Valve spring recall is ridiculous

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Mr.ac

Only if you do the same to mine *cough* I mean it would be odd chances both out cars where to spontaneously combust.

Good thing for full coverage insurance right *wink, wink*

FRS/BRZs spontaneously combust across the continent.
Today at precisely 10:02am thousands of cars all ignited at the same time. All were 2013 models within a specific VIN range. Up to date information indicates that the largest outbreak appears to be in California where a recent recall is mandatory.

[venturaII]

I'm holding off with mine for now as well...at least, until there's either a change to the bulletin to somehow make sure the the techs are more careful on reassembly, or changing how the actual procedure is done to make it more foolproof. And based on other interesting stuff I've seen in these threads, I think I'm also going to pop the oil pan off and pull the pickup tube and take a look at the screen...

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by venturaII

I'm holding off with mine for now as well...at least, until there's either a change to the bulletin to somehow make sure the the techs are more careful on reassembly, or changing how the actual procedure is done to make it more foolproof. And based on other interesting stuff I've seen in these threads, I think I'm also going to pop the oil pan off and pull the pickup tube and take a look at the screen...

If I were affected I would not be having it done even if there hadn't been the initial rash of post repair failures. The recall does not expire so if a spring fails 5 years from now then it will be fixed. If there had been a huge failure rate prior to the recall my decision would have been different but it is just simply to intrusive a task to do because 100 out of 400,000 vehicles had a failure.

[venturaII]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

If I were affected I would not be having it done even if there hadn't been the initial rash of post repair failures. The recall does not expire so if a spring fails 5 years from now then it will be fixed. If there had been a huge failure rate prior to the recall my decision would have been different but it is just simply to intrusive a task to do because 100 out of 400,000 vehicles had a failure.

My only worry with that plan is that if I do end up with a valve spring failure and subsequent engine damage, that Toyota corporate will attempt to force me to pay since they have record of me deferring the work once already... My local Toyota dealer was initially very aggressive about getting in touch with owners to have this work done; I deferred the work a few weeks because of some other scheduling conflicts, and then by the time they contacted me again, the whole repair failure rate issue was starting to be known. I've been ignoring their calls since then.

The recall is specifically to replace the bad parts. Repair of engine damage associated with the part's failure would be a warranty issue, not recall work. They could make my life miserable by denying warranty coverage of the rest of the repair work needed from a valve spring failure if they can show I elected not to have the bad part replaced prior to failure.. Manufacturers can and are ****s like that, on a regular basis..

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

If I were affected I would not be having it done even if there hadn't been the initial rash of post repair failures. The recall does not expire so if a spring fails 5 years from now then it will be fixed. If there had been a huge failure rate prior to the recall my decision would have been different but it is just simply to intrusive a task to do because 100 out of 400,000 vehicles had a failure.

Had I not already had it done prior to a lot of these failures showing up, this is what I would be doing at this point as well. As it is I'm tempted to take it in to my mechanic and have him drop the oil pan to check the screen.

[ybotspawn]

Originally Posted by venturaII

My only worry with that plan is that if I do end up with a valve spring failure and subsequent engine damage, that Toyota corporate will attempt to force me to pay since they have record of me deferring the work once already... My local Toyota dealer was initially very aggressive about getting in touch with owners to have this work done; I deferred the work a few weeks because of some other scheduling conflicts, and then by the time they contacted me again, the whole repair failure rate issue was starting to be known. I've been ignoring their calls since then.

The recall is specifically to replace the bad parts. Repair of engine damage associated with the part's failure would be a warranty issue, not recall work. They could make my life miserable by denying warranty coverage of the rest of the repair work needed from a valve spring failure if they can show I elected not to have the bad part replaced prior to failure.. Manufacturers can and are ****s like that, on a regular basis..

They seem to be good at making everyones life hell after they broke the motor... What makes you think that plan is much better

[Scenic Driver]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

If I were affected I would not be having it done even if there hadn't been the initial rash of post repair failures. The recall does not expire so if a spring fails 5 years from now then it will be fixed. If there had been a huge failure rate prior to the recall my decision would have been different but it is just simply to intrusive a task to do because 100 out of 400,000 vehicles had a failure.

Mine is one of the recalled cars and I feel the same way.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by ybotspawn

They seem to be good at making everyones life hell after they broke the motor... What makes you think that plan is much better

I disagree with the comment that they are making "everyone's" situation hell. With the very limited data we have on the post repair failures there are two people they have outright refused to cover the repairs. There are 10 where the repairs have been done without a fight. The other 15 or so either have not contacted the dealer yet or the case is in review. The fear that no dealer will cover it is unwarranted. Of course we pay attention to those where they were refused but at this point they are the minority not "everyone".

[ybotspawn]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

I disagree with the comment that they are making "everyone's" situation hell. With the very limited data we have on the post repair failures there are two people they have outright refused to cover the repairs. There are 10 where the repairs have been done without a fight. The other 15 or so either have not contacted the dealer yet or the case is in review. The fear that no dealer will cover it is unwarranted. Of course we pay attention to those where they were refused but at this point they are the minority not "everyone".

You're right, its wrong to use the term everyones. But the previous poster is worried about his motor being blown, due to not doing the recall, and toyota failing to honor their warranty. Seems to me if he has concerns about his local dealership not honoring the terms of the warranty its reasonable to assume he doubts their competence in doing the recall in the first place.

[Teseo]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

If I were affected I would not be having it done even if there hadn't been the initial rash of post repair failures. The recall does not expire so if a spring fails 5 years from now then it will be fixed. If there had been a huge failure rate prior to the recall my decision would have been different but it is just simply to intrusive a task to do because 100 out of 400,000 vehicles had a failure.

0.025% fail rate...
I will leave my car alone and stick with regular maintenance

[fang_gt86]

I'm keeping mine "unfixed". There are plenty of used motors that I can easily drop it in if this supposed "ticking time bomb" should go off.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by ybotspawn

You're right, its wrong to use the term everyones. But the previous poster is worried about his motor being blown, due to not doing the recall, and toyota failing to honor their warranty. Seems to me if he has concerns about his local dealership not honoring the terms of the warranty its reasonable to assume he doubts their competence in doing the recall in the first place.

See that is just it. His dealer may be totally competent but he is concerned by the horror stories that appear to be the majority. They are not. Yes, it would completely and totally suck to have the work done and be on the failure list but with what we know so far that risk is small. Sort of a damned if you do and damned if you don't scenario.
When I said I would not have it done it was not through fear of them screwing it up. In fact I said that in other threads well before they started the recall. I just do not feel that the original concern warranted a recall in the first place so why mess with things?

[YamahaR86]

I think I got lucky as well. My dealership says he has his "top tech" to work on mine and they were only doing 1 recall a week.


Got mine done a month ago and about 2k miles, with 1 Autocross session a week ago.


I'm still going to install a fire extinguisher after I fix the stripped seat bolt.

[bfrank1972]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

See that is just it. His dealer may be totally competent but he is concerned by the horror stories that appear to be the majority. They are not. Yes, it would completely and totally suck to have the work done and be on the failure list but with what we know so far that risk is small. Sort of a damned if you do and damned if you don't scenario.
When I said I would not have it done it was not through fear of them screwing it up. In fact I said that in other threads well before they started the recall. I just do not feel that the original concern warranted a recall in the first place so why mess with things?

Hmmm - I see what you're saying regarding heightened fear due to only seeing posts from people who have problems (vs. people who do not), but you also have to consider this forum is a very small % of the overall FR-S/BRZ/86 owners. And out of that small % of active posters, there are a pretty high number of people with issues.

I.E. yes there could be a large number of success stories out there we're not hearing, but I'd bet there's a larger number of fail stories we're not even hearing about either.

And it's not generalized issues - it's exactly the same issue, every time. Rod knock from oil starvation, being consistently tied to mis-application of sealant (whether it be incorrect bead placement, overuse, or just not letting it cure). And strongly correlated to Toyota, who just doesn't have the experience with putting Subaru boxer engines together like experienced Subaru mechanics.

There could be a large # of success stories, but based on this forum sample, I feel there's a solid chance of my engine going south if I took it to my dealer - solid chance meaning more than I'm willing to risk at the moment.

I'd rather 'fight the fight' with a dealer to fix my motor post valve spring failure rather than 'fight the fight' after a dealer gums up my oil passages. JMHO