 34000 miles.

I just didn’t realize how much oil it would use. I started my own oil consumption test today. Costco had 0w20 for $40/10 quarts….

Well, we've seen worse than 1,500 miles on this forum if that's any constellation.


Oil consumption across the board in all makes and models is directly tied to the EPA mandating higher MPG’s. With Subaru, the naturally aspirated EJ engine was in production for 23 years and had tight tolerances but had a problem with blowing head gaskets.

Then the FB engine came along in 2011 with the goal being better fuel economy so (I heard) the tolerances were made looser to reduce friction and the required oil went from 5W-30 to 0W-20. With those two changes, the oil makes it’s way pass the oil control rings, valve guides, valve stem seal and is burned in the combustion chamber. It didn't take long for a lot of people in this forum back in 2012 to start complaining of oil consumption. The service bulletin to replace the rings expired 8 years after the car went into service so that little old lady probably didn’t have that done.

$4 a quart is great price for synthetic oil. No need to buy expensive oil if you're having to top off 2 or more times.

[nubsub]

any of you folks have a recommended H11 LED low beam bulb that works well with our Imprezas. i don't drive much a night, but i seem to be going through the Silverstar Ultras about once every 1-2 years which is adding up coastwise and moreover is just plain inconvenient. is there a plug-n-play Led solution any of you can vouch for?

thanks!

[protivakid]

Originally Posted by nubsub

any of you folks have a recommended H11 LED low beam bulb that works well with our Imprezas. i don't drive much a night, but i seem to be going through the Silverstar Ultras about once every 1-2 years which is adding up coastwise and moreover is just plain inconvenient. is there a plug-n-play Led solution any of you can vouch for?

thanks!

Don't put LED bulbs in Halogen housings.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/...ectors.454371/

[nubsub]

thanks for the link and info.

follow-up question: what low beam bulbs are people using. my OEM ones lasted me close to 7 years, but replacements only lasted 1-2 years per pair. while brighter, it's a hassle and expensive to be doing this so frequently. i wonder if i should try to go back to Subaru OEMs even if they are a little less bright...

[nubsub]

thanks for the link and info.

follow-up question: what low beam bulbs are people using. my OEM ones lasted me close to 7 years, but replacements only lasted 1-2 years per pair. while brighter, it's a hassle and expensive to be doing this so frequently. i wonder if i should try to go back to Subaru OEMs even if they are a little less bright...

[CLL_OBP]

Originally Posted by nubsub

any of you folks have a recommended H11 LED low beam bulb that works well with our Imprezas. i don't drive much a night, but i seem to be going through the Silverstar Ultras about once every 1-2 years which is adding up coastwise and moreover is just plain inconvenient. is there a plug-n-play Led solution any of you can vouch for?

thanks!

I haven't changed my bulb type. I used the brighter H9 bulbs twice (cutting out the tab) but they only lasted less than a year both times. You need a conversion kit if you want to use LED bulbs.

[nubsub]

Originally Posted by CLL_OBP

I haven't changed my bulb type. I used the brighter H9 bulbs twice (cutting out the tab) but they only lasted less than a year both times. You need a conversion kit if you want to use LED bulbs.

sounds like these bright ones just burn bright and don't have much longevity. i looked at the H11 ultras i bought and they claim a 125 hour life which is about right and not that long! thankfully, i don't drive much a night else that could be done in a few months.

wondering what the OEM bulbs are rated at. it must be much longer even though less brightness.

[CLL_OBP]

Originally Posted by nubsub

sounds like these bright ones just burn bright and don't have much longevity. i looked at the H11 ultras i bought and they claim a 125 hour life which is about right and not that long! thankfully, i don't drive much a night else that could be done in a few months.

wondering what the OEM bulbs are rated at. it must be much longer even though less brightness.

That's the tradeoff, brighter = shorter life. The stock H11 last more than twice as long as the ultra @ ~270 hours. I used the H9's back to back and said the hell with this changing bulbs every year. I don't drive much in the dark either and the H11 last a lot longer.

[nubsub]

Originally Posted by CLL_OBP

That's the tradeoff, brighter = shorter life. The stock H11 last more than twice as long as the ultra @ ~270 hours. I used the H9's back to back and said the hell with this changing bulbs every year. I don't drive much in the dark either and the H11 last a lot longer.

the Ultrastars are rated at 125 hrs, and now, everything is lining up reasonably with the OEM bulbs being 270 hours. i think the Sylvania Standard line (Not sure if they are similar or less brightness than the OEM) are over 300 hours rating.

i'll ride out these Ultrastars for the coming year and put a reminder on the calendar to consider buying a pair of OEMs to have on hand. (i'm eying a potential new car* in the next couple of years which also plays into what i may end up putting into the car in the coming year or two)

*off topic: i really have enjoyed this car. it has done everything i've asked of it and i only wish it had Eyesight and Blind spot detection. the beauty of having a 12 year old car is i no longer worry or care about door dings and scratches and i'm not so obsessed with keeping it super clean in our busy lives at home.

[suebeehrue]

I got the paddle shifters (CVT) to work from a 12-current model impreza base cvt if you have a base cvt and want to add them. Anybody interested in the info. I am trying to spread this widespread for anybody who might be interested. Any ideas where to post such info as well. I have a guide and super basic video I made of how I did it and what parts needed and tools etc.

2012+, 17+, base Impreza 2.0i add paddle shifters that WORKS! - YouTube

2012+, 17+, base Impreza 2.0i add paddle shifters that WORKS! - YouTube

[n00b on demand]

Originally Posted by transplantMi

Thanks. Yes.
Dealer said to top it off and then see how long until it happens again and then they would do oil consumption test.

It has low miles but 11 years old, so not sure if they cover anything.
What does short block replacement cost?

Short Block replacement is a solid 3-4K depending on labor rate for your locality. I had to have my 2012 Impreza 5spd short block done at 46k miles. It was covered under warranty but I remember seeing $3,500 on the invoice back in 2015.

[nubsub]

so, i am here to revisit the intermittent starting issue i reported a few years back. the symptoms are this: the starter will crank and the car will not start until a second or third crank would be performed. this happened about once every 10-20 starts and there was not an exact pattern.

at the time, there were some suggested reasons:
- battery going bad
- not waiting long enough for the fuel system to get primed.

when i last reported it, waiting for the "gauges to wake" didn't solve the issue. a new battery seemed to fix the issue (it was 4+ years old at the time) with almost instantaneous starts after replacing the battery 2.5 years ago. since then, i have experienced the problem from time to time (maybe once every 50 starts) and just lived with it. in recent months, it has become more frequent (maybe once every 20 starts).

in trying to troubleshoot, i have been very diligent about giving the car time to "settle in" (prime the fuel system) before trying to crank the car over. i also was concerned about a battery being the issue, but i ran a load test on it and it passed with flying colors. i wouldn't think it is the starter given that its reliable 95+% of the time and the car does a distinct and healthy starting sound even if the car doesn't turn over.

my friend suggested that rather than "stop" when it is struggling to kick over, that i keep cranking for up to 5 seconds to see if the car kicks over since usually on the 2nd crank, the car would turn over. this strategy has worked fine. i've been quite reluctant up until his suggestion to crank more than 1-2 seconds, but now that i've stretched that out (worse case, 3 seconds?), the car has always started even in these bad situations. again, in normal cases (95% of the time), it cranks over in under a second.

so...what this suggests to me (a scientist but not a great home mechanic) is something is still related to the fuel system. it's as if in these cases, the fuel system hasn't "started up" but eventually kicks into place so the car has fuel to fire up.

what do you guys think? is this the fuel pump itself? some electrical or controller issue (for lack of better understanding of how the whole system works)?

thankfully, given my friend's advice, my fear of the car stranding me has diminished, but i do, in the back of my head, wonder if this problem will get worse in time.

to be honest, i'm torn -- i'm actually eying the new 2024 Crosstrek. the main lure is the better clearance for the 1-2 times a year when i'm hitting dirt roads on the way to a backpacking trip, but more importantly, i'd really like to get EyeSight. on the flip side, i love my 2012 and because it's now old, i don't care as much about door dings and it being a bit dirty a lot of the time. other than the starting issue, the car drives well and the power is sufficient for our family of 3 (10 year old daughter and wife + me)...only time i have found the 2.0i insufficient was with 4 adults and cargo in the mountains. if i were to buy a Crosstrek, i would definitely go with the 2.5 liter model.

but if i can keep the 2012 going another 2-3 years, that would be a good thing all around as the car seems like it still has a lot of life in it at 109k on the dial. (of course, i'm also holding my breath for the infamous valve body CVT to fail and seeing if SOA/dealer would acknowledge the issue and fix it for free/discount)

[CLL_OBP]

Nubsub, You gotta go to a shop with one of those Scotty Kilmer $5,000 diagnostic scan tools that check everything (I mean EVERYTHING) to see what is not working like it should during startup so you know exactly what the problem is.

Just went over 249k yesterday and never had an issue with starting. I also wait for the gauge sweep before turning the key and only use Shell gas. I've been meaning to replace my fuel filter for the longest and still haven't.

2012's are going on 12 years old. I'm going to hold out as long as I can. I want a bigger vehicle (SUV) and would like another Subaru but they don't have many engine choices. Their strongest engine is only 2.4L, the same engine in a sport sedan (WRX) and family SUV (Ascent). Rather spend ~$40k on a 6cyl than a 4cyl.

[nubsub]

thanks CLL...

yeah, I probably should get it checked out a my mechanic, yet I wonder if this problem will show up if it's intermittent. that's the problem. 95% of the time, the car fires up as one would expect it to. there just seems to be no rhyme or reason to when it happens although unlike a couple of YouTube videos I watched, it's not on a hot day when I've been in the grocery store for a half hour. it's typically after the car has been sitting many hours either in my garage or in the parking lot at the train station. it doesn't seem affected by temperature...

I only use Chevron gas I've drunk their Technron kool-aid for many years

I hear you on the limited engine choices. thankfully, our family situation (3 + 17 lb dog) means we can get by with modest size cars for all of our needs. when I need more capacity, I pop on a cargo box to the roof rack on my Subaru. my wife drives a CR-V which is larger (sans cargo box), but we use my car as our family car. my next car will likely be the Crosstrek, but I am open to a Forester as an option depending on when the next generation Forester comes out and what it looks like. the Impreza RS is nice and I'd miss the lower to the ground handling if I went to a Crosstrek or Forester, but I think the extra ground clearance would make me feel better on the dirt roads I occasionally travel upon, as well as in snowy conditions.

249k is an awesome run for you! is yours a 5 speed? if a CVT, have you had any issues and/or had the valve body replaced?

[Leonardo]

I have been having the same issue in my '14 Sport Limited.

[CLL_OBP]

Nubsub,
I just thought it could be a ground wire. I used to have an '02 Odyssey and the ground wire corrode really bad. You use Top-Tier gas so that's good. May just have to live with it like I've lived with my oil level sensor lighting up when the level is full.

I have the CVT and a good memory. April 12, 2019 about 9:40pm on I-20 near Exit 11, the AT OIL TEMP came on. Stopped at a Shell station and sat for 15 minutes to let it cool. Cleared the code and it came back on 10 seconds later. Waited 30 minutes and tried again. Same result. Just my luck, not much I could to do that time of night. Everything is closed. I called the Subaru dealership in Hawaii since they were 6 hours back. The technician recommended not to drive it and have it towed. So I called my insurance and got towed to Gerald Jone Subaru in Augusta, GA. Tried to find a hotel and just my luck again, The Master's was that weekend. Every hotel was over $300 a night!!! I'll be dammed!!! So I slept in my car at the dealership. At least I was the first customer that morning. After about 15 minutes, the service writer tells me the CVT valve body needs to be replaced. There was a service bulletin warranty extension for 10 years/100,000 miles but I was almost at 200,000. Over $1,100 to get it repaired.

[nubsub]

CLL, that's quite an adventure. for you to make it to 200k before the valve body needed replacing is pretty good.

you are right, given how busy i am, i for now will just live with this intermittent issue. i've been living with this starting issue for a while now and thankfully it hasn't gotten any worse.

if i'm lucky, my valve body will last until i buy my new car. $1100 is a good chunk of change, but in the grand scheme, to keep the car going a few more years, it isn't too bad.