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Attn lgt 05-09 owners: Blown turbo legal case


dimanart

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I'm collecting information from dealers as well as individual owners to file a case against Subaru for what seems to be a failure to acknowledge a design flaw in 05-09 Legacy GT that causes premature turbine failures. Personally I’m “only” on my second turbo: first one failing at 70k – car has never been on the track or ever been abused, oil changes on the clock every 3K and all service done (mechanic at the dealership mentioned a customer with 6 turbo replacements on ’07 LGT) Talking to numerous owners over the past 1.5 years I found out that majority of issues are deemed to be due to banjo bolt inlet/filter clogging up and causing oil starvation which in turn causes the bearings to go – I have no comment on that, however the dealer’s response (2 different places, official Subaru dealers) nodding their heads towards this issues also– they can’t give an official confirmation due to possible legal action from Subaru. Please share your experiences (Car’s year, mileage and circumstances that lead to turbine failure, and any other info you think might be useful) PM if you don't want to reply to the main thread.
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101k miles and it's been tracked,beaten and raped. Not one problem and no shaft play. Boosting near 20psi and I use Mobil synthetic and even 5-20 weight sometimes. I do not check my oil regularly and change my oil around 3-4k. I use a wix filter.
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Yup. But then there are people who do the right thing and they are blowing up turbos left and right.

 

I also always let my car warm up for atleast a minute before I drive it. I don't get into boost till I'm completely warmed up and let my car idle for atleast a minute before I turn it off

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Mine went out at about 84,000 miles. Can't say anything about how the car was treated or maintained because I bought it at 83,000 miles. By the way, it really sucks spending a lot of money on a car and then having to replace the turbo a month later :mad:. I was not driving the car when the turbo went so I don't know exactly what happened, but I know it was not being driven hard. The last time I had driven the car, it felt completely normal, nothing at all indicated a failing turbo.

EDIT: The car was completely stock at the time.

 

FWIW, I think it's very important to let the car warm up before driving it hard and especially letting it cool down before shutting it off. I think a lot of people don't do this and that may be contributing to all the failed turbos.

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The VF-40 was just a poorly engineered piece. Personally I think the bearing is too small.

 

With that said, I have a VF-40 converted to an 18g by Blouch. 80K , 18.5psi tune and it still is fine......and I left the banjo filter in there also. When mine goes I certainly will not replaced it with another IHI turbo.

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I had 85k miles on my stage 2 vehicle that was driven like I stole it and never had a turbo problem. My clutch, however, that's a different story.

 

With that said, I've seen many people who had stock vehicles blow turbos in few miles.

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Any sort of legal action will require a VERY high bar to have any chance of success.

 

Its not really a safety issue so unlikely to fall under recall category and get NHTSA involvement.

Any failures that are outside of warranty already face an uphill battle.

Because of the effect of OCI, you're going to need full maintenance records.

 

Realistically, you need sort of evidence that Subaru was aware of the problem, and did nothing to address it. Subaru did try to address the issue by switching turbos, and lowering the OCI for 08-09.

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Any sort of legal action will require a VERY high bar to have any chance of success.

 

Its not really a safety issue so unlikely to fall under recall category and get NHTSA involvement.

Any failures that are outside of warranty already face an uphill battle.

Because of the effect of OCI, you're going to need full maintenance records.

 

Realistically, you need sort of evidence that Subaru was aware of the problem, and did nothing to address it. Subaru did try to address the issue by switching turbos, and lowering the OCI for 08-09.

 

Exactly. I don't see this going anywhere in the court. Even if someone tried to pursue it, they need to realize how deep an auto manufacturer's pockets are.

 

Now, if it was an issue like BMW's failing HPFP on N54 engines, it would definitely go somewhere, but this isn't a safety issue that has been ignored by Subaru.

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I don't know why you guys keep blowing turbos.

 

Collectively between the last 4 Legacys I've owned...my wife and I have put well over 500k miles on them....and never once had a turbo failure.

-broknindarkagain

My Current Project - Click Here

COME AND TAKE IT

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

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Could also collect info on bad wastegates on VF-46's....seizing...moving out of place etc.,. I personally know of 2 on '08 LGT's. Have seen posts about others. Not as bad as bad bearings, but a problem resulting in turbo replacement none the less.
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OEM Turbo went out @ 99k ...which spun a rod & toasted the engine.

 

I bought the vehicle from another person who had it rebuilt by a Subaru dealership, so I have no idea how it was treated prior to the "incident."

 

The turbo was sent to BNR Supercars for a rebuild. BNR Supercars recommended the FP (unfiltered) feed line kit. 20k miles later, my BNR 16G failed. So, what was the issue this time? -A "contamination issue" is what I was told.

 

hm, so how did BNR Supercars know that the contaminates came from elsewhere other than the turbo:iam:

 

 

...hmm now BNR Supercars recommended me a IP&T (FILTERED) feed line kit.

 

So, BNR, why are you recommending the IP&T Feed Line Kit NOW, but before you were recommending the FP unfiltered:iam:

 

Yeah, I feel screwed over.

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My 09 had a total of 3 motors and 2 turbos. Subaru handled it without cost to me because it was below the 60k. First motor at 4400 miles. after 3rd motor and 2nd turbo, Subaru gave me an extended warranty for 7 years or 1000K. It left with car when i traded into a '12 LGT Limited. My real inconvenience was driving automatic loaner cars and my radio/Sirius settings. I'm aggravated at the inconveniences, but overall happy Subaru handled it.
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OEM Turbo went out @ 99k ...which spun a rod & toasted the engine.

 

I bought the vehicle from another person who had it rebuilt by a Subaru dealership, so I have no idea how it was treated prior to the "incident."

 

The turbo was sent to BNR Supercars for a rebuild. BNR Supercars recommended the FP (unfiltered) feed line kit. 20k miles later, my BNR 16G failed. So, what was the issue this time? -A "contamination issue" is what I was told.

 

hm, so how did BNR Supercars know that the contaminates came from elsewhere other than the turbo:iam:

 

 

...hmm now BNR Supercars recommended me a IP&T (FILTERED) feed line kit.

 

So, BNR, why are you recommending the IP&T Feed Line Kit NOW, but before you were recommending the FP unfiltered:iam:

 

Yeah, I feel screwed over.

 

I doubt the IP&T oil line was around 20k miles ago. It's only been out 9 months I believe.

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OEM Turbo went out @ 99k ...which spun a rod & toasted the engine.

 

I bought the vehicle from another person who had it rebuilt by a Subaru dealership, so I have no idea how it was treated prior to the "incident."

 

The turbo was sent to BNR Supercars for a rebuild. BNR Supercars recommended the FP (unfiltered) feed line kit. 20k miles later, my BNR 16G failed. So, what was the issue this time? -A "contamination issue" is what I was told.

 

hm, so how did BNR Supercars know that the contaminates came from elsewhere other than the turbo:iam:

 

 

...hmm now BNR Supercars recommended me a IP&T (FILTERED) feed line kit.

 

So, BNR, why are you recommending the IP&T Feed Line Kit NOW, but before you were recommending the FP unfiltered:iam:

 

Yeah, I feel screwed over.

 

To expand on what compsurge said: IP&T started shipping the production, filtered oil lines in Nov of last year (I got one right away). BNR couldn't have recommended it to you when you got your 16g because it didn't exist yet. They steered you toward the best thing on the market at the time, based on their knowledge and experience. They didn't screw you over.

 

OP: I'm not sure how many responses you are going to get in this thread, since most stories have already been posted in the "blown turbo" thread. My turbo blew at ~59k miles, covered by warranty without drama, no contaminates found in oil to indicate compromised engine.

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How on earth did you lose an engine within the first 5000mi? What was the problem?

 

I was second owner. bought car at 4400 miles, 4700 it just lost power on my way to get an MRI. died on way back. was part of "the bad batch of 09" then...

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/loosing-oil-inexplicably-164721.html?t=164721

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Can't hurt I guess. Though you aren't going anywhere with this one I hope you know that. Good luck.

 

05 LGT, 80K, "bad" stock turbo with a Cobb Stg. 1 map and stock hardware otherwise. Car was never tracked or launched or abused in any way. Oil was changed at every 3k miles from the day I bought the car with 28k miles in 07.

 

The turbo impeller developed a LOT of play and was causing the fins to bump against the turbo housing making all kinds of awful noises. No other damage was done I guess I caught it before it had a chance to nuke anything else.

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I doubt the IP&T oil line was around 20k miles ago. It's only been out 9 months I believe.

 

 

BNR didn't carry them at the time. He appointed me to Infamous. Maybe it was 10k-15k ago. I put on 35k within the last 11 months. My vehicle is constantly driven between my S/O & I.

 

 

***I just checked. I started having issues w/ my BRN 16G @ 113,200. My OEM turbo went out @ 99k. You're right. It wasn't 20k. However, it was roughly 13k miles.

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BNR didn't carry them at the time. He appointed me to Infamous. Maybe it was 10k-15k ago. I put on 35k within the last 11 months. My vehicle is constantly driven between my S/O & I.

 

 

***I just checked. I started having issues w/ my BRN 16G @ 113,200. My OEM turbo went out @ 99k. You're right. It wasn't 20k. However, it was roughly 13k miles.

 

I'm curious how your new turbo failed. If Subaru "rebuilt" the block using a mix of old parts and new, they easily could have skipped a step such as cleaning the oil filter or oil pump, leaving debris from the previous event.

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