There is a recall out on the early twins for what is claimed to be a faulty valve spring. Rather intense two day engine out fix.
When my dealer called to bring it in I asked how many they had done and they admited that this would be a first. I decided to wait a bit and then I start hearing noise from those that went ahead that bearing failure was a non trivial statistic after the spring fix. Then I read this article.
Not sure where to go with this now.
Pete
I'm under recall on my 2013 BRZ, but after hearing about the supposedly botched service jobs,
I'm very hesitant to have the work done until some more positive news surfaces.
It seems that there is still an advantage to cars being design around ease of repair - when something needs recalled you're not spending billions on labor hours for a cheap part fix.
I wouldn't let a Toyota dealer touch my FRS, if I owned one.
I might even wait if I had a BRZ.
Let them figure it out without being the guinea pig. I bet you eventually the FRS owners will get the service done at Subaru dealers because the class action is going to get really expensive for Toyota....
my Dad just had his done. says the car runs quieter and feels a bit better overall. no hassle, in and out in 3 days.
I personally just finished my 30th one of these recalls. We haven't heard of any failures after recall repairs. I suspect the brz engines that have failed after repair is due to clogging of the oil pick up.
We call these the "glued" motors. On the brz you have to take the engine down to almost a long block. There are only two gaskets to get there. Everything else is sealed with three bond (rtv). There is usually about 3 hours of cleaning rtv before reassembly can begin. All of that used three bond has to go somewhere and can end up in the pan if care is not taken to keep it clean.
Unless there is another issue with the bearings or oiling system we haven't been told about, that is the likely cause in my opinion.
If the recall is done properly the valve lash is measured and potentially adjusted. That's is why some people have reported a smoother, quieter engine.
Thankful my 17 isn't included in the recall. There have been more than a handful of locals that have had the recall done, resulting in engine failure.
TBH, I'd take my chances with the factory supplied springs, as it seems to have a much smaller failure rate than the "repaired" engines.
Have had mine back for about 3-4 weeks and no issues so far (though probably only driven 200 miles). For what it's worth - I spoke to the tech that did my engine as I did the clutch/TOB at the same time, and he said that they've seen a bunch of these in their shop getting the fix done. He told me that all the used car dealers in the area were sending cars to their shop because all the used cars owned by the dealers had to have it done prior to them being sold. Anyway, point being that even for Toyota dealers they probably have seen a decent number of these through these shops at this point.
Brought mine in on Monday and just picked it up this afternoon, the dealership had done quite a few of them already. Had recall work done with new spark plugs and Stage 1 Exedy clutch/pressure plate installed. Wasn't too concerned bringing mine in because it was a very early production unit that has had some issues throwing codes and leaking at the seams... has never left me stranded anywhere, but has always had issues since 1st time at track after owning it a month at the time. If motor goes due to negligence of mechanic when performing the recall work, it will be on Toyota for replacement. Will be selling my FR-S soon, but will keep updated on its status. So far it's running fine... will be breaking in the clutch and driving it as much as possible from now on before gaining confidence to sell it.
I had my FR-S done about 3 months and 2k miles ago. So far no issues. I guy I use to fix some of my cars is replacing an engine in a FR-S after Toyota wouldn't do anything. That car has just over 2500 miles on it since the recall fix.
Maybe I should drop the oil pan and take a look at the oil pickup.
Update on mine - 7 track days later no real issues related to the engine. The mechanic did fail to tighten a v-band clamp on the header, leading to an exhaust leak... And of course that happened on track, so it destroyed my cat, so had to take that out... Also discovered that the tech crushed the thick washer for the oil cooler, so had to order another one. Thankfully no major engine issue, but it was still annoying fixing those issues and it prob cost me 300 bucks from ~1 day of lost track day.
Still on the sidelines. If the plug change was not such a hassle and/or expense I would probably take my chances on the springs and skip the recall
Update, 03/29/2019 8:00 pm EDT: In an email to The Drive, Toyota Advanced Technology spokeswoman Tania Saldana provided this updated statement: "The safety and security of our customers is a top priority. Toyota continues to encourage involved owners to take their vehicle in to a Toyota dealer for remedy repair. While we continue to investigate reports regarding issues involving certain Scion FR-S vehicles after the engine valve spring recall remedy was completed, we have incorporated enhancements to the remedy’s technical instructions to provide additional guidance and reinforce certain aspects of the repair procedure."
Meanwhile, Subaru Director of Communications Dominick Infante tells us the company is currently working on tracking down VINs of the handful of BRZs that have had issues after the recall.
In reply to NOHOME :
The Big crime here is Subaru’s failure, despite their longstanding knowledge of a material design defect, to disclose to consumers, in a timely manner (FRAUD), that the 2013 Subaru BRZ and other 2013 Subaru and Scion model’s Boxer Engines have a vale train design defect so critical that in May, 2013, Subaru changed the manufacturing process of the Boxer Engines to a new valve train design, with changed parts specifications. Instead of disclosing this to consumers, Subaru kept it a secret until late 2018 waiting for the warranties to expire, so they don't have to repair after the failed recall work is performed. How many of you would have purchased the vehicles if Subaru was honest and disclosed prior to the purchase, that the engine vale train design was defective? This is a FRAUD case for Subaru's failure to disclose material facts!
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