docwyte wrote:
Subaru is having lots of issues lately. The new (08+) WRX's and STI's are blowing motors with frightening regularity.
Apparently the stock tune runs the motor very lean...
Don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but I'll chime in real quick as someone with firsthand experience (I have an 09 WRX, and I actually have blown the motor on it - see below)
The issue with the 08 STi was a ringland problem, which from everything I've seen on the last couple years of subaru forums is not a "widespread" problem but has happened more times than would be liked.
The 08 WRX haven't had any widespread issues - at least nothing more than any previous WRX. A few failures here and there but not significantly more than previous WRXs, since it's the same engine, turbo, and tune as the 07s, essentially.
The 09 WRX (mine): Cars built in the first 70 or so days of production (August through early October '08) had improperly cleaned cranks, and the debris or gristle was trashing the main bearings, with a high percentage of cars in that build date range getting rod knock and bearing failure in under 10k miles. Mine did it at about 9k miles. On NASIOC alone there are over 80 confirmed cases (all on UN-MODDED cars....they're not counting modded cars).
Although Subaru essentially won't admit to anyone that there is a problem, the dealers and SOA do know. With a few exceptions, everyone who has blown the motor with this has gotten a new longblock and turbo (including me) with few to no questions asked. A few exceptions got a hard time from their dealers or SOA for various reasons, but I'm not aware of anyone getting denied ultimately.
Only one replacement engine on NASIOC has failed, and it was one of the first replacements (probably from the same batch of bad cranks).
Otherwise, I've seen no (zero) reports of cars built after early Oct '08 with the problem, and it appears that Subaru found it and fixed it "under the radar". My replacement engine is going on 12k miles now with no issues. So it was really a small subset of the cars, and not the "08+ WRX" in general. Obviously like any car, there are other issues here and there, but I haven't noticed anything widespread (and I do keep an eye on this kind of stuff)....
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As to the comment about a lean tune from the factory, we all can agree on that. I've seen the dynos from all over. F'ing emissions. Going stage 1 with an accessport usually takes care of that, but then you have the worry about warranty claim denial on any future failure, so it's a tradeoff....ugh.
In any case, good luck with the fix. Think about it this way: once you get the replacement engine, it's time to tune it...stage 2....have some fun. I'm waiting for the warranty on my 2nd engine to be up so I can do the same :)
