Anyone ever heard of this?

[legacy92ej22t]

This is off endwrench.com . There is info on the 2.2 liter also so read all of it.

info.

Leaking Front Crankshaft Seals

If you encounter a 2.5 liter DOHC Subaru engine with a leaking or dislodged front

crankshaft oil seal, consider the oil pump as a possible cause. It may be necessary to

remove the oil pump and examine the oil pump rear sealing plate before installing a

new seal. The screws holding the rear sealing plate may be loose (by as much as

1/16-inch in some reported cases).

This allows oil to exit the pump rotor area, then get into the oil pump body where

it is pressurized. The pressurized oil pushes on the front crankshaft seal, causing it

to leak or pushing it out of its mounting.

There have been field reports indicating that the inner spring may be missing

from some replacement front crankshaft oil seals intended for 2.2 liter Subaru

engines. Be sure to carefully inspect this seal the next time you are ready to install

one, just to make sure the spring is present. At the present time, reports of missing

springs are confined to 2.2 liter engines only.

Also related tech bulliten:

Loyale And Legacy HLA Noise

Should you encounter a Legacy or an

Impreza with noisy hydraulic lash

adjusters (HLA) which do not pressurize

during normal running, the cause may be

a partially blocked oil passage in the rocker

shaft. Also, Loyale vehicles, especially

those with higher mileage, may have an

oil flow problem due to the oil pump.

When checking oil pressure, it may be

within specifications but the volume of

oil may not be sufficient. In this case, it is

recommended the oil pump be replaced.

Oil Pumps Replacement Versus

Resealing

When diagnosing a leaking oil pump,

don’t automatically replace it with a new

pump when a simple reseal will do. The

only time an oil pump should be replaced

to repair an oil leak is if the housing is

porous, cracked, or damaged in some

other manner

[entirelyturbo]

The HLA's clattering are a frequent problem, when they gunk up because the oil is not changed often enough.

I haven't heard of oil seals missing springs, but I do distinctly remember my new front oil seal having a spring, so I'm good there.

My oil pump was also a-ok, in fact the front oil seal was the only leak...

[ciper]

Ive heard of that, never knew an official anouncement existed! Two of my screws had been loose when I replaced the oil pump on my wagon.