Has anyone had a warranty claim denied? Seized engine! Pics of teardown added 6/5

[xjohnx]

Ferrea just announced a bunch of valvetrain products. It sounds like they might be interested in making upgraded seals if there is enough demand. Those of you with facebook should check out their photo on the Subaru BRZ group page and let them know if you'd buy them.

[xjohnx]

any updates?

[SkullWorks]

....if they are smart they said they'll give him 3 free engines and the BRZ STI if he quits telling the world how he blows all these motors up...

[wootwoot]

Lol.

[CSG Mike]

Subaru's stance has not changed, but it appears that Bill is unaware of the ECU issues, or the injector collar issue. The impression I get is that he didn't actually clink any links I sent in my original correspondence.

[xjohnx]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

Subaru's stance has not changed, but it appears that Bill is unaware of the ECU issues, or the injector collar issue. The impression I get is that he didn't actually clink any links I sent in my original correspondence.

Unbelievable. Suba-Bill sounds like a Suba-Douche.

[zc06_kisstherain]

Originally Posted by xjohnx

Unbelievable. Suba-Bill sounds like a Suba-Douche.

THIS

[CSG Mike]

At this point, we're making one last effort to create a collection of information regarding the direct injector coller/seal failures, as well as the suspected causes, and Toyota/Scion TSBs to present to Subaru. Additionally, we'll be getting statements from Irvine Subaru as to their opinion on why our engine failed, based on the full teardown performed on our engine. Our current injectors look rather similar to the ones in the Toyota TSB.

[zc06_kisstherain]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

At this point, we're making one last effort to create a collection of information regarding the direct injector coller/seal failures, as well as the suspected causes, and Toyota/Scion TSBs to present to Subaru. Additionally, we'll be getting statements from Irvine Subaru as to their opinion on why our engine failed, based on the full teardown performed on our engine. Our current injectors look rather similar to the ones in the Toyota TSB.

damm this sucks. i hope this one turns out well.
how about contacting someone at popular magazine? this would give them bad impression

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by zc06_kisstherain

damm this sucks. i hope this one turns out well.
how about contacting someone at popular magazine? this would give them bad impression

We're not looking to smear Subaru's reputation or generate bad press. We want them to give us a cause for the failure, which they have not.

If we did indeed cause the failure by not properly maintaining the engine, or by driver error, then we accept fault. On the other hand, if the failure is a result of a manufacturing defect, design flaw, or ECU fault, then we would like to see Subaru honor the manufacturer's warranty.

Remember, our engine was never modified in ANY way.

[Spartan65]

Originally Posted by JoeBoxer

Hopefully they step up and take care of this, the negative publicity is going to cost them much more than repairing your car.

Does anybody know if any auto trans cars are suffering from this or is it just manuals?

Sorry to thread , but I did not see if there were any AT cars having this issue, I did see where there was someone saying the AT tune is different though

[Marrk]

OT: I want to apologize for a mistake that I made earlier in this thread. I thought that Mike's first engine replacement was a warranty claim. I did not understand that the OEM took the first engine back at the OEM's request.

Sorry.

[Razz]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

We're not looking to smear Subaru's reputation or generate bad press. We want them to give us a cause for the failure, which they have not.

If we did indeed cause the failure by not properly maintaining the engine, or by driver error, then we accept fault. On the other hand, if the failure is a result of a manufacturing defect, design flaw, or ECU fault, then we would like to see Subaru honor the manufacturer's warranty.

Remember, our engine was never modified in ANY way.

That's your problem right there MIKE!

Do not stress a reason as to why it failed. You will back them into a corner.

You will loose. Stress the car should not have failed as the operating conditions are not beyond what the car was designed for.

You want a new engine. That is your goal in negotiation.

Their goal is to find out the problem and fix it.

Don't let them say that you are the problem. I'm sure they can tell from the photo's there is an issue not caused by the driver.

Is it really such a big deal that they admit it is the injectors?

What happen's if it's not the injectors but the female housing that it fits into?

What happens if the root cause for failure is something else that caused the injectors to go bad?


Either way, with the photo's you have posted... it is a slam dunk they will fix your car.

If they offer a reason for the cars failure other than the driver, that is all you need. Even if they say we don't know why it failed but it's not the driver.
That's all you need.

Eventually the they will fix the problem at the factory.

[regal]

Originally Posted by Sithspawn

A quick heads up for everybody. This car has issues with detonation with the factory tune. I'm not talking about crappy Cali gas, but the ECU calibration guys at Subaru screwed up here.

This failed engine is a direct result of cascading failures due to a bad tune. Detonation is not normal and anyone who says so, ought to be doing something else for a living.

Detonation over time will damage engine internals. This is a given. The first component to fail on this engine with the detonating tune is the nylon collar on the direct injector tip. When that insulator cracks and breaks off due to detonation, there is nothing left to protect the injector seal from combustion gasses and the seal fails as a result. Then, the failed seal leaks, causing more detonation and misfires until the engine throws in the towel (or a rod).

This car detonates on the 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, 5-6 shifts when driving the car hard. By hard, I mean WOT and shifting with speed and authority. I have attached a log that shows detonation happening at exactly the shift points (you can see the engine speed rising to redline and the shifts). On the 2-3 and 3-4 shifts I logged, there was detonation resulting from too much timing advance which can also be seen in the log. Keep in mind that this is the factory tune and all I did was log what it does.

I have also attached a view of the factory Transient Ignition Retard Table that shows that it is not pulling jack for timing in the high rpm range. It does pull timing at low rpm and low load, but keeps the timing too far advanced up top. This is due to the fact that the base timing map is advanced a lot in the low load range at high rpm (which the engine sees when you close the throttle for your shift).

Apparently, there is a new flash from Toyota that fixes the tune...sadly, the tune is what ultimately caused the engine failures here people. Subaru needs to step up and fix their mistake.

In closing, while not everyone drives their FRS/BRZ like a madman, driving this car hard will eventually kill the engine with the stock tune. Tracking the car only accelerates the inevitable death of the engine since you are shifting like this much more often.

Can you post the rescaled ignition retard tale you came up with to eliminate the knock? This alone would justify buying Brzedit and help a lot of people avoid engine failure.