Has anyone had a warranty claim denied? Seized engine! Pics of teardown added 6/5

[Rampage]

Originally Posted by Lonewolf

Apparently, many stock (and lightly-modded) engines have seized under non-track/non-racing/non-off-road conditions, so it would appear a bigger problem may soon be afflicting owners...so what happens to those guys?

Really? I have only heard of this happening on cars that are tracked and cars with FI. It appears that it is heat related and the culprit is the teflon insulators on the DI.

I tell my kids all the time that they should not be posting things on the internet (especially facebook and youtube) because it can come back to bite them in the a$$ later. This may be a case of that. Has Mike competed in the FT86 challenge series? Even if that is not wheel to wheel racing, it is time versus time for a title which makes it a competitive event. Do not get me wrong. I feel Subaru and Toyota should honor the warranty on the drivetrain until this problem is resolved but I can also see where they are going to grab onto this as an out.

I guess these cars are not the track toys that the manufacturers advertised them to be.

[LavosTRD]

I would suggest that you pay them to pull the fuel filter out of the car and inspect for the filter coming apart. I have been thinking about it lately and I am starting to wonder if there is a batch of bad fuel pumps where the mesh filter was improperly glued together, resulting in the premature degradation as seen in the photos posted in another thread, and doesn't have anything to do with e85 as people are currently speculating. I am basing that on the fact that don have probably been running e85 longer than anyone and his filters have not come apart as far as I know. Its a long shot but if the filter did come apart you definitely have a stronger leg to stand on arguing that the pump filter coming apart was ultimately the root cause of both engine failures. I would definitely have Irvine Subaru take it out and inspect it you could perhaps be there when they do it and take photos. This way if it ever went to court Subaru would have to prove the engine failed from some other reason than the filter. Worth a shot, good luck.

[Gords_zenith]

Sub'd

[MY13FRS]

I don't understand why people have pictures of their cars racing, in their avatar and signatures. This is "evidence" that you are racing your cars.

That being said, I agreed with the above post about the commercials....call Subaru and tell them it's false advertisement and you will sue.

[20valvewynn83]

straight up tell (and do it) them you will hire your own investigators and contact a lawyer for the matter. What ever you do dont take it to an independent shop without privet investigators. trust me they will demand that Subaru is involved in the investigations. Also i would ask them for proof that your driving caused the issue. Request for a health check print out with freeze frame data. The freeze frame will show the speed the car was at, the RPM's, coolant temp, fuel trim and oil temp.

Your best bet its to get someone thats handled cases like this.

rac·ing:
1: to compete in a race

2: to go, move, or function at top speed or out of control <people racing for safety> <struggled to sleep as his mind raced>

3: to revolve too fast under a diminished load


race:
1 chiefly Scottish : the act of running


2 a : a strong or rapid current of water flowing through a narrow channel
b : a watercourse used industrially
c : the current flowing in such a course



3 a : a set course or duration of time
b : the course of life



4 a : a contest of speed
b plural : a meeting in which several races (as for horses) are run
c : a contest or rivalry involving progress toward a goal <pennant race>

5
: a track or channel in which something rolls or slides

Just my two cents

[Silver86]

Originally Posted by Lonewolf

\

3) Spread word of this problem using the power of the internet (particularly Autoblog and Jalopnik).

This right here was the only thing that took my dealership from "we aren't going to do anything for you but fix the issue we broke" to "When can we schedule you for a complimentary full 3M clear bra for your full front end, mirrors, door handles, door frame, windshield and headlights" when they drove my car into a parked car and damaged the front bumper cover.

What is said on these forums hold weight with any dealer who has half a brain when it comes to PR.

[RAWR BRZ]

Originally Posted by FirestormFRS

I'll play devils advocate here.

The car has its suspension and wheels modified. The car has had a non manufacturers exhaust (ie Performance) installed.
The car has been taken to a closed course and driven outside of normal operating guidelines. The engine failed due to the off highway use. Closed racing circuits are considered off highway driving. Period end of story.

You may get a really good lawyer to use them touting the "track days" statement in advertising and get it fixed. The lawyer fees in most administrative cases are covered by the losing party so shouldn't cost you a dime if you win.

If you consider exhaust as power train modification then mine is even more stock. All I have done is drop in HKS airfilter and sound tube delete. I have the first stage of the issue Mike pointed out which is the popping, firecracker sound when I start the car or light acceleration after the car is warmed up.

[slicktop]

I hope this all works out. I really have no advice to contribute, sorry Mike.

[sierra]

After reading this thread I would be inclined to go for the suggestion from 'Porsche'.
A compromise may well suit them, rather than conflict and adverse publicity?

If nothing else, perhaps you might negotiate with Subaru to sell you a new engine at discount, with the proviso that you give them your old engine. If Subaru is smart, they'll want that engine to study. But, maybe they've already seen all they need to see.

[dabocx]

Im thinking even the non track junkies will start seeing problems with the DI system over the next few months or years even with the new flash. I hope im wrong but over time I think the heat will damage it.

Especially since we have all been running without the new flash for a year now and dealers have yet to push it out. Id imagine we have already built up some damage though its all speculation at this point.

You need to take it to them, smear them if you have to on autoblog and other car websites/magazines.

[markitect]

You might want to ask the dealer if they will cut you a deal on the labor to diagnose the cause. It seems to me that knowing for sure what the problem is puts you in a better position then assuming it's the same one.

[#87]

Well, if this proves to be a widespread issue on these engines how hard and how much $ would an aftermarket solution be?

[Freetime]

Checking in and subscribing because my car is at 3k miles and already started the popping at startup and intake backfire under load. Full stock. I took it to the toyota dealer and they said they couldn't reproduce and that without a CEL they couldn't do anything. Don't race or track the car. I can't wait for the damn thing to blow up so I can tow it to their lot and have it dumped in the service center and tell the service guy to stuff it.

[HunterGreene]

This whole thread is scaring the bejezzus out of me. If normal DDr's like me start experiencing this without doing any "racing"...talk about a letdown