matt167 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 My mom let me know her '16 Crosstrek was running like crap when she started it one morning and had a repetitive chirping noise from the engine.. I looked at it and could not even get it started. Compression lost on at least one cylinder and the starter was laboring on the up stroke. Had enough oil in it. Told her to call dealer and have it towed.. Pretty sure some of the valve train came apart, read a couple complaints of cam followers dropping out and causing a mess on #4. Either way it's at the dealer, and for sure under warranty although they are not admitting anything yet ( they are looking at it when they open Monday ) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec03 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 You have to get back to us when you have specific information. We need the codes for example. If the compression test was done correctly, then the valves are shot on at least one cylinder. But how could they have failed? No way to figure it out with information provided. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 How did you determine lost compression? Did you do a compression test? And what do you mean "starter laboring on the upstroke? You do realize that there is ALWAYS 2 pistons on an "upstroke"? One compressing, one exhausting. And when those start to go down, the others are coming up........SOOO....... Not sure that saying "its laboring on the upstroke" is descriptive of anything....not accurately anyhow. I am skeptical that an engine with 54k miles would suddenly lose compression. Let us know what the dealer says when they do some actual testing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt167 Posted February 25, 2018 Author Share Posted February 25, 2018 I didn't test anything. you can hear that it had lost compression on 1 cylinder from how it was turning over, and the fact that when running it had a skip. Something pretty bad has gone wrong internally.. Since it's under warranty I did not want them to void it for any reason, and had her call them and have it towed.. I found a thread on the XV forums about a Crosstrek's FB20 having cam followers dropping out causing all sorts of carnage with the camshafts and I'm pretty positive that's what happened.. And by laboring on the up stroke, you can hear it skip compression on a cylinder, then right after that it's laboring like something is seriously binding inside.. I wish I could check but it's up to the service department.. 6k more and it woulda been SOL, so it's good it happened now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 I found a thread on the XV forums about a Crosstrek's FB20 having cam followers dropping out causing all sorts of carnage with the camshafts and I'm pretty positive that's what happened.. Ughhh....... Well i guess that's possible. Why did they revive that miserable design from the EA82 era? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt167 Posted February 26, 2018 Author Share Posted February 26, 2018 (edited) I said cam follower, because that is what I was thinking, but I looked again and it was the rockers fallen right off. http://www.subaruxvforum.com/forum/engine-drivetrain/64386-fb20-failure-follow-up.html What's weird is that while it is just under 1 quart low it was within the 7,500 mile oil change interval SOA requires but is just past due her normal scheduled by a few hundred miles. This engine has never used oil so the fact it's now 1qt low is suspicious, but it wasn't run out of oil for sure Edited February 26, 2018 by matt167 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 I said cam follower, because that is what I was thinking, but I looked again and it was the rockers fallen right off. It's both a follower and a rocker. (face palm) Anyhow, let us know whats up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt167 Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 Update. Valve spring went through the valve cover. So dropped valve for sure. Wonder what let go first but an obvious defect. They still have yet to process warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt167 Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 It was dark when I looked at it so that's how I missed the carnage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt167 Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 Well, was repaired, now back in the shop.. Starter started grinding on the flywheel and it's got a valve hammering under the cover. Service writer isn't very happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 Hmm... Wonder what else they left out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt167 Posted March 16, 2018 Author Share Posted March 16, 2018 Dunno. They put a brand new cylinder head with all new parts on it. They did not say exactly what went wrong to cause the valve spring to free itself. Service writer initially said it went through the cover, but the work order said it had gotten mangled in the camshaft and lost compression on #4, which explains the chirping. Getting a brand new cylinder head would suggest a casting defect in the original I would think... Either way, it actually failed again right after she picked it up. 1/2 way home ( 45 min drive ) is when it started ticking, and it was hammering when she dropped it off again. The starter didn't sound quite right from the start but the car was picked up after service hours anyway, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 Possibly RTV or some other particle blocked the oil feed for the rocker shaft. Best practice with a major valve train failure is to replace the entire head. Question is if the spring broke, did the valve make contact with the piston? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt167 Posted March 16, 2018 Author Share Posted March 16, 2018 I was thinking it probably did but they would have to replace everything that was damaged I would think. With an uncommon faliure, Subaru likely wanted tear down pictures Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 (edited) wow. it actually failed again right after she picked it up. 1/2 way home ( 45 min drive ) is when it started ticking, and it was hammering when she dropped it off again. I'd first guess the first and second failure are both related. what ever caused, or resulted from, the first failure precipitating the second. Getting a brand new cylinder head would suggest a casting defect in the original I would think.. Maybe, who knows. shops routinely replace parts, or assemblies, that can be repaired, particularly dealers. i wouldn't assume too much from a part replacement. like fairtax said it's good practice and there's quite a few reasons they may have chosen that. Edited March 16, 2018 by idosubaru Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkyboy Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 Ughhh....... Well i guess that's possible. Why did they revive that miserable design from the EA82 era? I have never seen an ea82 fail bad enough to need a tow at 60k! not even at 160k My ea82t has over 100k :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec03 Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 I second Idosubau's WOW. She couldn't even drive it from the dealership to home! I don't mean to make the OP feel bad, but that is really LOL. What a dealership! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 I've had bad experiences with East Coast dealerships. They WANT your treat cars with 60k plus miles as "high mileage" and "old" and will purposefully not do good jobs, and then pitch the idea of "trading in" for the new model as a better option. Dealt with this with a PA dealer "reflashing" the TCU software on a perfectly running car (reflash was done without customer knowledge or approval while car was there for remote start install) After Reflash, trans would not shift, and solenoids in the trans were fried. TCU and Valve body had to be replaced to the tune of $3500! Dealership tried to get my cousin to "trade in" and finance new model.......The car was 7 years old, but only had 64K miles, AND WAS PAID OFF already. I got SOA involved and SOA covered 1/2 the repair cost......still my cousin was out $1700......that was a damn expensive remote start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt167 Posted March 29, 2018 Author Share Posted March 29, 2018 Well, dealer was done with it. work order states camshaft was gouged ( so that would be technician error ), so they R&R'd the intake camshaft... STILL making noise. Service dept was actually closed with only one of the young ladies there to get the keys, so everyone there would be barking up the wrong tree... Bottom line is I'm thinking the only sensible repair is a new complete long block. who knows how bad metal filings got in the bearings. I know being in the valve cover it's probably not a problem but it could be. Either that or it's a pretty solid lemon law case for the state of NY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt167 Posted March 29, 2018 Author Share Posted March 29, 2018 There actually sending a driver this time to pick it up, after barking at the GM, and drop off a rental... But 3x times in the shop for same problem = open shut lemon law in NYS, if she ends up pursuing it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 I don't understand how they just replaced the camshaft? If the valve spring caused the damage to the shaft, the head needed to be removed to inspect/replace the valve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt167 Posted March 30, 2018 Author Share Posted March 30, 2018 They did all that and installed brand new heads and everything except cams the first time in. Then when it went back for valve rapping they found the intake cam scored and just replaced it. Pretty obvious technician error right there. He either missed it, ignored it or assembled it wrong. She told them if they don't just replace the long block at this point, she will pursue lemon law. Needless to say they are at least being very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt167 Posted March 30, 2018 Author Share Posted March 30, 2018 Me too. Patiently waiting for them to figure something out. So far its silence from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1997reduxe Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 i just started reading this and its been since february. they should have replaced the engine any more now is just screwing around. its ridiculous i mean shes had a loaner all this time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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