Potential Cause of rumored GR86’s blown engine? Seal packing(RTV) was peeled off

[DocWalt]

My concern is solely with losing warranty on a $30k new car. I'm fully capable and willing to pull the pan and check on things, but if I pull the pan and my pickup was *super* clogged how do I know if the bearings are OK?

It's such an annoying manufacturing defect, I've built a lot of engines (see the stupid GTI in my avatar) and never once had RTV in the oil pickup and I was sealing the pan with RTV.

[FrickingReallySlow]

If you sell it to carvana, they can't tell. If you sell it to a anyone on these 86 forums its pretty easy to tell your short block got changed (color, vin on the block etc). dealer they might be able to as well can pull up service record if Toyota/subaru

Originally Posted by Dylans47

Totally understand what you're saying about carfax. In fact, my '91 miata has a random false carfax statement saying rear end collision. Never happened.

Anyways, most people aren't like us. 99% of people will see a red warning symbol on a carfax report and walk away or ask for a considerable discount.

This "diminished value" you mentioned wouldn't show up on Carfax, I'm assuming. So how might someone buying a car with a replacement short block even know there was ever an issue? It sounds like the seller is the only person who could provide that information.

In other words, if a short block is replaced under warranty it will have no effect on resale value?

[otter]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

My concern is solely with losing warranty on a $30k new car. I'm fully capable and willing to pull the pan and check on things, but if I pull the pan and my pickup was *super* clogged how do I know if the bearings are OK?

It's such an annoying manufacturing defect, I've built a lot of engines (see the stupid GTI in my avatar) and never once had RTV in the oil pickup and I was sealing the pan with RTV.

My comment was definitely not aimed at you.

[DocWalt]

Originally Posted by otter

My comment was definitely not aimed at you.

I am aware, just stating that even those of us capable of fixing it *shouldn't* have to.

The whole situation sucks ass. I'd love to pull my oil pan and ease my fears and get ahead of it. I don't want to pay for a new engine if Subaru blames me :/

[22 BRZ]

I'm very interested in when Subaru learned about this issue (referring to RTV in the pan/tube). Regardless of whether the RTV causes problems, it's still FOD in a place it shouldn't be.

[FrickingReallySlow]

For anyone planning to pull their pan for this. would recommend just quickly attaching a cheap analog oil pressure gauge to the dummy sensor oil pressure location and record your oil pressure at a few set intervals. Should help crowd gather some data. And then a picture of your oil pickup as reference and oil weight

something like ~4K@200F and ~6K@200F should be sufficient

Originally Posted by otter

My $0.02 - it's not a big deal for me personally to remedy the issue myself so I'm really not freaking out about it, but I get why it's a big concern for most. I'll be pulling my pan when I do my next oil change, cleaning things out, and resealing it correctly. Not going to bother with the timing cover because I assume most of the excess sealant will have already shed off. Might pull the pan again sometime next year to double-check for any more scraps. I'd much rather be proactive than wait for something catastrophic go wrong, have to interact with a dealer, and be without the car for an extended period of time.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by FrickingReallySlow

For anyone planning to pull their pan for this. would recommend just quickly attaching a cheap analog oil pressure gauge to the dummy sensor oil pressure location and record your oil pressure at a few set intervals. Should help crowd gather some data. And then a picture of your oil pickup as reference and oil weight

something like ~4K@200F and ~6K@200F should be sufficient

Another data point that would be good to know, especially for the track guys, would be oil temperature. As oil pressure goes down as it heats up the blockage may only become a part of the factor at high temperatures. They didn't put an oil cooler on the GRs out of the goodness of their heart.

[Ghost of Akina]

With several outlets now posting this (regardless of the fact checked data) I wonder how long before Subaru and Toyota issue a statement?

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Ghost of Akina

With several outlets now posting this (regardless of the fact checked data) I wonder how long before Subaru and Toyota issue a statement?

Maybe never. They never officially said boo about the uproar with the recall failures.
The issue is probably far more important to those impacted and the sites that need news material than it is to either Subaru or Toyota.

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by Ghost of Akina

With several outlets now posting this (regardless of the fact checked data) I wonder how long before Subaru and Toyota issue a statement?

They did in the article. Generic corporate response is generic.


Toyota is currently looking into the case you referenced. A customer’s satisfaction with our vehicles is important to Toyota. As always, we encourage customers who experience any issues with their vehicle to contact their authorized Toyota dealer or call the Toyota Brand Engagement Center (1-800-331-4331). Of course, in cases where a dealer is not able to resolve the matter, customers are encouraged to contact our Brand Engagement Center.

[Rustyoid]

Last week Toyota Canada invited dealers to an event in Ontario to drive the GR86, Supra and Corolla Apex on an autocross course. The cars went all day back to back to back, about 80 runs each all with different drivers. Seems like they certainly encourage it

[Robertw]

From the Grassroots Motorsports article

The body denying the warranty claim is NOT Toyota. It’s Gulf States Toyota. Gulf States Toyota is an independent distributor that buys cars from Toyota and resells them to the public through its dealer network. At this time, we do not believe that Toyota corporate had knowledge of the issue before it hit social media.

How does Toyota (one of the largest automakers) not have it's own in house staff dealing with this? lol

[ABQautoxer]

Originally Posted by Opie

DocWalt & ABQautoxer....have your engines failed? If not, what are you having "fixed" before you sell?

From what I have seen there have been less than 10 reported failures in the US currently between both models....that's a pretty small percentage. (I'll get the true number of Subaru failures later today...still bet it is a small number).

No it hasn't failed but I've been down this road with other cars. If there is this known defect and the factory won't own up to it, it's easier just to put the car back to stock and move on for me personally. I realize the number is small but the root cause is one that could be affecting a large percentage and we might just not know for awhile. Also, in my specialized circumstance, I could move the mods I bought for the GR86 to my FRS and sell the car for probably more than I bought it for so not really much of a loss at this stage. I do love the car so I'm holding out for a couple more months to see how this plays out.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Robertw

From the Grassroots Motorsports article



How does Toyota (one of the largest automakers) not have it's own in house staff dealing with this? lol

Oh they know about the actual issue. They knew weeks ago when the first Japanese failures were reported.

They may not have know about the warranty denial though since (if reported accurately) it was a level below them. Odds are their response will be the same though.