2008 STI HATCH ENGINE FAILURE
 

Please can people with the hatch who have had engine failure please add yourself to this thread.Trying to get a figure and engine fault.


Long story short ringland failure and internal turbo crack,engine rebuild with one new piston, new rings on rest of pistons, new turbo,new intercooler,new bigends,new mains.After less than seven days spun a bigend which damaged whole engine.

Today told by I M that the engine had been driven to destruction and will not cover it with warranty.Car had not gone over 3k rpm and trip was showing 27 mpg for that week,which it had never got close to before.

Not good at all mate, no one is going to thrash a rebuilt engine in their pride and joy, you should name and shame your dealer mate...my official Subaru dealer provided excellent service in sorting this out for me (I bought the car from them)

Lost piston 4 (cracked) by 8K miles

Please see this thread for more info...have pulled off the good bits for you mate...

8K miles & already need a new engine!!!! - Surrey Scoobies

So, took the MY08 in for some whiteline parts at Powerstation, one of the guys said your engine sounds funny when starting, on further investigation it turns out the compression/one the pistons is shot

....advised a warranty claim for a new short block engine is necessary...is the MY08 2.5 made out of chocolate!!!! Not happy....

I have been sniffing around and I have been told quite a few 2.5's in the MY08 have had the same problem due to a change in pistons over previous 2.5 models...what with the relatively poor sales of the new model already this is not good PR for Subaru...given the relatively cheap cost of forged pistions (compared to the overall cost of the car when new) why the hell did they not fit them in the first place, instead of crappy cast ones which are more prone to failure, the MY08 JDM 2.0 has forged pistons, why not the UK 2.5?? Shaking my fist in the air like an old git at Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd

Engine apart, Number 4 piston is cracked and the short block engine will be replaced under warranty. Honestly, thanks go to my dealer and Subaru UK, they have been great.

The strange thing is though, when I rang the Subaru UK Warranty Department, before I had confirmed what piston it was, they said 'Number 4 gone then'...not a new problem then!

Turns out all MY08 STI's need a factory replacement engine map to eliminate knock / detonation when you put your foot down and are on boost. For those who don't know it is basically the uncontrolled ignition of the air fuel mixture i.e. it doesn’t occur at the desired time in the combustion cycle, which puts excess pressure on the piston (which can cause failure of the special chocolate pistons Subaru put in the UK 2.5).

I have also been told the replacement short engine has a differently designed piston (still cast though) to eliminate this problem. I asked if I could stick some upgraded/top quality forged pistons in but was told, unsuprisingly, this would invalidate the warranty

Subaru UK have not yet made an official recall of all MY08 STI's for the re-map, but should be considering it. If you know anyone else who has a MY08 STI tell them to contact their dealer for the re-map, it's free.

Are you telling us everything ;) about the way the car was driven? A Subaru engine less than a year old letting go is extreme bad luck!

RE: the rebuild: assuming it wasn't ragged before being properly run in, the build must have been questionable IMHO. No way would you bin a big end driving under the circumstances you describe. Get a second engineers report from a reputable company and give em hell!

I'd speak to someone like David at APi for advice.

I took my 2008 STI in to get it's free dealer remap after reading on here about the fueling issues.... all the dealer would admit was they get map updates all the time and this was no different..nothing about the dangers original map.

The problem is not with the dealership they tried for a new short motor but subaru uk declined.

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

Ditto..mine was a demo....:eek:

My old 2003 STI was so bullet proof I never thought the 2.5 would be weaker...

Re-map may come sooner than later then...to be on the safe side...;):Whatever_

(That's the wife friendly line BTW)

Why dont Subaru put in forged pistons as in JDM model, its stupid!

hi mate if thay still say its not there fault then talk to tradeing standards thay will help you out with advice and tell you your wrights as this sounds like it mush have been faulty from new but talk to them and thay will advice you better and good luck and sorry to hear this

Do I read this right in as Subaru have a problem with the standard mapping at high boost/rpm and a reflash is required.????

In my case and others who have had an independant remap done this should be a better fix as it is tailored to the individual car!!!

Also what is the age/build date of these cars with failures regardless to miles done as this has a bearing I'm told.

Mog

Stuart,
My engine failed, single piston number unknown, at 3.5K. Managed to get 32mpg on my way to work and had just set off home when it went flat. I had already booked my car in for the reflash prior to the failure. It is a common issue in the USA and was connected with the rev limiter cutting fuel early running lean and bang. The dealer said the damage was probably done over time and not just when it went flat. No other damage was caused and they replaced the short motor without issue. I was told that the reflash was a cure for hesitation between 2-3K rpm, not the rev limiter issue so I used that to get a discount on the PPP to ensure reliability of the car.

Any other car I've known that failed had the short motor replaced and I've not known of any turbo issues.

https://www.scoobynet.com/general-te...ine-fault.html

I thought they could connect their computers up to the management system and it would tell them how the car had been driven in terms of highest revs etc. I was told that several years ago by a dealer not sure if its true so please excuse my stupidity if this is wrong.

I was told by a dealer that it's all about unit cost (per car). It would only cost them an extra £100 a car to put forged pistons in...

...but remember the cast pistons can cope with standard MY08 STI outputs ok (if the car is mapped properly) and can take up to 350bhp safely and more if you are willing...the MY08 JDM 2.0 STI with the forged internals can take up to 400bhp without any mods

Mog - I spoke to JGM about this a while back, he specifically takes this into consideration when he is mapping, it's all about avoiding knock / det (as any good mapper should do). Since I had my car bespoke mapped the fuel economy has also improved...so yes I would say a bespoke map is defo better than the factory updated map

Mog you are also right about specific cars/engines, I was told that a specific batch of engines/pistons are more prone to failures and that my replacement short block engine has a re-designed/modified piston in it because of this...still a cast piston though

after a certain chassis no. they all come with the modified map on at least uk cars do anyway

Is there a list of effected chassis number anywhere?

Picking up a new Euro 08 STI next week from Motor depot. Got me a bit worried

cheers

lee

Picked the car up new on 1st march 08,so one of the early ones.Had rear diff failure jan 09 and centre diff fail at time of rebuild feb 09.I dont drive the car much its my wifes, so i know the car has not been driven hard see will not even drive in sport sharp .

Scoobyboy should be able to help with that info, I am sure he works at a dealership.

David APi

Thanks David I'll pm him

Just a thought, but you might want to make friends (if you are not already) with a Subaru UK approved main dealer mate (take the car in for an inspection/mini service) & get the ecu update done etc. (or get it re-mapped by a decent mapper after running it in for the first 1000 miles) just to be on the safe side. Or you might have that nagging worry in the back of your head, and not enjoy your new pride and joy as much as you should mate

I've been told it's just an ecu map issue that effected a small number of cars that were driven very hard and the USA forums seem to confirm this

Cheers Dave,
I'll get a dealer to check it out after the 1st 1000 mile run in period.

Also pm'd scoobyboy the Vin number to see if it needs a reflash which is good of him:thumb:

It's a big issue in the US.

Warranty Issues & SOA Problems - NASIOC

Sorry to hear this. bad news.


Subaru Uk are a wate of time IMO, The perosn who didnt help me Arron some one, just said well its one of them things, see your dealer, I WAS COMPLAINING ABOUT THE DEALER! he didnt care :cry:

Arrrrh. Its going from bad to worse:mad:

1st I read about this ecu engine fault and now,

Supposed to be collecting my new 09 STI a week today (1st April), Dealer just phoned me to say the DVLA want to inspect the car and the 1st date they have is the 7th April, Only then will they be able to Tax and register it:razz:

Will the day ever come?

Are Motor Depot and Allbrandsnew the same company ?

Are they based in Hull ?

Not sure if there the same company but defiantly have access to the same stock.

Yes there in Hull and S****horpe

Hmmmm, the new Impreza sounds like a real winner! :lol1:

I had a nightmare with them in the end. Price was great but organisation was dreadful. The good news is the car (when i eventually got it) was spot on :luxhello:.

Sorry to drift off topic and i hope they perform better for you.

How are things going for you...keep us updated as a few of us have a vested interest !!!!

Mog

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.

"Driven to destruction"?! Is your dealer having a laugh?! They should be fighting your corner and trying to get it rebuilt again under warranty. Mind you, they are probably trying to defend their reputation by not admitting that their re-build wasn't done correctly.

My dealer has been fantastic so far with my engine failure (MY07 STI PPP), brand new engine, turbo, etc. Hoping to have all the work done by end of next week. Then they will have had my car for 4 weeks, but they have been waiting for block, which has been on back-order for weeks and can't do much without it.