NHTSA Complaint #10609131 — 2009 SUBARU LEGACY

TWO WEEKS BEFORE THIS INCIDENT, THE VEHICLE'S OIL WAS CHANGED. THEN, ON SATURDAY, JULY 5, 2014, I WAS TRAVELING ON THE I-465N ONRAMP FROM I-70E IN INDIANAPOLIS AND UPON ACCELERATING EXPERIENCED ENGINE POWER LOSS AND A LOUD KNOCKING SOUND WHEN THE ENGINE RPMS EXCEED 2,500. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO DREYER & REINBOLD IN GREENWOOD WHERE I LEARNED THE VEHICLE ONLY HAD 0.7 QUARTS OF OIL IN IT AND NOW NEEDS THE SHORT BLOCK, GASKET SET, AND OIL PUMP REPLACED. UPON SPEAKING WITH THE TECHNICIAN, I LEARNED THAT IN MY VEHICLE, INCLUDING OTHER SUBARU VEHICLES, THE OIL LIGHT DOES NOT ILLUMINATE UNTIL IT'S TOO LATE AND VIRTUALLY OUT OF OIL, THUS CAUSING CATASTROPHIC ENGINE COMPONENT FAILURE. THE TECHNICIAN STATED THAT SOMETIMES ENGINE OIL NUTS OR FILTERS ARE NOT PLACED ON VEHICLES AND THE DASHBOARD'S "ENGINE OIL" LIGHT FAILS TO ILLUMINATE EVEN AFTER ALL THE OIL HAS BEEN DISPLACED. UPDATED 02/25/2015 *JS