Anyone with an OEM blown turbo please post!

[BlazingAsura]

Update: Got the car fixed, with a pricey repair. But it was worth it!

 

Car is running like new, and fast! I'll keep it in better condition than the previous owner.

[goneskiian]

Update: Got the car fixed, with a pricey repair. But it was worth it!

 

Car is running like new, and fast! I'll keep it in better condition than the previous owner.

Good to hear! Enjoy!

[GTPpilot]

Swapped out the turbo today. Sure enough..the bushing had moved outside the housing so much that the WG was jammed against the housing. Other than that, the turbo is mint. Guess I have a nice core for the future. I should have taken the new turbo to work and laser welded the bushing in place. I will probably regret not doing that. The split pin they wedge in there clearly does not do the job. Swap went very well. Only thing that has me concerned is that the inlet boot was very distorted. I'm wondering how long it wasn't seated on the turbo. Either installed improperly at factory or blew part way off at some point. Will have to keep an eye on this.

 

So nice to have the rattle be gone !! We shall see what happens after I'm done babying it for a break in period.

[bmx045]

You dont need to baby it for a break in.

[BlazingAsura]

A little off topic:

Just out of curiousity, has anyone heard of any turbo failures within the new crop of turbo cars? I know VW has issues with their Jetta/Golf turbos, but I'm referring to the new Hyundai/Kia turbo engines, the Acura RDX, etc.

 

I was thinking of this because I saw a Hyundai Sonata Turbo owner pull off a busy intersection to a restaurant and then turned off their car.

I've been told to let my car warm up/cool off after driving it to help the turbo, by various people. I assume this applies for any turbo engine, but with these new people purchasing turbo engines, who probably are not told to do such a thing, how soon will they be seeing turbo failures in workshops?

 

I'm sure hyundai owners are not going to be wanting to repair an entire shortblock. And I wonder if Hyundai realizes the cost and trained their technicians to repair?

[cmbadass]

This is why I say this..

 

The VF series Turbo's for this car are poop. Send the core to BNR, get Brian to replace yours with Mitsu internals, and worry a lot less. Mine was 700 about 2 years ago, and all it costs beyond that is a tune. You'll have more lag, but the top end of these things is nuts. And I only have a 16G:)

[jimbo113]

Regarding the response of SUbaru:

Dear James: Thank you for your response. At this point, Subaru of America, Inc. addresses matters on a case by case basis. If you experience a failure with the turbo on your 2005 Subaru Legacy GT, we will be happy to review the matter for goodwill assistance. Please contact us at the same time you contact an authorized Subaru dealership. There is nothing we can do to assist you until then. When reviewing a matter for goodwill assistance, we request maintenance records. We request this information not because it relates to a failed part; we request maintenance records because good maintenance records are indicative of a customer who is willing to spend time and money to take good care of their vehicle. Due to the age and mileage of your Subaru vehicle, we are unable to refund your money. We appreciate the opportunity to explain our position in this matter. Sincerely, Judy York, CDS E-Mail Representative, Subaru of America, Inc.

 

[THREAD ID:1-XLQ3YW]

 

I do not know why all those people on here with blown turbos have not started a class action law suit? It is clear from my brief correspondensthat SOA has no interest in acknowledging their products have a problem.

[BlazingAsura]

If you bought this car brand new, drove it like a car should be driven, and not abused to the point of death, as well as taken care of all the required maintenance and oil changes, etc. They would be more inclined to do a gesture of good will.

 

If you bought a car from someone like I did, and they screwed you so hard your grand kids will feel it, that's not on Subaru. That's on the previous owner.

 

If you bought the car brand new, modded the crap out of it, and in turn, abused the car until the turbo failed, that's on you, not on Subaru.

 

So Subaru is just trying to find out if, indeed, the turbo failed because of faulty design, or if it was abused and failure was due to the abuse.

 

It's not enough to do a class action law suit.

 

But I could be completely wrong on this, and I do not know the background to your story, Jimbo.

[Max Capacity]

A little off topic:

Just out of curiousity, has anyone heard of any turbo failures within the new crop of turbo cars? I know VW has issues with their Jetta/Golf turbos, but I'm referring to the new Hyundai/Kia turbo engines, the Acura RDX, etc.

 

I was thinking of this because I saw a Hyundai Sonata Turbo owner pull off a busy intersection to a restaurant and then turned off their car.

I've been told to let my car warm up/cool off after driving it to help the turbo, by various people. I assume this applies for any turbo engine, but with these new people purchasing turbo engines, who probably are not told to do such a thing, how soon will they be seeing turbo failures in workshops?

 

I'm sure hyundai owners are not going to be wanting to repair an entire shortblock. And I wonder if Hyundai realizes the cost and trained their technicians to repair?

 

You don't need to let our cars cool off before shutting them off. There is a a water cooling tank above the turbo.

 

Having said that, If I drive my car hard, I let the cool by coasting before I shut it off. Both cars are manual tranny's. I will coast when getting off the highway, I tend to coast a lot with the cars.

 

Like with most things, learn common sense, take care of your toy's.

[Skiman]

I've had the same turbo issue. But at 150,000 miles. See my responses earlier in this thread.

 

SOA is concerned like any manufacturer that they will honor valid requests for assistance on issues with their cars. I've worked with them one on one and they are great to deal with if you don't act like an arse. Have your story, your maintanence history, facts straight and talk like a human being they way you would want to be talked to. Remember talk too not at.

 

SOA will help in any way they can, but if you abused, it's not their responsibility to repair or make better.

[Scooby2.5]

While what you say Skiman is true, SOA, and witnessed in this thread, have flat out ripped people off while under warranty.

 

I had a situation with them while under my GOLD warranty where my car lost a wheel speed sensor.

I went to pick it up, paid my deductible at the counter and went to leave. I started to pull out of the parking lot and the check engine light came on again. Wheel speed sensor.

 

I didn't even pull it hardly out of the parking space, went back in and told them it was not fixed.

 

When they got it fixed the next day, I was charged another deductible because the other ticket had already been closed. STUPID DEALER.

 

I called SOA about it was real nice because this was a no brainer didn't figure there would be a fight at all. They were the biggest pieces of crap on the phone to me, which didn't sit well over the short conversation.

 

I eventually received my refund with a letter stating the typical "one time courtesy"

 

These cars have a couple of expensive problems, One being the turbo and the other one being exhaust valves at or around 100K.

 

The motor is identical to the STI even down to the sodium filled valves (not the turbo and intake of course) but the 05 legacy version is either losing turbos or exhaust valves pretty consistently.

 

My car has had maintenance LIKE NO OTHER. Oil changes every 6 weeks at 3000-3300 because I drive a lot for work and they pay for it, plus I plan on keeping the car so I was doing it all. At 112K I changed the turbo as a precaution plus wanted to upgrade.

Mine happend to be OK but I don't think it would have lasted much longer.

 

I sill lost the exhaust valves at around 100K, starting with misfires.

 

I personally think, on the exhaust valve problems, something is wrong with the factory tune from as the 05 STI does not have this happen with the valves. Ive had numerous conversations with 3 subaru mechanic buddies of mine with around 15-25 years subaru experience each. They are not sure what it is but like I said I think its the tune.

 

I agree that a class action would be great against SOA for at least these two VERY EXPENSIVE to fix issues.

 

Its no different than the fiasco with the 08 STI they had and they recalled that because it was happening much sooner under the full warranty period.

[jimbo113]

I bought my car used with careful review of the car prior to purchasing, and its regular 3K oil changes (which Subaru knows), I can attest, this car was babied. As for talking to and not at SOA or whatever that is supposed to mean, I have bought their car, I am a customer, I could have bought a thousand other cars, I too have been a SUbaru customer prior (and Subaru knows that too), so please let's get something straight: this is not a matter of being polite (an I was polite), this is a matter of SOA acknowledging they have a problem with the LGT and what are they going to do about it? It is just plain wrong to sell a car with a defect that has effected over 25% of the cars and then act as if this is the first time they have heard this or deny coverage to those very customers which is some cases shelled out $30K for this car. NOW THAT IS IMPOLITE! btw, I live in NYC, which is stop and go (mostly stop) which is tough on any car and what does that have to do with someone who lives in the midwest where there are no stop signs or traffic? Point being, these cars should operate well under all circumstances. If Subaru offered lifetime guarantee on those parts, or offered a fix for those defects, that would diffuse a Class Action Lawsuit. However, Subaru KNOWING that they have a defect, which has effected a large portion (24% qualifies) of their owners, and they deliberately do nothing, while blaming the customer, for what is average use of a motor vehicle, then SOA could stand to lose big on a CALS. And of course you forget that the threat of a law suit is almost as bad as its bite - imagine all of those Subaru owners and prospects who watch the way SOA has responded. Remember the Pinto, Ford losses in future sales almost put it out of business. In the end, I think Subaru would come around, realizing it is cheaper to settle than to fight.

[cmbadass]

NEW UNDER EXTENDED WARRANTY, and they wouldn't do JACK about it. They know this car is a POS. Look at this forum, it might as well be a daewoo wagon.

[BlazingAsura]

You don't need to let our cars cool off before shutting them off. There is a a water cooling tank above the turbo.

 

Having said that, If I drive my car hard, I let the cool by coasting before I shut it off. Both cars are manual tranny's. I will coast when getting off the highway, I tend to coast a lot with the cars.

 

Like with most things, learn common sense, take care of your toy's.

 

The coasting, I've been told, also helps with the cooling off. But what about those people that run their cars hard and then, without coasting or anything, turn off the car. Would that water cooling tank above the turbo still cool off the turbo with no power?

[Max Capacity]

The coasting, I've been told, also helps with the cooling off. But what about those people that run their cars hard and then, without coasting or anything, turn off the car. Would that water cooling tank above the turbo still cool off the turbo with no power?

 

They say it will, but do you want to be the test victim ?

 

That is the purpous of the tank above the turbo.

 

Common sense tells me its not a good idea to beat the crap out of the turbo and then shut it off...think about it.

[BlazingAsura]

Common sense tells me its not a good idea to beat the crap out of the turbo and then shut it off...think about it.

 

Common Sense is uncommon, especially when it comes to cars. The non-enthusiasts don't understand that concept, nor do they understand the turbo technology. These same people would probably not know the cooling off of a turbo.

 

So, do you predict plenty of turbo failures for those brands that normally do not work with them and are throwing them into mainstream cars?

[SBT]

Subaru posted this on their tech board and they were very specific about how they engineered the newest generation of turbo motors (starting with the USDM 2002 Subaru WRX) to self-cool post-operation.

 

They even specifically said in that End Wrench article that there was no reason for a turbo timer or even idle-cooling the car down after driving it, that their convection cooling was more than up to the task and was all that was needed.

 

Is it wise to let a hot engine (raced engine) cool for a few minutes, before shutting down, to allow temps across-the-board to stabilize (engine, cooling, turbo, oil)? Sure. But I find for normal every day driving the system works fine as is.

[Purple Jrank]

Unfortunately, my turbo blew on Friday after having it replaced only 18 months and 13k miles ago. I've gotten the same line from SOA and the dealer that replaced it that its not covered after 1 year, however, SOA might help out with good-will assistance. I just bought the car last August, and only put 3k miles since I got it, and got the oil changed 3k after the previous owner's last oil change, granted the records from the previous owner's dealership aren't very clear.

 

My problem is that the car is currently in my driveway, and I don't feel like paying to have it towed over to the local dealership if they won't help me out in paying for it. Based on everyone's experience, do you think I have any chance of having the repairs fully covered? I want to make sure it would be worth while to bring it over, instead of just repairing it all by myself.

 

Also, the new turbo that was installed was done before I bought the car, but I hope that wouldn't make a difference in this situation.

[Subakook]

My OBXT, 78k miles. Wastegate stuck! http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t383/cpizzle87/th_2946B90A-8766-4D84-91E3-82CECE6DCD0F-25697-00001BD926FC3B8D_zps36fcd991.jpg?t=1348334808

[GTPpilot]

Yup. Welcome to the club. I'm afraid we may start seeing alot of this.

Seems like a time thing, and the time has come.

 

My OBXT, 78k miles. Wastegate stuck! http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t383/cpizzle87/th_2946B90A-8766-4D84-91E3-82CECE6DCD0F-25697-00001BD926FC3B8D_zps36fcd991.jpg?t=1348334808

[MiniStiGuy]

my stock turbo has 134,000 miles on it...

[SBT]

My OBXT, 78k miles. Wastegate stuck! http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t383/cpizzle87/th_2946B90A-8766-4D84-91E3-82CECE6DCD0F-25697-00001BD926FC3B8D_zps36fcd991.jpg?t=1348334808

 

Mine did that at 85K during a cross-country trip. Fortunately, had a replacement VF46 with me and swapped it out.

[OBieXT]

Mine did that at 85K during a cross-country trip. Fortunately, had a replacement VF46 with me and swapped it out.

 

Yup. Welcome to the club. I'm afraid we may start seeing alot of this.

Seems like a time thing, and the time has come.

 

My OBXT, 78k miles. Wastegate stuck! http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t383/cpizzle87/th_2946B90A-8766-4D84-91E3-82CECE6DCD0F-25697-00001BD926FC3B8D_zps36fcd991.jpg?t=1348334808

 

Count me in too. Mine happened at 59.6k. Was able to get it in just before the warranty ran out.

[MikeAldea]

Mine did that at 85K during a cross-country trip. Fortunately, had a replacement VF46 with me and swapped it out.

 

So I guess the moral of that story is . . .

"remember to bring your spare turbo with you when you take any long trips." http://forum.cog-online.org/Smileys/FantasticSmileys/undecided.gif

[SBT]

Yep - started to pack it with the rest of the spare parts locker that the shipper moved, but thought, I'll just take it with me, just in case. Glad I did.

 

OTOH, the turbo itself is still perfect with no shaft play, and no oil leakage. Just the stupid arm bushing. May try to swap a good hotside on to it and keep it as a spare.