Need help with a 2007 OBW 3 litre w/ 55K miles

[kwn306]

I purchased this car with 39K miles almost a year, I have been changing the oil about every 4K since ownership. I like the car but it has been causing me head aches the last 5K miles. It has been doing something with a quart of oil eveery 2500 miles, there is no smoke from the tail pipe, no anti freeze disappearing so I don't think it's a head gasket issue. Also the fuel mileage has gone from excellent (27 mpg to 22 mpg) ever since the temperature has gotten colder in VA.

I have noticed what appears to be oil dripping down the back side of the RH valve cover and coating the bottom of the vehicle the last time I changed the oil. I have been to every auto store in my area and no one carries a service manual for a 2007 Subaru so trouble shooting is a tad difficult.

Can anyone tell me if there would be a sensor (like oil pressure) on the top or back of the block in that area that could be causing the problem or could it be a valve cover gasket?

Also the 60K mile service is getting close, being unemployed at the moment I figure I could do most of it myself (I'm pretty handy with tools). I have printed off the helpful hints on what to do on this forum. Thanks for whomever posted these.

I see where the vehicle is do spark plugs, I'm old skool, use to a distributor, wires and plugs, this thing looks totally different. Do I just undo the bolt that holds the little "black thingy" to the block to get to the plugs? Does the little "black thingy" just pull off, twist off, special tool to get it off?

When draining the auto transmission fliud.........is there a plug on the torque converter to drain it, or do you just get out what you can, measure the old fluid and refill with the same amount of new fluild? Do I need to change the trans filter, I have a 5 spd auto., something tells me the trans filter is inside the pan as I see only one spin on filter on the engine / trans assembly.

Any other advice you can give this old fart?

Thanks for your time in advance, Kurt

[plain OM]

Can anyone tell me if there would be a sensor (like oil pressure) on the top or back of the block in that area that could be causing the problem or could it be a valve cover gasket?

As of 2005, the H6 has the Subaru variable valve lift system. If it works the same as my 07 4-cylinder, there is a VVL solenoid, an oil pressure switch, and an oil temperature sensor at the upper rear of the right head. There have been some cases here (4-cylinder) of leaks at the solenoid or pressure switch. (See attached)

When draining the auto transmission fliud.........is there a plug on the torque converter to drain it, or do you just get out what you can, measure the old fluid and refill with the same amount of new fluild? Do I need to change the trans filter, I have a 5 spd auto., something tells me the trans filter is inside the pan as I see only one spin on filter on the engine / trans assembly.

There's only the one drain, for the pan. Partial drain. If the ATF hasn't been changed in a while, some would do two or three drain and fills (with some driving in between).

The 6 cyl has it's transmission spin-on filter in the left front fender, next to the battery.

See: Changing Automatic Transmission Fluid (is easy)

I'll have to leave the spark plug question to those who have done a 6 cyl.

Hope this helps.

[Clatterman]

i had a CV boot go bad in that location at 60k.

[jp1203]

H6 Plug Change: Not quite as bad as it is hyped to be.

Here's some info on the H6 plug change. There's more (including a write-up on Scoobymods if you search around). It's not too terrible.

The "black thingy" is a coil pack. It's a coil-on-plug design. You take out the one bolt, unplug the pack, and pull. There's some suction where it contacts the plug so you might have to twist a bit, but that's all there is to taking them off.

[nipper]

You have the valve cover and the ever popular seperator plate. They leak alot on earlier H4, havent heard on the H^. Change the PCV valve, it is amazing what that can do for oil consumption.