FR-S Rod knock

[pozer]

After speaking to the service manager at the dealership they stated there is a knock on Cyl 2 and this has to be a bent rod so they are stopping their troubleshooting and will not cover this under warranty but if I would like them to continue troubleshooting I can authorize the labor cost and it could be up to $1800.00.

This felt like a scare tactic the way it was presented to me but I know I did NOT hydro lock this engine and I’m defending myself against a fictitious story the dealership came up with so I authorized the labor cost.
After two days of tear down I went to the dealer to check on the progress and found the engine completely taken down to the sealed block they said today they will open the block and see what is really going on.

I received a call from the service manager explaining they found no water, no bent rod and no other damage but a spun bearing and they would need special equipment to make sure the rod was not bent just a LITTLE BIT if they wanted to go that far... The exact statement said to me was “We cannot prove 100% a hydrolock caused this issue so we are sending the data to Toyota to see what they want to do next.”

NEXT? The dealership just proved I was NOT lying and I did not hydro lock this motor but the manager sounded disappointed they couldn’t prove their story was real. WTF.
I will say at least management was nice and informative when I finally spoke to someone who wasn’t a front desk monkey.

[Sportsguy83]

I HATE DEALERS......

[Rayme]

I'm wondering how the hell a rod bent just like that on a stock engine. Manufacturing defect?

[Sportsguy83]

Originally Posted by pozer

they found no water, no bent rod and no other damage but a spun bearing

Originally Posted by ottopilot

I'm wondering how the hell a rod bent just like that on a stock engine. Manufacturing defect?

See above, there was no bent rod.

[pozer]

Well the dealer just called and they have ordered the replacement part to repair the issue.
They were very nice about it and even provided me with a loaner car.
.
.Life lesson when you are telling the truth don't back down ever.

[markitect]

Glad they are finally getting it fixed, I hope for your trouble they've given you a nice loaner.

[xjohnx]

Originally Posted by pozer

Well the dealer just called and they have ordered the replacement part to repair the issue.
They were very nice about it and even provided me with a loaner car.
.
.Life lesson when you are telling the truth don't back down ever.

Replacement bearing? or new block all together?

[pozer]

New short block and #2 Direct injector because the pistons was hitting it.

[Skurj]

dunno if i'd want a new short block...

[andrew20195]

Glad the dealer is finally taking care of you rather than trying to lay blame. It seems to me in your video that the engine is running fairly smoothly, just with a very loud noise? I don't understand how the dealer jumped to the conclusion that it was water damage, in that case.

Contrary to what others have said, in my 11 years as a dealership technician I have seen several cases where only one or two rods were bent due to water intake. The '04-'08 Acura TL is notorious for this, in fact. I would guess due to intake design on those cars, when a small amount of water is taken in, it rushes to the cylinders furthest from the throttle body (1 and 4 on that motor). Furthermore, I've seen rods bent from water intake create "rod knock" type noises, when they are bent so badly that the curved part of the rod contacts the cylinder wall.

However, if a rod were bent enough to make that kind of noise, it would most likely misfire badly. Looking at Subaru's intake manifold design, it also seems less likely to affect just one cylinder. A compression test will easily reveal whether any rods are bent, and it's obvious the dealership failed to perform one. If I suspected a car ran through water and the owner tried to hide it, that's the first thing I would have requested authorization to perform, rather than a complete teardown.

Originally Posted by Skurj

dunno if i'd want a new short block...

Why do you say that? I would rather a new short block than just having a bearing replaced.

[Captain Insano]

Originally Posted by andrew20195

Why do you say that? I would rather a new short block than just having a bearing replaced.

Ditto. I would want a short block installed versus thinking about them tearing down the original block and hoping they get the rod bearing replacement and rebuild right. Plus, if the piston was hitting the direct injector there are other problems making a rebuild more complex as well.

[*KID*]

Good thing everything has worked out.

[Skurj]

Originally Posted by andrew20195

Why do you say that? I would rather a new short block than just having a bearing replaced.

Long block basically comes assembled almost drop in. Short block means the dealer has to transfer parts from the old and leaves more room for mistakes to happen or just plain old crap gettin in where it shouldn't.

[Turbowned]

It's common practice with Subaru to replace short blocks when there is an issue. Since there is no cylinder head damage reported, there is no need to replace them as well. All the technician has to do is ensure that the mating surfaces are clean, that the gasket seats properly, that the head bolts/studs are torqued down properly and that the timing is set. They probably have a dedicated technician or two to do engine work; that type of thing doesn't just go to the rookie hourly tech.