2008 STI HATCH ENGINE FAILURE
28 March 2009, 08:12 PM
#31
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I am also struggling with the "driven to destruction" bit. Unless the car has been seriously hammered then i would be ramping up the pressure to get this resolved the way you want it sorted.
Feel for you, hope you get good positive news soon.
Feel for you, hope you get good positive news soon.
if mine were to go bang I would rebuild it myself, be a fully forged motor then.
29 March 2009, 01:21 AM
#35
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MOG - yes, I use Rick at RE Motorsport, as a top three UK Subaru tech he WAS able to strip both engines and gearboxes to minimise the cost IM...
HTH
dunx
P.S. You'd think an extra £100 for a set of drop-in pistons would be a good idea....
HTH
dunx
P.S. You'd think an extra £100 for a set of drop-in pistons would be a good idea....
Last edited by dunx; 29 March 2009 at 01:22 AM.
29 March 2009, 11:08 AM
#37
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29 March 2009, 12:59 PM
#38
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As has been stated, the problem most likely lies with a poor map. JDM cars will be set from the factory to run on 100RON fuel. As this is readily available in Japan the cars will no doubt run a lot safer.
The Euro cars have to take into account that not everyone will run on the best fuel available and the fact that there are varying fuel grades from country to country.
I've also never been a fan of the way the injectors are setup on Scoobs. Having them all plumbed in in a series configuration means that the last injector in the line is going to feel any fuel fluctuations the most, potentially leaving that particular cylinder to run lean. This is usually cylinder number 3. Being the cylinder that sits closest to the turbo there is also a possibility of it running hotter than the others, again potentially causing issues.
01 April 2009, 06:40 PM
#39
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Subaru tech came to the dealership on thursday morning and inspected the engine but dont think he new as to why it failed just that it did .Asked the tech should it have been rebuild the way it was but would not answer.Asked if it should have been rebuilt with a new short motor and would not answer. Should have an answer on monday if this is going to be a new engine under warranty or rejected.If rejected then legal action will commence as we all know that the way it was rebuilt was not the correct way,even the dealership had concerns.
01 April 2009, 07:05 PM
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i work under diahatsu. I M have just lost one of there tech guys and have been restrutching the family for mths. now i dunno exactly has gone on on scooby side but I M are real good with warrantys. un like Kia they never ask for item back or check up but we have been dealers for 25 years now. i would ring IM direct number and ask to talk to customer services deptment!!
but that didnt come from me wink wink
but that didnt come from me wink wink
02 April 2009, 12:20 AM
#42
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Subaru had a few engines fail on the factory map on the track and a few press cars in Australia had piston failure (it only under fueled/knocked when you hit the rev limiter, so if you have driven yours with some mechanical sympathy you should be ok anyway mate).
I have been told by a good source that the factory did not see this as a significant issue at the launch and only issued the re-map after a number of failures. There is also more about this on the EcuTek mapping forums and a good mapper on here told me a good map will elimiate the issue, so all is not lost for the MY08 2.5 engine...I hope
I bought my car with 4K miles on it secondhand so can only assume the previous owner drove it like a hire car from new...or it was a Friday afternoon engine
I would like to say again that Subaru UK and my dealer dealt with my issue very well, I even got a loan car while it was in being fixed and I have confidence in the work, my engine and my warranty. I think you need to have a serious talk with the IM Group (via a solicitor with an independant engineers report if necessary), but as always there are two sides to any story....
Again, sorry to hear this, I feel for you mate, what a nightmare
I have been told by a good source that the factory did not see this as a significant issue at the launch and only issued the re-map after a number of failures. There is also more about this on the EcuTek mapping forums and a good mapper on here told me a good map will elimiate the issue, so all is not lost for the MY08 2.5 engine...I hope
I bought my car with 4K miles on it secondhand so can only assume the previous owner drove it like a hire car from new...or it was a Friday afternoon engine
I would like to say again that Subaru UK and my dealer dealt with my issue very well, I even got a loan car while it was in being fixed and I have confidence in the work, my engine and my warranty. I think you need to have a serious talk with the IM Group (via a solicitor with an independant engineers report if necessary), but as always there are two sides to any story....
Again, sorry to hear this, I feel for you mate, what a nightmare
03 April 2009, 12:05 PM
#44
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We bought a new 08 STi type UK about 10 months ago, I say new but it was the 2000 mile old demo they had, The reason we bought the demo was it had 4k's worth of extra kit lol, Anyway the story goes that after we had done another 2000 miles so 4000 in total I noticed that the oil wasn't even on the dip stick, So I complained to the dealer about this and was fobbed off with some gumph about oil usage.
Now I've built quite a few engine myself and I don't really know of any that where built properly and in good condition that will use 1.5 litre's of oil every 1200 miles, This went on for about 8 months with me keep asking for a compression test which the dealer kept refusing to do.
In the end after the first 10000 mile service with it still burning oil nearly as quickly as it does petrol the relented and did the test, Which confirmed what I had been saying for 8 month that the engine was indeed f*cked and was down on two pistons, They agreed to fit a short engine after at first trying to fob me off with two new pistons.
Anyway to cut a long story short they fitted the new block but couldn't get it to run properly for 6 weeks before I said enough was enough and rejected the car under the sales of goods act, They have now bought it back off us and cleared all the finance.
We're picking up a MK5 golf R32 later as a hopefully far more reliable replacement, This was our first and last Subaru I'm afraid.
In my opinion they actually sold us the car with an already f*cked engine which means it didn't even last 2000 miles.
Rob
PS if anybody gets offered SV08VVC then beware lol.
Now I've built quite a few engine myself and I don't really know of any that where built properly and in good condition that will use 1.5 litre's of oil every 1200 miles, This went on for about 8 months with me keep asking for a compression test which the dealer kept refusing to do.
In the end after the first 10000 mile service with it still burning oil nearly as quickly as it does petrol the relented and did the test, Which confirmed what I had been saying for 8 month that the engine was indeed f*cked and was down on two pistons, They agreed to fit a short engine after at first trying to fob me off with two new pistons.
Anyway to cut a long story short they fitted the new block but couldn't get it to run properly for 6 weeks before I said enough was enough and rejected the car under the sales of goods act, They have now bought it back off us and cleared all the finance.
We're picking up a MK5 golf R32 later as a hopefully far more reliable replacement, This was our first and last Subaru I'm afraid.
In my opinion they actually sold us the car with an already f*cked engine which means it didn't even last 2000 miles.
Rob
PS if anybody gets offered SV08VVC then beware lol.
Last edited by ODIN; 03 April 2009 at 12:06 PM.
03 April 2009, 05:26 PM
#47
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Good news subaru uk have agreed to replace the whole engine under warranty.
Hope they will learn not to make short cuts just to save a few pound.
Its only taken 4 1/2 weeks.
lets hope all is well on its return.
Hope they will learn not to make short cuts just to save a few pound.
Its only taken 4 1/2 weeks.
lets hope all is well on its return.
05 April 2009, 12:45 AM
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05 April 2009, 07:56 PM
#53
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i bought a wrx sti(58) 6k miles on sat last week and it happened to me, was ok saturday on sunday morning it was misfiring and was on a tow truck sunday afternoon.engine out job
the garage have been great,loan car until yesterday morning from subaru uk(only a diesel c4) but they registered a brand new sti and lent it to me while mines getting fixed
the garage have been great,loan car until yesterday morning from subaru uk(only a diesel c4) but they registered a brand new sti and lent it to me while mines getting fixed
06 April 2009, 08:21 PM
#56
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LOL, this is why my car needed a new short engine under warranty before it's 10K service, it was running on the crappy map as well while it was being thrashed from cold....nice!
Ran it in for 1000 miles after the rebuild then got a bespoke re-map and now it goes like a train (a fast one) and hardly touches any oil...for now...
Last edited by Dave_P; 06 April 2009 at 08:24 PM.
15 April 2009, 09:08 AM
#57
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Same happened to our 08 STI, cracked ringland. It was using 1 litre of oil every 700 miles!
Subaru initially refused to cover the warranty claim, but eventually they did. Got to say the guys at IM (in Coleshill) are a bunch of tw@ts. Just glad I got a new short block in the end.
Since then the car hasn't missed a beat and runs perfectly. FYI all this happened before I had the reflash to the new map (simply because I never got a recall letter).
Also FYI the map fixes the horrendous rev limit logic (which sounded like an AK47) and also there were some "non-optimal" AFRs between closed loop to open loop transition..
As other have stated this has had massive impact in the states too. The programmers that Subaru employed / outsourced should be hung.
Hope your new engine is as reliable as mine has been
Stu
Subaru initially refused to cover the warranty claim, but eventually they did. Got to say the guys at IM (in Coleshill) are a bunch of tw@ts. Just glad I got a new short block in the end.
Since then the car hasn't missed a beat and runs perfectly. FYI all this happened before I had the reflash to the new map (simply because I never got a recall letter).
Also FYI the map fixes the horrendous rev limit logic (which sounded like an AK47) and also there were some "non-optimal" AFRs between closed loop to open loop transition..
As other have stated this has had massive impact in the states too. The programmers that Subaru employed / outsourced should be hung.
Hope your new engine is as reliable as mine has been
Stu
15 April 2009, 11:14 AM
#58
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My dealer contacted me late last year advising that the car needed a remap. Very pleased with the service.
Have the rev warning buzzer off, but light flashing at 6100RPM to ensure engine never gets over revved in first place.
Have the rev warning buzzer off, but light flashing at 6100RPM to ensure engine never gets over revved in first place.
15 April 2009, 03:02 PM
#60
Can anyone confirm when the updated map was released? I bought an ex-demo on July 1st 2008. After reading stuff here I asked them to check for an update when I had my first service at the end of february this year. They returned the car to me and said no update was required. So now im wondering if mine got the update before I bought it. I have now done nearly 9000 miles so im guessing its ok. But can never be too careful i guess.