2007 Outback oil pressure light failure
Asked by SubaruSadness Jun 26, 2017 at 12:42 PM about the 2007 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited Wagon AWD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
My 2007 Subaru Outback ran out of oil, but there was no indicator of any kind
that this was happening. No oil pressure light, no low oil light, no check
engine..nothing. I was within the oil change time frame. I had had the head
gasket redone last year and had not noticed any smell or smoke. Is this an 'as
expected' event? The engine is dead as a result of no oil. Only 110k miles.
5 Answers
Apparently the warning light failed but you should never have run out of oil. It is always wise to check your oil weekly or when you fill up your car. If you had done so your car would still be running good. At this point your choices are to sell if for a few hundred dollars or install a new or used engine.
SubaruSadness answered 6 years ago
keywords: the warning light FAILED. Why bother sticking a warning light on a car if it can fail but you won't cover it as a failure? Also, Subaru is all about being outdoor-friendly, so why would it be OK for any car to burn through oil like this as it would be/is a pollutant? My car had never burned oil like that, not even close. I tried to trade the car in for something on my Subaru dealer's lot as I didn't think paying $6500 for a new engine (there are not used Subaru engines in my region) made sense given the age of the car. They offered me $500 in trade and $0 incentives. The car that died was my third Subaru. Doubtful that I'll bother buying a Subaru again, mainly b/c of their lack of loyalty to ME.
I hate to say this but you can only blame yourself for not checking the oil level. 10 year old cars are long past the warranty period and even warranties won't cover an engine that you let run out of oil. Maintaining a car is not that hard but it is a necessary part of owning a car. I am not a Subaru fan anymore but you can't blame this problem on them.
TheSubaruGuruBoston answered 6 years ago
What do you mean by "oil change timeframe". Although it's quite unlikely that your piston rings softened mysteriously, there's a chance a head gasket wasn't sealing correctly; but then you should've noticed smelly seepage onto the exhaust or drips on the ground. OTOH if you didn't check level for several months or let's say 5k miles then it's poissible you were consuming 1qt/k and simply ran out...ESPECIALLY if you had 0w or 5w in there. There's a pretty robust business for used motors trucked around the country in the $1.5-2k range...but I guess the water's over the damn for you...sorry. Sorry.
TheSubaruGuruBoston answered 6 years ago
damn=dam, of course; interesting error, given your loss....
