Quote:
Originally Posted by killmequickly
Again, the fact that Toyota and Subaru don't own dealerships does not mean they cannot be found liable for problems that occur at the dealership level or from work stemming from the dealership. I believe it all depends on the details. For example, if Toyota accidentally gave wrong instructions, omitted instructions, failed to warn technicians about an issue, improperly trained technicians, or knowingly hid certain details about an issue from dealers and their technicians they could be found at fault (if proven) or jointly at fault (along with the dealer). Just because the dealerships do not belong to them does not give them an iron wall defense or resolve them of every and all responsibilities from issues which arise at the dealer level. Didn't Toyota change their instructions early on in the wake of the J02 recall after a few FR-S' started blowing? (or was it before?, can someone confirm?)
I think most of us understand that the replacement of the valve spring itself is not the root cause, however, I think what we are seeing is that the work that is performed during this recall is increasing the likelihood that the actual problem reveals itself. The fact remains that whatever the real problem is, the valve spring recall has allowed the problem to surface exponentially and is, in some way, directly or indirectly, contributing to the blown engines and I would argue most likely the fires as well.
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*Fire. Singular.
The cause of the failures is well documented and not a mystery. It is directly related to improper clean up and/or installation of the sealant. This is why the FA20 engines are having issues whereas the other Subaru engines involved are not since they use a different procedure to change the springs. The failures have nothing at all to do with the changed springs but the method in which the engine was accessed to get to them.
Yes, Toyota did change the instructions after the first few failures but all they did was include a warning to the techs to ensure that they cleaned up all the loose sealant. The issues did not reduce after that since techs that leave a mess still do so even when warned not to.
Trying to blame Toyota directly is grasping at straws.