spun bearing caused by intercooler? swap a 2.5xt?

[meatman10523]

Hi All,

 

Spun a bearing at 60k miles with only 1500 miles on the oil change

 

I was taking a lot of off/on ramps fast on a hour long road trip when it happened...so it could have been high sustained gs.

 

OR it was running my grimmspeed top mount intercooler without a tune. It would have a slight stutter sometimes, but it was so seldom I never bothered looking into it. If anyone has thoughts on this they would be much appreciated. I have a feeling I will leave it off the car for a while after I fix this problem.

 

I found a 2011 2.5xt complete long block w/turbo with 25k miles for ~$4000. I am thinking this will be the best choice since It has less miles and the head, oil pump etc.. havn't had bearing parts running through it. Hopefully sell left over parts for a total cost of ~$3k

 

Would this work? Anyone know what Turbo came on 2011 2.5xt forester? I have done some basic searching and I think it will work with intake and exhaust swap, but want to double check.

 

OR I could do a new long block, oil pump, gaskets etc.. for ~$3k. Would rather not have to get into tearing down the engine, surfacing heads etc...

 

Any advice or input is much appreciated!

-Ben

[GrimmSpeed]

Hi All,

 

Spun a bearing at 60k miles with only 1500 miles on the oil change

 

I was taking a lot of off/on ramps fast on a hour long road trip when it happened...so it could have been high sustained gs.

 

OR it was running my grimmspeed top mount intercooler without a tune. It would have a slight stutter sometimes, but it was so seldom I never bothered looking into it. If anyone has thoughts on this they would be much appreciated. I have a feeling I will leave it off the car for a while after I fix this problem.

 

I can beyond a doubt assure you that the spun bearing was not as a result of not tuning for the intercooler. The only reason a tune is ever recommended for our intercooler is to better take advantage of it's increased efficiency. The cooler charge temps will not have an adverse effects, and will be helping to prevent knock in boost. So there is literally no reason to drive in fear of damage without a tune.

 

Also I'd like to mention that we also pressure test every single intercooler that leaves here, and they are cleaned and inspected for any sort of debris before they are sealed up (we're one of the only manufacturers that does this) and packaged.

 

I'm sorry to hear about the spun bearing, that sucks! But you said it yourself, you were doing a lot of sustained high speed turns for a fairly long trip, which may have strongly contributed to oil starvation, even if you are halfway between OCIs (my FXT is a quart low on oil after 1500 miles). You also might want to inspect for a broken oil pick up tube.

 

Chase

Engineering

[GTEASER]

The 2011 FXT came stock with a TD04L top flange turbo which isn't capable of producing as much sustained boost as your stock LGT/OBXT turbo (VF40 or VF46) and only produced 225hp from the factory on the factory tune. I am just assuming that you have an LGT or OBXT because you gave us no indication of the model and year of your car.

 

I will buy the turbo from the FXT motor from you for $150 if you get that motor. And that's not a lowball, they just aren't worth much since they are a "bottom of the barrel" turbo that the Forester guys upgrade to a VF40/VF46/VF52 from all the time and no one ever really wants them.

 

Please fill in the user information below your username/avatar on the left, it will be helpful for other members to know your vehicle model/year and your approximate location.

[meatman10523]

I think I filled in my info correctly...we shall see with this post!

 

Thanks for the input, exactly the info I was looking for. It makes me feel better it was not the intercooler. I wanted to leave the car mostly stock to avoid issues. The intercooler is the only update. It's a great product and I really like it, just wanted to make sure it couldn't be the cause. It was full of oil for sure, maybe overfull even. Plan to take it apart to find the cause.

 

Just the info I needed on the turbo....looks like I will let her sit for a while until a good deal comes up...or a new short block is ordered.

[LatentWagen]

I think I filled in my info correctly...we shall see with this post!

 

Thanks for the input, exactly the info I was looking for. It makes me feel better it was not the intercooler. I wanted to leave the car mostly stock to avoid issues. The intercooler is the only update. It's a great product and I really like it, just wanted to make sure it couldn't be the cause. It was full of oil for sure, maybe overfull even. Plan to take it apart to find the cause.

 

Just the info I needed on the turbo....looks like I will let her sit for a while until a good deal comes up...or a new short block is ordered.

 

You also said your oil was "full of oil for sure, maybe overfull even"... how do you know? Doesn't sound like you're checking very frequently. A spun bearing is usually due to oiling issues. Could've been the on-ramps, or just cumulative abuse.

 

And as others have said, a properly installed intercooler shouldn't cause issues, even without a tune. But, you said when you installed it, you felt a stutter? That sounds like a boost leak to me. A boost leak can definitely cause knock because your turbo is trying harder (and pushing hotter air) to make the same boost. Hot air is a great recipe for knock.

[meatman10523]

i checked oil quickly right after I heard the noise and there was oil on the stick just above the full mark.

 

it was usually during transition to full throttle after letting off, think accelerating around traffic after coming up on the slow people. or adding just a little throttle on the hwy to pass...it wasn't something I could easily reproduce either.

 

flooring it and running up to 80mph was always fine. I guess it could be a small surge leak?....Something else to double check for as I take things apart....

 

-Ben

[LatentWagen]

i checked oil quickly right after I heard the noise and there was oil on the stick just above the full mark.

 

I'm not sure how to interpret that... did you pull the dip-stick immediately after driving? No wipe, just saw some oil above F and called it good? Can never be too sure

 

Let's assume you know how to check your oil. A little overfull is good on these cars, but nothing will save you at consistent sustained ~1g and high RPM, unless you go dry sump.

 

Good luck on the rebuild, this forum is a great resource. Read up and do it right the first time!

[meatman10523]

you assume correctly I checked it the right way, two wipe and dips in fact.

 

I've been loving the forum so far, much better than sifting through NASIOC.

 

I am still a bit baffled that it happened. I doubt I can get near 1g with the eco tires on the car. After searching though, I am not alone in having a bearing suddenly shart. Plan on adding an accusump with the rebuild.

 

Also disappointing because this car is the first turbo in a long line of Subarus in my family, starting with '96 Legacy L 15 years ago and now with a total of 4 in the fam.

 

Lots of HG replacements, but this is the first bearing.

[Dujo]

Head gasket issues notwithstanding, the naturally-aspirated boxers are in fact more reliable than the turbo cars. There are a few design choices that weren't the smartest in addition to the forced induction just works the components harder than the n/a cars. The turbo itself is a complicated machine that has moving parts with tight tolerances and ridiculous rpm speeds. That and the air charge creates a lot of heat which runs things closer to the knock edge. The engine also doesn't tolerate unmetered air very well either. If the ECU doesn't know about it (from boost/vacuum leak, etc), then it doesn't deal with it very well. The turbo Subarus are just more complicated and require more maintenance and attention than the n/a cars to keep them running in top condition.