Total Engine Failure at 107k?

[nipper]

i just want to say one of the reasons i like this board so much, is that it can get surprisingly technical at times, with varied veiws. Nice to give my brain some exercise

 

 

nipper

[snaffle]

Hi there friends,

 

Well I know a book on my last post so I'll be brief tonight. I got my roo back from dealer today. Apparantly some loose carbon chunks got into the EVAP. Causing Check Engine Light.

 

EVAP purge valve plugged. Dealer cleaned valve and all lines.

 

On the way home today, car ran Fine and was running like a new pup.

 

Bad news, my old core was already picked up by scrap company so we will never know what internal engine failure really happened.

 

Oh well, at least I'm back on the road and it really feels like I have a good engine, it has way more pick-up and spunk than my other engine seemed to have. I'm taking it real easy for first 500 miles then have to do a oil and filter change as per warranty. Then I'll keep her on Valvoline 5w-30 every 3000 for 6 mos during warranty then think I'll stick with dino Valvoline and goto 5000k changes considering my driving sted of 7500. I learned alot from all your posts on oil and intervals, thought the 5k interval would be a good choice from your posts. Thanks again for all your comments during the duration of this thread.

I really felt I had friends with me thru this whole process, as it was quite stressful. I hope any new interaction will be less of a disaster nature.

 

Thanks,

 

-Snaffle

[DerFahrer]

Bad news, my old core was already picked up by scrap company so we will never know what internal engine failure really happened.

 

Damn! I was genuinely curious too...

[Gnuman]

snaffle, I'm just glad that you and your 'roo are back on the road again. Here's to many happy miles together. As for what happened, "Salvage Title" and really low miles are probably the primary indicators here. the owner that you bought it from probably had no idea what a salvage title meant when they bought it, and did not know to inform you of such. Unless they had just learned what a salvage title meant, but that is just being paranoid. What you have now is probably a lot closer to what you actually paid for then. I would keep a close eye on the tranny as well. If the engine was beaten on hard enough to set up a premature failure, the tranny likely also bore some of the brunt of that abuse. Please note also that the tranny has a fluid change interval, which is more critical with the Auto Tranny than the Manual Tranny, as the fluids in the Auto heat up and degrade more than the Manual. Just something to (perhaps) prevent a near future problem for you.

[WoodsWagon]

Thank you.

 

Tearing the old engine apart would be purely to satisfy curiosity. Blowing one of these engines takes some doing, so when one does, everyone wants to know what happened.

 

Deffinately make sure everything is good with the engine management so you don't wreck the new engine. It could have run that one cyl. lean and destroyed the last engine, which could recur and destroy your new engine.

 

Yeah, having a salvage title does kinda wreck the book value. But if you plan on keeping this car till its junkyard bait, it doesn't matter.

[snaffle]

Hi Friends,

 

Let me say first that I appreciated the last couple recent posts that would have been hopefully closure and a great learning experience for us all to read and learn from. But there is a final Bullet.

 

It is now 12/21 and as stated above I got her back, she seemed ok, even after the first two ouchies from day 1 of getting her back from the dealer. (as stated above in previous posts).

 

We are now at about 1500 miles since the engine replacement, and of course the 1 week transition of running the engine 500 miles then the warranty on the used engine requiring a full oil and filter change, thus done a couple weeks ago.

 

As I've been driving her, I noticed as coming around corners....she would act like I had been at full stop, and almost downshifting to first, and cutting in and cutting back up..tranny seemed wrong.

 

I thought maybe a loose wire while dealer re-installed engine (reference to past lil probs) yet today I finally found a problem.

 

Considering the dealer stated I had a leaking Tranny cover, they did a full pan drop and re-gasket of tranny pan as part of the engine install.

 

There has been NO leaks of any fluids since then as everything looks high and dry, yet....why is the tranny doing what she's doing??

 

I pulled the tranny stick, and found the stick BONE DRY!!!

 

I never thought of checking the stick as I knew the dealer just charged me some 1600 dollars (USD) to do the engine install, plus the car had just been through another FULL oil change and such 1 week after that service. (total engine failure cost nearly 3000 (USD) since failure)

 

I could never imagine it, but the dealer seemingly forgot to add right amount of ATF!!

 

So I have driven my roo for 1500 miles without a full compliment of ATF!

 

It took nearly 3 qts to get the ATF (Automatic Transmission Fluid) to the correct level as I just did that today myself. The Dealer techs stated, hmm, that sounds strange and acted like "nothing was wrong on our part", after I called to tell them my discovery. they said oh well, we'll let the mechanic know. I mean NO COMPASSION after all the work that was done there.

 

Also I noticed the motor oil level was one baby finger over the HOT NOTCH on the stick and they just said again, oh, looks like maybe it's a half quart over, but don't worry about it, you'll burn that off before the next oil change.

 

Bottom Line: I got the tranny back to it's correct level, what a diff!! No more slip shifting and such. I think Motor Oil probably is a little high, as even when checked cold it is just above the HOT NOTCH (the notch just above the F (full) mark) So I'm hoping truly that that is just maybe an extra 1/2 qt in the engine of motor oil. Although Owners manual on a 2.2 states at cold, fill to full mark, and allow an oil level at hot to be BETWEEN full (second hole) and that cut out notch in stick).

 

Last thing I need after all this, is to have a dealer who can't even fill the fluids correctly!! Even the service tech as I explained the oil stick said he never heard of a notch being in an oil stick. He said that was only in a tranny stick, which when observed HAS NO NOTCH. He seemed so ignorant to a simple dip stick. (I say the word ignorant as lack of knowledge, not to be a slang to be dissing the tech on his overall person).

 

 

And then is non concerning about it after I just dropped over 2 grand to just say, "oh well, we'll let the mechanic know".

 

This is the TOP Certified Subaru dealer in this market.

 

Considering all the other things in this thread that I shared about my experience with this dealer, I would certainly say that *************** is NOT a good shop as far as details! At least I feel now I could NOT recommend them for service!

 

There is only one other certified dealer close to this metro, but I learned many of the guys who work there used to work for ********!

 

These are the same guys who told me not to worry over the past two years that my engine oil level was over the hot notch as I questioned my oil level at each oil change done by them for past 2 years.

 

Funny how engine began leaking oil out of front and back, just before this total engine failure.

 

I think maybe I may be ok with what I have now, corrected. But my trust in that dealership and it's ethics, customer relations and sensativity to a problem, which was clearly their mistake, should be well documented.

 

I wonder what other shortcuts may have been taken.

 

I even began to believe in the dealerships soundness after their talk, and the use of their demo...but now wonder if that was just a smoke screen.

 

I am certainly disappointed and saddened when you can't even seem to trust a Subaru dealer to take care of your care in proper fashion. I am a forgiving man, but after you read this entire thread of my treatment from them, you can start to see Bull************.

 

Especially since I am a dealer brat myself, growing up a genuine respect for "The Dealer". You pay more, but maybe you can rest assured it's done right. NOT WITH THIS DEALER!

 

I probably should report this whole affair to Subaru Of America or something??

 

Funny thing is, maybe that possibly good mechanic, just forgot the simple step of topping off the fluid in the tranny with all the work he did to completely replace the engine. As everything else now seems ok, and maybe it's just some service techs that don't really have a passion for their job.

 

It may have just been an oversight, but with the history I have shared over the past two months in detail, I wonder if I'm just being TOO forgiving.

 

Personally I am just so tired of this whole issue. In my whole life I have never dealt with such a crappy experience from a dealership that seems to just go on and on in ignorance and a lack of respect for a customer.

 

I stand mystified.

 

Oh well, Thanks for letting me share my frustrations and such here with fellow owners of Subarus. This whole ordeal has been a nightmare, I can only hope now that all will be fine from 1500 miles on.

 

-Snaffle

 

Update 1/3/06: Tech I shared the incident with never told the service mgr, as I just shared the incident with him today personally. He (Serv Mgr) has always seemed to be square with me and apoligized to me and gave me a free oil change. Also My starter gave out last week and considering all I have already spent he gave me the starter for cost and halved the 1.5 hr of labor rate for install of the starter. Be nice if the whole shop ran that way, seems the only way I have got things handled was to deal directly with the Serv Mgr. Thing is, you shouldn't have to, so I stand with the other un edited text in this post. I think at this shop all work should be double checked and nothing assumed which I will now do the best I can.

[cookie]

Keep an eye on the fluids to make sure there is not a small leak. I would not be surprised if the guy put what he thought was the correct amount of fluid in the tranny and then the torque converter filled which left it down.

Unfortunately no dealer or mechanic is perfect and it is often best to check thier work.

Personally I don't worry if the oil is over a small amount, I have never seen it hurt anything.

I will say I have seen a big difference between the work my BMW dealer turns out compared to my Subaru dealer. I think the Bimmer dealer costs a bit more but realizes the average person is not a mechanic.

It seems like those folks tried to treat you fairly well but it does seem like more testing and checking is in order in thier work. My dealers both send out surveys that go to National HQs. If you get one I am sure you will have few comments.

[The Dude]

"I probably should report this to Subaru of America or something."

Do really you think that a company that left a signifcant number of "Phase One"

engine owners twisting in the wind with blown head gaskets is going to give a rat's rump roast that some dealership underfilled your transmission? Anyway, it's good to see at least you have retained your sense of humor after this ordeal. Good luck.

[snaffle]

Thanks Guys, as to your posts above.

 

To "ME" it seemed so terrible, but after reading your initial responses.

 

Guess it is just typical for the world we live in now. Nobody really give's a sh**.

 

Again hopefully the rest of the job will pan itself out as OK.

 

At least they (that dealership) answered their phone, after 22 rings! And had a nice female who spoke so fast that I hardly caught her name.

 

OK there's my upside of the story.

 

I'll certainly never assume nothing and will check sticks before I leave the bay from now on!

 

-Snaffle

[Gnuman]

Isn't it nice the way a bad dealership can turn, probably the best possable customer, into the kind that dealership "techs" complain about on thier coffee breaks? It is not all the fault of the tech, BTW. Management has a large part in the problems. If management does not enforce a policy of top notch customer service, then it simply will not exist. It sounds like you grew up in a dealership that did enforce such a policy. That is a breed that is sadly dwindling in numbers. . .

[Lesbaru]

I agree with what Gnuman said. We have a dealership here in Seattle which has a fabulous reputation (based mostly on volume) but the service manager pushes the techs waaaaaay to hard to get lots of cars out in very little time. They end up making mistakes and forgetting things and skipping that all important test-drive-to-see-if-I-fixed-it. The service manager wants big-ticket work done: eg telling me I needed a new clutch immediately cuz mine was wornout and had failed, here's how much it will cost, we can do it Friday.... when I had just got a new clutch 3 weeks before.

 

Mechanics leave that dealership and go work in independent garages where they are given the time to do the quality work they KNOW customers deserve.

[friendly_jacek]

I'm so much burnt on dealerships, I avoid them at all cost.

I do service myself, and double check levels if i let any "certified mechanics " touch my car.