Wife's Daily Driver becomes a paperweight!

So Long Story Short ...

The Wife's car threw a CEL the other day ... (2006 Subie Legacy 2.5 GT). I pulled the code, it was missing on Cyl 2-4. I make an appointment at the dealer but have to wait a few days... Didn't drive it much one trip back and forth to work and once to the grocery store ... Miss become horrible knock. Towed to the dealer because I already had the appointment... Just to confirm what I already guessed, the motor is toast.

76,000 miles (out of warranty), just did $1,100 clutch job, of course the dealer whats a metric ton of money to replace the long block (and a bunch of other stuff). Now we have a few big decisions to make. What to do with a paperweight that you are still making the payments on?

I'm not feeling really good about subaru ownership right now! .... Anyone have a recommend shop in the Nyack NY area? Anyone have thoughts on used vs new motors? Anyone have a time machine I could borrow and make sure I trade it in on the forrester my wife wanted last summer?

Well that blows . Unfortunately I don't have any answers for you, but out of interest, when did the warranty expire?

Any chance of some goodwill from the manufacturer on this? 76k isn't exactly a lot of miles, is it?

And yes, I'd agree with Luke - this blows.

LSx swap...

1. Get the car to your house
2. Buy used motor
3. Install new used motor
4. Enjoy!

76k for the bottom end to go out is BS. I'd be raising hell about that, assuming it's never been overheated and you kept oil in it.

Otherwise, I agree with mblommel on this one, you ought to be able to buy a used motor for under a grand (i'm not current with actual prices, just a guess), and install it yourself (with help) in 4-5 days of work (assuming you've never done it before). If I were you, I would pull the motor one weekend, and install the new one the next. Just be sure to label everything very well, and you ought not have any troubles. It's just nuts and bolts and a little bit of muscle to get the transmission back up there.

BoxheadTim wrote: Any chance of some goodwill from the manufacturer on this? 76k isn't exactly a lot of miles, is it?

This..

http://www.drive.subaru.com/Win03_SubaruDiff.htm <--- call them and complain. Say you'll never buy another subaru but you've been a loyal customer and blah blah blah..

We didn't run it out of oil and we didn't over heat it. Drivetrain warrenty 5years or 60K miles (should have paid for the extended)

The wife isn't trusting enough for me to do the swap and I don't blame her. I also don't have the time or garage space ... I work in higher ed and the semester is about to start so I'll be working every weekend for the next month or so.

Hopefully I'll be able to find someone other than the dealer to do the work ... I'm leaning toward finding cheeper labor to put in the new longblock since I guess were stuck with the car a few years longer then we may want now.

Used engine will be at least $1500 on something that new. You can price them at www.car-part.com. Try finding an independent shop that specializes in Subarus near you...there probably is one. I would never have advised getting an extended warranty on a Subaru. Hate to say it, but you just got unlucky.

Very unlucky. Sorry to hear about this - and an '06?!

I'd def. go the used motor route and swap it in yourself if possible to save the $$. LKQ might be able to find something and use car-part.com to get some base line pricing. Don't forget to beat everyone down on price to get a better deal.

ddavidv wrote: Hate to say it, but you just got unlucky.

Agreed. Subies tend to be extremely reliable. I have never had any trouble with any of mine. Sorry to hear that.

Scream like heck at the company. No car company can afford the bad-will that comes from catastrophic failures so close to the waranty period.

Tell them if you wanted a car that self destructed after the warranty you would have bought a GM!

What failed?

New 2.5 short blocks can be found for around $1800...

later, matt

Did it make any noises like a high-pitched whine or any other unusual noise at any point? Did you check the oil level once you heard the knocking? What's the build date on your car? I know the '05s had oiling issues for the turbo and AVCS due to filters in the oil lines becoming plugged. I just replaced the turbo on our '04 Forester due to a plugged filter (though to it's credit, it does have 100K miles on it and less than stellar maintenance).

source replacement engine, host engine swap party....youd be amazed what people will do to help, when theres free pigs in a blanket and beer on the line... :)

Jeff, That SUUUX. So a few things. a) can we get it down to casa de misfits? I'm sure we can get the whole crew on it and git er done. We'll have lots of subie experience soon.

b) Are you ok for drivers until its sorted out? It will push our timelines back a bit but if you want to take the donor subie here (sorry 2.2 or we just use that motor and deal with it) and register it for awhile we can work around it.

c) anything else I can do?

Oh and if the wife is insistent upon a "pro" doing it check nasoic.com in the regional forums to get a recommendation.

I'd be calling the head of Subaru. Executive email bomb. No WAY an engine should only last 76k. Ask the dealer WHY the engine only lasted 76k.

Man I'd be on fire. I'd be sitting on the front door step of a Subaru CEO demanding to know why the engine only lasted 76k, and what they plan on doing about it.

littleturquoiseb wrote: The Wife's car threw a CEL the other day ... (2006 Subie Legacy 2.5 GT). I pulled the code, it was missing on Cyl 2-4. I make an appointment at the dealer but have to wait a few days... Didn't drive it much one trip back and forth to work and once to the grocery store ... Miss become horrible knock. Towed to the dealer because I already had the appointment... Just to confirm what I already guessed, the motor is toast.

Looks like you spend a lot of money at the dealer ($1100 clutch job????WTF!!), and if you've done all the services there they might goodwill the engine. BUT it looks to me you knew there was a problem and kept driving it 'till she blew, which is a big red flag to a dealer. Good luck.

In reply to Junkyard_Dog:

The Clutch job was independant ... North jerzy is expensive .... the dealer was quoting 1700 -- 2K.

I have a deal with my wife ... I keep her in something nice and let profesionals do the heavy lifting.... she lets me buy/drive all the crapmobiles I want.

I plan on seeing if I can get some subaru of america goodwill today... but I doubt it. They weren't helpful when I was complaining about the clutch. I use the quicky oil change places and don't do all the sceduled mantince at the dealer. I was only going to the dealer for the CEL because it looked like a diagnosis nightmare.

I honestly screwed myself because I didn't take the CEL for a miss seriously... I drove it and I could barley even tell it was missing.

Sooooo....not to make lemonade from lemons here but you think you can get them to give you the old motor ;)

Mebbe we could rebuild it as a backup for the 'burg

LOL...probably more trouble than its worth since our ECM is for a 2.2

Face it Jeff, you just kept Connie around too long and she infected the other cars. You need a clensing.

If you complain enough, Subaru should work with you at least somewhat if it has data to back up maintenance.

BMW just picked up part of my dad's bill on his electrical failure by him simply asking for it. It was out of warranty by a few thousand miles and about 6 months.

Your dealership will however make all the difference in this happening. If they work with you rather than against you have a much better chance.

Can any subie experts chime in here? Looks like the JDM motors can be picked up pretty cheap (in compairason)

Is this a direct swap or is there annoying fiddly things we'd have to do to make that motor work?

Right now we're weighing the convenience of the dealer and what he is offering (faster service, loaner etc) or towing it to a local recommended shop. I gotta get on NASOIC and get a recommendation (I don't hang there, so I was hoping someone here might have one ... willing to tow to Passiac or bergen county NJ) ... BTW the dealer has been good except when he gave me the oil change speech.

Right now we're weighing the convenience of the dealer and what he is offering (faster service, loaner etc) or towing it to a local recommended shop. I gotta get on NASOIC and get a recommendation (I don't hang there, so I was hoping someone here might have one ... willing to tow to Passiac or bergen county NJ) ... BTW the dealer has been good except when he gave me the oil change speech.