Engine failure - 38,000 miles

[fredfromnh]

At 25k I am on motor #3. First one blew rocker assembly off. Dealer did sloppy job replacing short block. Rtv got every where including oil passages. Felt it tie up on highway. Regional manager then got me hand assembled motor from factory. Everything new other than manifolds accessories etc. Seems good so far. I will avoid ecutek tuning as computer needed to be replaced 4 times. I was told that original toyobarus were a lot more powerful but were detuned as reliability issues cropped up in testing. I will continue to drive it like sports car. Toyota really took a hit on this one as last motor job alone cost them 10k. I'm any mods should be focused on power under the curve to avoid too much revs. I will probably get flamed for telling the truth but screw it.

[acg2010]

Originally Posted by Annahra

I would be concerned if all of the issues seemed related to a specific failure point, but other than the idle/CEL issue which seems to be resolved, there's no consistency.

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Agree. There are bound to be bad engines in the lot, I'd be far more concerned if they all had the same problem leading to catastrophic failures.

[dave77]

Originally Posted by fredfromnh

At 25k I am on motor #3. First one blew rocker assembly off. Dealer did sloppy job replacing short block. Rtv got every where including oil passages. Felt it tie up on highway. Regional manager then got me hand assembled motor from factory. Everything new other than manifolds accessories etc. Seems good so far. I will avoid ecutek tuning as computer needed to be replaced 4 times. I was told that original toyobarus were a lot more powerful but were detuned as reliability issues cropped up in testing. I will continue to drive it like sports car. Toyota really took a hit on this one as last motor job alone cost them 10k. I'm any mods should be focused on power under the curve to avoid too much revs. I will probably get flamed for telling the truth but screw it.

I believe it. This motor has always "seemed" detuned to me, though it's just a hunch.

[HunterGreene]

Originally Posted by dave77

I believe it. This motor has always "seemed" detuned to me, though it's just a hunch.

With the insane amount of aftermarket attention this platform has been getting, including across two different manufacturing lines, your "hunch" that the motor is detuned may be a bit off. If it that were the case, wouldn't some tuner out there discovered a way to unlock this by now? Its only been almost 3 years now...

[Sportsguy83]

Originally Posted by Monogram

The first link is regarding a Perrin light crank pulley equipped engine with two crank bearing failures ...

You can extrapolate from there

I am all up for saying the engine is stout and all... But really...

I have the Perrin pulley since 1K miles... 16K miles now, 8K boosted, none of my mods seem to be spinning my bearings...

[mothespaceman]

Originally Posted by Annahra

I would be concerned if all of the issues seemed related to a specific failure point, but other than the idle/CEL issue which seems to be resolved, there's no consistency.

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Was the low idle issue actually ever resolved? I have a new '14 and the idle dips pretty hard on occasion while decelerating.

[Xinshadow]

Originally Posted by mothespaceman

Was the low idle issue actually ever resolved? I have a new '14 and the idle dips pretty hard on occasion while decelerating.

I resolved it by getting an OFT and stage 1 tune. I tried the factory reflash (Nov 12 build date) but it didn't really do anything other than make the car feel a bit more sluggish at high RPMs and they would still drop hard. Only downside to a tune is you pretty much have to run 93 if you are running it hard on a hot day, but I only put 93 in mine since I got it so it was no big deal.

I've heard Subaru puts some pretty shoddy tunes on their cars from the factory though to account for lower fuel grades, so I expected to have it tuned when I bought it.

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[mothespaceman]

Originally Posted by Xinshadow

I resolved it by getting an OFT and stage 1 tune. I tried the factory reflash (Nov 12 build date) but it didn't really do anything other than make the car feel a bit more sluggish at high RPMs and they would still drop hard. Only downside to a tune is you pretty much have to run 93 if you are running it hard on a hot day, but I only put 93 in mine since I got it so it was no big deal.

I've heard Subaru puts some pretty shoddy tunes on their cars from the factory though to account for lower fuel grades, so I expected to have it tuned when I bought it.

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Sweet, man! I've been running 93 since day one, so that is no big deal to me either.

I've been thinking of going Unichip as it's removable, is OFT pretty easy to use?

[Xinshadow]

Originally Posted by mothespaceman

Sweet, man! I've been running 93 since day one, so that is no big deal to me either.

I've been thinking of going Unichip as it's removable, is OFT pretty easy to use?

Super easy, literally 10 minutes and 3 button presses. It also saves a copy of your stock tune you can revert to later if need be.

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[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by Annahra

Mine blew at 37K. This makes me less inclined to think it was due to the year old front end repair.

Originally Posted by Mr 286

One accident - pickup truck backed into it
$14,000 in parts/labor.

One thing to consider beyond what's already been discussed: If the engine was running during these wrecks and was brought to a sudden halt by the accident, there can be internal damage that is not apparent. Whenever a piston aircraft has a prop strike (the propeller hits the ground or some other object), FAA regulations require that the engine be disassembled and inspected, even if it's running fine after the strike. That's to avoid engines failing in mid-air because of undetected damage from the prop strike.

Obviously we don't have to worry about dead stick landings in our cars, but there have been plenty of cases where front end damage appeared to be cosmetic only but ultimately ended up causing an engine failure long after the insurance adjuster is gone. I had front end damage to my Jeep that cause the radiator to make contact with the fan and stop the engine, and I was sweating over the potential for internal damage.

Originally Posted by humfrz

Yep, the secret is to get a really BIG monitor and set Windows to LARGE print ......

Here's my desk:

[Luis_GT]

Originally Posted by fredfromnh

At 25k I am on motor #3. First one blew rocker assembly off. Dealer did sloppy job replacing short block. Rtv got every where including oil passages. Felt it tie up on highway. Regional manager then got me hand assembled motor from factory. Everything new other than manifolds accessories etc. Seems good so far. I will avoid ecutek tuning as computer needed to be replaced 4 times. I was told that original toyobarus were a lot more powerful but were detuned as reliability issues cropped up in testing. I will continue to drive it like sports car. Toyota really took a hit on this one as last motor job alone cost them 10k. I'm any mods should be focused on power under the curve to avoid too much revs. I will probably get flamed for telling the truth but screw it.

Original as in the first retail models or prototype?

[Sportsguy83]

Originally Posted by fredfromnh

At 25k I am on motor #3. First one blew rocker assembly off. Dealer did sloppy job replacing short block. Rtv got every where including oil passages. Felt it tie up on highway. Regional manager then got me hand assembled motor from factory. Everything new other than manifolds accessories etc. Seems good so far. I will avoid ecutek tuning as computer needed to be replaced 4 times. I was told that original toyobarus were a lot more powerful but were detuned as reliability issues cropped up in testing. I will continue to drive it like sports car. Toyota really took a hit on this one as last motor job alone cost them 10k. I'm any mods should be focused on power under the curve to avoid too much revs. I will probably get flamed for telling the truth but screw it.

Oh the stories of Unicorn tears falling from the skies....

[gramicci101]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

Here's my desk:

Your desk needs to be cleaned.

[acg2010]

Originally Posted by Monogram

I finally got around to reading that last link: The guy hydrolocked his engine.

I think he's agreeing with you. I think he had a typo or something that may be confusing, but it sounds like he's saying the cars engine is pretty tough, and that it's rare cases that are having huge failures.