Tim23948

Wanted a fast and reliable car, so just bought a Wagon with FSSH, 47K miles, UK car, private. What a fool ! I bought it without hearing it start from cold, and yes it is an MY98 and yes it has piston slap like they left a little mechanic in there with a hammer when the engine was built. Still just audible when warm if you pick up the revs slowly. Previous owner says it has always done it, thought they were all like that, and he had it for 20K with the original warranty followed by an extended one up to last October!
So why wasn't it picked up on all its recent services ? It could have been fixed foc as it is an accepted fault, not just "wear and tear". Is it incompetence or collusion between the Subaru Dealers who gave it the FSSH and Subaru ??? Costing £1300 to fix - I cannot bear the mechanical torture it sounds like when cold. I contacted Subaru Warranty people, as did the Dealers doing the job, but no joy, no good will, go away. A cautionary and worrying tale. What price "FSSH" when you buy a vehicle? What value a Warranty if things that obvious are "missed" by Subaru Dealers and Workshops ? Not a lot IMO. (Should have stuck with the Cossie - wash my mouth out with soap and water)

AlexM

That is a bit worrying, given that piston slap was a common problem with the my98 cars. Was the noise not apparent when you tested the car? You might well have overlooked it if it was warmed up.

My car had no. 3 piston replaced under warranty, even though the noise was slight, and went away when warm.

I think £1300 is steep for a single piston replacement - a quote £600 - £800 should be possible with shopping around. If it is any consolation, the new piston has fixed the problem totally on my car. I know what you mean about the noise being very irritating - you should get it done, and start enjoying the car.

Cheers,

Alex

Tim23948

Thanks for your thoughts. I am having it done at Carstins, Coventry, and they quoted £680 labour..... the gasket set is £250 !!!!..... piston £70 etc. Still, I'm looking forward to getting it back - a lovely car to drive.
Buyer beware, whatever the FSSH and warranty appears to mean.

frisby

Complain to Subaru UK - its a known fault, with many MY98's suffering. They obviously didn't build it right in the first place so should remedy it for free!!

laters

Stu

AlexM

Tim,

Do a search for piston slap... this has been discussed on to many threads to mention.

Did this problem only develop during your ownership?.

If not, it may be worth taking this up with IM as it is possible that the onset of this problem was reported by one of the previous owners, and noted in the dealer's service paperwork.

Furthermore, it is possible that the dealer took no action at the time until the problem got worse.

If this was reported during the warranty period but it was not sorted out I would say that you might be able to argue for a partial offset of the costs, given that they saved money during the warranty period by not fixing the problem (and not paying for it).

This problem is so common that a 'fix' was developed that involves fitting a piston with a +50 micron overbore. Prior to this, dealers were fitting a replacement short block to fix the piston slap, only for the problem to reoccur shortly afterwards.

This job can easily be done without splitting the block - you can take ONE of the heads off and drive out the gudgeon pin through an access port in the side of the block, so the labour estimate is still high.

Ask the dealer what the book labour tarif for this job would be if it was a warranty claim.. I bet it is a lot less than 10hours (I seem to remember being told it was something daft like 4hrs!).

If this is so, it is no suprise that the dealer isn't too interested in doing the work under warranty, as they only get the book time for the job regardless of how long it actually takes.

Also ask why a full gasket set is required as you are only taking off the head on one side.

I think they are inflating the price of the job. Take this up directly with IM UK customer services, and see what you can negotiate. Alternatively try another dealership.

If you get nowhere, I would suggest locating a good independant who can do the job.

Cheers,

Alex




[Edited by AlexM - 2/26/2003 5:46:15 PM]

Scratch

iTrader: (1)

Got this on No.4 piston on my MY98 Wagon, although it sounds dog rough when cold, it is almost unhearable when warm. That is to say that you can only just about still hear it if you know it's there.

Bought mine from a Scooby dealer with Proven Warrenty. I was told by them that in their experience it was not bad enough to get replaced by Proven Warrenty. Warrenty now expired so I'm just going to not worry about it.

scooby_si

& Tim may have missed sumin but if yer paying for Carstins to do it i kuda recommended sumwhere better & cheaper although not technically a subaru dealer (Roger Clarkes motorsport) i have been doing services with Carstins but since learning about them using part synth i take my own oil & am going to go to Clarkes for my next service as they r da bomb when it comes 2 scoobs so not only more knowledgable than the fiat/isuzu oh & impreza dealer that is Carstins but also a bit cheaper
Do i take it yer local to Cov then as we have many "Cov area meet" keep yer eye on the midlands section if so we r a friendly bunch
Lettice no if i can help further?
Si

Tim23948

End of story, hopefully...
Bit the bullet, and had the job done. Carstins tried Subaru again after doing it and Subaru have now paid for the parts - around £600 I am told, with piston, gaskets, ring set. So I was only stung for the labour (£600 ish). Had a new clutch while it was apart, they said it had around 10k miles left, depending on the driver.
Thanks everone for your support and comments. It seems you have to "make the break" eventually from the Dealers and go it alone if you want to save serious money. That time will come, I think, when I am sure of the car and can save for a workshop manual... they were only £50 for a cossie ! Subaru are running a tight operation with their parts and stuff, I can't even get a touch up silver paint can from Halfords.
Still, it really does drive so well, smoother and more nimble than the cossie, if not quite such a mid range rush.
Thanks again to all.
Tim

scooby_si

touch up stick £5 or so from Carstins i recall likes of halfords can mix u a colour up if u have the code etc.
So r ya local m8?
Si

scooby_si

BTW subaru can keep most their parts (although there are many sources to get them from) its a good exucse to replace with better parts when the OE uns die
Si (+freshly fitted AP organic clutch & whip lash lol)