'05 2.5i dead @ 53K?!?!

[WildBoxer]

The Car:

 

'05 Legacy Limited Wagon

2.5i (no turbo here )

4EAT (we both drive it in manual mode 90% of the time, but we don't beat on it)

 

Purchased in September 2009 with 40,000 miles.

Current mileage: 53,000

 

 

The Horror Story:

 

This is kind of long, so please bear with me.

 

My wife has been driving the Subie for a while to keep some miles off of her Ford Escape since we are planning to sell that. In the meantime, I have been driving my F-150 until we get her into a new vehicle.

 

About 1 month ago, I pulled the exhaust off the Subie from the axle back so that I could replace the muffler exhaust gaskets that had started to leak. It looks like the previous owner ran a "Hawgzaust mod" that somehow slipped by the state inspection. The washers were still there but had completely rusted into the gaskets. So I decided to clean up the ends of the pipes and install new bolts and gaskets. Come to find out I got the wrong gaskets, so I had to wait for the new ones to come in. So I just left the mufflers off the car.

 

2-3 weeks later, the car still had no mufflers (the parts took way longer than I expected), but was still being driven on a daily basis. Then after sitting in very heavy rain / wet weather a few times, the car began misfiring and threw a CEL. It turned out to be a misfire code for cylinder #3. I cleared and reset the MIL, and had no issues afterward. I added this to my "to-do" list for the next week or so.

 

Last weekend my plans were to finish the exhaust repair and then have my 60,000 mile service done a little early and have any other issues addressed, starting with the cause of the previously mentioned misfire. I had everything ready to go first thing Saturday morning.

 

So the day before I plan to fix everything, my wife was coming home and said that it got kind of noisy. (By this point, she has gotten used to having no mufflers, so it must have been something out of the ordinary.) However, she figured it was just the exhaust acting up and kept driving. Then it started to lose power and as she got further up a very hilly, curvy road near our house, it got louder and could barely get up the hill. it stalled out on her after it crested the last hill and she basically drifted up to the stop sign at the end. She couldn't get it to start again, so she rolled it in neutral into a nearby leverl driveway.

 

She decided to check the oil. She said she didn't get a reading on the dipstick. So she added some from the bottle that I keep in the rear. The car has been burning about 1 - 1.25 quarts between oil changes, so I always keep some on hand. She put nearly 3 quarts in, and manages to get the car to start and run, but said it sounded like it was knocking slightly. (Then again, she always says that, because she's pretty new to the whole boxer engine sound, so I thought nothing of this until a bit later.)

 

She decides to drive it the remaining distance home (just over 1 mile.) She said the car barely had power even when driving downhill, so she tried to keep the rpms low. She put it in D and kept it under 30mph in a 50 mph zone with the hazards flashing. When it came time to go up a long steep incline, she barely made it up before it died again.

 

This time it died for good, so i had to go pick it up with a friend's trailer and bring it to the house. I checked the oil level the next morning and it looked WAY too full. I drained it all out and did a fresh oil and filter change. I start it up, after cranking it a few times, and it starts squealing like it's got no oil at all, so I shut it down right away. Then I notice that there are metal shavings in the screen on my oil drain pain, some of which are almost 5mm in diameter.

 

From the way she described what happened, I've been led to believe that there is a serious internal problem to the point where at least a partial motor rebuild may be required. Everything from timing belt failure to oil starvation has crossed my mind. I don't suppose the 2.5i's have any history of oil pickup tube failure?

 

Tonight I finally decided that I don't have the time, patience or knowledge to deal with it, so I made a few calls to have the car looked at. I went outside to move a few things from my car to my work truck, since I will be driving that until this is resolved. This is when I noticed something odd.

 

I turned the key to on (without starting, of course) so that I could shift the car into neutral and push it back another 10 feet into my driveway. i'm going to be putting it back on the trailer sometime tomorrow and towing it to the shop, and I wanted to make extra sure that I have room to fit the truck and trailer in the driveway without sticking out into the road this time.

 

I noticed that when I put the trans into Reverse, Drive, or Sport mode, there is an instant, continuous buzzing, which definitely sounds electrical. It sounds way to loud to be normal, and I've never noticed it before - even when I took it on and off the trailer last week. Does anyone know what would cause that? It sounds like it is coming from the trans, but I'm not totally sure. You can hear it loudest under the hood on the driver's side between the motor and the firewall, right over the starter. It's also pretty loud when you listen from under the car just under the driver's door. It goes away as soon as it gets put in Park or Neutral, and it also changes tone slightly if you shift between 1-2 in manual mode.

 

Is it possible my trans took a dump, and would that exhibit any of the other symptoms I described? Sorry for the long post, but a lot has happened the last few weeks and I didn't want to miss any details. I've heard that the factory warranty was extended on certain '05 drivetrain components, and I'm wondering if I've got myself a lemon. If Subaru will foot the bill that would really help to ease my mind...

 

Thanks for reading, maybe somebody can give me an idea of what I might be facing? I'll likely find out by the end of the week, but I have a feeling it's not going to be good news.

[Stiffy]

Well, on the trans buzzing sound I would say that's normal. When putting an 07 radio into my 05 2.5i I had shifted into gear (4eat) a few times with the motor off and got the same thing. I chalked it up to the solenoids in the tranny trying to do things without any pressure.

 

The rest of your story I don't know. Doesn't sound good though.

[WildBoxer]

Well, on the trans buzzing sound I would say that's normal. When putting an 07 radio into my 05 2.5i I had shifted into gear (4eat) a few times with the motor off and got the same thing. I chalked it up to the solenoids in the tranny trying to do things without any pressure.

 

The rest of your story I don't know. Doesn't sound good though.

 

OK, I'm glad to hear that's a somewhat normal thing. i was really worried since I've never heard it before.

 

On another note, I spoke to the Subaru service advisor this afternoon and it looks like if it's as serious as I think, it'll be covered by the 60K powertrain warranty.

 

So it's getting towed down to the dealer tonight, hopefully. If my friend's trailer is available we're going to take it down real late. The parking lot's super cramped so we're going to have to back it in from the street, which is usually packed with traffic. It should prove to be interesting.

 

Hopefully I can get it looked at before all the techs roll out for the holiday weekend.

 

I've never had to deal with warranty repairs before, so I hope it's not too much of a pain. I guess it can't be any worse than when I totaled my Outback last year. Three weeks after I switched insurance companies...

 

Thanks for reading through all of that, keep your fingers crossed for me!!

[Stiffy]

Good luck, keep the thread updated with the findings.

[WildBoxer]

Thanks.

 

Towed her to the dealer this afternoon. Hopefully they will have a go at it tomorrow. I don't want to spend all weekend wondering.

 

And with the worst timing ever, I'm now trying to pickup a VR6 Corrado. I've had my eye on this particular car for nearly ten years since the owner lives near me. It's in mint condition and now it's for sale!!

 

It would be nice to know I don't have to dump a bunch of $$ into the Subie. If I get stuck with a major repair bill, bye-bye 'Rado!!

 

[WildBoxer]

My service advisor called me yesterday.

 

The bad news is that I need a new short block. I don't know the details yet, but that's was my service advisor stated in the voicemail he left me. I'm calling him first thing Monday, because I want to know exactly what happened!!

 

The good news is that I shouldn't have any problems with warranty coverage. I thought something was a bit odd, though:

 

I was going to set up an appointment for the 60,000 mile service next month, which would be the first major service due since I bought the car. I do all of the minor services on the car myself, including oil / filter changes, brakes, tire rotations, etc. Subaru had no records of any service being performed on it since I bought the car @ 40,000 miles, aside from my own records, which needed to be faxed to the dealer.

 

Yet, Subaru gave permission for the dealer to go ahead with the engine teardown before I even had a chance to fax my service receipts to the dealer. So as far as Subaru knew when they approved the warranty work, I could have not changed the oil since then!! Why were they so eager to approve warranty coverage before they had proof that I had been maintaining the car?

 

Maybe I'm just paranoid because I'm used to hearing horror stories about warranty coverage being denied because the owner lost an oil change receipt? Not to mention all of the business concerning oil pickup tube failures...

 

Whatever the case, I *should* have my car back my the end of next week. Hopefully, it will come with answers instead of a repair bill!!

[Stiffy]

Maybe they weren't eager to approve warranty work, but eager to prove you had low oil or find something that was your fault?

[WildBoxer]

Well, I picked her up this week. New short block is in place and was 100% covered under powertrain warranty.

 

According to my service advisor, the bearing in cylinder #1 was almost completely melted, and the others were on their way!!

How can you possibly melt bearings on a 53K mile engine unless you run it out of oil or neglect to change it?

 

All services have been performed since new, I now have documentation from Subaru on that. I'm just really glad that this didn't go another 7K before taking a dump.

 

On another note, is there anything I should be aware of as far as breaking in the new shortblock?

 

I've been very gentle with her this week, and I am sure there are certain things I should be extra careful of (i.e. shorter oil change interval for now)

[ToRealEyes]

Good to you on getting it fully covered. The engine is known to be 'bullet proof', but YMMW, (as with almost all things).

 

We've taken our legacy through all the elements--city driving being easily the hardest on the car. It doesn't accelerate quickly, so I've found the occasional need to play with the sport mode also for later shifts. The engine sounds peppy as ever now at 71k. Major services were just 36k and 60k. Timing belt was done recently just for peace of mind.

 

Might be good to stay vigilant, notice any funny noises as you've been doing and ask on this forum. Chances are, someone will know what it is.

[Scruit]

YMMW? What does the W stand for?