nick172sport

iTrader: (6)

been on ebay tonight yet another newage for sale uk spec with ppp 2002 41 k and i know off another at 30k why do they give up at such a low mileage putting me off buying one

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

not an issue AFAIK if looked after

Post the e-bay links and lets have a look

Shaun

trevsjwood

iTrader: (2)

A mechanic I know said he'd seen a few and it was due to the oil pump, which he described as 'lazy when the engine is cold'.

nick172sport

iTrader: (6)

does this only effect 2.5s

Pete

Thought that was mainly with Classics..

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

It's much less of a problem with the newage cars (01+) than it is with the classics - in fact it's quite rare. You see a disproportionate number of them for sale because people sometimes prefer to sell the car rather than pay for an engine rebuild. You see people selling cars soon after engine rebuilds too - again, for mainly financial reasons rather than technical.

trevsjwood

iTrader: (2)

I thought we were talking about newage but wouldn't hang my hat on it.
Remedy is simple enough though, just don't drive off and boot it when it's stone cold.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

It's been said 1000 times before, the culprits is usually reckoned to be:

- MAF failure, especially on 99-00 cars, causing the engine to run lean => det @ high rpm, which in turn causes excessive load on the bearings

- fuel octane rating too low, especially on imports and the P1, same failure mechanism as above

- metal-to-metal contact occurring at the bearings when the car is first started following an oil change

- crankshaft design fails to allow enough oil to the big end bearings

Booting it from cold might well be bad, but it's certainly not the only cause of bottom end failure in a scooby. Possible not even a significant one.

trevsjwood

iTrader: (2)

Well he may have been commenting upon Impreza's and not any particular year but in the one's he'd seen the oil pump at cold was the root cause.

stuart2008sti

iTrader: (1)

Not just the newage model,have 2008sti in dealership a few weeks ago after ringland failure so engine rebuild,one week after coming back suffered big end failure whole engine is dead heads,cams,turbo got debris in them so will require new engine.the joys of motoring.

nick172sport

iTrader: (6)

shudnt be happining that not very good when a engine packs up so soon id be very wary about buying another now 30k 40k subaru should repair these free of charge if its such a bad design engine

girl-in-a-scoob

Mine went 1000 miles after a 30k service, bottom end rebuild under warranty by Subaru

aamtheman

My 2007 STI with PPP has engine failure, and it only has 8,000 miles on the clock! Full Subaru service history. Currently at the Subaru dealer having a re-build of some sort. They said something about a crack in the crankshaft, oil pump, cylinder number 4, and replacement of cylinder heads (scratched). It's all another language to me since I don't know how engines work. Maybe someone can tell me how serious this problem is?! Dealer says it's a common problem?!

I was going round a roundabout when it happened. Just driving normally, like a granny. All of a sudden heard lots of knocking sounds coming from front of car, what sounded like near the wheels. Then that was shortly followed by a rattle in the engine when revving a little. Then sounded like marbles in the engine, and that's when I stopped and called Subaru Assistance who had it put on a tow truck and sent to dealer.

Quite upsetting to see it go like that, and I've lost all confidence in the car to be honest. The dealer assures me it will be good as new when I get it back. Already been in dealers a week, and they say it will probably be another week before its all done. I'm getting fed up of this diesel Megane hire car and want my Impreza back!

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

That's very unlucky, and certainly very unusual.

In terms of seriousness, it's about as serious as it gets. By the sound of it you should be getting a whole new engine, maybe a turbo as well, so count yourself lucky that the car is still under warranty.

Unless you've thrashed the living daylights out of the car, there must have been some latent defect since day one. As long as you get a decent warranty on the repair, so you can be sure it's been done properly and the root cause has been replaced, you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

I know it's easy to lose faith in the car though - my standard UK model MY00 had a big-end failure at 62k miles and I never felt the same towards it after that. Didn't stop me buying two more Imprezas, though. I'm looking for yet another right now

aamtheman

Yeah I thought it was very serious, even the dealer were pretty speechless when it turned up on a tow truck!

The car had one previous owner, so don't know how it had been driven before I got it, but it seemed very well looked after with full Subaru history, 18" prodrive alloys and mud flaps. Immaculate on the inside too, with an upgraded Kenwood head unit/built in sat nav etc. So previous owner spent a lot of money on it, so never gave me any reason to suspect he would have abused it.

Yeah they said it's going to need a new engine basically, but they didn't say anything about the turbo, although a new turbo would be nice. Going to pay them an unexpected visit tomorrow to see what they are up and ask about the turbo too. The car has 8 months warranty remaining, will the repair job come with a 12-month warranty?

Thanks for the reassurance AndyC!

girl-in-a-scoob

Make sure you get a new turbo,I did on mine under warranty with Subaru. Also I got a new sump pan as it can also have metal filings in it

aamtheman

Thanks for the tips

In that case I will be DEMANDING a new turbo. So far I have only spoken with them over the phone because of my hectic work life, but tomorrow I'm going in person so that will clear things up. Apparently it's their "master technician" that is doing the repair, so I will try and speak to him too and get in that workshop!

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

The risk to the turbo is that it might have been contaminated by metal swarf in the oil. When the bearings fail, lots of little bits of metal end up circulating in the oil which will wreck anything they come into contact with.

The turbo may have survived depending on where it sits in the oil circuit relative to the pump and filter - I'm no expert on that. But I do know that Subaru chose to replace the turbo when my car suffered its bottom end failure.

aamtheman

Paid them a visit this morning. Really quite friendly and invited me to have a look at my engine. It was out of the car on a "stand" probably to make it easier to work with. Apparently they are only taking it apart to take pictures to send to Subaru as evidence. They have a new block on back order for my car, so effectively a whole new engine.

When I asked about the turbo, initially he said that it was fine. Then I suggested that it should be changed for a new one since it could have been contaminated. Then he agreed as said they would order a new turbo but the repair job might take longer, which I said was fine! The feeling I got was that if I hadn't of asked, they would have simply put the old one back in! So thanks guys for that suggestion, much appreciated!

Just got to sit back and wait now I think!

aamtheman

Finally got my car back all fixed!

Now what is the best way to "run in" a new engine? So far I haven't driven it over 3,000rpms. The new engine sounds silky smooth though and pulls a lot better below 3,000rpms than it did before.

My only issue is the brakes. Before my engine failure (4 weeks ago), the brakes were spot on, and now that the car has been parked in a workshop for a few weeks without being used, the brakes feel like they aren't working! You really have to press hard on the brake pedal to get any decent stopping power. Will this sort itself out the more I drive it? Or should I take it back and get it looked at?