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18 Limited - DOA Torque Converter Failure


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Greetings Everyone,

 

 

My 18 limited is at a Subie dealer in NJ while traveling for our thanksgiving get together with my parents., we heard a small rattle at an intersection as soon as the traffic light went green I accelerated and heard a loud explosion.

The car was inoperable and we safely pulled over, I popped the hood and chunks of metal fragments were scattered towards the back end of the engine it appears the torque converter had a catastrophic failure.

 

I managed to get safely home however my car is now 100+ away. I am awaiting to contact Subaru corporate because the dealership can't look at the car until Monday before they can determine if I can get a loaner or rental car, the problem is I have no vehicle to get around and need to be at work at the base @ 1730hrs.

 

What would cause this to happen on a car that just hit 1yr of ownership

mileage is at 44,768k.

 

Attached is a picture of just one piece of the metal fragments.

* going back and forth with corporate to authorize a rental car.

20191128_150744.thumb.jpg.41e1489f5378cbd977ccb18c20f1d6f7.jpg

Edited by Skyboss-alpha1
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Greetings Everyone,

 

 

My 18 limited is at a Subie dealer in NJ while traveling for our thanksgiving get together with my parents., we heard a small rattle at an intersection as soon as the traffic light went green I accelerated and heard a loud explosion.

The car was inoperable and we safely pulled over, I popped the hood and chunks of metal fragments were scattered towards the back end of the engine it appears the torque converter had a catastrophic failure.

 

I managed to get safely home however my car is now 100+ away. I am awaiting to contact Subaru corporate because the dealership can't look at the car until Monday before they can determine if I can get a loaner or rental car, the problem is I have no vehicle to get around and need to be at work at the base @ 1730hrs.

 

What would cause this to happen on a car that just hit 1yr of ownership

mileage is at 44,768k.

 

Attached is a picture of just one piece of the metal fragments.

* going back and forth with corporate to authorize a rental car.

Definitely a New and Serious issue.. Yes there is a Bulletin out there to check the Tranny for Fluid leaks but didnt think the 2018 was on the list.. Well keep us posted and hope things get worked out..

 

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

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I am starting to lose faith at Subaru the build quality is definitely going down. My last legacy had problems so did my ex-wife's outback and now this car has this issue, like what gives man. All three of these vehicles haven't even reached a hundred thousand miles and have had problems.

 

Other problems I have had with this car:

Moonroof rattle

Driver's seat squealing like a bad mattress * 2nd seat installed

Passenger side door plastic trim rattles

Trunk area rattles

Windshield upper corner when it's really cold rattles so does the rear window around the seal.

Edited by Skyboss-alpha1
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Curious to know what went wrong, hope you keep us posted.

 

I don't know much about automatic transmissions and how they work, but I think that metal fragment is part of the flexplate. I have no idea what would cause a flexplate to explode, I don't even know what a flexplate does. Like a flywheel for AT's?

 

https://parts.subaru.com/p/Subaru_2018_Legacy-25L-CVT-4WD-Limited-Sedan-wEyeSight/PLATE-DRIVE/49224600/12332AA150.html

https://parts.subaru.com/a/Subaru_2018_Legacy-25L-CVT-4WD-Limited-Sedan-wEyeSight/_54102_6464135/FLYWHEEL/B15-011-01.html

 

*Oh, of course as you noted, the torque converter may have exploded and taken out the plate above.

Edited by apexi
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Don't forget that this CVT is warranted for 10 years and 100,000 miles in the USA and Canada. Cost to replace is the inconvenience.

 

Further, this is an exceptional situation. Failure happens to anything mechanical, and this is the first report on this 6th Gen forum of anything like this. I'd be more concerned at multiple incidences.

 

If you want to answer questions about overall reliability, read the reviews on Cars.com or Edmunds or Consumer Reports for a more balanced view.

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Don't forget that this CVT is warranted for 10 years and 100,000 miles in the USA and Canada. Cost to replace is the inconvenience.

 

Further, this is an exceptional situation. Failure happens to anything mechanical, and this is the first report on this 6th Gen forum of anything like this. I'd be more concerned at multiple incidences.

 

If you want to answer questions about overall reliability, read the reviews on Cars.com or Edmunds or Consumer Reports for a more balanced view.

 

Isn’t 10 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first? Mine has 82,000 miles and is a 2016.. Course I bought the extended warranty when I bought it new...

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Isn’t 10 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first? Mine has 82,000 miles and is a 2016.. Course I bought the extended warranty when I bought it new...
That extended warranty won't cover after the 100k on the CVT I would start looking for fluid leaks.. I had 94k on my 2015 when I discovered fluid leaking. Had a wet tranny pan..Ended up getting a New Tranny..

 

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

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I am even more confused by the 10 year 100k as stated above, Subaru told me its 60k Power Train. And yes I put that many miles commuting 100+ to NE Philly but that commute has now ended, my commute now is much shorter and is now in Delaware however, I do use the car to visit family and friends which are not around the corner.

If anything I will save a few miles still and I am going to be getting a used car to offset some of the miles. I am stressed out waiting for Subaru to do something I have no way of getting to work after tomorrow afternoon.

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Curious if you had a 3.6 or a 2.5?

 

This could be road debris to cause that much damage. You have anymore pics and also which dealer did you use here in NJ?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I have a 2.5, the vehicle was towed to a Subaru dealership in Avenel.

 

I doubt that this was road debris because how would road debris managed to work its way up there and we'll have to go around the shield at the bottom of the engine. And I can assure you I haven't hit anything on the road.

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More info on the warranty in this thread:

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/cvt-warranty-extension-my-2016-2017-and-now-my-2018-275654.html

 

You can download the PDF of the TSB attached to the first post by ammcinnis.

 

 

The warranty also applies to Canadian vehicles.

 

Many thanks for that information, do you think that there will be any stipulations being at the vehicles of 2018 and I noticed that the PDF covers up to 2017 model legacy?

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I am pretty sure this is something you should have received in the mail, but the extended warranty on the CVT was certainly extended to the 2018 model year. (I can't confirm if 2019 has been included as well - I thought I saw that it was, but I can't find any documentation on it).

 

https://www.subaruoutback.org/threads/cvt-tsb-16-117-18-dated-10-9-18-applies-to-2018-outback.500493/page-2

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Update : Spoke with the service manager he has informed me that the engine block has also broken, and that he is awaiting on Subaru Corporate to decide what they want to do. In the meantime I am stuck with a rental car that I am paying out of pocket, they said they would reimburse me 50 a day but to when is anyone's guess.
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Spoke with the service manager he has informed me that the engine block has also broken ...

This is a highly unusual failure. Please continue to keep us posted.

"If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there." ~ The Cheshire Cat (Alice in Wonderland)

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Update : Spoke with the service manager he has informed me that the engine block has also broken, and that he is awaiting on Subaru Corporate to decide what they want to do. In the meantime I am stuck with a rental car that I am paying out of pocket, they said they would reimburse me 50 a day but to when is anyone's guess.

 

Did the dealer not provide you a loaner? I would ask for one as soon as one becomes available.

 

also ask them to document it in pictures and provide them for you. They should be able to explain what happened.

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I received an update from Subaru Corp., they have informed me that a field engineer has revised the vehicle and that they are going to be replacing the following items:

 

1) Lower Block Assembly

2) Torque Converter Unit

3)I can't recall the other item but it's not the transmission at this time.

 

The other problem I have been facing is that the vehicle is in New Jersey and I live in Delaware. According to the dealership loaner vehicles are for in-state purposes only. I have been forking out of my pocket for a rental vehicle which is getting to be very expensive. According to Subaru, they will be reimbursing me $50 a day, however, the rental is 57 a day plus additional taxes and fees. At this time I do not have any more money for a rental vehicle as I have already paid close to 700 dollars. And when exactly would I receive a check from them is anyone's guess.

 

I find it hard to believe that a car manufacturer does not have a better relationship with its dealerships, and customers. Since this incident manufacturers default, the customer should not have to pay anything out of pocket. Lastly, my upmost concern now is overall vehicle safety what is going to guarantee me that I don't end up driving this car say to Florida and have another issue where I end up being stranded all over again.

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