Shortblock Replacement
 

Some info on my car before I tell you guys about my issue. My car has a little under 11k miles on it and I had installed the AVO turbo kit around 8500 miles. I was driving fine until one night my car started chugging and then just stalled. Turns out I had the rough idling/stalling issue and there was a service bulletin for it.

Found faults P000B and P000A, right intake and exhaust camshaft position.
Switched OCV'S on intake and exhaust from bank 1 to 2.
Problem stayed on bank one intake sprocket and problem moved to bank 2
exhaust. (OCV)
Right bank one intake sprocket and left exhaust (OCV) solenoid need replacement
per bulletin 02-132-12R.

I put my stock manifold back on and brought my car back for the repairs. They gave me a call yesterday and told me I needed my shortblock replaced because they found metal debris in the oil plate and that the oil was sludgy. The dealer blamed it on me "overboosting" but my kit runs at 5 psi and I had a tune as well. I did not have the kit on for that long so I'm not even sure if it was the turbo kit that did this. I can't tell if the dealer is shafting me and trying to make me pay for a new shortblock.

The Turbo kit plus tune voided that warranty. I don't see them fixing this out of there pocket. Good luck though.

as they say gotta pay to play.

there's no such thing as voiding a warranty on a car in the US. in order for Subaru to deny your warranty claim, they have to have a good reason/explanation that your modification caused the damage that you're trying to claim is covered under warranty.

unfortunately for OP, a turbo (especially if there were boost creep) is a likely cause of the problem, so the dealer is most likely justified in denying the claim. you could fight it and probably get the claim to go through, but it'll take a lot of time/effort and perhaps a lawyer. if I were you, I'd pay to play and sell off most of the parts in the old block to make up some dough.

Some mods like a catback exhaust or K&N air filter would be considered safe and a dealer (even if they tried) would have a hard time sticking you for the repairs. However, mods like a turbo kit introduce so many potential problem variables that it's understandable that a dealer wouldn't cover your engine in the event of a failure. It's unfortunate, because it's possible the turbo wasn't the cause of the problem. But you could have been running very lean, or running into knock conditions, so many possibilities.

Even with a lawyer, I don't see you winning this one.

They actually called me back earlier and said they would cover it under "good will" warranty. Everything sounds so fishy though and seems like they were trying to scare me into doing more work. They hardly ran any tests and straight away blamed it on the turbo. When I asked if they could pinpoint the cause of the problem the dealer wouldn't give me a straight answer.

Lots of people had this issue when they were stock. I doubt it's related to the turbo. Good luck with everything.

DOOD! Get your car in there and get it all on paper before they change their minds!

I pretty much have gathered that once a turbo kit is installed, I'll have a hard time with any kind of engine/drivetrain warranty issue, because most issues can be blamed on the modifications.

In your case though, they may be aware of a particular issue that other non FI cars are having, so they may think you'd still have a good case if they were to deny your claim.

Nice dealer though in any case. Good Luck!

Why did you put the stock manifold back on? So they knew it was boosted and told you they would not cover it but are now saying they will?

I agree, get it in there and get them to fix it because they sound pretty bipolar. Thats a hell of a 180, nope you blew your car up and we don't have to fix it to ok we will "good faith" replace an entire short block and all the related internals that might need to be replaced as well.

that's awesome. shady or not, you're lucky to get work done to the motor of a boosted car.

You are lucky. Go buy a lottery ticket.

I think it's safe to say that your dealer is most certainly not shafting you by giving you a new block under warranty coverage.

Go buy a lottery ticket and if you win, buy the guys at CSG a new block.

-alex

Just because you take the good will doesn't mean you won't be covered in the future, barring of course the possibility that your mods cause problems which you will be on your own to fix.

Awesome that they are covering you. They have every right not to.


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I had taken it in initially when the turbo kit was still on. I should have just taken it off before bringing it in, but they told me to just remove it since it was blocking the way for the work that needed to be done for the rough idling issue and they would cover it under warranty. So I did, then they tell me since my car was modified they might not cover the work. I don't know what's going on cause they keep going back and forth, but I'm glad they're going to do it for me. I just hope everything will be good once it's all done, my car has been out of commission for about 3 months now.

Yeah, Paul at AVO told me to keep pressing them about stock cars experiencing the same issue. I mean why else would they have a service bulletin out for it. I'm just glad they're going to take care of it for me. I want my baby back already :(

What dealer is it? I'm sure everyone else on the board wants to know a dealer who will even consider covering a car with an aftermarket turbo kit.

Seriously, take them up on the offer immediately, I don't know of a single Subaru (or other make for that matter) dealer who would even touch your car for warranty work after having a turbo kit installed...

It was Irvine Subaru. It's been a big hassle and a lot of down time waiting for parts to come. They were backordered, then mispackaged so another order had to be placed. I got my car back a couple of weeks ago and it's been running fine so far.

good!!!

Heh... we know them very well...

@GeekB If your short block was replaced but not under warranty how much would it cost (labor etc.)?

The block itself is probably several thousand if it was the assembled shortblock.

I know the block price silly i'm just curious about how much the install of a new one would cost lol.

Talk to @civicdrivr; they tore his block apart and replaced a head. If they didn't order a new shortblock and simply used the existing block I'd expect the cost to be similar to his.

new assembled shortblock is $2600 in Australia, just like all the other EJ shortblocks.


Then add a gasket kit, head bolts etc etc and a ton of labour @ $80-110/hr


Edit: here you go https://www.subarupartsdepot.com/par...E&group=ENGINE


~$7K for an assembled long motor, or $2K and $160 for a short motor and gasket kit :p

They told me doing the shortblock replacement would cost $4500 for parts and labor. I told them it was outrageous because this idle issue was a known problem for other cars too. I think if I hadn't said anything they would have just denied my warranty and try to charge me for the repairs.

Sounds like the price they quoted you is fair for short block replacement.

But yeah, there have been some quality issues on these motors.