'08 Outback 2.5i Flywheel Bolt Problem

[ar2]

I've got an '08 Outback with 12,000 miles that suddenly started making a loud loose metal on fan sound this week. Dealer determined one of the flywheel bolts had come out, and 3 other bolts were so loose they could be removed by hand. I know nothing about cars, but the loose bolt created some large gashes on engine and on other nearby parts. Read somewhere online that there have been problems in the past with Legacy flywheel bolts.

 

Anyone know about this problem? How do you fix something like this?

 

 

Perhaps related, when the repair tech was getting into the problem, he showed me a metal disc (real name??) in the same area - I had previously complained that the speeedometer was 3-4 miles off from GPS measured speed. Tech said bolt hole in this disc was too large, causing disc to slip/have some play and that likely explained speedometer error.

 

This is all new to me but sound serious. Help!

[bratman18]

The only tip I can really give is to put loc-tite on the bolts before they are tightened back up.

[bheinen74]

this is an 08 with 12,000 miles? I say this is subaru assembly problem at the engine factory. Was there any previous work to engine/transmission?

 

my gosh, is subaru quality putting this stuff on the road?

doesn't sound like subaru of yesteryear.

[bratman18]

^yeah no kidding!! yeah I say that the dealer should definitely cover any and all damage and repair!!

[idosubaru]

i've never had that happen or seen it. if they're properly torqued and installed i don't think this should be an issue. i'd properly document, with paper work, this problem and make sure any related issues might be covered in the future. i'd want some kind of coverage beyond warranty if it really damaged anything.

 

"oh it didn't affect anything" from the dealer would not satisfy me unless you REALLY trust them.

 

as for the speedometer error, that's definitely not true at all. the speedo is driven off the front differential and tire so it's going to read whatever the tire is doing.

 

goofball mechanic - if the flywheel effects speed, that means the engine effects speed and that's obviously not true at all. 2,000 rpm's in 1st is a lot different than 2,000 rpm's in 5th!!!!

 

it's not affected by the engine/clutch at all. the clutch could completely go out and you can drift down a hill and it'll still read the correct speed. you can remove the flywheel and clutch and drift or tow it around and read the right speed.

 

and 3 to 4 miles at highway speeds is only 5%. that's normal. most cars are %5 off anyway. i'm going to bet it reads higher than what you're actually going?

 

that's common. psychologists tell manufacturers that cars that "feel" faster sell better. doesn't matter if they are faster, they just need good numbers or feel. a car feeling really smooth at highway speeds sells better. wow...i only feel like i'm going 70...not 75 like in my old beater. well, that's because you probably are only going 70!

 

percentages off tend to be higher in other countries.

 

at least that has been true in the past..and probably negated by "everyone doing it". anyway, maybe it's still true today i haven't been hired as a psch consultant this year.

 

tire pressure (effected by air or rolling temps) can also vary and vary the speedo reading.

 

i've found that by increasing my tire size a little bit (and effectively increasing my actual speed compared to my speedometer), my speedometer is usually more accurate. haven't done that to any 2000+ subaru's though and that wasn't true of all of them.

[idosubaru]

this is an 08 with 12,000 miles? I say this is subaru assembly problem at the engine factory. Was there any previous work to engine/transmission?

 

my gosh, is subaru quality putting this stuff on the road?

doesn't sound like subaru of yesteryear.

i agree, this happened at the factory if this thing has never been worked on yet.

 

i wouldn't site one incident as a problem with overall operations and quality. if you used that philosophy you literally couldn't drive any car ever made. there's hardly a mass produced vehicle that doesn't have at least one error in one million vehicle produced.

 

and if you used that philosophy i don't think you'd still with Subaru given all the head gasket issues that took close to 10 years to figure out! they were blowing very quick in the early years. you just don't see that now because it was 10 years ago.

[ar2]

thanks to all for the initial replies. The car is pristine, no service issues (other than speedometer - and grossgary was right, it does read high) to date - only scheduled maintenance at dealer, who is the one that diagnosed current problem. With no other service on car during its year in operation, this certainly appears to be an assembly glitch. Somewhere online I had seen some references to prior problems with these bolts -because they are apparently shorter than in other cars. I have no clue, didn't even know what a flywheel bolt was until yesterday afternoon but initial feedback doesn't indicate it is a recent or chronic problem. Now waiting on "Subaru regional" to authorize warranty repair. Doesn't seem to be any issue with who should cover the repair, I just wonder how you repair the car correctly after the bolt came loose and left gashes everywhere.