‘What the heck is a cam carrier?’
Dear Car Talk: Help! I have a 2017 Subaru Outback with 64,000 miles on it. It runs great, and I have never had any problem until now.
I took it to the dealer last week for routine maintenance, and they told me that the “cam carrier” was leaking. My response, of course, was “what the heck is a ‘cam carrier’?”
Anyway, they showed me a spot on the engine that appeared to be slightly wet. This is allegedly where the leak is. In any event, it is not dripping.
While they assured me that the engine wasn’t going to imminently blow up or anything, I would eventually have to deal with it. From what I have seen online, some folks say this a $3,000 repair job.
Some people say they just do nothing, but keep an eye on your oil level. As you can see, I don’t put a lot of miles on my car. What do YOU think I should do? — Paul
A: Sorry to hear it, Paul. This is quite common on Subarus. On these horizontally opposed engines, a cam holder is bolted to the top of each cylinder head. There’s a seal between the cam holder and the head. That seal is what’s leaking.
The reason it’s a big job is because you have to remove the timing belt to get at the cam covers. And that’s a lot of work. Because it’s an enormous pain in the lug nuts to remove the timing belt, when we’re in there, we’ll replace everything else that’s accessible and may wear out or fail in the near future — the timing belt itself, the belt tensioner, water pump, the valve cover gasket and front seal. Why not?
All that stuff will fail eventually, and the incremental cost of replacing it while the timing belt is already out is comparatively small. So with all that stuff, by the time it’s done, it probably is a $3,000 job. But there are two pieces of good news.
The first is that if you do the work, you won’t have to think about any of that stuff again for at least another 65,000 miles. In fact, we find that, when done right, the repair can last longer than the original job.
Second, it’s almost certainly not urgent. It sounds like it’s barely leaking now. And it might leak very slowly for a long time.
So, what’s my advice? If you’re planning to keep the car for another 50,000 or 60,000 miles, then just go ahead and do it now. Get it over with and enjoy the serenity of not worrying about it.
Get an estimate from an independent shop that works on Subarus before you fix it though. Ask them to include all the stuff I mention above. They may be able to do it at a lower price, or the price may be $3,000, but it may include all the extras.
Finally, you should also ask your Suburu dealer to consider helping you with the price of the repair. You’re really not far removed from the five-year/60,000-mile drivetrain warranty. And we’ve had Subaru customers in that situation tell us that their dealer has taken $1,000 off this job as a goodwill gesture.
If you’re not planning to keep the car for the long haul, then you can just keep driving and monitor your oil level carefully. You’ll know when it’s time because your oil loss will increase, and your driveway will start to look like the Texas Permian Basin. But you might be lucky. It might not need to be fixed until after you’ve traded it in for a 2025 Outback.